Because of our team, Phyton Talent Advisors is able to offer world-class recruiting services for all of our clients. We are so grateful for all the hard work and dedication our team puts into their day-to-day, everyday. We love what we have collectively built here at Phyton and our ‘Meet the Team’ series will aim to draw attention to all of our hard working employees.

March: Meet The Team – Matt Matilsky

What do you do at Phyton Talent Advisors?

Tinder, highly customized, for tech professionals and their employers? Kidding!

As a tech recruiter, I’m networking with candidates in an industry where jobs sometimes outnumber the talent 5-1. On the best days I am cutting through a lot of noise that exists in this industry by being targeted and specific to a given skillset, vertical, and experience-level. An unfortunate trend among recruiters is to advertise what they need to fill a job. I do my best to run the exact opposite message, and conduct outreach based on what a job can do for a candidate, not the other way around.

What I do is simple on paper, matching candidates with opportunity, but to do that you need to speak from the gut and be honest about what you can and cannot influence. You add the most value to clients and candidates by encouraging talented people to vet opportunities for themselves, not by forcing your expectations on them. Explain what the upside might be, but also maintain that objectivity and respect that a candidate is not going to know if a given opportunity makes sense until they explore it first-hand. A key thing I strive for Phyton Talent Advisors: leave sales tricks at the door.

What’s your go-to productivity trick?

Loosen up! Besides telling bad jokes to amuse myself, my productivity hack is basically just taking the time to meet the players and focusing on what’s fun. The greatest thing about this business is the opportunity to meet important people. Whether that’s the Director of Data Engineering at a tech company or an engineer with 10 months experience who might join their team, meeting talented people makes this thing exciting. It is no secret that recruiting is a grind, and takes impressive time management, but if you can be yourself in this industry instead of being who you think people want you to be, a lot of the monotony takes care of itself and literally pays off.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had, and what did you learn from it?

I’ve gotten beat up in a few jobs, from dishwasher to public relations rep. The worst was for a PR Agency, which you won’t see on my LinkedIn or resume, where the owner screamed at a cleaning lady for a coffee stain and fired someone for a typo in a press release in front of the entire team. The culture stank – low energy and demoralizing, despite some incredible people who worked there. No one was treated with respect, even those who’d been there over 10 years. It’s only worth mentioning because of the upshot: I take nothing for granted, and even if it might sound like one, it is no cliché when I thank my boss repeatedly at Phyton for facilitating a creative, limitless, happy, and constructive environment where not only do we feel respected, but we are always reminded that we don’t have a ceiling on where our careers can take us.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Professional snowboarder.

Who inspires you?

People who overcame things and peaked late. Gary Vaynerchuk, Martha Steward, Rodney Dangerfield. Anna Wintour was fired as a stylist before ascending at Vogue. I like stories like that.

What’s something you’ve done, but will never do again?

Worked for disrespectful people.

Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Night Owl.

What are you passionate about?

Money, Politics, Fantasy Football, CrossFit, Music, History, Standup Comedy

What’s your favorite movie?

Changes all the time. Zombieland Double Tap right now. Made me laugh which I appreciated.

If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?

Teleportation.

If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would you choose?

Professional Snowboarder Shaun White. Win-win. I could shred the halfpipe; he could recruit the most accomplished individuals in the tech sector.