Welcome to Talent Spotlight – the latest addition to Talent Crunch Berlin! Every month, we shine a light on standout talent professionals, and the real stories shaping our industry.
Hey Andrei, tell us a bit about yourself 😀. Who are you, where are you, and what keeps you busy these days?
Hi, my name is Andrei. I am a TA professional with over 14 years experience in recruitment. Originally from Romania, I settled in Dublin, Ireland 8 years ago where I live with my 2 ginger cats (yes I’m a cat dad 😂).
- I am an avid audible book listener (32 titles and over 263 hours of listening time in 2024) with a very keen interest in cosmology and business.
- These days I’m focused on researching AI’s impact in TA and what tools and initiatives are really a game changer. On this topic a must-read book from 2024: Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari – explores the age of AI rush (much like the Gold rush), how to deal with this new information network and the threats it poses.
Your Story
1. Will you share a small moment that taught you a big lesson with us? (could be a mistake, a surprise, or an “aha” moment – from any part of your life):
It’s never too late to learn new skills.
About 3 years ago, at the age of 37 I dared myself to learn how to ride a bike 🚴♀️ (yes you read that right). After a nearly full weekend of trial and error, bashing my body off the pavement every 15 seconds or so, I finally did it!
I was on the bike pedaling and most importantly not falling off 😂. But the feeling, OMG the feeling – pure joy, excitement, and freedom! I was a kid again and I felt so alive!
2. What about something you learned from a completely different field/hobby/experience that unexpectedly helped you in your talent work:
I am very passionate about cosmology and one of the interesting dilemmas in astrophysics is the 3-body problem. You can read more about the theory here.
Much like the 3 body problem in space, my work revolves around 3 centres of gravity: my team, stakeholders and my peers in the wider TA/People function. Similarly there is no solution to this “problem” either and the gravitational pulls are going to be very different at different points in time.
There is no perfect balance of how much pull one of these “bodies” exerts thus, it is still something I’m working on to better understand how to balance my time and attention between the 3 priorities.
Talent Talk
1. What’s the most unconventional thing you’ve done in recruiting that actually worked really well?
Many years ago the company I worked for needed to hire an Infosec specialist. It was the first role of its kind in the region and I have never worked on Infosec before.
I needed to prepare a brief with the CIO and the Head of Infosec for Europe on talent availability and potential candidates.
In order to understand where to find such candidates, how to attract them, how to position the role, I met with the ISACA Director who certifies CISM, CISA, CISSP professionals in the Infosec space and he gave me a plethora of information that helped me not only to be prepared for the brief, but also how to attract and hire the right candidate we needed in the company.
It was unconventional as generally ISACA deals with exams, certifications and training. They offered me a special “behind the scene” discussion that really opened my eyes around the Infosec world. I still think to this day about that interaction even if it was over 12 years ago.
2. Would you share a (sourcing, interviewing, etc.) trick or productivity hack that makes your life easier:
The most important productivity hack for me is answering this question: “what does the data tell you?” This question helps me understand where I need to dive deeper, informs me of future action items, plans for correction and helps me set clear guidelines on moving forward.
3. What’s one thing about talent acquisition that you’ve completely changed your mind about over the years?
Data, Data, Data. The example might be boring but initially in my career I was a mess when it came to organisational skills, having data ready to present, and generally it was all about feeling and in the moment.
I quickly realised that this is a path to failure and I needed to upskill myself in terms of how I worked with data. So I started working on myself to understand my own data as a Recruiter and how I can be more effective and also efficient.
In conclusion, it is still about the people you meet and I get an amazing buzz whenever there is an offer out (I am as excited as the Recruiter making the offer) and I now know this needs to be complemented with the data behind it. Only in this way can we really become partners to the business and build a scalable and predictable TA function.
Community Connection
1. Who in your community inspires you and why? (Should we ask this person to share their story next?)
- Oana Iordachescu – for her amazing work and progress on DEI initiatives, for her career progression and her ability to take risks and move into a field where companies don’t invest that much, budget is scarce, policies even more so, and become a renowned figure in the DEI space. It takes courage and self-belief to be able to build something from scratch like she did with the Fair Conference and all the initiatives she is driving and supporting.
- Luke Eaton – for his Data Driven Recruiter newsletter. I love when TA people are so passionate and they find time during their busy schedules with work and life to still be able to contribute to the wider TA population by creating something that has a lot of value and knowledge for all TA professionals out there. I read his newsletter and posts with great excitement and always go back to re-read some of them from time to time.
📌 What’s one question you’ve always wanted to ask other talent professionals?
How do we (TA) stay valid in an AI world where let’s be honest we’re not very liked by candidates and people out there say we will be replaced by automation?