Interview with Dennis Ivanov on Talent Strategy & Acquisition

Jonathan Kidder

2 years ago

I’m privileged to have had the opportunity to work directly with Dennis Ivanov, a passionate leader in the field of talent acquisition. During my time at Amazon, he served as a solid mentor and coach, providing the guidance and support I needed to grow. I feel honored that he agreed to be interviewed for my blog, and I am excited to share more about his journey into the talent acquisition space.

As a data-focused talent acquisition leader, I have a proven track record of implementing innovative and impactful strategies that drive business success, while prioritizing operational excellence and delivering a top-notch candidate experience. Drawing on my expertise in talent market research, as well as design thinking, process improvement, and data analytics, I have advised executive leadership, HR, Legal, Compliance, DEI, and other stakeholders at Amazon.com.

One of my proudest accomplishments was my success as a technical talent acquisition leader at Amazon, where I tackled complex challenges and made significant contributions to the company’s performance and the candidate experience. Prior to my work at Amazon, I honed my skills in analytics at Microsoft, building models and business intelligence solutions that continue to be used today.

What inspired you to start a career in recruiting?

Just as everything amazing that happens in our lives, it seems that my turning point into technical recruiting happened by accident. At that time, I was in a technical role at Microsoft supporting XBOX executive team from a Business Intelligence standpoint. I overheard a conversation of my friends who owned a small executive search and technical recruiting firm in a sauna. During that time, my mind was at ease, but I could sense lots of stress coming out from that discussion. They were frustrated with a lack of solid candidate pipeline for one of their clients and fear of losing a large account. I proposed to them a very simple solution – to use Boolean key strings and source profiles straight out of browsers. They hadn’t even heard of that. So, I offered to train their team of recruiters on how to do it and wrote quite a few strings for them. In a matter of 3 weeks, they had a healthy pipeline and multiple hires of Cloud Pre-sales Engineers. They offered me to join, and that was the start of my Technical Recruiting journey. In addition to that, I witnessed the work of one of the best-in-class technical recruiters I have ever met and learned quickly from them all aspects of recruiting processes.

What do you consider the most important skills and qualities for a recruiting manager?

I consider leaders are successful when they know fundamentals of Recruiting, they make their team feel being at the same “level” and empowered to do things they could not otherwise. Leaders are selfless and willing to sacrifice their own reputation and career gain for the sake of their teams. They stand up for what’s right and ethical/moral. Leaders are heavily vested in the growth and development of their teams. They are willing to roll up their own “sleeves” and join the team during times of adversity/short staff. They are the “compass” of the corporate culture and a brand ambassador at work and outside. True leaders in recruiting have an “open door” policy and they are willing to seek feedback to be truly self-aware.

How do you assess candidates for cultural fit and alignment with the company’s values?

As you know, recruiting is intuitive. Besides logic and common sense, we employ that “gut feel” that is critical during moments when we don’t have all the data in front of us. Is the candidate creating a façade or are they truly who they state they are? It all boils down to talent acquisition specialists’ ability to sort out and be aware of signals. At times, we have to help candidates understand what Leadership Principles really mean. But we cannot “train” them to believe in them. I found a way to deliver the context of such to candidates in a very efficient way at Amazon. Some of my past trainings (for recruiters) at Amazon contained exactly that information. And I noticed that some of my templates, knowledge that was shared via trainings was widely utilized throughout the Operations Technology recruiting org by recruiters. To me, that was a sign of success and value in what I had to share.

What methods do you use to source and attract top talent?

First and foremost, I “infect” people with my passion and Brand Ambassadorship. I am genuine when I write to them. They can sense it. Be it an engineer, who recently graduated or Technical Executive at one of the top start-ups or a Fortune companies. I believe that intention I put in when I write my message can be felt when they read it. They knew that they will make a connection with me that will last, perhaps, a lifetime. Even if they failed an interview – I always picked-up a phone and dialed them directly. I continued to “infect” them with my positivity with a simple point – “There is a perfect timing for everything under the Sun. Perhaps it’s not the right time or not the right team, but there is always another chance.” They believed me and it happened way too many times when the “next time” was truly theirs and it was a job offer Success.

Additionally, I used my recruiting “magic.” You must have heard of a “butterfly effect.” All boils down to the power of intention. If I mean what I say and am honest – the Universe rewards me for it. My messages on LinkedIn were read consistently at 50-75%. 50% on average for “volume” outreach and 75+% for strategic sourcing (executives, leadership, Sr. Technical talent). If they were not available – they always recommended their network or passed my message to others (without telling me). So, most of times I would receive random messages stating they were interested in next steps. I did not question how they learned about me and opportunities.

