#LifeAtGartner: Top Recruiters Share 8 Qualities You Need to Land Your Dream Job!

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Alycia Byrne, Shanice Phillips, Rebecca Goncalves

Photos courtesy of Gartner. Pictured left to right: Alycia Byrne, Shanice Phillips, Rebecca Goncalves

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What’s it like being a recruiter? According to Alycia Byrne, a Principal Recruiter at Gartner, a company she’s been with for over four years, the best part of her career is helping people grow into “the career of their dreams.” Elaborating, Byrne notes that she recognizes “the value of a rewarding career, [which makes it] an honor to be the bridge that makes that happen. I love identifying talented professionals and preparing them every step of the way as we walk on the interview journey together,” says Byrne.

This passion is shared by fellow Gartner Recruiter, Shanice Phillips, who shares that her “favorite part about working in recruitment is being able to help individuals land their dream job.” For Phillips, “The excitement you hear in a candidate’s voice when you call to present them with an offer is like no other.”

As for Rebecca Goncalves, Director of Global HR Recruiting & Executive Search at Gartner, who has led their HR Recruiting team for four years, she’s interested in the impact of her work. “I love the business impact that my team and I drive through the hires we make and the teams we build,” explains Goncalves. “It’s highly rewarding to see those associates and teams drive mission-critical priorities for Gartner.”

All three of these talented recruiters offered to share their passion and knowledge of the recruiting process with Fairygodboss! Keep reading for more ways to improve your interviewing skills and to see why Byrne, Goncalves and Phillips have chosen to make a career at Gartner.

Advice for leveling up your interviewing skills.

What are the top eight qualities you look for in candidates?

  1. Intellectual agility (Byrne)

  2. Natural curiosity (Byrne and Phillips)

  3. Cohesive, succinct communication (Byrne and Goncalves)

  4. Subject matter familiarity and the drive for excellence (Byrne)

  5. Resiliency and a high will to win (Goncalves)

  6. A strong moral compass (Goncalves)

  7. Coachability (Phillips)

  8. Integrity (Phillips)

Do you have any recommendations for job seekers who are looking to make a great first impression?

Byrne: Proper preparation prevents poor performance. As part of this:

  • Do your research on the company you are interviewing with so that you have a good understanding of who they are and what they do.

  • Be prepared to speak to your strengths and how they relate to the job you are interviewing for.

  • Be prepared to give a concise, yet informative, overview of your resume experience.

  • Have some relevant examples of key accomplishments in your back pocket that you can readily speak to.

  • Be prepared to ask thoughtful questions about the role.

Goncalves: Research the company you’re interviewing for! It will show your interest and also enable you to ask GREAT questions! And, prior to any interview, reflect on your “why,” and be prepared to discuss it. “Why” are you looking to make a move, and “why” are interested in this specific company or role? 

Phillips: A few recommendations are:

  • If you know the recruiter that you will be talking to, add them as a connection on LinkedIn. 

  • Show the recruiter that you have done your research on the company.

  • Have questions prepared to understand the role better.

  • Always send a thank you note after the interview. 

What’s your #1 piece of advice for women who are looking for jobs right now?

Byrne: I’ll leave a piece of advice in the form of one of my favorite Brene Brown quotes. “You either walk inside your story and own it, or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness”.

Goncalves: Don’t be afraid to brag! So often as women, we don’t want to talk about ourselves or highlight the accomplishments we have achieved in the fear that it seems like we’re “bragging.” An interview process is a great time to reflect on your achievements and to share them with others. You’ve worked hard to get where you are; talk about it! 

Phillips: It never hurts to ask if there is any flexibility in the compensation that has been offered. Do your research on compensation for the role you are applying for, and always get all of your questions answered about a role before you accept an offer.

Why do these recruiters love working at Gartner?

As a recruiter, what are three things about your company that you always make sure to highlight when talking to a candidate?

