How's the market? Hear from Zen Mak, Founder & CEO of RallyWorks

Hi everyone, 

If you've been following my posts lately, you've noticed I've been excited to reunite with Zen Mak after working together 20 (20!!) years ago. We're holding our first event for recruiters on March 8.

Zen has been in contingency recruiting, retained search, RPO, internal TA, and has even taken on the role of Chief People Officer. She founded RallyWorks, diving into fast-growing companies to establish their TA teams while also doing their recruitment. She gets how hiring works - both internally and externally, at small boot-strapped starts up, hyperscale companies, and at tech giants. If you spend five minutes with Zen you’ll see that she’s passionate about changing the industry and creating the next generation of TA leaders.

Zen and I are kicking off a series of virtual events on the Art of Search (check out our first event March 8!). Zen has years of talent and people operations experience and she has a lot to say when it comes to the market. She gave us a few pointers for candidates today.

Check out what Zen had to say.

In today's market, while there seems to be more talent available, most organizations are still challenged with identifying the right talent for the open roles.

For candidates, keep an open mind as you engage in the interview process. The job description may not feel like a 100% match to your background, but it's often written before the companies engage in a search process. We've all experienced a job scope change mid-process because of the insights gained after the hiring team meets real people. Even if the job description isn't a perfect match, don't write it off! It may be a better fit than meets the eye.

Interview preparedness. What I found is demonstrating curiosity in the interview process sets candidates apart and arms them with great information about the company, position, and people. For example, Why is the job open? What is the size and scope of the role, outside title and compensation? (Both of those are the easiest things to change!) Those types of questions in the interview give you much further insight about a job than simple skills and track record. Ask to speak with the folks on the team. Ask to meet with a cross-departmental business stakeholder. You gain a lot more insight to make sure that the role you accept is the role you want.

Thanks all. Let us know what you're seeing out there!

- Somer