How My Global Journey Shaped the Recruiter I Became
Learning to Read People Across Cultures
I didn’t become a recruiter because I loved resumes or job descriptions. I became one because my whole life has been about learning how to read people across cultures, languages, personalities, and expectations shaped by borders and histories.
Growing up in the Philippines, living in Hong Kong, eventually moving to the US, and traveling through more than 30 countries shaped that perspective. At the time, I didn’t realize those experiences were teaching me how to understand people long before I ever worked in talent.
Here are three moments that shaped the way I work today.
Adaptability: Learning to Adjust Without Losing Myself
When you grow up between cultures, “normal” becomes fluid. I learned early that the way you communicate in one setting can feel too forward in another, too soft in another, and perfectly balanced in a third.
In one culture, clarity is kindness. In another, subtlety is respect. Sometimes asking a direct question is a sign that you trust someone.
This taught me to adapt quickly and gracefully, while still staying true to who I am.
In recruiting, this looks like shifting between a founder who thinks in bullet points and a candidate who needs room to think. Same me. Different approach. Adaptability turns into connection.
Empathy in Recruiting: Hearing the Story Behind the Words
I’ve lived in places where people communicate through tone more than language. Where silence carries meaning. Where someone’s facial expression tells you the truth long before their words catch up.
Those environments trained me to see the quiet signals. Hesitation. Relief. Pride. Fatigue. Hope.
This matters in hiring because most candidates will not explicitly tell you what they want or what they fear. But they always show you, if you’re paying attention.
Empathy isn’t softness. It’s accuracy. It’s how you build trust with both sides of the hiring table.
Cultural Pattern Recognition: Understanding How People Actually Work
Moving through different countries taught me to see patterns in how teams and leaders function.
How decisions get made. How conflict is resolved or avoided. The ways respect is shown. How people communicate under stress. The dynamics of power distance. And how collaboration really works behind the scenes.
Today, this pattern recognition helps me match people not only to roles but to environments. Not where they survive. Where they actually thrive.
It is one of the most underrated parts of recruiting, and one of the most essential.
Why This Matters for Hiring
Great hiring is not only about identifying skills. Skills are the surface. People are the depth.
Hiring requires the ability to read nuance, understand motivations, and anticipate dynamics before they play out inside a team. It is about culture fit, culture add, communication style, expectations, and pressure response.
My global upbringing gave me a wide lens. It taught me to understand people beyond their words. To spot alignment others might miss. To see potential where others see risk.
And honestly, it is the reason I stayed in this work.
Because every search is another human story.
And every placement is a chance to change the trajectory of a team and a career.