Nazurah
Zakaria

Regional Senior Specialist, Talent Acquisition (Technology), Ninja Van

“To be honest there isn't a particular challenge that I have to overcome being a minority woman in my role. But if I can chime in a little, I'd say that it is hard to find minority women in the tech world in general. Throughout my 4 years in this field, I can count with 1 hand how many minority women that I've spoken with. But I hope this will change in the future!”

Being in tech recruitment, I’d say that successfully growing the tech team and ensuring a safe and enjoyable working environment (physically and mentally) for my engineers would mean success. It feels the most rewarding to be able to share with people about our growth and culture, and the amazing projects that we are working on, and in turn attracting amazing individuals in tech to join us. Successfully building a team and ensuring that the people whom I’ve hired have grown in their careers personally and professionally are really important to me.
I joined the tech industry upon graduation by chance actually, and I’m so thankful for the opportunity, as I love the industry so much that I’ve continued to pursue it ever since! Coming from a non-technical background, I learnt how interesting and important tech is, especially in this era. It’s THE industry to be in, and it’s the industry that’s booming and will continue to grow. Everyone is turning to tech, especially during this pandemic where being present online and in the digital world is critical to continue to stay afloat. I’d say that my colleagues/mentors at work, as well as my candidates continue to inspire me to love tech. Speaking with them, and learning more about what they do actually makes me continue to fall in love with tech.

Landing my previous job at Google was amazing considering how I never saw myself in a typical ‘tech’ role.

I’d say the biggest hurdle would be understanding and familiarising myself with computer science fundamentals, Data Structures/Algorithms, and coding lingo. I’ve had no prior exposure to tech previously. However I knew my job required me to handpick the best Software Engineers out there, and the only way I can do that would be to immerse myself in the tech world and also learn more about what they do. I remembered having to go through MCQs on CS fundamentals, and understanding time-space complexities just so that I can properly conduct an interview and understand my candidates better.

Impostor syndrome was also a really big hurdle because I didn’t have experience. Now I feel very confident sharing and teaching others how to become a tech recruiter.

To be honest there isn’t a particular challenge that I have to overcome being a minority woman in my role. But if I can chime in a little, I’d say that it is hard to find minority women in the tech world in general. Throughout my 4 years in this field, I can count with 1 hand how many minority women that I’ve spoken with, but I hope this will change in the future!
I’d tell myself not to be afraid and intimidated by the whole tech industry. It might seem daunting since it is a road less traveled by, by minority women, but anything is possible and if there’s a will there’s a way! Pursue whatever you want to, grow yourself personally and professionally, and with God’s will, you’ll be successful in whatever you do.

I see myself managing my own team of tech recruiters, coming up with processes for the team, and taking care of the engineering team’s overall health and needs. I’d also be interested to work on manpower plans to further grow the tech team.

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