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✨ Live Office Hours ✨ I'm the Head of Talent Attraction at Zapier. I'm Kim Wilkes. AMA!Featuredhttps://lu.ma/kim.wilkes

kimwilkes'skimwilkes·Mar 17
Posted in:People & HROffice HoursJob Hunting

UPDATE: For those of you who've missed it, our call recording is here!

Passcode: LiveOH24_KimWilkes

Hi Elphas! This week we're bringing you ✨live✨ Office Hours on Friday, March 22nd @ 11am PT. RSVP here to hear Kim's expert insights.

If you've got a question you'd like to ask Kim, reply to this post with it, or ask her live.

Look forward to seeing you on Friday!

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Hi Elphas!

I’m Kim Wilkes and I’m the Head of Talent Attraction at Zapier, where we’re on a mission to make automation work for everyone. We are a no-code automation platform that enables you to connect over 6,000 apps to automate the tedious parts of your work so that you can focus more on the creative and more human aspects of what you do. We are a fully distributed team of 800+ across 35+ countries, and we are hiring!

Before Zapier, I worked for a few larger tech organizations, including Amazon, Uber, and Palo Alto Networks. I’ve led full lifecycle recruiting teams and global sourcing orgs. I have also led brand initiatives, built onboarding programs, and partnered closely with organizations dedicated to fostering diversity, inclusion, belonging, and equity in the workplace.

I've never encountered a team that's more transparent, empathetic, and kind. I receive direct and honest feedback coupled with the encouragement and support that's helping me grow and produce my best work. I feel my contributions are truly valued, and I feel a genuine sense of appreciation for my efforts. I do my best to ensure those around me feel the same.

Outside of the workplace, I enjoy being in nature with my partner and our dog (hiking, kayaking, camping) and taking nature photography. I’ve been a Meetup organizer in several cities over the past decade, with events centered around art and live music. I enjoy working out, reading, sketching/painting, attending live shows, cheering on the Stillers, and relaxing with a glass of wine. I'm also passionate about traveling and embracing different cultures and forming meaningful connections with new people.

Ask me anything about talent attraction (sourcing/employer brand), job search and interview tips, leading fully remote and distributed teams, organizational skills, doing more with less, or anything else!

🗓 Join us this Friday, March 22nd at 11am PT / 2pm ET for the Live Office Hour!

