Whenever people hear the title “Head of Talent,” they usually imagine one of two things.
Either they think I spend my entire day interviewing candidates in polished Zoom calls while saying things like,
“Tell me about yourself.”
Or they imagine some glamorous startup version of HR where everyone drinks iced coffee in glass meeting rooms and talks about “culture.”
The reality?
It’s much messier, much more human, and honestly way more interesting than most people realize.
Also — my “team” is just two people.
So if you’re imagining a giant recruiting department with endless resources and complicated systems, absolutely not. Most days, we’re just three people trying to hire great humans, support the company, solve unexpected problems, and somehow keep everything moving without losing our minds.
And weirdly enough?
I genuinely love it.
My Day Usually Starts Before My Laptop Opens
Being Head of Talent isn’t just about hiring.
It’s about constantly thinking about people.
Even before I open Slack in the morning, my brain is already running through questions like:
- Did that candidate receive the offer letter?
- Is the designer we hired last month settling in well?
- Did we forget to follow up with someone after the final interview?
- Is the engineering team still overwhelmed?
- Are people quietly burning out?
That’s the thing nobody tells you about talent roles:
you’re constantly balancing business needs and human emotions at the same time.
And when your team is tiny, you don’t really get to specialize.
You become part recruiter,
part operations manager,
part therapist,
part strategist,
and part emergency problem-solver.
Sometimes all before lunch.
Recruiting Is Only One Small Part of the Job
This surprised me too when I first stepped into the role.
I thought most of my time would be spent sourcing candidates and conducting interviews.
But recruiting is honestly just one piece of the puzzle.
A huge part of my job is helping create an environment where good people actually want to stay.
Because hiring someone is expensive.
Replacing burned-out employees is exhausting.
And culture problems spread faster than people think.
So a lot of my work happens behind the scenes.
Sometimes it’s:
- rewriting onboarding systems,
- improving communication between teams,
- helping managers give better feedback,
- fixing hiring processes,
- updating internal documents,
- or having difficult conversations nobody else wants to have.
Some days, I barely even open LinkedIn.
The Weirdest Part of the Job? Energy Management
One thing I never expected about leading talent is how much emotional energy the role requires.
Every conversation matters.
You’re speaking with:
- excited candidates,
- nervous applicants,
- overwhelmed employees,
- stressed founders,
- frustrated managers,
- and sometimes people quietly considering quitting.
And somehow, you have to remain calm and emotionally available for all of them.
That can get heavy fast.
Especially in smaller companies where there’s less structure and everyone wears multiple hats.
There are days where I jump from:
a salary negotiation,
to a candidate rejection call,
to a conflict-resolution meeting,
to onboarding a new hire,
all within a few hours.
Emotionally, that’s a lot of switching.
People often underestimate how much “people work” drains your social battery even when you genuinely enjoy helping others.
Having a Small Team Changes Everything
I think people hear leadership titles and automatically assume large teams and endless support.
In reality, our talent team is tiny.
Which means we all do everything.
One person might be scheduling interviews while also fixing an onboarding issue. Another might be reviewing resumes while organizing internal documents and helping payroll at the same time.
There’s no room for,
“That’s not my job.”
And honestly?
I think that’s made us better.
Smaller teams force you to become adaptable quickly. You learn how the entire company operates because you’re involved in so many moving parts.
The downside is that boundaries disappear very easily.
When your team is small, problems reach you directly and immediately.
You can’t hide behind layers of process.
Most Hiring Decisions Are About Humans, Not Resumes
This is probably the biggest thing I’ve learned.
A perfect resume doesn’t automatically mean someone will thrive inside a company.
And sometimes the most impressive people on paper struggle badly in real working environments.
Meanwhile, some candidates with unconventional backgrounds become absolute stars because they communicate well, adapt quickly, and genuinely care.
Skills matter, obviously.
But energy matters too.
Curiosity matters.
Self-awareness matters.
Kindness matters more than companies admit publicly.
Especially in smaller teams.
When your company is growing quickly, one toxic personality can affect an entire department faster than people realize.
That’s why hiring isn’t really about finding “perfect” candidates anymore.
It’s about finding people who can grow with the company without destroying the culture in the process.
The Hardest Part of My Job Is Delivering Bad News
Nobody talks enough about this part.
Talent roles involve a lot of uncomfortable conversations.
Rejecting candidates.
Discussing salary limitations.
Handling resignations.
Talking through performance concerns.
Sometimes even layoffs.
And no matter how experienced you become, those conversations never feel completely easy.
Because behind every resume is an actual person with bills, confidence issues, goals, and expectations.
I think working in talent has made me far more aware of how vulnerable job searching feels emotionally.
One interview can completely change someone’s week.
One rejection email can affect someone’s confidence more than employers realize.
That awareness changes how you communicate with people.
At least it should.
Remote Work Made Talent Roles More Complicated
Before remote work became normal, company culture happened more naturally.
People bonded through lunch breaks, office conversations, random moments after meetings.
Now?
A huge part of culture has to be created intentionally.
And honestly, that’s hard.
Especially with a tiny team.
You have to think about:
- communication quality,
- meeting fatigue,
- employee isolation,
- onboarding remote hires,
- keeping people engaged,
- and making employees feel connected even when everyone works from different locations.
Sometimes I spend more time thinking about human connection than hiring itself.
Because retaining good people matters just as much as finding them.
What People Don’t See Behind Leadership Titles
I think social media has made leadership roles look cleaner than they actually are.
But most days in talent leadership feel very unglamorous.
It’s spreadsheets.
Scheduling chaos.
Last-minute cancellations.
Problem-solving.
Awkward conversations.
Process updates.
Emotional support.
And trying to keep everything organized while Slack notifications attack you nonstop.
Some days feel productive and exciting.
Other days feel like controlled chaos.
But there’s also something deeply rewarding about helping build a company through people.
Watching someone you hired grow into leadership months later is genuinely one of the best feelings.
You realize your work quietly shapes entire teams over time.
Final Thoughts
Being Head of Talent with a team of two means constantly balancing strategy with survival mode.
Some days I feel like a recruiter.
Some days I feel like an operations manager.
Some days I feel like a career coach.
And some days I honestly feel like a full-time therapist with a laptop.
But I’ve learned that talent work is really about one thing:
understanding humans.
Not just how they work.
But how they communicate,
what motivates them,
what burns them out,
and what helps them thrive.
And honestly?
That’s probably why I still love this job even on the chaotic days.
Because behind every interview, every onboarding document, every hiring meeting, and every difficult conversation —
there’s always a real person on the other side of it.