Written by shr 
HR and Recruitment From the Intern Perspective
sHR. intern Elif Kocapehlivan wrote a blog post about her experience and learning process at sHR. We thank her and wish her a good luck in her career.
My internship experience has led me to gain insight and perspective on Human Resources (HR), as well as personal insights.
HR according to people vs my experience
HR doesn’t have a good reputation – to the degree that saying some employees dislike it with a passion wouldn’t be an inappropriate way of describing the situation. And honestly, it is understandable given what people experience with HR.
Recruitment doesn’t have the brightest reputation either. / But reputation of recruitment doesn’t shine next to HR either.
I’ve seen that these views are highly dependent on what you do as a recruiter. By prioritizing relationships with candidates, it really is possible to have people not think badly of you!
HR evolves constantly.
It is possible to recruit candidates in new and creative ways, especially with the help of new technologies like AI. It is quite exciting to witness the changes in this field. You can learn more about how recruitment process evolves here (https://shr-consulting.com/new-trends-in-it-recruitment/), and how AI tools help improve, fasten and even make the process more fun; here (https://shr-consulting.com/tools-in-recruitment-recruitment-made-easy-for-all-parts/).
Connecting with candidates
It is important to form long term connections with candidates. After finding an ideal candidate and being with them in their process of getting hired, we often find ourselves caring about them. We start to wonder how their interview went with our client; how they did their assignment etc.
In my case, I’ve experienced this with candidates that I’ve written a report for. After getting a thorough view of the candidate, we get a sense of where he would thrive – where he would fit in the best. I wanted to see these great talents expressing their potential.
What makes a good talent? And what is sought?
There is no formula that gives you that great talent. It is highly specific to the position you’re looking for, and to the individual you’re investigating. Education and experience are indicators, but that’s about it.
Every company has a unique culture, and with that, the individuals they seek to work with changes. The point is to match the individuals to the companies. It is as important as technical competencies. After observing the process of recruiting, I’ve developed a rather funny way of looking at recruiting like it is match-making of some sorts.
Technical knowledge is important for recruiters too
sHR. is quite technically competent. Throughout the time I’ve spent looking for candidates, I’ve come to see that it isn’t possible to understand a candidate without having technical understanding of IT. As far as sourcing goes, it is enough to have a general understanding. But even when sourcing, you find out new skills and terms related to IT that you have to know. When it comes to interviewing candidates, a thorough knowledge on IT is necessary. Beyond knowing which skills are necessary for certain positions; it is essential to understand the candidate by having experience yourself, first hand. When the candidate feels that he can speak to you in “his language”, he expresses himself more, appreciates being understood, and we get to understand him in depth. This has immense value.
That being said, having thorough knowledge about IT is definitely not easy. You’d benefit from having experience – maybe some coding experience, attending to related courses etc. But IT is a universe in and of itself, containing many fields within itself.
Recruitment is an essential factor to company success
Along with going through and witnessing recruitment practices and stages, I’ve researched the recruitment processes of world’s biggest tech companies like Google, Facebook, Tesla etc. Many firmly believe that they would never be where they are without their creative and original recruitment practices. They have seen that doing great work comes from having great talents that work with you. After all, it is people who is behind all of the great work.
To them, the talents acquired pave the future of the company.
What did I gain on a personal level?
This internship experience made me learn about and have a general understanding about HR and recruitment. But on a more fundamental level, I’ve gained insights that will stick with me through whatever I do in the future – and I feel at the end of the day, this is what truly matters.
Working hard falls second to working with strategy.
When you have many tasks and an intense work schedule, it is strategy that saves you. It’s also possible to make work more fun by arranging it.
When hard work isn’t directed, it does not necessarily lead to somewhere good.
Leave the work at the workplace – for your own good AND for productivity.
Work life balance is a buzzword for a valid reason. Your best performance comes up when you’re challenged, but also have room to experiment and be comfortable.
Focus on the big picture first – fill in the details
The big picture guides you towards what you should work on; what to put emphasis on. As you get a general view, you see that certain details are important. This skill is crucial when working on large projects.
Having a larger view allows you to work with a clear direction, without getting lost in the chaos of details.
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Overall, this was quite an intense experience when it comes to learning about recruitment on every level. I was happy to get involved in the process, and gain insights along the way.
