It’s hard for me to start putting thoughts on paper about leaving HireVue. A part of me thought I would be a HireVue lifer. I couldn’t picture myself at another organization. Two years isn’t a long time in the scheme of things, but looking back it’s fuzzy as I remember working for other organizations.
If I were to ask you what the best two years of your life were, what would you say? A mentor told me if you respond with anything besides ‘these past two years’ you’re doing something wrong. To say these past two years were anything short of the best two years is an understatement. I’ve tried to put down some of the key lessons I’ve learned while at HireVue that I’ll always remember.
HireVue’s technology changes life
If you don’t already know, HireVue allows candidates to share their experiences and demonstrate their ability to work. Simply put, candidates are much more than words on a resume and making hiring decisions off a resume alone is a huge injustice for the candidate and organization. So why is this relevant?
Here is my experience from 2013 compared to what HireVue was looking for:
5 months of business development experience vs. 2-3 years of business development experience
Only inbound experience vs ability to prospect outbound/cold accounts
No prior territory strategy expertise vs expertise in building a territory plan
From this it’s clear I was underqualified in terms of why HireVue should hire me. They gave me an opportunity to take a digital interview, in which I was able to showcase that I wasn’t a bozo. I knew my stuff and was confident I could be successful. Without that opportunity to share my story using their software I would have been looked over completely. It’s safe to say my life was deeply impacted because of this technology.
Don’t let up in the ups and don’t get down in the downs
I’ve never dated someone with a split personality, but if I had I would imagine it feels like working in sales. Some days everything will absolutely go your way. Every person you call is nice and people respond to your emails with interest. It’s those days it’s easy to rest on your laurels. The next day, everyone tells you they’re not interested with some snarky reply and no one picks up your phone calls. You tend to feel all emotions possible in a week period.
In my first month at HireVue I hit quota. I was flying high, the new guy who was going to show some of the tenured reps that this young buck could do it. I was getting praised by my manager, but soon feelings of complacency kicked in. The next two months, 50% quota attainment. I was deflated, how could I let that happen?
It became clear to me that when things are going well, do not let up! On the reverse side, when things are going bad, do not let up and do not get down. Don’t take the noes personally, and don’t think the yeses were solely because of your charm.
Trust the process, the score will take care of itself
In Bill Walsh’s book, The Score Takes Care of Itself he talks about aiming for a Standard of Performance (which is absolute) versus winning (which is relative to others). Just because you have a bad week doesn’t mean you have to overhaul the whole process that worked for the past 4 weeks. Focusing on results doesn’t equate to success, executing and focusing on the process does.
About a year and half into my tenure at HireVue I became extremely frustrated. I was executing my process that I knew would work, but not seeing results. My colleagues who were doing similar things were seeing great success. What was wrong with me? I watched their numbers religiously, getting a little more down and bitter every time I saw they had another success. I started hoping for their failure. It was then when I was told a quote that changed my outlook.
“Winners focus on winning. Losers focus on winners.”
I was making myself miserable. Work wasn’t causing stress, I was bringing it upon myself. When I stopped trying to beat everyone else and focused on winning for myself, the score took care of itself.
Think Big
HireVue’s CEO, Mark Newman, is one the biggest thinkers I’ve come across. The goals and ambitions we set often seemed so high that it was frustrating. I quickly learned to forget the quote “Aim for the moon and if you fail you’ll land in the stars.” HireVue taught me to aim for the moon and don’t settle for the stars, each day you better work your ass off to land on the moon. The goals we’ve hit as a company were because of the collective effort and belief from each individual shooting and fighting tooth and nail to land on the moon.
Keep it Simple
Be yourself. Be kind to others and people will be kind to you. Don’t overthink things. Often times I racked my brain and tried googling for the top subject lines and email templates when I had ones that worked. To be clear, I’m not proposing that the status quo is all you need. 429 of the original Fortune 500 companies are now out of business, innovate or die! What I am saying however is continue to build on what works.
HireVue took me in as an underqualified, green, and naïve kid fresh out of college and spit me out a whole new person. I’ve always tried my best to make HireVue better than it was when I first stepped into the office, because it sure made me better.
I left the HireVue office after my first day of work with a sense of gratitude and excitement, excitement for the future. Today as I leave HireVue for one last time, I’ll be leaving with a deeper sense of gratitude, and excitement, excitement for the future knowing the next two years of my life, will be the best two years of my life.