It’s not every day that someone in the recruiting and HR space gets to work at a company where they’re not only an expert in their particular role, but also a part of the company’s core business. However, with the newly opened Global Head of Talent Acquisition position at Glassdoor, that’s exactly what we’re offering. Just ask Glassdoor’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Carmel Galvin.
“Glassdoor gives me the opportunity to do things I would never be able to do in any other company. The HR department here is truly a living lab,” Galvin shares. “When I interviewed with [Glassdoor CEO] Robert Hohman, we talked about how it was important for Glassdoor to build a world-class effort within HR. And we have the platform to make it happen.”
And now, that team is looking for an experienced, enthusiastic, and innovative talent acquisition expert to join them. We recently sat down with Galvin to chat a little bit more about the position and what makes it so different than any other recruiting role. Here are a few of the highlights from our conversation.
Glassdoor: Tell us a little bit about yourself. What do you do here at Glassdoor?
Carmel Galvin: I’m the Chief Human Resources Officer at Glassdoor. I’ve been here about a year, and it’s a very interesting role because of the fact that we’re Glassdoor! I’m working in HR and recruiting at a company that does that for a living. It allows me to look at our business from the customer’s perspective, influence the product, and get to meet our clients and help them navigate Glassdoor and think about how best to use it in their HR/recruiting process. And partnering with the PR team here enables me to amplify my voice on all of those topics.
Glassdoor: What are some specific examples of you being able to leverage your HR expertise to influence the business?
Carmel Galvin: A good example of that is when Know Your Worth
was being launched, I had the opportunity to sit down with the team and help them refine the tool so that it delivered the most value for job seekers and HR professionals. Besides that, I’ve really enjoyed being at the heart of the business mission. When you work in other organizations in HR and recruiting, you’re in a support function — you know what the business does, but it’s less important that you’re a subject matter expert in it. At Glassdoor, though, because we are a recruiting company, I often get the opportunity to weigh in on our product from the perspective of our customers. And of course, I get to take what we see on Glassdoor about Glassdoor and work to make the company even greater.
Glassdoor: Let’s talk a little more about the Global Head of Talent Acquisition position — what will that role consist of?
Carmel Galvin: In the beginning, the position will primarily be internally focused. We’re at 650-ish employees now, and we want someone to come in and help us continue to grow as an organization in an efficient and scalable way.
We want someone with experience building a recruiting effort at a company that was at a similar phase as us, and can help mentor the team. Someone who can bring best practices and learnings about what others have done well, and build a playbook for our recruiting teams and hiring managers to help us find the most amazing people to work at Glassdoor. It’s about helping to grow the team, but it’s also about growing our collective skillset around hiring.
Another part of that is figuring out how to create a great candidate experience, and working with people operations to make sure that everyone who comes here feels like they want to work here. Our whole push is for the informed candidate — we want candidates to want to work here so much that we barely even have to recruit for them anymore, and we’re hoping that whoever comes on board can design a program to help us become that talent magnet. That means nurturing candidates way before they’re even interested in a job.
Glassdoor: What about some of the more externally-focused responsibilities?
Carmel Galvin: The external part of the job is being a leader among leaders in talent acquisition and networking with other leaders to share and learn best practices. It will also be about growing our brand and thought leadership — that could involve anything from speaking engagements to social media to networking events using our platform to help grow our profile. It’s sort of like being a culture ambassador.
Glassdoor: What kind of person are you looking for to fill this role?
Carmel Galvin: We want someone who’s done this before — somebody with insight into how other companies have been able to grow their companies at scale. The perfect candidate will have strong ideas and know how to build a team from scratch. It’s important that this person bring something new, but also operate as part of a team trying to bring best-in-class HR to Glassdoor and think about how they’re going to contribute to the broader vision. They also have to have been in a fast-growth environment to help us be more efficient.
Glassdoor: Can you talk a little bit about how the ideal candidate would integrate with the culture here?
Carmel Galvin: Whoever comes in here has to roll up their sleeves and get comfortable being in the weeds, but also have some strategic vision and inspire people to want to build a world-class recruiting team. Transparency is key, too — this is a company where we believe wholeheartedly in transparency and enabling people to realize their opinions matter. Because when you’re better informed, you can make better contributions to the company.
The culture of Glassdoor is evolving — our milestone is to evolve the culture to be a platform for the next phase of growth, and we’re at the center of helping shape and influence that. We’re at a cool stage where you get to do big-picture things and smaller, more detailed things. Because of that, you can probably make more of an impact than you would at a bigger company that’s slowed down by bureaucracy or a smaller company that doesn’t have the resources.
Glassdoor: What’s your elevator pitch on why this person should come and work here?
Carmel Galvin: At Glassdoor, you have a unique relationship that might not exist at other places. Before I came here, when I was looking for a new job myself, I needed to know that I would have a seat at the executive table. And that goes without saying here — it’s automatic. You don’t have to fight for people to pay attention to HR and recruiting.
In some ways that can be a challenge because we are held to a higher standard since how we manage employees gets much more attention, and it really matters how we present ourselves. But what’s good about that is you get really good at what you do, and it makes you a better HR person. It’s a major career enhancer.
Another piece is that we have a phenomenal network — you can tap into HR and talent acquisition people from everywhere and learn what’s happening at other companies. The thought leadership in the industry is very powerful. People look to us for advice and resources on how to be great — so this person will help promote that standard.
Glassdoor: And I imagine the competitive pay, phenomenal benefits, great people, and waterside location don’t hurt either.
Carmel Galvin: (Laughs) Exactly.
Interested in applying to our Global Head of Talent Acquisition? Apply below — we can’t wait to hear from you!
