The pandemic almost derailed Richard Chow’s path to becoming a talent sourcer at Meta. A former colleague had shared that Meta had open roles, but due to COVID, his timeline forced him to take a position in another company. After six months with that company, Richard knew he needed something different—something he could only find at Meta.
“The culture here is incredibly unique,” Richard recalls. “People are open to connecting. You can share and be open, talk about what you want, be yourself. That's rare in a large company. You also experience what it's like to work with a fast-paced, startup feel while enjoying the resources available within a global company.”
Once Richard received an offer to be a sourcer at Meta, he and his wife decided to relocate from Hong Kong to London. With Meta’s support, they were able to make the move. “Everything was completely seamless. Having Meta behind me, supporting all parts of the relocation—from finding housing to moving with my family, including my dog—made this exciting experience possible for us.”
Partnering closely with recruiting to build talented teams
Richard typically begins his day talking to candidates. The early hours are when he has the most energy, and he brings that to his conversations with candidates. When a new role opens up, he joins recruiters for kick-off meetings.
“People have this idea that sourcers are executors, and recruiters have a broader scope—such as client engagement and developing directions for sourcers, but that's not true. There’s a synergy between recruiters and sourcers at Meta. Sourcers are not junior to recruiters, we’re strategic partners and specialize in different stages of the recruitment process. We have the same goal in mind and think about the full cycle all of the time. We’re respected for our knowledge, work and close partnership.”
“At other companies, organizational structure often breaks things down into smaller pieces. You are very niche and a specialist in only one area. At Meta, you get to work across teams and have different experiences.”
The cross-functional collaboration among teams and hiring managers enables Richard to support candidates in inspired ways. He’s able to leverage his relationship with people within the company to give candidates the extra motivation or practice they may need during the interview process. “This is particularly important for diverse candidates, who may not have the same set of circumstances or resources available to help set them up for success,” Richard explains. “Meta’s emphasis on connection and inclusion make it possible to put them in touch with mentors within Meta who can provide advice and encouragement.”
Charting a career path in sourcing
Looking back at his previous roles at top technology companies, Richard remembers finding it challenging to find new, impactful and creative projects to help him further develop his sourcing career. At Meta, because of the vast array of opportunities, he says it’s easier to make an impact and move into new areas of growth.
“Meta’s growth and scale present endless opportunities to learn, grow and succeed.”
There are two growth tracks at Meta, Richard explains. You can choose to develop your career as a principal and specialist (individual contributor) or as a people manager. As a manager, you have the ability to enhance your leadership skills while being an IC calls for being strategic and engaging with senior stakeholders.
Senior ICs and managers drive equal impact with different responsibilities. “There are many ways to mentor people while performing other tasks within senior IC roles,” Richard says. “With other companies, if you want to stay in sourcing, you don’t always have this kind of influence or these growth opportunities. The flexibility between senior ICs and management tracks truly broadens the scope of options available at Meta. You’ll sometimes even see managers and directors switch back to becoming an IC to experience challenges first-hand, which helps them become a stronger leader.”
Technology is evolving swiftly, with team members bringing curiosity and a desire to learn to their work each day. "Your career growth is in your hands here," Richard emphasizes. "We still have so much left to do, and there's an abundance of choices as to what you want to focus on. If you're consistent, curious and want to grow, there's a very good chance you'll be successful here."
Richard and his wife exploring London after moving from Hong Kong.
Building teams of tomorrow
Tech sourcers are playing a key role in helping shape the future. Not only are they tackling novel challenges at unprecedented scale, but they’re also making a huge impact through hiring talent to build the metaverse. New
work choices in EMEA, which enable fully-remote, cross-border remote and hybrid schedules, are also empowering Richard and his team to build a more expansive candidate pool. This is a particularly exciting prospect as he and his team strive to build an even more diverse, inclusive team.
“Inclusive teams offer diversity of thought and bring fresh perspectives to our efforts, helping us build products people across the globe will use and love. We look for teammates with a broad range of backgrounds, experiences and abilities.”
For Richard, being a tech sourcer means directly helping deliver on Meta’s mission to bring the world closer together. When the candidates he finds deliver projects and drive impact, he finds joy in knowing he helped make that happen. “I feel like I'm part of that success as well,” he smiles.
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