Wonolo
Please introduce yourself.
Hi, I’m Josh Burkwist, Director of Technical Recruiting here at Wonolo. I’m a regional employee, and I work out of my home office in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I travel to our other regional offices and headquarters in San Francisco, roughly one week a quarter and I handle all technical engineering roles at Wonolo.
What events in your life have brought you to your current role today?
I haven’t always been a recruiter. I first had a career in social services and I went to school for social service work. I worked for the state of Alaska in Child Protection Services, and I was also a forensic interviewer for child sexual abuse cases. My father-in-law actually encouraged me to go into a sales role to try it out. He noticed that it was easy for me to connect with people and build quick rapport and relationships. He said that was fundamental to sales. After some time, I decided I wanted to try it and started interviewing for a number of different sales positions. I met somebody who was a recruiter, and I honestly didn’t really even know what a recruiter was. He invited me to check it out. I did and about 12 or 13 years later, I’m still in tech recruiting today and loving it!
When you have to make a difficult decision, what do you lean on?
When I have to make a tough decision, what I lean on is my past experiences and a lot of self-reflection. First, I like to sleep on the decision, have open communication, and talk with my mentors. Sometimes, I talk with my wife, Elizabeth, and people who know me both professionally and personally to try to make the best-informed decision.
What is one life advice you can give to anyone?
One life advice that I would give anyone is always be empathetic towards others. Think of the situation from their point of view or what might be driving the situation. It allows us to not only self reflect, but also to view things from somebody else’s perspective. Empathy helps bring us all together for one common goal or to make that tough decision and overall work better together.
Please finish this sentence: If you really knew me, you would know that ______.
If you really knew me, you would know that family is what drives me at my core. They’re everything to me. They’re my entire world. Anytime I need motivation, or to think through a difficult topic or struggle, I sit back and think about my family, and that’s all the motivation that I need. Often I say, “There are many religions. My main religion is my family.”
