Ask A Recruiter - Metric Theory

Sydney Smith: I am a sourcing recruiter with Metric Theory, and am primarily responsible for finding senior level talent to bring to the organization.  We work within digital marketing, so those trends are consistently changing. With that being said, we are looking for senior level talent to come in just to bring a fresh perspective and set of eyes. The second part of my position is really working with universities to establish relationships with them. So with that, I'm scheduling career fairs, tabling, meet and greets, coffee chats - all those fun things and speaking consistently with those analyst candidates and then helping to move them through our hiring process.

Career Services Center: What makes Metric Theory a great place to work?

Sydney Smith: We are an established organization with the startup feel so we have about 150 employees across the United States and five different offices. We’re headquartered in San Francisco, and we really pride ourselves in our culture. So we think that our people are the most important part of Metric Theory. We're really putting an emphasis on finding that relationship on a personal level, and a professional level. So once a month when we are in office we have coffee chats where we give a Starbucks gift card to two random employees. You're partnered with someone in the office that you might not typically work with and you're given half an hour to an hour to go chat and just get to know one another. We have happy hours pretty frequently. Last night, we did a company wide trivia. We're constantly posting photo challenges, like what does your work from home space look like, what are your pets doing right now while you're working from home - that kind of fun stuff just to keep everyone engaged. And to really highlight things outside of just the working space.

 Career Services Center: Can you tell us a little bit more about what you look for in a candidate when you're sourcing for an entry level analyst position?

Sydney Smith: It's a full time entry level position. It's an analyst training program with the hopes of moving that person into an account manager role after about 9 to 12 months. Because it is so heavy in training we want to make sure that the candidates that we're bringing in are really self motivated and driven. There's a lot of information to learn in a fairly short amount of time to really grasp those concepts. A lot of work needs to be put in outside of just the standard training that's being given, so we definitely want a self-starter, someone that's driven and motivated to want to move into those roles and do a lot of self-learning and then someone that's a team player. So in the analyst program you're partnered with an account manager, but you're also working with the other other analysts on a team level and the nature of the agency life is working on a team, so we're looking for someone that's team oriented. And then empathetic as well. So working with our clients, given the current circumstances and just overall making sure that someone's empathetic is also definitely a driving factor.

Career Services Center: What's the first thing that you notice when you're reviewing resumes?

Sydney Smith: The first thing I'm noticing is definitely making sure that, within the content, responsibilities are laid out appropriately. So instead of talking about what the company does that they were working at, talking about what they were doing and what were the responsibilities outside of just the standard responsibilities. What are some accomplishments that you have that set you apart from someone else that might have been in that role?

Career Services Center: What would you say is one of the most common mistakes that you see students making during the job search process?

Sydney Smith: I often run into students not proofreading their applications, and see a lack of attention to detail and a lot of issues around that. We take heavily into account our application questionnaire. So we're reading all those answers and just making sure that they fit what we're looking for. If a student is not putting in the effort and proofreading those questions, then that's kind of a red flag to me that there might be some attention to detail issues there.

Career Services Center: And how would you recommend that a student go about the networking process, especially in terms of reaching out to recruiters at companies they’re interested in?

Sydney Smith: Yeah, great question. I love when the student reaches out to me on LinkedIn or sends me an email or something of that sort. So many people are applying to entry level positions, so it's easy for recruiters to just go through an application and go through a resume without really getting that kind of personal touch. So having a face to a name or having that extra personal touch is really helpful. I think as far as finding those people to network with, if there's a company that you're really interested in, either reach out to a recruiter if they're available or just reach out to someone else that works at the organization, just to see if you can set up a time to chat. When applicants do this, typically, the person that they're talking to is going to message me and say, hey, this person just asked to call me for 30 minutes to talk about the position - sounds like a great candidate. So to me, that's definitely a telltale sign of those things that we're looking for - a self-starter, proactive, driven, all those different pieces.

Career Services Center: Upskilling is a big thing that people are talking about right now. What kind of skills would you recommend that our students work on to make themselves stand out during the hiring process?

Sydney Smith: I think just practicing before they hop on a call with someone is really helpful. So doing their research on standard interview questions and then practicing those. Communication in digital marketing is huge because we’re consistently speaking with clients. And I think really in any industry if you're talking to clients or customers or what have you, you need to have communication skills where you're clear and concise, without rambling on and without cutting yourself too short. So practicing that communication piece is very important.

Career Services Center: What types of activities would you recommend students do to add to their resumes if they're not able to complete an internship during the summer?

Sydney Smith: If there's some type of certificate or something that they could get to kind of really take them to that next level. So for example in digital marketing, being certified in Google Analytics that's outside of a class shows those soft skills that we're looking for. It shows that they're driven without having that experience.

Career Services Center: In hindsight, what advice do you wish someone had given you as you were starting your own career?

Sydney Smith: I think just not taking the first job that's thrown at you, but really kind of sitting back and evaluating what you're looking for in a career, and what you're looking for out of the company that you're working for. And also what skills can you learn there that offer that learning and a way to enhance your career as a whole.

Career Services Center: Any final advice or anything else that you want to let our students know about Metric Theory?

Sydney Smith: So we're actually hiring right now. We have our analyst training program. It starts in the winter and the summer, so it coincides with graduation. We're not looking for someone, specifically with the background in marketing - it is helpful, but not not required. So if they're interested you can reach out to us. We have an email address listed on our website that's for all of our applications and careers, if they have any questions.