Meet the people behind PeopleDoc: Arlen Oharonian

This is the second post in our new series, Meet the People Behind PeopleDoc, where we peel back the curtain on what makes PeopleDoc a truly great company—our employees. Get to know Arlen, our Global Recruiting Manager. See what he has to say about finding the right candidate, the best pizza in New York City and the one book every college student and business person should read.

The basics

What’s your role at PeopleDoc?

I am the Global Recruiting Manager. It's a multi-faceted role. I not only recruit for all non-technical positions globally, I also manage our Technical Recruiter, Hawa, in Paris and run the recruiting department from a strategy and admin side. This includes working with recruiting technology vendors, partnering with hiring mangers to understand their hiring needs and help them with planning, and analyzing trends and data around recruiting at PeopleDoc.

How long have you worked at PeopleDoc?

It will be 2 years on March 26. It’s been my first job in the software industry and the first startup I’ve ever worked for, and it’s been the best 23 months of my career.

What do you like most about working here?

Being in the HR industry. I love the product we sell and what it can accomplish. HR often goes overlooked. They're the last group to get the best technology. But now they’re getting pushed to the forefront. A company may sell a product or service, but it’s their people that sell and support that product, so companies are realizing they need to invest in their people.

Recruiting and tech start-ups 

How did you get into recruiting?

The first 3 years of my career I did campus recruiting, where I traveled a lot and worked with college seniors. I didn’t want to be pigeonholed to college recruiting, so I moved into doing professional recruiting.

What do you like most about recruiting?

I really enjoy the relationship management part. I think a lot of recruiters get distracted by the transactional side of recruiting and forget about the human aspect. To find the right candidate and make sure they’ll be a fit, you really need to build that relationship by getting to know them and helping them understand where the company is going.

What do you like most about working at a technology start-up?

Start ups are where you go when you want the chance to build something and lay the foundation. Right now, I’m working on homing in on what PeopleDoc wants in a candidate and getting that process down to a well-oiled machine.

Watches, whiskey and New York City

What are some things we should know about you?

• I’m a social person and have to be interacting with people, which, of course, led me to recruiting.
• I’m an Eagle Scout, it’s something that stays with you for life. 
• I’m relocating to our Paris office soon; working internationally is something I’ve always wanted to do! 

What are 3 things you love?

• Watches. I just bought my first nice watch, an Omega Speedmaster, which is the first watch anyone ever wore into space, and I’m starting to get more into vintage watches from the 60s to 80s.

• Food. If you’re visiting New York City, I recommend Minetta Tavern for a burger, Grimaldi’s or Artichoke for pizza, and Morimoto for sushi.

• Whiskey. My favorite is Pappy Van winkle, but it’s the most rare and most expensive. You have to enter a lottery to buy a bottle.

And 3 things you hate?

• Slow walkers
• Slow drivers
• Slow talkers

Favorite thing about New York City?

The energy. You just don’t get this vibe anywhere else in the world. It’s a blessing and a curse because it can be exhausting. Paris is a bit more relaxing, but still a lot of fun.