Before working as a recruiter, Daniel Huynh spent a decade coaching competitive cheer and dance at his high school alma mater. But a bad knee injury forced him to reconsider his career journey—and after various internships in HR and recruiting, he discovered it was a way to continue fulfilling his passion of making a difference in young people’s lives. Today, Huynh is doing just that as a university recruiting program manager at the crypto company Coinbase.
“Working on university recruiting and internship programs have enabled me to support students with opportunities to gain insight and experience early in their career,” he says.
In 2018, Huynh learned about Coinbase, about a year into his first full-time job after college. “I was craving a role where I could make more of an impact,” he recalls. While applying for various jobs, he had the opportunity to interview with Coinbase—and he’s been there ever since.
Here, Huynh shares what he looks for in engineering candidates, why he loves Coinbase’s startup culture and commitment to remote work, and how he spends his free time (hint: it involves reality TV).
How did you know Coinbase would be a good fit?
After completing my interviews, I knew that Coinbase would be a good fit for two reasons. First, all of my interviewers were extremely welcoming. Second, when I asked why they chose to join Coinbase, their responses were so authentic. It built this excitement in me and I knew I needed to be on this rocketship.
What are you responsible for as a university recruiting program manager?
I oversee a small but mighty team of two outstanding recruiters, and together we ensure that our intern program delivers high-performing talent to Coinbase. Like many internship programs, we provide students with on-the-job learning and development. More importantly, we offer an opportunity to return to Coinbase full time and become future leaders in the space.
The work that goes on behind the scenes with our hiring partners to ensure we are offering a best-in-class internship program is challenging at times, but at the end of it all, it’s rewarding to see the impact my team has made on not only Coinbase, but also the students.
What do you look for in early career engineering candidates?
We look for people who are crypto-curious. They might not be well-versed in what Coinbase does, but they understand the basic fundamentals of who we are as a company, as well as our mission and values. We want candidates who are excited to make a global impact, no matter how big or small the task might be.
Pretend you’re talking to a potential candidate at a recruiting event. How would you sell working at Coinbase? Why is now an especially exciting time to join the company?
If you’re someone who enjoys working on cutting-edge technology, Coinbase is not only the leading cryptocurrency exchange, but we’re also at the forefront of blockchain technology and Web3. Our most recent launches, Base and Onchain Summer, are just two examples of the exciting projects that you could be working on. Additionally, you’ll have the opportunity to innovate and contribute to shaping the future of finance.
Why is Coinbase an ideal place for engineers to start their careers?
Someone who is early in their engineering career will have so much opportunity to work on projects that have real-world impact. While Coinbase has grown and become a public company, it still maintains aspects of a startup where engineers can work in a dynamic and collaborative environment.
What is your favorite company perk or benefit and why?
I love when candidates ask me this question. Hands down, the ability to work remotely has offered an awesome work-life balance. The time saved on commuting has given me more time to get household chores done during the week, so I have more fun and relaxing time over the weekend. Coinbase also offers opportunities for employees to connect at either local hosted events or team offsites, and we have a bi-annual stipend to use for meet-ups.
How do you like to spend your time outside of work?
I love to spend my time with family and friends, cook, and travel. Currently, I’m learning to cook various family recipes, which is intimidating because most of my family members don’t have actual instructions. Instead, they just eyeball every measurement. It’s definitely been a learning experience with a lot of trial and error.
What are you currently reading, watching, and/or listening to?
My all-time guilty pleasure is reality TV. I’m an absolute fan of pretty much any show on the Bravo network. I also enjoy watching docu-series and movies based on or inspired by true stories. One recent movie I watched was The Beanie Bubble, which was a great balance of comedy and storytelling about Beanie Babies and how they got crazy popular in the ’90s and early 2000s.