Career Journeys in Talent Acquisition: Ricky Ahmed

Thanks for reading! This series is designed to shine a spotlight on Talent Acquisition professionals and highlight their career journeys and learnings so far. Today, we're joined by Ricky Ahmed. If you'd like to be next, please reach out to a TTC Community Manager.

Introduce yourself:

Hi, I’m Ricky! I’m a Senior Talent Partner with over 14 years experience in hiring predominately within the tech space. Based in London/Surrey, I love overseeing the end to end hiring process and live by data, transparency, communication and values. I’m a seasoned freelancer, I love ‘parachuting’ in to help hire faster and scale high performing engineering teams and alleviating any pain points with any sized company. I love Tech so much that even my partner is Senior Fullstack Eng, as a bonus she really helps me understand of why certain tech is used!

I’m now looking for my next gig / permanent role where I can roll up my sleeves as I’m an individual contributor at heart.

Here’s a snapshot of me: talent-findr.co.uk

Can you walk us through the key milestones in your career in the talent acquisition space? What were some pivotal moments or decisions that shaped your journey?

I started off my recruitment career back in 2010 and had 8 glorious years meeting some great people and clients, some of which I’m great friends with today. Over these crucial years I had the opportunity to work many different technical stacks for varied companies, which lead to me to learning so much about programming languages as I was genuinely curious of understanding different software products, services and applications on how B2B/B2C’s add value in people lives.

In 2018, I realised transactional recruitment wasn’t for me and I wanted to learn more on how businesses operate from the client side and more importantly – their purpose. I didn’t want to represent ‘everyone & anyone’ anymore, but rather one business and live and breathe their culture and mission.

I was approached for an initial 3 month contract to work for WeWork where they were in the midst of scaling fast. I decided to take the plunge into the world of freelancing and took a huge risk for the sake of me working internally, which I had always dreamed of doing initially. This 3 month contract transitioned to me helping WeWork for over 1 whole year which gave me the real insight on the operations of working internally and really understanding the business needs and goals. This enabled me to become even MORE passionate to candidates and stakeholders on why they should join said company.

Since then, I’ve never looked back, and I’m so happy with my decision of transitioning internally as I feel far more fulfilled.

In this rapidly evolving industry, what strategies or practices have you adopted to continuously enhance your skills and stay ahead of the curve? Do you have any resources or learning methods you'd recommend to others?

Over the 14 years, I’ve kept in touch with many recruiters and talent partners where we all knowledge share, however, one of the key reasons of me freelancing is because I get to see first hand how each and every business implements their TA strategy & tools which fills my brain up like an encyclopedia, and I eventually add new ideas & tools to the next company.

I tend to constantly analyse my performance and evaluate on how I can improve to become more efficient. I’ve learnt that I’m at my most optimum when I can free up mental capacity on menial time-consuming tasks so I can work on much greater complex problems. Whether it be my asking within my network for advice or help, all the way to automating processes at work as a TA on a day to day basis by using tools, plugins and even utlising AI.

Like everybody else, I’m always reading up on new blogs and listening to TA podcasts on what software we can use to help us. I’ve recently discovered there’s a huge amount of knowledge sharing on TikTok from other global TA’s.  I’d say my secret superpower is continuous agile learning, that’s what makes me tick.  

What has been the most challenging aspect of your career in talent acquisition, especially when you were actively seeking work? How did you overcome it, and what advice would you offer to others facing similar hurdles?

As a contractor, life if GREAT when you’re working, however, when that dreaded end date slowly approaches and you’re not getting extended as the workload is now more manageable – you absolutely hit panic mode. I’d typically have a 121 meeting with my line manager 4-6 weeks prior to my end date and address that my end date is within sight and ask if they’ll need me for anything else. If I’m not being extended – I start the process of looking for my next gig.

I’ve always had to keep one eye open all the time during work, however, I’ve appreciated all the down time and I’ve had to be more financially savvy – so it’s not always a blissful life.

When I’m out of work, I reach out to everyone who I’ve previously worked with in the past and ask if they could recommend me to anyone. Rec2Recs are great too and making them aware when you’re coming available.

In quieter months, I typically research on recently funded startups and connect with CEO’s or Head of TA’s on LinkedIn and congratulate them on their new funding and outline if they ever need help with scaling, that I’m always here to help on scaling. Most times nothing transpires immediately, but I’m a firm believer on the ‘compounding effect’ that in years to come they may need your help, which has worked.  

There’s a fine balance of frustration and having ‘imposter syndrome’ when you’re out of work but I’ve been in the game for so long I know something will always fall on your lap eventually.

The recruiting world can be fast-paced and demanding. How do you strike a balance between your professional commitments and personal life? Are there specific routines or rituals you follow?

This is a tough one… I tend to find TA to be seasonal from project to project. In the beginning it’s always chaotic because’ X’ amount of reqs are already behind schedule and there’s ample amounts of pressure from the hiring team, as they’re already behind on productivity which essentially delays business goals.

I’d say, when there are more quieter periods, I’d revert back to my personal commitments and that allows “me time”, and the opportunity to self reflect on spend time on things that matter most, such as hobbies and family. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll close my laptop after 9pm irrespective of how frantic work can be! Alas, when deadlines need to be met, I’m all in to help the team reach our goals.

Hiring is always endless and workloads can pile up. I’m fully aware when I’ve reached my bandwidth, I make my peers aware and seek help/advice, if they can.  

As someone involved in talent acquisition, you've likely witnessed various technology and trend shifts. Which technologies or trends do you believe have had the most significant impact on the industry, and how have they influenced your role?

There’s so many, where do I start. There isn’t a single answer. Covid really did change the landscape of remote/hybrid working as it opened a new portal of talent globally which has ultimately lead to the biggest impact. It’s even helped me obtain work too, as I’ve worked across EMEA.

In terms of what’s aided me as TA Partner, here are some of cool tools I’ve used/researched on:

• AI: HireVue, Pymetrics, Hiretual, Paradox

• Marketing Platforms: Beamery, SmashFly, Yello, Phenom

• Video Interviewing: Spark Hire, MetaView, Screenloop

• DEI: Textio, Blendoor, EquitySim

• Automation: Zapier, Sales IQ, MixMax, Calendly

For those entering the talent acquisition space or those looking to pivot within it, what's the one piece of practical advice you'd give to help them thrive, especially if they are actively job-seeking?

Most companies won’t hire you if you don’t have any recruitment experience. Some of the greatest people in talent I’ve met have always started off within an agency and have worked within some kind of niche field, and then expanded upon it when becoming internal.

I’d ask yourself first ‘why’ would you like to pivot to talent acquisition? I’ve spoken to many agency recruiters, and they think life is easier – it’s not! Trust me. As an agency recruiter you can essentially pick and choose which roles you get to work on. As a TA, you are responsible for every single open role to which you’re expected to fill as there’s always a level of expectation.

Yes, there won’t be the business development aspect, however, it’s replaced with great stakeholder management and being the direct face of the company’s culture and values whilst ensuring exceptional candidate experience is maintained.

Use your agency days as a stepping stone to understand recruitment fundamentals. Being a TA is so much more than just delivery & interviews, you get to work with different departments and help with initiatives, branding, incentives, data reporting and presentations.

Working in a recruitment agency can be very lucrative however, manage your expectations of an initial salary when becoming a TA and think more long term self-development and you’ll level up quicker than you think.

Good luck!