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Arianna Gelwicks, Tech Recruiter, shares her current hiring objectives and the importance of people, product, and purpose when weighing a prospective employer.
How has your career grown since joining the team?
I joined Pinwheel as employee #25 to be our first full life cycle tech recruiter in April of 2021. I stepped in and set up a sourcing function that did not previously exist and owned our few open engineering roles. Today, I am responsible for the majority of our tech recruiting across engineering, product and data. Looking back, it's been so rewarding to step in and start building something that did not previously exist, and now, less than a year later, have a team efficiently facilitating over 80 unique interviews a week. I owe most of this to our first class recruiting team, which is now seven people strong. Together, we have nearly quadrupled Pinwheel’s employee base since the day I joined and we're quickly approaching that 100th Pinwheelie milestone!
What are some of your key objectives right now?
Right now, my biggest priority is hiring more engineering leadership, specifically three engineering managers. For context, at the end of 2021 we had just under 40 engineers at Pinwheel. We hired 18 more in the first two months of 2022, increasing our engineering employee base by nearly 50%. This is why we need more managers for our stellar new hires!
What is something that you are really proud of accomplishing recently?
Pinwheel had a 91.6% acceptance rate in February alone, with 11 out of 12 offer acceptances (and 10 being engineers). I am so proud of Pinwheel for this accomplishment, specifically considering today’s hyper-competitive tech hiring landscape. I’ve heard some engineering acceptance rates hover at only 30%. It’s a candidate’s market right now, and software organizations are trying to scale rapidly. For example, employment demand for backend developers in the US went up 79% from Q2 to Q3 of 2021, According to DICE.
This is all happening in an era when, after times of isolation, people are deeply questioning the status quo of their job. They’re rethinking their relationships with employers, what they prioritize when it comes to a job, what a career should look like in the big picture, and why this all matters at the end of the day.
Ultimately, if you don’t truly believe you have the best-in-class team and product today, while also being able to convince candidates with genuine perception of the job and interview experience, it will be a rough hiring market out there. People want more than stability, money, and a name brand — they want deeper purpose. I strongly believe that those who end up at Pinwheel find that, and also experience it through day one of our hiring process.
How does Pinwheel compete today in one of the most competitive and challenging hiring markets we’ve seen?
To be a competitive startup in today’s landscape, you have to be cemented as best-in-class in your industry across your people, product, and purpose. I’d encourage anyone on the job hunt right now to ask yourself these questions when joining a company:
People: Are these some of the smartest people you’ve ever worked with? Will they teach you and grow your career? Are they people you feel you could be close to and open with? Do you admire them? Do you want to do good work for them, and make them feel proud of you? Do they seem passionate and excited about their work?
Product: Do you believe that your equity investment has a real chance of growing 10-20x in the future? Does the product outrank competitors in a leading industry? Are customers most excited to work with you over others? Is there truly a high demand for what you are building in the market? Is the product addressing a real issue, challenge, or gap within an industry?
Purpose: Do you feel your work significantly impacts the growth of the company? Do you feel excited to build what you get to build? Do you believe that your company’s product will bring substantial positive impact to a space that will last? Will that impact be widespread, both in terms of breadth and depth?
The answer to every one of these questions at Pinwheel is a confident yes for me and anyone who has decided to come onboard. If the above resonates with you, please apply to find out for yourself, and better understand how we are growing the next generation fintech API company to help consumers live better financial lives.
