Meet the Pride: Mike R.

In this installation of our Meet the Pride Series, travel to Southern New Hampshire and meet Mike Ruggiero , Lionbridge's Global Talent Operations Manager. Mike oversees the ever-evolving recruitment process, where he works to improve communications and find top talent. When he's not working, Mike loves to snowboard, play guitar and bass, and tackle unique amateur engineering projects in his home workshop.

Tell us about your role at Lionbridge.

I started my Lionbridge journey in 2019 as a Senior Recruiter handling North American-, European-, and Asian-based country recruitment. At the time I was brought on, we were in the middle of a massive expansion to our IT and tech teams, and I functioned as the Senior Technical Recruiter. In June of 2020, I assumed the role of Global Talent Operations Manager. In my current role, I'm responsible for developing our recruitment process and determining how we approach the talent market. This entails how we display our employer value proposition and use our technology to find top talent.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

A "typical workday” is a bit of an oxymoron — it’s a very challenging and fluid market these days. As we continue to grow Lionbridge, we're matching talent to tens of thousands of roles, onboarding employees, contractors, and freelancers alike. I work with 50 to 60 talent organization professionals daily, so there are a ton of variables at play on any given day. I would say my job is split in half: one half comprises more granular things like staying up to date on shifting employment, background check, and immigration laws; navigating talent market shifts; and making upgrades to our talent systems. The other half is shaping the way that we communicate and share our amazing story with the world. We're currently working on some awesome initiatives to enhance how we store and disseminate information, showcase our team members’ achievements, and bring career advancement to the forefront of everything we do.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I love working with people. Being a Talent Operations Manager, I have the honor of working with great people who work with great people. I help drive recruiters’ individual processes and guide them toward embodying Lionbridge's core values so they can find other people who share those core competencies. We're building a team that's selfless and innovative — we all work together, we're all focused on moving forward, and I find it really rewarding to be in a place where I get to help people succeed in their careers.

How has Lionbridge evolved since you started working here, and what do you see on the horizon?

When I first started as a recruiter, we were siloed by geography. In terms of how we handled the talent market, North America was different from Europe, Europe was different from Asia, and Asia was different from India. We've since progressed into a global talent team with a wider and ever-evolving perspective. We share resources, learn about various cultural values across our many regions, and support each other with tips and tricks from all over the world. Ten heads aren't as good as 40, and 40 aren't as good as 60. Now that we're a global outfit without so many barriers between us, we can capitalize on shared knowledge and keep pushing our success forward.

It's really cool to see connections being made between so many different Lions. For example, we recently celebrated Diwali, India’s Festival of Lights, throughout the entire company. It's amazing to see how we’re not only connecting the world outside of Lionbridge, but how we continue to connect and build a global community within Lionbridge. Being included in so many local celebrations around the world is really special and has been really fun to be a part of. Now, we're seeing not just an expanded social media footprint and new technology rollouts, but we're seeing new cultural and emotional bridges being built across all our teams.

Where do you live, and what do you enjoy most about it?

I live in Southern New Hampshire, which is right between Boston, MA, and Manchester, NH. I'm 45 minutes from the city, which is great because I'm a huge Red Sox fan, and an even bigger Boston Bruins Hockey fan. Beyond that, Boston is a place where the music scene is great, the food is incredible, and the buildings are beautiful and historic.

While I love the city, I'm just not city folk. I used to live in Mammoth Lakes, CA, and have a deep appreciation for the mountains. I love snowboarding, hiking, and I'm always outdoors. Where I live is also an hour out from the mountains here in New Hampshire, so I often get the chance to enjoy the wilderness and go camping with friends and family. In our quiet neighborhood, we love hanging out at our fire pit with friends and running around with our two amazing Irish Setters in the yard.

I'm an hour from the city, an hour from the mountains, and I've got the best of both worlds.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I've been a heavy metal guitarist and bass player for 30 years now. I've been in touring bands that have played shows for a couple thousand people, I've played festivals, and I've got a studio in my basement. In fact, as of the day of this interview, I'm playing with a group of local musicians tonight. I enjoy lots of music — metal, funk, blues, rock, EDM, dubstep — but at my core, I just like to thrash at the back of the stage.

What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

It boils down to finding a place with something you're passionate about, and where other people are just as passionate. There's a saying that goes, "don't just attend work, show up,” and while I think that's a good rule to have for yourself, you also must realize that you're with your coworkers more than your own family. It's important to find something you love, but you also want to find a place where your teammates love what they do too.

You want to be on a team that has frustrating days. You want a team that's constantly learning, pushing, solving, and motivated to work through challenges. You want a team that embraces the struggles that appear during the workday so that when you go home at night, the only thing on your plate is dinner. Find a place with people who are just as driven as you are, and then go home and enjoy your life, your dog, your kids, your spouse, and whatever it is that you love to do.