Recruiters: You Need to Eat Your Own Dog Food

Recently, I put down a deposit on the cutest Tibetan terrier puppy I’ve ever seen, and I’m going to pick him up on Boxing Day (that’s the day after Christmas for all the non-British readers). We’re so excited to welcome the little fella into the family, but I also appreciate that with three kids under 6 and a puppy, there won’t be many quiet minutes in the house for a long time.

As I was browsing puppy dietary articles online, I started thinking about some advice I have often repeated: Recruiters should eat their own dog food. 

Not literally, please. I want to be clear from the start that “dogfooding” is a metaphor and I won’t be held liable for anyone who, after reading this article, starts using dog food as a new source of protein.

According to Techopedia, “the term ‘dogfooding’ is . . . slang for the use of one’s own products.” In 1988, the term started to become popular in software development when Paul Maritz, a manager at Microsoft, sent an email titled “Eating our own Dogfood” to another employee encouraging the internal use of their own products. Joe Gebbia, a cofounder of Airbnb, gets to the heart of why it’s important: “You use it yourself; you eat your own dog food. Every time we do that, we discover something that we can improve.”

You can apply this concept to make you a better recruiter. By being a user of your company’s products, you will better understand the company you recruit for.

When I worked in recruitment agencies, I would try to be a user of my clients’ products as much as possible, even at times shamelessly asking for free samples. When I started recruiting for Sainsbury’s, I registered for a Nectar loyalty card and started shopping at the venerable grocery retailer. When working at Hudl, I joined a five-a-side football (soccer) team and we filmed our games so we could use the company app to analyze our footage. And over the years at Electronic Arts, Epic Games, and now Space Ape Games, I consistently played their games and even learned how to use Unreal Engine, Epic’s industry-standard 3D software development tool.

I’m very lucky that I love using the products my company creates, but that’s the reason I spent years trying to get into the games industry. 

It turns out the rumors are true: If you’re passionate about your work, it can make you really happy. And I can claim playing video games is research for work. 

No, really.

In discussions with hiring managers, leadership, and teams, I can give a personal opinion on our games and products as well as other products from across the industry. I also have a deep appreciation for the incredible work that our employees do because these are the people who create the games that I love. That added level of knowledge comes only from being immersed in our products.

You should dogfood your own hiring processes too. You may not be able to test every part of the hiring process yourself — and that’s OK — but in lieu of firsthand experience you should be getting feedback from others. Consider these questions: When was the last time you tested your application process? Or applied to an internal role? Do you send out feedback forms or surveys to rejected candidates? Do you talk to new hires to get their take on their hiring experience? What is it like to be a hiring manager in your company?

I hope this has helped inspire you to have a dogfooding mindset when it comes to your company’s products and processes. I am very much looking forward to the time later this month when that bulk order of fish kibble arrives at my door.

Joe Burridge is a recruiting leader with over a decade of experience in the tech and games industry. Most recently, he has worked at Electronic Arts, Epic Games, and Space Ape Games.

He has hired hundreds of people in the games industry, from senior leadership to interns, for world class games and products such as Fortnite, Unreal Engine, Rocket League, Need For Speed, Battlefield, and Frostbite.

Joe is also passionate about sharing his knowledge and helping others enter the games industry. He does this through content on LinkedIn as well as frequent online and in-person visits to schools, colleges, and universities throughout the U.K. and North America.