Part Three: Using Tinder to Recruit Employees

Click Here to Read Part One.

Click Here to Read Part Two.

Yesterday, while I was tucked away in a cabin in the Polish mountains near the border of Ukraine and Slovakia, I took out my laptop and just started writing. Writing was never really part of my routine. I did keep a journal to jot down ideas, events, and quotes from books that I enjoyed. However, I had never written a story on my past and shared it with a larger audience. I received a lot of positive feedback on what I wrote, so I figured it would be best to continue this topic.

Before I continue on the topic, I want to share with you two quotes that I read recently and enjoyed:

• “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing.” – Benjamin Franklin 
• “Anyone who isn’t embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn’t learning enough.” – Alain de Botton 

Part Three of My Adventure in Ukraine:

In Part Two, I left off how rapidly the freight brokerage was growing in Kyiv. From the time I arrived in November to April, we went from 5 to nearly 20 employees. So the first office we had was cramped. Luckily, we moved into an office space, about twice the size of the original one. 

When we moved into the new office space, it was right around the beginning of April. I finally started to enjoy the weather in Kyiv – as the fall and winter months are cloudy, cold, and gloomy. Kyiv in the spring and summer months is absolutely beautiful. It is covered in trees. Charles de Gaulle, during his visit to Kyiv, said: “I saw many parks in cities, but I have never seen a city in a park.” Therefore, if any of you are considering visiting Kyiv or Ukraine, the best times are the end of April till the end of September. 

At the freight brokerage, I conducted around one or two interviews per day. During this time, Carrier Sales, Account Manager, and Tracking were the positions we had outsourced. There was not a single Carrier Sales Rep or Tracker in the US; everyone was in Ukraine. So we were continuously hiring for all positions. 

It was pretty amusing to me to be conducting these interviews at the age of 24. Before arriving in Ukraine, I had never interviewed anyone for a position. Then, all of a sudden, I am interviewing people sometimes that were twice my age. Since we had a lot of freight on the board, the interviews were quick and to the point. 

Once, I had a young woman studying logistics at a university in Kyiv sit beside my desk and tell me she wanted to be a tracker. I replied, “You want to become a tracker?” she replied, “yes.” I saw immense excitement in her for the opportunity, and I immediately hired her. 

Another time, I was on Tinder and saw a pretty girl who spoke English. So, I asked her if she wanted a job in logistics. She came by for the interview, and I think she was a bit shy about the fact that I had found her using Tinder. After the talk, we hadn’t heard from her for about a month, and then, suddenly, she messaged us, asking if the position was still available. Her previous employer hadn’t paid her in a couple of months (a prevalent problem in Ukraine). So we brought her on the team and gave her the name Nancy-Ann Jackson. Amazingly enough, she is still with the company and is an excellent Carrier Sales Rep.

If you have any specific questions about my days in Kyiv, Ukraine, you could write to me at freightcaviar@gmail.com. Make sure to subscribe to my email newsletter for the best FreightCaviar updates on FreightCaviar.net. Thanks for reading this and supporting FreightCaviar. Part Four is coming soon!