Jo Terryn is shaping the future of talent at cloud communications platform Twilio. As a talent partner for Early Career hiring across EMEA and APJ, she connects graduates and interns with opportunities that kick-start their careers. Based in London, the 32-year-old holds a Master’s in Industrial and Organisational Psychology from Belgian university KU Leuven and a CIPD Level 6 qualification. With over a decade of HR experience, she’s passionate about skill-based hiring and helping early-career professionals thrive. Before joining Twilio, Jo worked at Amazon’s EMEA Student Programs and recently won Twilio’s Employee of the Year award. When she’s not mentoring the next generation of talent, she volunteers with charity Climate Ed and enjoys the challenge of a DIY project.
I tend to have vivid dreams and like to reflect on them when I wake up. I love flowers. I always have a bouquet of flowers in my kitchen, and one of my morning routines is to check them, rearrange them and change their water. Before I start my working day, I put my Bialetti on the stove to make a rather large pot of coffee. While having coffee, I go over my calendar for the day. Based on emails that have come in overnight, I may slightly shift my priorities and reorganise my focus work blocks.
At Twilio, we have an Open Work Policy, which means we operate fully remote around the globe. Instead of commuting to work, I block out time to meet with colleagues working in different time zones, as I often collaborate with teams in India or Estonia. This allows me to make the most of the remaining time together before they log off for the day.
I start my work day at 8:30am and usually begin with a morning meeting block. A typical morning involves a variety of key tasks, meetings and responsibilities. Depending on the time of year, my mornings often begin with sync meetings with hiring teams.
Jo Terryn: “Change is constant in big tech, and if anything, it has taught me resilience and grit.”
After these preparatory sessions, our interviewers are ready to hire the best and brightest during our virtual hiring event days, where we sometimes invite up to 12 candidates in a single day.
Following those events, I spent time on focused work, such as budgeting for in-person onboarding events for our Early Career Talent. In a remote environment, it’s essential to provide opportunities for new hires to connect with their support networks — including buddies, mentors and managers — to enhance their onboarding success and satisfaction.
I take the time to give candidates their interview feedback over Zoom, even if they don’t get the role, which I’m told is unusual. What I love about working with Early Career talent is that they are highly receptive to feedback and take it to heart.
I usually offer practical tips based on their actual interview performance that may help them secure a role in the future, beyond Twilio. They often tell me they value this feedback, and that it’s not a common practice in their experience. Hearing that and then seeing them land a similar role at another great company gives me immense satisfaction.
Doing research remains a crucial part of the role. One of the biggest challenges in our global roles is balancing a regionally adjusted approach with a globally standardised one. It starts with understanding university degrees in different countries, their competitiveness, their academic calendars and their internship credit systems.
One of the advantages of working from home every day is it allows me to run to the DIY shop around the corner at noon, whenever I decide, on a whim, to choose yet another color to paint my walls since moving into a new place.
I use my lunch break three times a week to attend a reformer Pilates or barre fit class. I keep my work chat on my phone, and on my way back, I check in with my colleagues in the US, who are just starting their morning, to see if they have any updates from the evening before.
In a remote environment, it’s essential to provide opportunities for new hires to connect with their support networks.
I anticipate a major mindset shift in the coming years, as we’re shifting away from focusing on certifications and years of experience and instead emphasising skill-based hiring. I’m actively coaching managers on how to shift their mindset from hiring based on experience to hiring for motivation, learnability and transferable skills — traits that are better predictors of career success.
We encourage managers to reconsider what it means to be qualified for a role, discussing the value of certain certifications versus the importance of demonstrated transferable skills. Of course, it’s in the Early Career space where this philosophy is practiced at its core. And it’s incredibly satisfying to see recent graduates selected to collaborate on the company’s most innovative projects, thanks to their exceptional problem-solving and critical-thinking abilities rather than years of experience.
For someone looking to advance their career in HR, I’d say develop strong relationships with your organisation’s leadership. An ISE survey revealed that around 60% of early career leaders felt visible to the C-suite, but it can be tough to build trust with C-suite executives, who are often time-poor. It’s important to understand their reservations about the value your programs generate, quantify your impact and cost benefit and showcase the ROI of your initiatives.
I anticipate a major mindset shift in the coming years, as we’re emphasising skill-based hiring.
In the early afternoon, I begin screening candidates. Application volume is not an issue, and we often have more great candidates than we have positions, so it’s a challenging task. This is also when I provide candidates with feedback on the interviews they’ve had.
My pet peeve about HR is the assumption that HR initiatives should be carried out solely by HR professionals; it’s limiting. Ask for help — your initiatives are built on people. Need someone to represent your organisation? Need someone to execute a training? People love to be involved, and by engaging them, you create a culture where everyone contributes to HR initiatives, making them self-sustaining and allowing you to continue building on them.
The best part is that the authenticity and purpose employees bring to these engagements will inspire others, even beyond your organisation, helping to position your company as an employer of choice.
I typically end my day with another block of one-on-ones or wider team/company meetings or training sessions. Our company evolves quickly, so staying on top of everything is crucial for your own success. Change is constant in big tech, and if anything, it has taught me resilience and grit — qualities I’m now working to instill in my interns and graduates as they transition into the workplace.
By engaging people, you create a culture where everyone contributes to HR initiatives
When I finish work, it’s time to cook dinner. The beauty of living in London is that you have the most exotic ingredients at your doorstep and you can truly make whatever your heart desires. I love going into the grocery shop and start cooking a meal with whatever food I feel drawn to — perhaps a gorgonzola or some Pak Choi. Cooking and searching for ingredients is also my sacred time off-screen.
Once I’ve cooked my dinner, then I will start unwinding by spending some time chatting with my fiancé or, lately, by doing some DIY together. I usually go to bed at 11 p.m. and fall asleep fairly quickly. My fiancé is a medic, and when he’s on call, it sometimes means I get woken up as well, which may contribute to my need for more sleep.
I have no trouble sleeping — I just happen to need lots of it. With nine hours I’m on peak performance; with eight, I get through a productive day.
