In our blog series “Life in Adtech” we’re showcasing the different ways in which StackAdapters are driving innovation in adtech, and creating a progressive tech culture. From using modeling and data to create advanced algorithms to building stylish and robust user interfaces, everyone at StackAdapt is contributing to evolving the StackAdapt platform and providing the best product and service to our clients.
This month features Rachel Lee, StackAdapt’s Director of Talent. Rachel shares her journey into adtech recruitment, what her role entails, and how the Talent team supports the growth of StackAdapt.
Can you share a bit about your journey into working in talent and recruitment in the adtech field?
Recruitment isn’t often discussed as a career path in school. So I, like many others, fell into this industry when I was recruited into a staffing agency. In that role, I learned to prospect and recruit for engineering and technical sales roles for top Toronto-based tech companies.
One of the first clients I ever won was a programmatic advertising agency that was looking to hire an ad operations specialist. I did a ton of research on adtech, and quickly realized that this was an incredibly promising industry that would become the future of advertising.
I eventually placed a candidate in that ad operations position and used that success story to land a couple more clients in the programmatic space. Little did I know, that same candidate would end up referring me to StackAdapt a couple years later.
How did you progress from a recruitment role into a leadership role?
I found my niche within recruiting because I saw continued success in acquiring the right talent for sales and client services roles. My managing director at the time noticed my knack for finding great sales people and offered me a secondment to lead the internal talent acquisition function.
I jumped at the opportunity to lead a small team and grow in a managerial capacity. This new role was my first look at in-house recruiting and I got to see the impact of the people I hired first hand, which I used as motivation to find more great talent.
When I heard that StackAdapt was looking to hire a Talent Manager to start building out their recruitment team to expand globally, I jumped on the opportunity. .
What is the main focus of the Talent team at StackAdapt, and how do you support the team?
Finding top tech talent is an increasingly multifaceted contest. The main goal of every talent team is to find great people who will succeed in the company long term, and that starts with prioritizing candidate experience.
We recognize that searching for a new job can be super stressful, and having a knowledgeable recruiter that makes the interview process comfortable can influence the decision on which offer an in-demand candidate decides to accept.
One of my first projects at StackAdapt was to build a training program for recruiters and hiring managers to establish scalable recruitment processes and align on a candidate-centric approach to hiring.
From there, we steadily grew the recruitment team from 1 to 20 in less than two years to ensure we had the bandwidth to support all of our departments both functionally and by region. It was important throughout this growth to remain agile to adapt to shifting priorities, and revisit our hiring data quarterly to evaluate our processes and pivot as needed.
How is the Talent team helping to build and support StackAdapt’s culture as the company grows?
Culture is a huge consideration for candidates. In fact, 77% of people consider a company’s company culture before even applying to a job. The Talent team gets the first opportunity to highlight StackAdapt’s supportive and inclusive culture.
My colleagues and I consider ourselves so fortunate to be the first ones to make an impression on candidates, because we truly value the candidate experience. After all, it can be an indicator of what the experience of what it’s like to actually work at StackAdapt. Through their interactions with us, candidates can have a glimpse into our values, and how we treat our people.
What does your team do to make the recruitment process smooth and supportive for applicants?
We always aim to make the recruitment process as comfortable as possible for candidates that apply to StackAdapt. Mainly, we treat all candidates with utmost respect, from start to finish. Candidates are investing their time into this process, and so we always make sure to communicate with them actively, with transparency, and with clarity, regardless of the outcome.
Welcoming and highlighting diversity is also a big part of how we try to make sure candidates are comfortable throughout the recruitment process. We know that our candidates are diverse, and from different walks of life.
Given this, we’ve been working closely with our Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Krista Campbell, to ensure our recruitment process is equitable. We are also working on a roadmap to further our community engagement. For example, we’re now taking part in recruiting events that help us increase our reach to candidates from underrepresented communities.
What is the most rewarding part about your role at StackAdapt?
Something I love about working in recruitment is that you are exposed to so many talented people. Seeing the candidates I work with succeed, both professionally and personally, is super rewarding.
I’ve been incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to build StackAdapt’s Talent team from scratch. Through this experience, I’ve been able to foster relationships with my colleagues, helping them grow, develop, and succeed in their roles. Seeing my colleagues succeed is what makes me excited to start work every morning!
Interested in joining StackAdapt? See our open roles and apply here.
In each new addition, we will be highlighting our teams and employees in our “Life In Adtech” series—stay tuned for more!
