Monica Yoon is a recruiter on Bubble’s People Ops team who joined the company back in 2021. She helps make the hiring process smooth and stress-free for both hiring managers and job candidates. She graduated from Georgetown University in May 2020 with a marketing degree.
We sat down with Monica to hear more about how she came to work at Bubble and what’s stood out most in the years since.
Tell us about your path to joining Bubble.
As I finished college, I expected to follow a fairly straightforward career path that stemmed from my degree in marketing, so I aimed to start my post-grad journey in an entry-level marketing position. Turns out, 2020 had other plans for me. With the pandemic-sized wrench upending life as we knew it, I found myself navigating a troubled job market. That led me to consider career fields I hadn’t given much prior thought to. I dipped my toe into music publicity and PR work before eventually landing a role in social media for a tech healthcare company.
But before long, I felt another shift coming on. While social media offered creative freedom, I was craving something more people-oriented — daily responsibilities that had a more tangible impact on and involved more personal connections with others. That led me to explore recruiting as an option, which led me to apply to Bubble. Now, nearly two years in, I’m still loving my time meeting candidates, guiding them through their interview processes, and (ideally) welcoming them as official members of the team!
It sounds like you love your job! What do you find most rewarding about working here?
In classic startup fashion, Bubble grants its employees real ownership of our work and gives us the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to our teams; being able to speak up, ideate freely, and personally execute on projects has been a hallmark of my experience here. From the get-go, I began managing a wide range of initiatives, like creating documentation for interview protocol and hiring plans, managing vendors for recruiting-related tools, and organizing hybrid-friendly social events for the entire company.
It means a lot that I not only have the autonomy and resources to do work that I care about, but also feel entrusted to take action. You’re not just a cog in a vast, bureaucratic machine here.
What’s been your most memorable moment at Bubble?
It’s impossible to pinpoint my most noteworthy single memory from my time at Bubble, but so many of my highlights come from our team gatherings. The company gathers together most often at our weekly “Team Demo Fridays,” a fun meeting that involves a blend of general announcements and time for individual employees to show the rest of the team what they’ve been working on lately. Once a month, we also have time for folks to give “personal” demos related to their interests outside of work.
It’s difficult to describe exactly what happens during Team Demos, but let’s just say that they’ve evolved to really showcase the unique, eccentric flavor of the people who work at Bubble. Some of my favorite personal demos have ranged from folks rocking out on the guitar to discussing their top movies or shows from the previous month to modeling their latest shoe purchase. These meetings are an insider's view into all the diverse personalities that make the Bubble team such an endearing bunch.
What's the best advice you've ever been given?
“The worst that they can say is no.” This mindset has been super instrumental in boosting my self-confidence and minimizing regret. As a textbook overthinker, I’ve robbed myself of a lot of peace by mentally replaying scenarios where I ended up doing “x” instead of “y,” and oftentimes, they’re situations that involved an unspoken request. I’ve learned that no one can or will fight harder for what you want than you, so be bold in advocating for yourself. Even if the outcome isn’t quite what you had in mind, at least you can rest easier knowing that you tried!
