Born in Serbia and raised in Canada, Masha grew up on the move. She has enthusiastically immersed herself in the culture of wherever she’s called home - a trait that has stayed with her and propelled her to success in the international arena of business and technology recruitment. It comes as no surprise, then, that Masha loves to travel, speaks 6 languages, and excels in her roles at WeAreKeen and Miro.
Let’s learn more about Masha and her journey from HR intern to WeAreKeen talent partner.
Masha: When I was growing up we were constantly on the move, so I was making new friends but having to constantly adapt. That was a challenge. After attending university in Rotterdam, I was looking at what the best starting point would be in Talent Acquisition and came across recruitment during my internship at A&T.
Various fields of discipline within the scope of HR and recruitment have always interested me because I have a passion for finding, attracting, retaining & developing talent. Recruitment is the starting point there.
I joined WeAreKeen as an internal recruiter, which was exciting because there were less than 10 people here. I had the chance to help set up the recruitment process and candidate journey; both things I am passionate about!
Personally, I am a massive dog lover (always grew up with one) and hopefully I'll be a proud dog owner soon! I love fitness - yoga, pilates - any exercise that also helps relax my mind. I love to travel, hang out with friends, and experience as many different cultures and foods as I can.
Funny story, I got introduced to WeAreKeen about 3 years back and met Annemarie and another colleague at our old office. We hit it off and I knew then that this place was special. I, unfortunately, could not join at the time so I just kept following Keen. I therefore also became quite familiar with the amazing work Laima did with growing the brand. Last year, I got back in touch with Annemarie after getting some experience elsewhere - and went pretty smooth sailing after that. :)
Initially I was the only internal recruiter here. I was focusing on creating the recruitment journey for applicants and actively sourcing for candidates who would be a great fit for Keen as we were growing a lot. In January I wanted to explore the RPO side as well, so I joined Miro, focusing on both business and tech recruitment.
I am working with Miro, a leading SaaS company changing the way we collaborate online, and my role there is more “R for R” - recruitment for recruiters. I’m currently busier on the tech recruiting side, which is primarily engineering.
I like experiencing different companies, figuring out how they function & then being able to apply my learnings to the next companies I will work with.
I think it is a melting pot of knowledge you get from different companies while working for one company.
You constantly have to grow, change, and adapt to new scenarios (every 6 months - 1 year) and build all these great relationships along the way. You do have to be quicker on your feet as well, than in-house.
It is a melting pot of knowledge you get from different companies while working for one company.
Yes. Especially with adaptability, which you don’t always have as much as an in-house recruiter because those positions can become stagnant after a while unless there is some developments or space to keep learning. The embedded recruiter life means constant change, adaptation and a steeper learning curve for sure.
It’s nice to be attached to a company that is scaling quickly which you may not have had the opportunity to work with otherwise. My favourite part is making new connections and the learnings I get from working with such great people.
Be easy on yourself. It takes a while to learn the ins and outs of the job so don’t be too hard on yourself. I do think it’s very important to meet coworkers, participate in the office culture, show your face around the office and be seen. Share the knowledge you have and soak up everything you can from colleagues over a coffee or lunch. Becoming part of their team & feeling part of their team will help you get most out of your experience.
For my roles it has been very sourcing-driven as the roles are hard to fill. Often, there’s a big wave when it comes to interviews, but the focus shifts from one week to another. There’s a decent mix of interviewing, sourcing, weekly meetings to improve things, meeting with hiring managers, and data sharing. I’m currently working with two other keenies, so we are sharing information, helping each other out and connecting frequently.