Byrne

  1. Our culture. Our truly unique employee-driven, client-centric and collaborative culture. Our associates are uniquely celebrated, and it’s what makes us great.

  2. The high-impact global work we do. We tackle the world’s biggest challenges in real time.

  3. Growth and learning opportunities. We focus on the three E’s: education, experience and exposure to support your rapid learning.

Goncalves:

  1. The culture! I especially want to highlight the elements of the culture that I love the most, which are Gartner’s collaborative nature and our hungry (but humble) approach to achieving results.

  2. The growth! I’m talking about Gartner’s tremendous growth as an organization, and the amazing professional and personal growth that is inevitable here.

  3. The leadership! This is something that I have been highlighting more since the pandemic. Gartner’s leadership is tremendous, and the way that they led us successfully through the early days of the pandemic by ensuring that associates were put first is such a differentiator —I want everyone to know about it! 

Phillips:

  1. Consistent collaboration.

  2. Transparency.

  3. Leadership who truly cares about their employees' career growth. 

What’s one thing your company does that you think is particularly unique or unexpected?

Byrne: With continuous learning and our associate's appetite for personal and professional growth in mind, Gartner offers a variety of resources and training programs - both formal and self-paced - customized for each individual.

Goncalves: As companies navigate going back to the office or not, Gartner’s approach to most of its associates is a “virtual first model.” Primarily, associates will continue to work remotely, but will have the opportunity to come into their nearest office location for moments that matter and drive critical business outcomes. This hybrid approach is the best of both worlds, as it allows associates to continue with the flexibility of working from home, while also providing face-to-face interaction when it really matters! You can check out Gartner's commitment and how we are reimagining the future of work here.

Phillips: The Gartner Gives Charity Match which doubles individual contributions, allowing all associates the opportunity to give back to causes and organizations of their choice.

Tell me a bit about your company’s DE&I efforts and/or employee resource groups.

Byrne: Gartner has a dedicated DEI Center of Excellence and a DEI Talent Acquisition team of passionate change makers. They offer companywide resources such as: training, tools, globally conscious calendar planning, hosted events, coffee chats and more. As a recruiter, the DEI team offers me a variety of tools and trainings that I can leverage in my daily work! 

Goncalves: Gartner has been building out more robust DE&I capabilities to ensure they are woven through the entire employee lifecycle. In 2020, our DEI Center of Excellence was built to ensure the creation of a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment, and, during the summer of 2021, we began to build out DEI TA capability to aid us in more proactively cultivating talent from Underrepresented Groups.

Through these efforts, we have created an executive DEI Council, BU DEI Councils and have started to create a more proactive approach to the talent market.

Phillips: Gartner continues to educate associates by implementing new trainings - both formalized and candid forums and has developed tools and resources for inclusive communication. Gartner also has six associate led employee resource groups, the: Black Employee Network, Collective Abilities Network, Mosaic at Gartner, Pride at Gartner, Veterans at Gartner and Women at Gartner. Through the efforts of these groups, we empower our associates at all levels to play an active role in creating opportunity and driving change.

What virtual resources or networking opportunities would you recommend to job seekers interested in Gartner?

Byrne: I recommend learning about Gartner, the team you are interested in and connecting with our associates. A few specific resources are:

Our career site, which has associate-written content to help you. This includes interview tips, resume guides, introductions to career opportunities and more. Taking some to familiarize yourself 

  • Gartner’s Youtube channel, which has a lot of easily digestible content that allows you to gain a better understanding of our business, and what #LifeAtGartner is really like.

  • Visit our company page on LinkedIn and connect with Gartner associates and talent acquisition teams..

  • Joining our virtual events to learn about career opportunities with Gartner.

Goncalves: There are so many different virtual networking events that job seekers can attend.  It’s a great way to learn more about an organization and professionally network without a huge time commitment! 

Phillips: I suggest our LinkedIn Seminar and Gartner Conferences. And, you can always get a peek into our company culture by following #LifeAtGartner on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.

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