I had the pleasure of interviewing, Munira Ali who works as a Technical Recruiter at Microsoft. She has been in this industry for more than 14 years and before joining Microsoft, she was at Amazon.
Munira is also an interview coach and career adviser. Her mission is to help individuals get rid of their interview fear and she is passionate about diversity and inclusion. To fulfill her passion, Munira started her coaching journey during the Covid-19 pandemic, to help individuals succeed in their job search. So far she has helped more than 1000 technology professionals. Munira is also a speaker and delivers Interview and CV building workshops at the University of London and was also nominated for Mentor of the Year 2021 by the WomenTech Network.
Thank you so much for joining us, Munira!
What motivated you to choose technical recruiting as your professional career?
Munira: I started my journey in the recruitment industry more than a decade ago as a contract recruiter (temp job). After a year into the job, I fell in love with recruitment. Each mandate is different which involves talking to people from different parts of life. This is what really excited me and since then there was no turning back. Coming from a tech background doing tech recruiting came naturally to me. Since then, I have worked as an external and internal recruiter both.
What is it that excites you about tech recruiting?
Munira: I did a small stint in HR and Sales recruitment and hand-on-heart I can say there is nothing more exciting than the tech industry. It’s evolving and changing constantly – in fact, software development has changed so much over the last 10 years! With technology moving so fast, it also impacts the future growth generation. There is just a no better place to be in.
What has been your biggest challenge in tech recruitment?
Munira: Hiring is not easy with so much competition in the market, especially in the tech industry. Software engineering is primarily a male dominated sector for a long time and changing the status quo is a big challenge. Companies have been struggling to create a diverse environment for employees but I have seen that the situation is getting better since the last few years. I believe companies that promote inclusivity and transparent working culture, will be best positioned to attract top talent.
What do you think, what problems need to be solved in recruitment?
Munira: I believe taking out biasness and eliminating stereotypes in interviews is a problem being faced across the industries. It’s important for companies to build strategies for hiring and setting diversity goals and use technology to implement those goals, not the other way round… Unconscious bias in hiring is around for a long time, however, the good news is companies are coming up with some great initiatives in the hiring process. Companies should also start focusing on creating a culture where a diverse workforce can thrive in.
If you had to share, “words of wisdom,” with a tech recruiter who’s about to start their journey in tech recruitment, what would they be?
Munira: I always followed this mantra – “In recruiting, there are no good or bad experiences – just learning experiences”. Recruitment is also not a short game, so if you would like to stick to this industry – building network is key.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Munira: My LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/interview-coach-munira/
You can also follow me on my YouTube channel for CV and interview tips – https://bit.ly/gethiredwithMunira
This was very insightful. Thank you again, Munira for joining us and sharing your valuable thoughts and experiences to inspire all the budding recruiters.
