(Note: Our How I Work series is brought to you by AccruePartners – building people, companies and careers by being at the forefront of the staffing and executive search industry).

LendingTree is a leading online loan marketplace with one of the largest networks of lenders in the nation. Their service provides consumers a way to connect with multiple lenders for a number of financial borrowing needs.

LendingTree was recently named #2 fastest growing company by Fortune and #2 best medium-sized company to work for by Charlotte Observer. Keep reading to learn about what it’s like to work in HR for this financial giant.

Office location:

Ballantyne Corporate Park. We have a whole HQ building and space in a second building because we just keep growing!

Job Title:

Recruiter

What do you do?

I recruit and retain the best talent in the industry while focusing on preserving our culture. I also work with employee experience on implementing new programs to increase employee engagement and job satisfaction. Since we are a start-up environment, I juggle a lot of other fun, exciting projects along the way!

Commute (how and how long?) 

3.3 miles in the car, so about 10 minutes in the morning and 20-25 minutes on the way home

What do you do during your commute?

If I leave at the right time, I listen to Maney, Roy & LauRen on 95.1 Kiss FM in the mornings. Otherwise, I flip through my presets looking for a channel without commercials for the short ride or just think about the day ahead. The evenings are always classic rock (random habit), talking on the phone, or a mix of both.

Phone Type:

iPhone 4s (don’t ask what happened to my lovely 6s in the Spring ☺, waiting for the 7)

Desk photo:

Computer:

Lenovo ThinkPad

Gadgets you can’t live without:

My Kindle Fire, my car’s back up camera and the car sensors that make a noise when the front end is nearing too close to something! Seriously– a game changer for a short girl who can’t see over the steering wheel!

Do you listen to music while you work?

Pandora, most likely stations: Indie Folk Revival, The Grateful Dead Radio, Van Morrison Radio, or Red Hot Chili Peppers Radio, though my taste in music essentially includes anything with words in it so you never know. Always one headphone in, one out so people feel free to come over and collaborate or ask questions.

What software are you a power user of?

The biggest two are Greenhouse (our recruiting software) and Workday (our HRIS), which I use on a daily basis.

What’s your favorite spot for a business lunch? Your order?

I am almost always eating our $3 catered lunches at LendingTree because they are just so good and it’s such a time and money saver! When I want to switch it up, I go to Brazwells in Ballantyne for the Buffalo Chicken Salad with extra blue cheese dressing. Super excited Blackfinn is here now—my fish taco addiction might start becoming a lunch habit.

Social media habits:

Facebook to keep up with all the posts my mom tags me in and stay up to date with my extended family, otherwise it’s Instagram – tagging friends in silly pictures, posting pictures and stalking celebrities.

To-do list manager:

A notebook and a good inky fine tip pen. I am a paper and pen person for recruiting notes too. It’s old school but it works best for me!

What everyday thing are you really good at?

Cooking and baking! The caveat is I am really bad at cleaning up the mess I make. It usually ends up falling on the person who I cooked for ☺ 

What’s your one favorite thing about your job?

I love our culture!! I love that I get to work for an established brand BUT with a start-up culture and none of the corporate red tape. LendingTree tries really hard to preserve and maintain an open, collaborative, entrepreneurial culture and I get to be a part of that by recruiting people into a company that I believe in. I also love that I am not pushed into a box of the “recruiter role”. While I do recruit, I am also exposed to various other areas of HR and have the ability to make a real impact on the company through other initiatives. It’s hard to stick to one thing being my favorite! I know I am a “recruiter” and acquiring the best talent is my job, but at the end of the day, I couldn’t do it if I didn’t believe in the company, my management, and the executive team!

Best time-saving shortcut or Charlotte life hack:

Road trip life hack: Google bears no results when you search for this BUT someone told me this once and it has never failed in the past four years. When you go to Cracker Barrel, if you order coffee after your food has come to the table its free because it’s the hospitable thing to offer guests. I have tried this a handful of times just to see if it would work (it’s hard for me to wait very long for my coffee), and it has at various locations in numerous states!

Sleep routine:

Fall asleep on the couch while watching TV, wake up in the middle of the night and migrate to the bedroom to join my boyfriend and big ole dog who are sound asleep in the bed.

Where do you go around Charlotte to get away from the office?

The mountains are always calling my name! Hiking and exploring the beautiful outdoors. I am a real weekend warrior when it comes to driving some distance for a strenuous hike with some waterfalls and views! NC is such a beautiful state, there is always something new to discover.

What did you eat for breakfast this morning?

Well, it’s always free bagel Friday here at LendingTree, so I had a toasted everything bagel with light plain cream cheese from Bagel Bin. Delicious!

If you weren’t doing your current job, what would you be doing?

Either something involving politics, working in hippotherapy, training service dogs for veterans, or taking a stab at the drifter life hiking around the country working odd jobs and living out of an old RV.

Best job advice you’ve received:

Regarding graduating college and looking for your first job. Don’t worry about it or take it too seriously. You’ll figure out eventually what you want to do for a career. Many people don’t end up doing what they do for their first post-grad job forever! That was a hard piece of advice for a Political Science major that decided not to go to law school to take, but it turned out to be true. I ended up in HR and it really did just happen!

Last book you read (grade it on a A-F scale):

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde- “A”- it is definitely an underrated literary classic and will make you think about yourself and your perspective on life! #deep

Last movie you watched (grade it on a A-F scale):

Me Before You- “A”-I didn’t read the book though, so not sure if that would sway my opinion. Either way, I’m still mad at Will and yes I cried.

What’s one thing people don’t know about Charlotte that they should?

If you are moving here from out of state, YES the same street can and will change names 5 times while you drive down it without making a single turn. Also, making turns can keep you on the same street (i.e. Rea Rd). It is so confusing but you’ll catch on (or so they say).

Is there anything else that we didn’t ask that you’d like to tell our readers?

Well since this is work-related and we are hiring, check out our careers page to learn more about our culture and see if there is a fit for you on our job board! We also just got named #2 fastest growing company by Fortune and #2 best medium-sized company to work for by Charlotte Observer. I am so proud to be a part of it all!

What other Charlottean would you like to answer these question?

John “Frate” Iafrate (the eccentric dude in the videos on our careers page) or Amanda Freels for a dose of some CLT Girl Power!