Knewton is a platform that provides adaptive learning lessons for individual students. The company was founded back in 2008, and has since helped over 10 million students create learning lessons to meet their personal educational goals.
As such, Knewton’s company culture embraces collaboration, work-life balance and continued learning.
We caught up with Justine Dilworth, a Technical Recruiter at Knewton, to find out what it’s really like to work at the edtech company.
BI: What are some of your day-to-day roles and responsibilities at Knewton?
JD: As a recruiter, I talk about talent branding, set up relationships with outside offices, and partner with meetup organizers to make sure our candidate experience is the best it can be.
BI: What is the HR team culture like at Knewton? Any traditions?
JD: We have a small team, but we embody typical startup life in New York. It’s really high-energy and really collaborative. We’re an education technology company and so much of what we do is focused on learning. One of our core values is teach and learn. We have a lot of people that really want to collaborate and educate each other.
BI: How do you work with other teams to make sure you’re hiring other people who fit the mold of Knewton?
JD: I spend a lot of my day asking people why they joined our organization. I also ask them for their story, what matters to them and why they stay here. And then I focus on that narrative to bring the right people through to Knewton.
BI: Could you share any goals or current projects that your team is working on?
JD: A big thing right now that I’m working on is working to improve the candidate experience. We're also working to improve interview processes and how we engage with talent. Also, we’re a tech company that is focused on diversity in our hiring — ultimately we’re looking for smart, nice and collaborative people who want to make the world a better place. So finding new ways to find those people is something we’re focused on.
BI: Can you share any lessons you’ve learned while working at Knewton?
JD: Something I’ve learned is to always be humble. Also, at the end of the day, you’re only as good as your team. Ultimately, everyone at the company is a recruiter — if people in the company are sharing their stories and sharing their experiences, that makes my job a lot easier.
BI: What is the first thing you do when you come into the office and the last thing you do before you leave?
JD: I check my Google Calendar and make sure everything is in place. I want to make sure interviews are ready to go, interviewers are prepped for how to approach their days and ultimately I want to make sure the candidate experience is seamless.
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