Career stories
Internal transitions are always exciting and a little scary.
Daria joined us in Support department, but after a while she realized she wanted to try herself in a completely new direction - recruitment. Within just a couple of weeks she filled her first assigned role, and more successful hires followed.
We talked with her about how to take the plunge and change roles within the company, what turned out to be the hardest part, and which skills from support unexpectedly came in handy in her new profession.
Why did you decide to move specifically into recruitment? How did the transition happen?
Even while working in support, I understood that it wasn't my life's calling, even though I really liked the role. So at some point I started exploring options for changing direction. It was nice to realize that Eyes of Wonder offered such opportunities.
I remember I wanted to move into the Product team and even went through an interview, but I was turned down due to a lack of technical knowledge. And then a colleague from recruitment (the same person who had once hired me into the company) messaged me and asked whether I had any referrals in mind for our teams. I decided to take the bull by the horns and confidently replied: "I do. Me!"
After that, we discussed what would interest me, and one of the options I named was recruitment. I remember she said: "Oh, I'd hire you!" I told my team lead at the time, Soraya (there's also an article about her), and that's how my transition journey began.
But of course, in reality it wasn't so simple. I had to study the new team's documentation and processes in parallel while still in my old role. My actual transition was scheduled for the first day of the following month, and I was really looking forward to it.
Was there anything from your support experience that unexpectedly turned out to be useful in your new work?
Definitely. The skill of communicating with people in tense situations, especially with confrontational people. Here we have far fewer situations like that than in support, but they still come up occasionally.
You closed your first vacancy just a couple of weeks after starting. How did you manage that?
It happened completely naturally, I wasn't even surprised. It felt like it couldn't have been any other way.
I was fully immersed in the work: studying documentation, actively communicating with colleagues, bombarding them with questions, and quickly figuring out how everything worked. A bit of sleight of hand, and no trickery! 🙌
What in recruitment turned out to be completely different from what you'd imagined before?
I was surprised by how much effort it sometimes takes to hire a candidate. Before the transition, it seemed to me that everything was much simpler in this role.
What was the most rewarding moment during your first months in the new role?
Communicating with the team and getting to be "on the other side of the barricade", namely, on the employer's side rather than the applicant's.
I'd never had that kind of experience before, and I couldn't even imagine what it looked like. So it was really interesting to explore all the aspects of the work.
As for communication, I realized I'd landed on a team where you can always ask for help, clarify something, drop a message, ask a question. I think that's really important, especially when you're new to something. It energizes you and gives you the motivation to keep going.
Have there been cases where you believed in a candidate against all odds and turned out to be right?
Yes, that happens from time to time.
One example that comes to mind now is my first candidate to receive an offer. I remember it like it was yesterday: my team lead told me, "Just so you know, we once wanted to hire him already, but he didn't respond to us." But from our communication, I felt that this time it was different and that he was genuinely interested.
In the end, we sent that candidate an offer, he accepted it, and he became my first hire. By the way, he successfully passed his probation period and is doing great on the team ☺️
Daria's story is a great reminder that a career path doesn't always have to be linear. Sometimes the most interesting opportunities appear right inside the company — the key is not being afraid to take the risk.
And if you've also been thinking about a new career step for a while, maybe now is the perfect time for it!
