Google

Recruiter

IMT Residential

Recruiting and Engagement Specialist 

Azusa Pacific University

Adjunct Faculty

Assistant Director for Orientation and Transitions

Admissions Recruiter

Welcome Center Coordinator

Recruiting at Google

Job Storyteller || Candidate Advocate || Career Cheerleader

Two things I love: Learning people’s stories and getting them hired. Here's how I do that: 

Professionally, I get to hire the world’s best engineering managers at Google. If that's you, let's talk! 

Personally, I love helping my friends and connections get amazing jobs. If that's you, let's talk! 

More things I love: the San Francisco Giants, optimistic people, Settlers of Catan, the Enneagram, chunky babies, Lord of the Rings, and breakfast burritos.

I was talking to a candidate recently and his kids were playing (then crying) in the background of the call.

He apologized and seemed thrown off. But no need. 

Life. Happens. 

Sometimes we all try to make personal factors (aka our "real life") not impact our jobs (aka our "professional life"). 

But so often these lines are blurred and people are doing their best to balance everything on their plate: 

Jobs, families, hobbies, health, kids, rest, stress, pets, and everything in between. 

Humanizing the recruiting experience is such an important step to champion candidate experience.

We're all doing out best and just trying to figure it out along the way. 

Nicky Slavich

I recently read a story where someone was bragging about how they were so committed to their job that they missed their child's birth to close a huge deal...

Which reminded me: 

Don't be like that guy.

I was looking at a candidate's resume a few months ago and noticed a large gap in employment.

It started around March 2020 and lasted about 16 months. 

I tried not to overly focus on it (there was a new job and new experience since that happened) and as we started talking, a few things came up.

"So, can you tell me about what you've been up to most recently?" I asked. 

As he answered, he mentioned the gap and time off before his current role. 

"I took some time off during the very beginning of Covid. We had a newborn, life was crazy, so my partner kept her job and I stayed home due to childcare."

There you go. A few things learned: 

1) A resume tells part of the story but talking with candidates adds helpful context

2) Focus on the candidate, their experience, and relevant skills

3) People are figuring it out and doing their best. ESPECIALLY when life gets complex. 

It's hard to do any job alone. 

And recruiting is the ultimate team sport. 

There's a lot of bias that happens in recruiting. Here are four of the most common (and why they shouldn't matter)

1. Prestigious education

If you went to a great school, that's fantastic. And certainly, that shouldn't be held against you. 

But there are a lot of folks who go to "other" schools, community college, even no schools at all who are extremely qualified

2. Big company recognition 

Our eyes tend to jump when we see an employer we recognize and/or think is impressive. 

But really, what should be impressive is "Does this person have the skills to do the job?"

3. Ageism 

Someone who has been in the workforce for 25 or 35 or more years shouldn't be seen as liability but an asset! 

That is a lot of experience and knowledge to bring to a role and company.

4. Gaps in a resume

People sometimes expect folks to work for every single day of their life for years and year and years on end. 

But things happen. Childcare, medical leave, career pivots, going back to school, starting a business. A "gap" can actually provide value. 

What else did I miss? 

Candidates get ghosted by recruiters. It’s super unfortunate. But, recruiters get ghosted by candidates, too. And it all comes down to one super basic, super key skill: 

Communication. 

Communication isn’t a “soft” skill or a “nice to have.” It’s essential to get our work done and it’s essential to respecting each other. 

Effective communication can even be the difference between an okay interview and a stellar interview, which can have a big impact on getting a job. 

And good communication can be a lot of different things: 

Proactive, intentional, empathetic, clarifying, understanding, just to name a few. 

So, let’s help each other by communicating well. 


Looking for a new job is frustrating. And hard. So often the process includes:

—Applying and consistently hearing nothing 

—Learning that jobs that match their experience are “above their level” 

—Having a poor interview experience 

—Working with recruiters who care more about hitting quota than about the candidate 

—Not receiving the recognition they deserve for grinding it out

The job search is nuanced, complex, and can be just straight-up hard.

LinkedIn is a great place to help each other along the way.

I’ve messed up an offer call.

I’ve had terrible final interviews.

I’ve missed deadlines.

The bad news:

These were all legitimate mistakes. Failures that didn’t feel good.

The good news:

We aren’t defined by them.

If you feel like you’ve blown it, not succeeding, or stuck.

Totally fair. It can be rough.

But it seems like a lot of failure is continuing to move forward, even in the dark.

If you're looking for a job and the primary factor is a bigger salary and higher compensation? 

That does not make you greedy, money hungry, or "applying for the wrong motives." 

Yes, there are a lot of factors to consider when applying for a job. 

Work that aligns with your interest and background, a good team, a supportive boss, great benefits, all that good stuff. 

But work is pretty much transactional and getting paid fairly is important.

People want to be treated well and getting a competitive paycheck is an okay place to start. 

How we often think about success:
—Job titles
—Nice car
—What people think about us

What success might look like:
—Work-life balance
—Enjoying our work
—Influencing others

You ever find those colleagues that you can absolutely trust no matter what? 

Those folks are gems. 

In college, I was a server at a local brunch spot. 

You can tell a loooooot about someone by how they treat folks in the service industry. 

Between their tone, body language, and how they tip, it really shows what people value and how they see others. 

Among many lessons is one that I still think about often: 

No job is inherently "better" than another job.

There's this odd thing where we often praise people more because of a fancy title or "big" job or sounding important. 

But, pretty much every job requires nuance, a hard work ethic, and some form of mastery. 

So really, let's honor and respect folks in whatever job and role they may be in. 

Because no job (ie no person) is better than another.  

Some managers make the life of an employee better.

Some managers make the life of an employee worse.

Either way, a manager/leader has a significant impact on our experience, perception of work, and even at times our mental health. It really is that big of a deal.

Shoutout to the managers who support us, encourage us, and show us the way.


Employee: "I'd like to talk about growth and a raise." 

Company: "How about later?" 

*A few months pass*

Employee: "I've been offered a new role at a different company"

Company: "Wanna talk about growth and a raise?"

Too late. 

The lesson is simple and we've seen it many times:

Value employees, help them grow, and pay them what they are worth.

For the first several years of my career, I recruited students.

And you know what? 

These are some of the brightest and most impressive people I have ever worked with. 

Students represent the best of the workforce:

Eager, can-do attitudes, growth mindset, and highly adaptable.

Students and recent grads are an asset to any company.

Shoutout to all the folks in school or just starting their careers.

Y’all are game-changers 🙌

Not getting interviews for the jobs you want? 

Here's one thing to think about: 

Look at minimum vs preferred qualifications. 

Typically, a job will have a minimum set of desired qualifications: 
x years of experience 
x technical skill
x years of management

And then a set of preferred skills: 
x degree
x advanced technical skills

Two commons mistakes are: 
1. Applying for jobs where we may not be qualified 
2. NOT applying to jobs just because we don't hit every single qualification

Ideally jobseekers are hitting *most* minimum qualifications and *some* preferred qualifications. 

Of course there's nuance and exceptions. People love the classic example: "You don't want a pilot without experience flying your plane!" 

But for the most part, looking at what is required and what is preferred is a good way to start pointing us in the right direction, for the right applications, and the right jobs.

And hopefully that should start leading to more interviews. 

Taplio

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What is Nicky talking about?

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Nicky Slavich's Best Posts (last 30 days)