At Talent Search People, we believe in the RPO model as a strategic solution for our clients. Today we speak with Carolina Pliego, Global Talent Acquisition, who shares her experience working on an RPO project with Affinity Petcare, a leader in pet nutrition and wellbeing.
Role and Experience in the RPO Project
1. How would you describe your role within the RPO for Affinity Petcare?
"My role is to support the Talent team within the company; I genuinely feel like part of the team."
2. What benefits would you highlight from working under an RPO model?
"First of all, the daily learning. In my case, working with an ATS like Jobvite for recruitment management has allowed me to understand how processes work from the client's perspective, in a fully end‑to‑end way. In addition, the RPO model provides clear and well‑defined objectives throughout the entire collaboration with the client."
3. What does a typical day look like in your work within the RPO?
"My daily work is similar to agency‑based recruitment, but with one key difference: the initial message to candidates is always the same, offering a more complete and realistic view of the project. I also participate weekly in meetings with Hiring Managers to ensure alignment in the search and avoid limiting the perspective to the HR area only."
4. What tools do you use to manage vacancies and candidates?
"I use Jobvite (ATS) as my main tool for managing vacancies and candidates. I also use Excel to prepare the weekly client report, and Carerix as additional support to organise the process."
5. How does the Talent Search People team coordinate with the client’s internal team?
"At Affinity, I feel fully part of the team. I take part in weekly meetings where workloads are reviewed, and we work side‑by‑side at the office, which makes coordination and alignment throughout the process much easier."
6. What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in this project?
"The biggest challenge has been adapting to a new tool without prior training, and taking over a project that had already been started by someone else. This required understanding the context very quickly and ensuring continuity without compromising quality."
7. What learnings has working in an RPO brought you?
"The learning process is constant. I’ve had the opportunity to work on positions I had never managed before, understand the company’s core business, and adapt to very specific profiles in short timeframes. All of this has helped me grow professionally and broaden my perspective on recruitment."
If you had to define the RPO model in a single word, what would it be and why?
"Learning and autonomy. Every day brings new challenges that allow you to learn and grow. You work very autonomously: you can ask for support when needed, but you also look for solutions on your own to overcome whatever comes up in daily work."
