The team of talaint is a colorful basket of versatile talent itself. In a series of posts, we would like to give you a glimpse into the personalities of our team members, and how they see the world from their experience and point of view.
Starting with Kris – a looney, energetic, and creative character, who likes to dwell deep in the essence of each profession, position, and required profile he works on. Since autumn 2020, Kristian has been navigating the landscape of recruitment at talaint by Human Recruiters, bringing a unique blend of essential skills to the forefront. A recruitment enthusiast, psychologist, and HR specialist by education, Kris is also fond of books, art, physical activities, and traveling.
Embark on a fascinating journey with Kristian Vanev. In this interview, Kris shares his unconventional approach to the hypothetical scenario of owning an elephant, dispels assumptions about his extroverted nature, and delves into the intricacies of agency recruitment.
Starting with the easiest question, you’ve been given an elephant. You can’t give it away or sell it. What would you do with the elephant?
I’ll arrange his or her homecoming to Africa/Asia. Sofia is not well suited for elephants, and the fellow would likely want to be with its relatives. I suppose the arrangements will take a while, so meanwhile we’ll have to relocate to some friend’s house in the countryside, while we sort out the logistics and all. Fortunately, we are on great terms with some of the biggest transportation companies in Bulgaria and I’m sure they’ll be happy to lend a hand (or two). Whereas for me and the elephant – who knows, in time we may get along just fine.
What is the biggest assumption people tend to make about you — be it wrong or right?
That I’m predominantly an extroverted type, which I’m not.
What do you love most about working in agency recruitment?
The chance to get to know different companies and professions from a wide variety of industries a bit more closely. Our work set us to be familiar with our client’s values, mission, and approach toward career development, and even if, let’s say we have two companies that are competitors in the same industry, their overall representation and vibe could be much different from one another. I also have to analyse and track individual career paths daily, each of which is a separate unique journey, and who doesn’t like adventures?
What do you most value in team members?
The opportunity to learn from one another and to be able to rely on each other.
What is the most overused or overrated thing that recruiting pros believe about themselves?
My impression is that more experienced recruiters tend to see themselves as good psychologists, and although they have surely developed stronger intuition with time about whether the person they encounter would be a match for a certain position, the field of recruitment could and does easily push you more towards sales and marketing waters. Remaining connected to the realm of psychology requires conscious effort, yet staying attuned to academic developments in the field proves both rewarding and beneficial for a recruiter’s work.
What is your current state of mind as it relates to the current state of recruiting?
It is as if I’m signed up for a very dynamic, saturated, and technologically enhanced course, where if you miss a couple of assignments, you’ll have to do double time just to catch up. Luckily, it is the course I wanted.
If you could have dinner with any two famous people, dead or alive, who would you choose?
I believe dinner to be a time for stories, recollection, and laughter. That said, I’d like to bring Charlie Chaplin and Robin Williams together and let them tell a bit more about their way of seeing the world. I suppose we’d be in Vevey, so I’m looking forward to a fine ordeal of wine and cheese.
The most important question: What’s your go-to karaoke song?
Karaoke is as far from me, as I am from it, yet I’d go with some German song, so even if I sing it wrong, sadly, it will all be soaked down by sein deutsches Wesen. Which is very unfortunate because I find German to be a colorful and melodic language.
