My name is Holly Croteau — this is why I joined Aha!

Remember those job assessments from school? They were closer to personality quizzes than true career guidance. Broad questions like, "Are you good with numbers?" or, "Do you like to travel?" sorted students into options like doctor, lawyer, or teacher. But my results actually turned out to be useful. They suggested I pursue roles where I could support and advocate for others.

This confirmed something I already knew about myself. So I chose a career centered on helping people achieve what matters to them.

I channeled this into a psychology degree and started out in social work. I helped adults with disabilities or who faced barriers to employment find job opportunities. We worked on resumes, applications, and interview prep. It felt great to support people in their career goals, so recruiting became a natural next step for me.

My first recruiting role was filling IT positions at an agency. It was a solid introduction to technical hiring, and I learned a lot. But agency recruiting requires a lot of context-switching — I realized I wanted to focus on growing one core team. So I moved into a talent acquisition role at a large e-learning company.

There, I recruited for a range of SaaS roles — from engineering to marketing and finance. This was my first deep dive into full-cycle recruiting and handling the hiring process end to end. I would review and source applicants, then guide them through interviews and even extend offers.

I loved this work. It felt meaningful to stay with candidates through every stage — especially when I could welcome them to the team at the end.

After six years, I decided to take a chance on something different and joined a startup. I was their first full-time recruiter, so I got to shape the talent function from the ground up. It was an interesting challenge. But I realized I missed the steady pace and higher volume of recruiting at a more established company.

When I found the job opening for Aha! I was intrigued right away. It matched my background in SaaS and B2B recruiting and was a full-cycle role. But what stood out most were the company values — self-funded, always remote, and human-centric — and how they mirrored my own. This is deeply important in my work.

It is always great to hire someone whose skills meet an organization's needs. But when I trust that I share the team's values, I can find candidates who do too. That is when recruiting feels the most rewarding.

As a Senior Recruiter on the Aha! team, I work on hiring for various roles, but most often for Customer Success. I almost feel like an extension of their team. At the start, I even completed the CS onboarding program so I could learn about their roles firsthand. I also meet regularly with leadership to stay current on exactly what we are looking for.

I get most energized by sourcing candidates. Our CS roles have specific criteria, including prior product development experience — so it is exciting when I find people with that background to reach out to. I get to introduce what we do, explain what makes the role unique, and spark that initial interest. We have made multiple hires this way, and it is gratifying to see my teammates thrive.

At Aha! our hiring process moves quickly, but with intense care — ensuring value alignment by design. This is how we have built such a high-performing team and how we help people achieve their best when they join.

I take this responsibility seriously because I know how strong we are already and how much we accomplish together. I am also one of the first Aha! team members candidates meet, so I focus on being responsive and transparent. I want every interaction to offer a preview of what it is like to work here. And it brings me so much joy to help people find that next role with us.

That is why I joined Aha! — and why you should too.