As we approach the start of the New Year, I want to reflect on 2023. It’s been a tumultuous 12 months but there is a lot I’m grateful for. Here are just a few (in no particular order):

1. Having FUN at work — I love the people I work with and the culture at RocketPower. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and have built an incredible culture.

2. Having a supportive manager who not only cares about my professional growth and development but also my well-being and interests outside of work.

3. Working with team members from all over the world — This year, I’ve had the privilege of managing recruiters in Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela! It’s allowed me to broaden my worldview and get a look into other cultures.

4. Exposure to industries new to me — The majority of my experience has been in tech, so getting the chance to work with clients in the education, semiconductor manufacturing, pet, and gaming spaces has been interesting.

5. Exploring markets new to me — I’ve had the opportunity to work with US-based companies hiring in Brazil, Israel, Japan, and Mexico. It’s been interesting and oftentimes surprising to learn about the nuances of each market. (For example, employees in Mexico are paid for 13 months of work in one year, LinkedIn isn’t commonly used to find employment in Japan.)

6. Flexibility — I’m moving from New York back to California in the New Year, and fortunately there are no issues given RocketPower’s flexible work environment.

7. Working from home — Nothing beats taking a call in my sweatpants and RocketPower-branded t-shirt in the comfort of my own home with my cat on my lap!

8. Collaborative hiring partners — There are so many wonderful hiring managers I’ve gotten to work with this year. Their openness and eagerness to partner have allowed me and my team to create and influence hiring processes and decisions.

9. Access to labor market intelligence — Leveraging TalentNeuron reports has helped me get up to speed on salary ranges, total addressable markets, and geographies where talent is most concentrated for every role my team is working on. It’s been particularly helpful for the non-technical roles I’ve had less exposure to.

10. Trello — This is not sponsored, and I must admit that I only use the free version, but I LOVE utilizing Trello boards for candidate tracking. Seeing visually where candidates are in the process has been a huge help for me in setting goals for my team and expectations with our clients.

11. Slack — When Slack is down, it feels like my life is on pause (just kidding, sort of). I love how easy it is to get ahold of my coworkers. I can’t imagine life without Slack (again, not sponsored).

12. Slack Huddles — Sometimes I’m not camera-ready so I very much appreciate that audio-only is the default/norm for Huddles.

13. New features on Google Meet — I love the new Google Meet feature that allows you to bring your call to whatever doc, sheet, or slide deck you’re working on. I feel like I’m bringing my team with me, and it makes me feel more present while I’m taking notes.

14. Accessing emails with Gem — Being able to find pretty much anyone’s contact info using the Gem Chrome extension makes me feel like I have special powers.

15. LinkedIn Recruiter — This is a given, but I always find myself consulting LinkedIn Recruiter when trying to understand the total addressable market for a role.

16. Google Workspace — Having to use Microsoft Teams heavily this year has made me realize how seamless Google makes things! #sorrynotsorry

17. Captions — I’ve found myself sometimes using captions on Google Meet calls. It’s been a great way for me to catch any details from a conversion I may have otherwise missed. Don’t shy away from trying it!

18. Resilient team members — Two recruiters on one of my projects conducted 132 recruiter phone screens to make ONE iOS Engineer hire in Brazil.

19. Flexing my HR muscle — Researching and putting together salary range recommendations for a client’s roles put me in touch with my HR roots (I started my career as an HR Manager).

20. Variety — This is one of the reasons I left an in-house role to go back to the RPO/recruiting consultancy world. I love change and working on a variety of projects at a time. It gives me a greater view of the market and challenges me. This year, I’ve worked across almost all of RocketPower’s business lines — Strategic Search, Recruiting on Demand, RPO, and Direct Hire.

21. Autonomy — I feel empowered and trusted to make important decisions internally and with my projects. I appreciate being able to work independently but also having team members I can count on.

22. Creativity — I got to work closely with our in-house designer on the look of our one-pagers and case studies.

23. Working with a non-profit — One of my current projects involves building the foundational teams for STEM centers for underprivileged youth. I love working with a client that has such a powerful mission.

24. Working with talented recruiters — I have learned so much from the recruiters and sourcers on my projects and it’s made me a better recruiter and manager.

25. RocketPower — It’s been a tough year for the recruiting world, and RocketPower was not immune to the ups and downs of the market. I’m grateful to still be a part of the team!

I had a lot of fun putting this list together, and I appreciate you taking the time to read it. I’m wishing you and your loved ones a wonderful close to the year and a great start to 2024.