Every company needs great employees to be able to thrive. But what many people fail to recognize is that building a rich talent pipeline takes a lot of hard work—and a team of dedicated recruiters. To get a better understanding of how recruiters do what they do, we spoke with Carolina Lopez, a Senior Technical Recruiter at Braze,about what her day to day schedule looks like, how she’s spent the past two years at Braze, and what her favorite part of the job is.

Braze: Can you tell us a little about your role?

Carolina: I am a Senior Technical Recruiter at Braze, where I help build out our rapidly growing Product and Engineering teams. A typical day in my role includes screening software engineers interested in joining our team and educating them on the Braze product and our exciting scaling challenges. I also meet regularly with our VP of Engineering and other Engineering leaders to ensure we are finding the right talent and providing an exceptional candidate experience. Some other responsibilities include delivering job offers, partnering with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) groups, hosting DEI events, and keeping a pulse on the competitive market landscape in Engineering hiring. I am always learning about new tech and software engineering and I love it!

Question: What has working at Braze been like for you?

Carolina: My biggest learning on the job has definitely been understanding equity and how best to explain it to others who are trying to learn—specifically, candidates considering joining Braze. Ask me about ISOs and 409A valuations!

My favorite part of the role is that I get to learn something new almost daily. I speak with extremely talented Engineering talent from across the country and learn about the work that they do, which is really cool stuff that touches all of us. Technology truly powers the world around us these days. We have a high bar for hiring, so I always get super-excited when I can roll out an offer to an Engineer that I know will make a major impact on our product. I also love seeing candidates that I hired thrive and grow at Braze.

What I like most about working at Braze is the willingness of leadership to support DEI and wellness initiatives. I have been able to make a tremendous impact there and the events and initiatives we have put together have touched many. I get to be real with my colleagues about important DEI topics and have open forums and events around them.

Braze has been really supportive during the new 'normal' of working from home. Being on the People team and having to work from home is not ideal; I certainly miss giving candidates a tour of our office and inviting them to the awesome events we used to host in HQ, but we have evolved tremendously to ensure candidates still feel our culture when they interview. Braze has provided me and others with a stipend to create a work from home setup, and has been proactive about encouraging me to take the time off that I need. It is easy to forget to take a day off when we are all working from home, and Braze has ensured I have the work-life balance and support I need.

Braze: Tell us about the fun stuff—what is your biggest productivity hack and how has it helped you? What do you do to take a break during the day? Are you team music? No music? Podcast? Do you participate in any clubs or employee resource groups (ERGs) at Braze?

Carolina: I love Slack. It is a recruiter's best friend as it makes it easy to ping an interview team and update them about what is going on in real time. Believe it or not, even software engineers have technical challenges during interviews! I love setting recurring reminders in Slack to remind me to complete certain tasks. It clears up my calendar and makes my checklist shorter, and I can always trust Slackbot to deliver my reminder at the time I need it. I also love using this feature to set up reminders for interviewers.

My yoga mat is always set up and ready to go on the floor near my desk. When I need a break from staring down at my computer, I jump on my mat for a quick flow. Moving and stretching the body really helps me unwind. Side note: Braze provides meditation sessions and Yoga for employees regularly, so on days that I have the time, I jump into those for a reset!

I am very involved in ERGs and clubs at Braze. I’ve been involved in a number of DEI activities at Braze, including co-leading our Braze for ALL Speaker Series task force, which organizes keynotes, panels, and discussion sessions on issues related to DEI for the company as a whole. We have hosted wonderful speakers spanning different topics under the DEI umbrella, including events spotlighting LGBTQ+ artists and entrepreneurs of color.

Recruiters are a foundational piece of our business, so if you’re capable of sourcing and engaging talented and passive candidates, managing searches, and want to join a collaborative, transparent, and fun loving company, then we encourage you to check out our job postings on braze.com/careers.