How we hire at Jampp, straight from our Talent Acquisition Manager

We are excited to share our Talent Acquisition Manager’s Jampper story! Romina Rizzo tells us what sets Jampp apart from other companies, and what it takes to build our very unique team. Let’s dive right in!

What do you do at Jampp?

I joined Jampp to help organize the Talent Acquisition area. The goal was to create a consistent hiring process to help us find the best talent in the market. This includes lots of different tasks: getting to know our teams and their needs, working side by side with hiring managers to evaluate candidates efficiently, implementing a referral program and interviewer training courses, building our presence in the community, and of course working to ensure the best candidate experience!

A typical day has lots of meetings booked: checkpoints with hiring managers, interviews with candidates, occasional catch-ups with my team and partners and—if it's a VERY GOOD day—a job offer meeting! When I'm not hopping on a call, I'm usually using my network to find new talent, building reports to see how we can make the process more efficient, and making sure our candidates are moving forward.

What has been something unexpected or challenging that came up during your time at Jampp?

COVID-19 and the quarantine! Early on, we decided to continue reaching out to candidates remotely, getting to know them, and building relationships so that we could have everything ready once we went back to the office.

But… it quickly became evident that we wouldn’t be heading back to the office anytime soon… so we had to adapt our interviewing, hiring, and onboarding processes to make them 100% remote. It was a challenge at the beginning, but it truly helped us re-evaluate what we were doing right and not so right, and we ended up with stronger and more consistent processes.

So how do you craft a solid candidate experience in uncertain times?

• Communicate: both internally and with the candidates! This has always been a key element of our hiring process and now even more so. Letting the candidates know when and how they’ll be hearing from us, what the different steps of the process are, letting them know they can always reach out if they have questions. We want to make sure we are mindful of everyone's expectations.
• Research: we constantly look at what other talent teams are doing to understand market trends. We’ve been joining webinars and meetups, and searching for new ways to evaluate candidates.
• Review & Adapt/ Reorganize: we worked extensively with the team to make sure the hiring process was remote-friendly. I'm so glad we got to work on that ASAP because a couple of months into the quarantine we started ramping up our hiring! The adjusted process helped us incorporate Jamppers successfully to help us tackle new challenges.
• Seize the opportunities: going remote-first was a challenge but it also has some perks. We can now consider talent from new locations. We actively started looking into new markets and adjusted our logistics where needed. I think it’s a great opportunity to continue building a more diverse team!

What sets us apart from other tech companies?

I think there are three things that make us unique. First, there's the complexity of our product. We are not just building a website or an app, we are creating machine learning models that need to make predictions in just a few ms and we are building a scalable data infrastructure that is processing over 1.5 million requests per second. We definitely have a technical challenge that can't be easily found and, by helping us solve the problems we face, you get the chance to innovate and be part of a group of pioneers in the tech community.

Second, we have an amazing team of engineers and devs: the minds behind our "magic". They are very talented and have the knowledge and skills we need, but most importantly, they are all incredibly passionate and collaborative. For me, working with them is a privilege!

Last but not least, our culture is what makes us who we are. I read about Jampp's values when I was in the interviewing process and I thought they were great, but I didn't expect them to be so well-reflected in the day-to-day! I would describe our work environment as somewhere with very passionate and friendly people that pair up and work together towards the same goals, going that "extra mile" because they believe in our product. Every idea is heard with respect, no matter who it comes from, and you always find someone willing to help you!

Do you have a favorite motivational quote? Or is there something you always say?

The first thing that comes to my mind is the well-known adage: "This too shall pass". I believe it helps with every aspect of life. When it comes to work, we may face frustrating news (for example, a candidate rejecting an offer) but it’s important to see the big picture. When things are looking great (like when you hit your hiring goals) we need to remember that won't last forever either. If we want to have more positive results, we need to think ahead and continue giving our best!

What is your advice for somebody applying to work at jampp?

• Be yourself! It might sound like a cliché, but: be yourself, really! We have a very thought-out process that helps us to get to know our candidates as much as we can. Sometimes a candidate will not be a fit for the job they’re applying to, but by getting to know them we might find another position they can excel at.
• Ask questions! In fact, curiosity is very much encouraged! If you have a genuine interest in our company, there are going to be many things you will want to know about, so ask, ask, ask!
• Don’t worry if you don’t check every single requirement! If you have a relevant set of skills that you can develop and you think you can grow into the role, go for it!
  

“We are not looking for the most skilled person in the world, we are looking for people that love what they do and want to work in a place where they can make a difference and constantly learn new things as they do so.”

Finally, in the spirit of full disclosure, if you are looking for a structured organization where everything is already solved and every process is set in stone, this is definitely not the place for you. But, if you find the idea of helping build a growing company exciting, check out our careers page.

What keeps you excited to come to work?

In general, I love the fact that I get to interact with my coworkers (both from my team and others) and that I get to meet interesting people all the time. I'm definitely a social person, so I need that in my everyday life to stay motivated.

On a slightly more specific level, I like that we are currently being more professional in the way we forecast and plan ahead our talent acquisition strategy. It helps us think about "the bigger picture" and work in an organized and focused way. Like always, I'm learning new things!

Has there been a particular “win” in the work you’ve done here?

I think our biggest win was understanding how important it is to work together with the rest of our teams and generating very close relationships with leaders and hiring managers. Building that "bridge" has helped us get a deeper understanding of our hiring needs and translate them into tangible hiring plans with results that we are able to measure. To build strong teams and scale them, you need to get the right people involved, adding their skills and strengths to the equation.

Random roundup!

• What activities do you look forward to after work? Dancing, playing video games, taking a walk by the river, watching my favorite shows on Netflix (or Amazon or Disney+), learning a new technical skill (I have been playing around with some Arduino projects)
• What are your favorite perks of working at Jampp: You get to work with people from all around the world, you can easily see the impact of your work and you can collect very cool t-shirts from the company's events :)
• Favorite app at the moment 📱 Sweat to track my workouts and stay organized, and also Mario Kart Tour—I'm obsessed!
  

A day in the life of a Jampper

We believe our team is our greatest asset and we are happy to share its stories. If you want to learn more about what it’s like to work at Jampp, follow us on Instagram or visit our careers page to find the right opportunity and see for yourself 😉