Based on these two important aspects – my sourcing campaigns were always effective. I did not have to plan “volume” outreaches, but precise messaging that always brought impactful results.

How do you manage the interview process to ensure a positive candidate experience?

Communication is the Key. Touchpoints are critical throughout the process. Recruiters have to be organized and keep candidates organized as well. Thorough use of communications tools (chime, phone, e-mail) will “make or break” the process. And it is worth mentioning that even in event of failure to land a position – recruiters should reach out to candidates and uplift them no matter what. It’s a tough call to make, but an absolute necessity to maintain their own reputation and the reputation of the company they represent.

What strategies do you use to address diversity and inclusion in the recruiting process?

We have to understand the benchmarks first. Those benchmarks are based on talent pool we work with and goals of organizations we support. We have to advise our business teams on what is possible and realistic first. However, identifying diversity within the business teams is the first step. Those individuals will become our Shining Stars that will help us to attract diverse pools of candidates. We have to make sure that our interviewers represent diversity as well. Case in point – it is unacceptable for a woman to be interviewed by six men. When I saw such discrepancies – I spoke out and advised business teams to rearrange interviewing schedules to include diverse interviewers.

How do you handle difficult hiring situations, such as a lack of qualified candidates or a tight hiring budget?

My first step was always to include a Hiring/Business team into the recruiting process. Partnerships create a “butterfly effect.” And who wouldn’t want to hear directly from the Hiring Manager? Most candidates accepted it as a compliment.

So, I would make a very easy process for Hiring Teams to be part of my sourcing/recruiting efforts – they loved it. Additionally, it provided them an opportunity to hone their own recruiting skills they otherwise would not have. Let the Hiring Manager create the bridge and “infect” a candidate with their own Passion for what they do.

What metrics do you use to measure the success of your recruiting efforts?

I can speak to time-to-fill and other metrics, but most important ones to me are longevity of employees I brought on-board at the company. Most have advanced their own careers (levels), became Managers and even Directors or General Managers within various organizations at Amazon and AWS. And most are still staying in-touch with me as their Trusted Advisor.

How do you collaborate with hiring managers and other stakeholders to ensure that the right candidates are selected for each role?

Profile calibration and Culture fit. Those two aspects are critical to understand before any efforts are put forward. I conduct a thorough discussion with the Hiring Manager, their Director (typically) and even team members to understand the dynamics within the teams. I typically engage a Hiring Manager or one of their team members to help me evaluate profiles and “nail down” the Star they are looking for. Additionally, I ask Hiring Manager a simple question – “who on your team would you want me to clone?” By asking these simple questions a recruiter can uncover most of the information they seek.

In addition to that – such pre-work will ensure Trust between recruiting and client/hiring team. For me personally that equated to level of Trust of issuing job offers without a need for Hiring Manager’s approval (as I was already aware of internal equity aspects and dynamics).

Ongoing calibration of the profile is important as well. Participation of the hiring team will ensure we are on the right track.

You just created an email newsletter – please tell me more about that!

This is a first “stepping stone” for my larger initiative that I’m planning – to collaborate with Talent Acquisition professionals and Leaders on a platform that isolates unneeded “noise.” It’s work-in-progress, but the eventual goal is to create an opportunity for knowledge sharing within TA community. I have mixed feelings at this point regarding LinkedIn – it’s full of “noise” and it is, at times, quite depressing to visit. We need to create a platform that isolates many of these aspects and keeps our energy levels UP. A platform that encourages to continue staying positive and grow professionally.

What’s next for Dennis?

I’m not sure yet, but I know something amazing is coming my way – just need to be patient. First few months I was reflecting on my 6+ years at Amazon/AWS and all my contributions. When I came to Amazon in 2016, we had 150k employees in total. By the time I left – Amazon is at 1.5 million employees. I know that part of this Success is my “fault” as well. I’m proud of what I have accomplished at Amazon and how much I have grown professionally. I had absolutely awesome Mentors who selflessly dedicated their time and effort to help me build out my expertise.

To answer the question – I’m being approached for roles at start-ups and I sense this is the right direction for me. I love to Build! Although I do have some conversations to join established corporations as well that are in need to rebuild their processes, increase expertise of their TA functions as well.

But before I make any decisions – I have a few projects that I need to build out (from scratch) and launch.

Exciting times are ahead!

I’m eagerly anticipating Dennis’ future career endeavors, as he is a talented and innovative individual with a true passion for talent acquisition. With his drive and expertise, I believe he has the potential to make significant waves in the field in the years to come.

You can subscribe to Dennis Ivanov’s email newsletter (here)

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