There’s a lot more to human resources than just recruitment
She came to MakoLab in March as one of the fountains of energy that make up our HR team. Anyone wanting to join our company will meet her at their job interview. But is HR only about recruitment?
Insights talked to Katarzyna ‘Kasia’ Balcerak, Human Resources Specialist, about what her job involves on a daily basis, about what she does outside work and about how she’s finding life at MakoLab.
Could you describe your day-to-day work?
A major part of my job is recruitment and sourcing candidates, but I’m also involved in our employer branding work. I support the onboarding process and the entire process of communicating with a candidate before they’re offered a job and once they accept the offer. I take part in periodic assessments and in creating job descriptions. And I have an impact on the kind of organisation we want to be.
Does recruitment in IT differ from other sectors?
It’s no secret that demand is outstripping supply in IT. It’s a robustly developing market and there are more job offers than experts to fill them. Candidates have a mass of opportunities to choose from and we have to provide real benefits.
One thing that’s clear is that what matters to programmers is the concrete. They want to know exactly what they’ll be doing and what they can count on. They’re eager to ask questions about technical issues, the team, the projects and the client.
On the other hand, there’s no raison d'être at all here for stereotypes. The idea that ‘a programmer’s communication skills begin and end with their ability to write their name in code’ is totally untrue. To a great extent, programmers are people who stand face to face with the client and the users’ needs. They’re people with technological know-how, but they’re also distinctive for their logical approach and their skill at thinking outside the box. They are capable of working in a team and they’re communicative. And we’re certainly looking for people like that for MakoLab.
How are you settling in to MakoLab after your first couple of months?
I’m not someone who likes being led by the hand, with every step I take being checked out. I value independence in my work and being trusted by my manager. At MakoLab, I have the space to plan what I’m doing and when I’ll be doing it. I put my own calendar together. I like generating new ideas and introducing them and I know I can do that here. I have a sense of agency and I know that if I see something to be done, then I can make it a reality. I’m not a fan of long decision paths in an organisation. I’d rather act than wait. A complex structure doesn’t work for me. That’s not a problem here. There’s an openness to action within sensible limits. In addition to recruitment, I like doing other creative things and there’s room for that at MakoLab.
What positive surprises has MakoLab given you?
The fact that most of the department heads came to see me in person, to say hello and to get to know me. Even the CEO and the owner wanted to meet me. That was really excellent and very human. I appreciate not being viewed as a row on an Excel spreadsheet and knowing that, even though we’re mainly working remotely, we know who we’re encountering when we meet in a corridor!
What do you most enjoy doing outside work?
Before the pandemic, I was a technicolour whirlwind! I travelled to three countries in 2019, Norway, Greece and New Zealand, camping in all of them. I’d recommend a 4x4 car for New Zealand! Thanks to my travels there, I know survival-type expeditions aren’t for me, but that’s a story for another day! I went to the Faroe Islands in 2018 and I’ve walked the trail to Santiago de Compostela… three hundred and twenty kilometres through the mountains of Spain with a backpack on my back! I’ve always found travelling and being cut off from the Internet a cleansing experience and I’m certainly going back to it this year.
I also enjoy photography. And shooting videos… and I’ve been known to have a go at editing them. Earlier on, I was involved in charity activities, coordinating the work of a foundation. I made the dreams of its charges come true by organising charitable concerts, stand-up shows and much, much more. After five years, though, I wanted to focus on my own life. I’m more of a home bird nowadays and I limit my hobbies mainly to horse riding, which I’ve been doing since I was eight. I prize horses. There’s a lot you can learn from them. Apart from that, I go running and cycling and I’m learning to swim. And, much to my amazement, this year I ran a half marathon!
As you can see, Kasia ‘was’ a technicolour whirlwind. Now she’s just… ultra technicolour! We’d recommend visiting our Careers tab and checking out our current job opportunities. Perhaps that will take you to an interview where you’ll meet her face to face… and have the chance to ask her about her survival adventures on her travels!
English translation by Caryl Swift
Kamila Braszak
Employer Branding Specialist
