#APlayersTeam: Interview with Maryna Kutko, Acting CEO at A-Players Recruiting

We continue short talks with our team members. Today, we talked with Maryna Kutko, who recently became an acting CEO at A-Players Recruiting. 

If in a few words, tell more about your way in the company, why you decided to join, and how you grew.

It was a happy accident :) I was reading the book “Who” by Geoff Smart about the methodology of A-Players hiring. I was thrilled by the book, its idea, and A-Players concept overall. At that time, I was reached by A-Player (Kate Hotsyk) and asked for an interview for the middle Talent Partner role. I started to read about the company, its mission, the projects, and the Founder. I was definitely excited by the opportunity to meet them and learn more about their activities. 

I found here far beyond my expectations. My colleagues are high-profile professionals, and Lesya Arnold is a leader to follow and learn from. For more than a year, I have had the opportunity to improve and grow with the challenging tasks, acquiring new expertise on the new markets with the new level of roles.

I always was interested in new business development, ethical companies, and talented people. At A-Players recruiting, all these came together and aligned.

The most memorable case in your practice here and why?

They all are memorable ’cause we became partners and even friends with our clients. I am in contact with every person we’ve hired for them and follow clients' growth and success. I am an ambassador for their products/services because our clients are impactful startups. We share the same values and align with their mission and culture. For example, we became excellent friends with one of our latest clients — V-Art, a platform to experience, collect & sell digital art. We helped them find CCO, and now glad to see their effective cooperation. 

Except for your personal qualities as a leader, what sources do you follow to be up to date and improve your strategic and management skills?

Social media as a mirror of modern society and the trends in it. Plus podcasts starting from Engineering Leadership, Recruiting Future, Lex Fridman, Dou, the A16Z podcast, etc., and newsletters (Hung Lee, The Information).

What is your inner feeling about how the talent market will look like in the next 1-2 years?

I agree with the speakers from World Economic Forum (that took place in September) on the statement that soft skills and personal qualities will be more important than qualifications. Big corporations will be training their staff instead of hiring, due to the shortage of the workforce in the labor market. Maybe, as they do in Japan, when a company creates infrastructure to involve all the family members to be a part of the company. 

As a company, we can help candidates with career consulting and coaching to maneuver in the new reality and help focus on developing soft skills. As for our clients, we will continue the search for A-players as usual :)

What helps you to recover and be productive, considering the stressful situation in the world?

1. People. I am inspired by the Talent — this sparkle in every person I meet.

2. Communication. With friends and other great personalities through books, learning from the best by reading.

3. And work where I can contribute, help people and have support from my team.

How do you see the future both for the company and your personal development?

I see our company in the future as an example of a successful brand, a thought leader, innovative and evolving. I want to be a Partner on the way to achieving this goal, create new products/services, help candidates and clients find each other to develop socially meaningful products, and continue changing the money-first culture to impact-first globally.

For now, we can offer:

1. Hiring services.

2. Mentoring on developing a recruiting strategy or department.

3. Consulting and coaching on career development for candidates.

4. Introducing startups to VCs and speed up a fundraising process (it works the other way too, we have a wide tech community and can help VCs find amazing startups to invest in).

5. Collaborating on spreading the idea of changing money-first culture to impact- and people-first through our Communications department.

You can easily book a call with Maryna to get acquainted.