The inside recruiting guy…a thread

In my first few jobs as a Software engineer, my HR team used to refer me Panda: ‘The inside recruiting guy.’

A Thread on hiring, networking, referral, starting up, referring…

When I joined my first job at Sonata Software Bangalore in 1998, soon after a few days of employment, I approached a VP/Sr HR team querying ‘are you looking to hire more?’ He readily said yes and also shared if I know some software engineers who are proficient in the Japanese language!

I was puzzled by his need and was happy that he asked for proficiency in the Japanese language!

I said yes, and gave info about ‘OCAC Bhubaneswar’ which was training some of my senior college students in software + Japanese language.

He was impressed, and I was ready to build a network.

I moved on from Sonata after a few years to a small Startup CoreObjects (in fact I gave up a job in Finland to travel back to Bangalore in 2000 to work for a startup). I loved the team CoreObjects and helped to bring several of my ex-colleagues and even my ex-boss (manager) who were looking for a change.

CoreObjects grew from 10 people (when I joined in 2000) to several hundred by 2008. I am happy that several of my friends and ex-colleagues made a massive contribution to grow CoreObjects and became key people in the organization. I made several lakh rupees as my referral bonus.

I was moving to London in 2003 to join a UK company and helped the company to hire several positions and similarly in several such in many companies I joined /worked.

At some point of time during 2002 in Bangalore, I used to get 20 to 30 CV (passive job seekers) connecting me to recommend ‘good’ jobs if I come across.

Fast forward to 2007, when my ex-boss in CoreObjects was looking for a PHP developer, and he contacted me while I was in London! I took that challenge and helped them to hire a PHP developer from my connects in Pune.

This carried on in London too with several companies that I worked.

These hiring, helping people to get a job, and having a strong relationship with HR teams across the companies helped me build a vast network.

And, I felt I could bring some product to help companies hire better and use the network to hire. That was my 2nd attempt to build a Startup ‘Talentty.’ Amit Ranjan had blogged us then :-)

When Talentty failed in the 2008 recession, present-day Explara was starting to take birth.

I continue to get several such inbound queries for Explara, and I volunteer on my own to proactively connect to other startups who hire. I haven’t struggled much to hire during Explara journey. Though I agree we are not in 100s of hiring scale.

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Here is a commonly seen query I get on my network.

Hi Santosh,

Are you hiring? I approached you a few months ago for ……, unfortunately, we couldn’t proceed.

I like what you guys do and the passion for building a scalable business.

Thanks,

….

Hi ….,

Thanks. Let me share this: the highest level of happiness is when people want to join in a journey.

However, I am about to pass through to a better profitable stage before we can expand the team at Explara.

I wish you all the best and let us stay connected to explore endeavors and joining roads in this journey.

Take care,

Santosh

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The love to connect people helps me to stay happy!