A Day In The Life Of A Recruiting Operations Associate At WayUp

Why WayUp?

I joined WayUp as a Recruiting Operations Associate (ROA) in September 2019. Before joining WayUp I graduated from Quinnipiac University (Go Bobcats!). I remember how nervous, stressed, and anxious I was about finding my first job out of college. I knew I wanted to be in the recruiting industry and applied to over 50 jobs—most of which I never even heard back from. 

Then I came across WayUp and saw that the company had a 24-hour response rate for all applicants, free snacks, and Weekly Catered Lunches. What more could I have asked for? At the time I didn’t know I would fall in love with the company for different reasons.

Here are just a few of the highlights of a day in the life of an ROA at WayUp.

Typical Day As An ROA

What is a typical day like for an ROA? There are a lot of daily responsibilities for ROAs but most days consist of conducting phone screens—which is just another way of saying “phone interview”—with students and recent graduates who have applied for jobs and internships on the WayUp platform.

I get to learn about candidates’ accomplishments and potentially help them find their first job out of college! If you’ve ever applied to a job through our platform and qualified for a phone screen within 24 hours, you spoke to someone at WayUp. WayUp ROAs are the people on the other end of the phone who help make your interview experience enjoyable, efficient, and thoughtful. 

“I work closely with employers to find them diverse, qualified candidates to meet their hiring goals. Through effective communication and weekly meetings, we are able to find new ways to make the hiring process easier and more efficient for candidates.” 

Melissa Galarza, ROA at WayUp

Each ROA sources, screens, and coaches candidates through their phone screens while creating a great user experience! One of my favorite parts of being an ROA is interacting with candidates every day. I love helping candidates find their dream jobs, especially when they send an email telling me that they got the job! 

“WayUp is a dream come true for job applicants. The site is user-friendly and very easy to use. What’s even better is that as the process moves forward, someone from WayUp is helping you every step of the way. I’d say I will keep using it, but I got the job.” 

Michael, Hired at Success Academy through WayUp

Creative Scheduling

One of the biggest perks of being an ROA is creating your own schedule. Before COVID-19 each ROA worked two days from home and three days in the office while picking the hours they wanted to work each week. Typically, the two days working from home would be a 1 PM-10 PM shift.

“This flexible schedule not only allows ROAs to work nontraditional hours, improving their work-life balance, but also gives candidates across the country the chance to interview at their own convenience. Given that diverse candidates are more likely to schedule phone screens after regular business hours, it’s really a win-win situation for us and the candidates we are trying to get hired!”

Danielle, Recruitment Operations Manager at WayUp

Personally, creative scheduling has not only improved my time management skills but has also provided me a strong work-life balance. This has been a consistent theme for me and across the board for all of WayUp’s ROAs. Some members of the ROA team are in graduate school and choose to work the afternoon shift, two days a week. 

“I love the flexible 40-hour schedule. Some weeks I work half days to be able to complete my work on top of school work. This scheduling really helps me feel like I’m still part of the team.”

Fran, Recruitment Operations Associate at WayUp

Remote Work

At WayUp, the transition due to COVID-19 to working remotely was smooth and efficient. For our team, we were already accustomed to working from home two days a week because of our creative scheduling initiative. Compared to my friends and family, I already had experience using Zoom and managing my time while working from home which eased my nerves about making the uncertain transition to working from home full time.

Due to COVID-19, more and more companies are looking for alternative ways to onboard new employees and implement remote work. 

“I am proud to say that WayUp has been innovative and flexible with onboarding new employees by creating additional training resources and culture initiatives to make sure we feel welcome, part of the team, and prepared for our job responsibilities. WayUp has been a great place to start my career, communication during the pandemic has been effective and constant. I am also getting a lot of great opportunities to grow my skills in areas like marketing and data science, despite not being in a traditional office setting!” 

Gabe, Started as an ROA during the pandemic

Tips For Remote Work

If you’re considering a role as an ROA (or any other remote role) right now, here are some tips that have helped me work successfully from home. Even though you might lose track of which day it is (because they all feel the same!), it is important to create a schedule. Here are some things I have learned from working remotely:

• Create a daily routine
• Time is valuable so use it wisely by creating a schedule
• Have a clean work area
• Don’t forget to take a lunch break
• Check in daily with your team

As we navigate these unfamiliar times, it is important to have a strong company culture, especially one that is rooted in transparency.  Transparency is one of WayUp’s key values and it is evident in the way we respond to every applicant, as well as in our internal processes. WayUp is a company with dynamic, energetic and creative employees. I value the relationships I have with my colleagues at WayUp and have made many new friends.  Whether we are in person bonding over weekly lunches, participating in a team outing on a dinner cruise, or catching up over Zoom.

When I started at WayUp nearly a year ago I was impressed by the perks like cold-brew on tap, weekly catered lunches, new friends, and a brand new office space. However, as time has gone on and the world has changed dramatically, I have found myself appreciating my role and the company in a deeper way. The team spirit during our daily team Zoom calls has helped me see new perspectives. Interacting with candidates and supporting them during these uncharted times is meaningful and rewarding. As each day passes, I am reminded that no two days are alike. I am proud that WayUp has adapted quickly to our changing times, while never losing sight of our integrity which is what makes WayUp so special.

Want to start—or grow—your career as an ROA? Check out open opportunities at WayUp!