In our Scaling Stories podcast, we have the pleasure of catching up with talent leaders about the lessons they’ve learnt in building teams at some of the world’s fastest growing companies. On this occasion we spoke with Beatrice Domiguez, Head of People and Talent at Aviros, which provides a fleet management solution for company cars. As you’ll discover, we covered some of the subtle yet significant differences in recruiting in Europe versus the Bay Area.

Listen to our conversation with Bea

We touched upon the Great Resignation phenomenon and the related battles faced by recruiters, from lower acceptance rates to difficulties finding recruiters themselves. “Everyone is hiring,” Bea says. “It’s a whole new world.”

With her experience recruiting in California and Europe, Bea is well-placed to describe the differences in culture and priorities among candidates on either side of the pond.

Bea contrasted the “risk-taking mentality” in San Francisco, where talented professionals often look to work for start-ups, with a more cautious outlook she’s encountered in Europe.

“Most people [in Europe] that have gone to really good universities and who are very ambitious are also very risk averse,” Bea says. “It’s still very much, oh, I want to go into consulting, or I want to go into banking, or I want to go into a very stable company.”

However, Bea says attitudes are beginning to shift in Europe, with a growing interest among talent in working for start-ups and scale-ups.

We also covered the topic of diversity and inclusion. Bea says the Aviros leadership team has a 50-50 gender split, and the organisation has developed “the type of culture where we are all aware of our inherent biases”.

Bea observes that diversity and inclusion in recruitment is sometimes viewed differently on either side of the Atlantic.

“In the US, diversity is very much seen through the lens of colour, gender and sexuality, and not so much on nationality,” Bea says. “But here, nationality is seen as being diverse… Thankfully, we do have a very diverse company at  Avrios and I’m super proud.”

Bea explains that much of Aviros’s work on closing the gender gap has been informal as much as formal. Bea encouraged hiring managers to post leadership roles in “female-driven” community platforms, and revised job descriptions to use more inclusive language. She’s also had “really honest discussions with all of our hiring managers around what traits they're looking for”.

And sometimes, giving a personal side to the story can show a candidate that a company is serious about inclusion. “I talk about my journey about being a mother, and motherhood, and returning back to work and still having ambitions…” Bea explains. “I think these kinds of anecdotal things resonate.”

Finally, Bea’s passion for recruitment shines through when she discusses the distinction between a product and the people who sit behind it. 

“A product is only as good as the people that are building it, marketing and selling it,” Bea says. “And so what is really exciting about being in talent acquisition is that you get to directly influence those things. When you hire someone, you get to give that person an opportunity, a job, a career. And we spend more time at work than we do at home.”

“You can have the best product in the world, but if you do not have people, it just won’t go anywhere, right?”

Bea is making waves as a smart and proactive recruiter, and we can’t wait to see what Aviros gets up to next.

Listen to our conversation with Bea, or read the full interview transcript.