Here goes it... I'm not gonna lie, I got pretty bored at work my last 6 or so months (well, maybe year). Not because my job wasn't challenging (heavy workload, multiple tasks, learning a new product, working on a startup team), but because I wasn't being challenged (no new skills, not using and developing the skills I'm good at). I had to start to differentiate that in my head when looking at my career. I'm not a fresh-out-of-college member of the workforce anymore. Motivation is a bit harder to come by. Those starry eyes aren't quite as glimmering.
So I decided to re-evaluate my career (and working at Google for that matter) very seriously. I've worked for the GOOG for 4 years - in various advertising/sales/operations functions. Over the past 3 years, I've done a lot of HR work on the side for fun. I've interviewed close to 60 potential employees and participated in our BOLD mentoring program for 2 summers. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, well, minus some of the logistical/process work. However, I realized, at the core HR work is exactly where my strengths lie. It's meant for "people persons", "networkers", etc. It's also meant for people who are a bit shy, but shine when meeting new people.
I learned I'm not motivated by the following:
- Money
- Scaling/Huge Impact
So being primarily in sales/operations functions didn't quite make sense. I'm actually motivated by the following:
- People
- 1:1 Interactions
People are what drive me. Conversations, connections, insight, etc. People are dynamic, always changing to keep things fresh. That's how I'm motivated. I like to see others succeed and given new opportunities. Given that, I intended to get myself into a people management position early on in my career. I also tried elements such as training and quality control (mentoring) to help get me there. People management didn't quite pan out, so I've decided to put my feelers out for new roles in new departments.
A few months ago, I heard about a potential need for a new HR person at YouTube. I didn't know what the need was nor did I really know what they did on a daily basis. I talked to my current manager and asked him to inquire. Nothing was posted on our internal job board so I had no idea if such a job existed.
A month or so later, My manager came back to me and said there may be something opening up and had me meet with Jeff, who is in HR. We felt each other out and I learned about a potential role as a recruiter for non-eng positions at YouTube because hiring could potentially go up. It was a super casual convo. He then had me meet with the Sales Recruiting Manager, out of our European Office. She happened to be in town that week and was working at our headquarters in Mountain View. I met with her for a half hour and got a fantastic vibe. I thought things went well. This was early December. Then it was mid December. I hadn't heard back. I got discouraged. I followed up with her again. Still no response. It was the end of December and the holidays were now over. Then it was early January. I took a little mini vacay to Canada and came back refreshed. I was still discouraged that I didn't hear back from HR about the role. The least they could do was get back to me.
I finally got an email from the European Sales Recruiting Manager. She said she apologized for the delay but was still finalizing the potential headcount for the role. She'd get back to me in a week and let me know what the final decision was. I finally heard back. The news was good. They were able to get headcount and suddenly I was going to be a recruiter for YouTube. A RECRUITER. Fawk. It's actually sort of a prestigious role, especially in the Bay Area. I don't know how that happened. Especially since most recruiting jobs are actually temporary/contract work. Recruiting is sorta like a sales job (taking out the attachment to revenue/money) and a matchmaking service all in one. It should be interesting and lead to some new skills being developed.
There are some risks with getting into recruiting/HR. It's very cyclical. It's usually the first department to go (with marketing next in line). I understand that risk, but the potential payout to do something I love and gain new skills is really what made me take the leap. The YouTube HR team is also super super supportive and seems to think I can be a rockstar recruiter. We'll see how it goes, at the very least.
I now had to negotiate the transition timeline with my current manager, who'd been supportive throughout the process. We worked out my first technical day as a recruiter would be February 16th, the day after President's Day -- but that I could go to trainings before I officially started.
So here I am. In 2010. New decade. New career. It all happened because, well, i threw myself out there. I voiced my concerns. I wanted a change.
I've finally decided to change everything that I'm unhappy about in my life.
Next up: Apartment, Boys, Hobbies.
Let's do this!