💌 RSVP at https://lu.ma/kim.wilkes

ElphaStaff'sElphaStaff·Mar 17
Thanks so much for joining us @kimwilkes!Elphas – please ask @kimwilkes your questions before Friday, March 22nd. @kimwilkes may not have time to answer every questions, so emoji upvote your favorites 🔥👍🏾➕
kimwilkes'skimwilkes·Mar 18
Thank you for having me! I'm excited to chat with everyone!
kateshastakova'skateshastakova·Mar 19
How to attract talent while having 2 or 3 stars on Glassdoors
kateshastakova'skateshastakova·Mar 19
Thank you for agreeing to answer our questions :) I am wondering about challenges that HR may already having with people doing more with less?
kateshastakova'skateshastakova·Mar 19
How the final decision is made in between more-less similar candidates. Anything I can do to stand out and win the comparison?
Jeanine171·Mar 20
Hi there, thanks for volunteering to help Elphas :) I know that recruiters like to ask a question like “Why do you want to work for us”. Is it true that recruiters don’t like when candidates mention “because company is cool and has a great culture” because it makes them think that they are here “to take from the company”? So the correct answers is more about what candidate can bring to the company instead, is that right?
millytamati'smillytamati·Mar 20
This sounds great, will definitely join! :)
kimwilkes'skimwilkes·Mar 21
Excited to meet you, @millytamati!
kateemswiler'skateemswiler·Mar 19
Hi @kimwilkes! Thanks for spending some time with us and lending your expertise. The timing is pretty great — I was planning to apply for a role at Zapier today. I'm wondering what could help me stand out from the crowd. What are you looking for in your next Zapiens? 😄
kimwilkes'skimwilkes·Mar 21
Glad to hear you found a role that interests you at Zapier! Happy to share during our session or afterward if we don't get through all of the questions. I'll also keep an eye out for your application.
jennbushell'sjennbushell·Mar 22
What should a candidate do if they send a document (cover letter, resume, etc.) and find a typo after the fact?I usually think it's just a missing period or comma and no one will notice, but with the job market being tight, I am afraid it might be the one thing that disqualifies me. It happened recently for a company I am really stoked about. I am torn on reaching out and saying, "Hey I made a mistake and here's the new file" hoping they would appreciate the honesty, or simply hoping they didn't even notice something so small. What do recruiters prefer?
shavonnepounders'sshavonnepounders·Mar 20
Hello! Thank you for agreeing to answer a question. I really appreciate it. This might be a bit off-topic, but I was wondering what your role was at Palo Alto Networks. In your position, did you ever attend conferences? If so, what drew you to these conferences?Hello and thank you for agreeing to answer question! It is really appreciated. This is probably a bit off topic as far as regular questions; however, may I ask what your role was at Palo Alto Networks? In your role, did you ever attend conferences? If so, what attracted you to these conferences?
brittanypastuhov'sbrittanypastuhov·Mar 21
Hi @kimwilkes! I'm an experienced content marketer actively seeking new opportunities. In your opinion, what makes an applicant for a remote job stand out amongst other competitive candidates?
Patchara'sPatchara·Mar 20
I recently moved to the States and am so confused by the hiring process and difference in resume writing. Could you shed light into why the process is so drawn out here? Why there are so many interviews and tests? Also, any tips on tailoring a resume to showcase transferable skills would be appreciated. Thank you, looking forward to your session!
barbarajsefchik'sbarbarajsefchik·Mar 19
Hi @kimwilkes! Thank you for being willing to share your expertise with us. My next career move should be to a vice president role. I have all the experience necessary but yet somehow because I didn’t make it that far in my last company I can’t break into that role anywhere else. What advice could you give me to stand out in a way that makes me an appealing candidate?
christinajones'schristinajones·Mar 21
Hi Kim, thank you for taking the time to answer questions for us Elphas! I often hear that job candidates should reach out to hiring managers via LinkedIn after applying for a role to "stand out". What is your take on this practice? If you don't have a prior relationship with the hiring manager and don't have any specific questions about the role, does reaching out really make a difference or does it just annoy hiring managers?
heidischaler'sheidischaler·Mar 22
@kimwilkes - thank you! I’m curious about the current appetite in companies for employee wellness benefits (context: I’m founding a company that would create a community and platform for new parents to find vetted healthcare providers for their kids). I’ve noticed a decline in these programs at many companies and really interested in whether that’s anecdotal or proven. Thank you!
mmarie'smmarie·Mar 21
Hey Kim! I am super curious on how to get a role in Zapier. I fit quite a few of the open roles (and have applied for YEARS), and would like to know what exactly you all are looking for in future coworkers.
Darnell218·Mar 20
Hi @kimwilkes thanks for agreeing to answer our questions. Your team at Zapier sounds like a brilliant one! My Q for you is: I'd like to move into People Ops but don't have any prior experience. I've got lots of experience of non-profit programme delivery, systems management and am now moving into volunteer management. I'm hoping to leverage this most recent stint in volunteer management to make a transition into People Ops. It's early days and I've got full autonomy in my role, so I'd love to shape it to support these career ambitions. How can I built up relevant experience in this role to make the transition a smooth one?
edytad'sedytad·Mar 20
Hello @kimwilkes - thank you for taking time to share your experience with us:)Few questions:- Could you provide insights into the qualities that stand out to you when reviewing resumes and/or conducting interviews?- Can you share some strategies for effectively navigating the job market, particularly in competitive tech sectors like yours?Thank you
smichalczuk'ssmichalczuk·Mar 19
It's always stood out to me that Zapier was bootstrapped (and separately, I love the product). How do you manage equity compensation, and how does it impact talent attraction? Do you find that candidates and employees wish you had an IPO timeline, or are they happy that you are profitable and don't have such dramatic cycles of hires and fires?
paulinesd'spaulinesd·Mar 19
Hey Kim, not a question yet, but a big shout out to Zapier! I'm absolutely in love with the product. I hadn't used it in several years, and I was stunned at how it grew. I'm using it to automate workflows in the org I volunteer for (Women in Cleantech and Sustainability). Your product literally turned me into a star volunteer - also, and primarily, it saves us tons of times to work with the community VS updating freaking spreadsheets. That's it, fangirling over!
kimwilkes'skimwilkes·Mar 21
@paulinesd this is so kind of you! I love hearing how Zapier is helping you. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this thoughtful feedback!
Brea'sBrea·Mar 19
Hi Kim! While working with start ups/freelancing I’ve often had to wear multiple hats while having a job title completely unrelated to the work that I was doing. Now I’m applying to jobs that are related to those tasks but am having a hard time landing interviews because I don’t have “direct experience” in those specific fields. Do you have any advice for standing out or emphasizing my transferable skills on my resume?
kateshastakova'skateshastakova·Mar 19
Hi there, thanks for helping us understand the recruitment work and tools :) I was wondering on your opinion if it’s still possible to get through automated recruitment tools with the resume that people write by themselves (therefore probably don’t know the matching score between resume and job description). I feel like it’s a must-have nowadays to use tools that parse the job description and then check your resume to see what’s missing and give you match score and idea that if it’s more than 50% match then probably you’ll go through the automatic outloop filter. Without them I feel like there is an automatic “no” response from some companies. I am wondering how many good candidates got an automatic “no” just because the formalities, like they used “software engineering” in resume instead of “software development” in job description or “life cycle” vs “lifecycle”. Are recruiters still going to over all resumes anyways?
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