This week on Strivin & Thrivin, we spoke with Sandra Lim, Global Talent Acquisition Leader and Career Matchmaker.
Sandra discovered the world of recruitment back in uni when she picked up a retail gig. Selling was her strong point – from makeup to food – which then led to managing and coordinating staff and trying to fill roles.
Sandra has heard all the excuses under the sun, but her ‘bullshit radar’ has proven to be strong, and something she thinks is important to have in a recruitment and HR career.
After picking up an agency role in recruitment in a role she didn’t have a great time at and working through the GFC, Sandra saw herself selected for a HR Support Officer role for a utilities company, and this is where she really began her journey in HR and recruitment.
Seeing the ugly side of HR made Sandra catapult into recruitment, where she has specialised for the last decade. And after so much work, a gap year was on the cards in 2019 (which, in hindsight, was great timing) and upon coming back to Australia, it was straight into lockdown. Sandra’s next travel plans were paused. Little did she know how long for.
“I really, really miss travelling. Because for a good six, seven months, I was just living out of my suitcase and I got to travel and meet with people from all around the world, from all walks of life. And it was great. I travelled solo for most of it. I left my husband behind and was like, you keep working, I will now go and have a holiday because I’ve had enough of work. So I did that.”
Upon returning to Australia, Sandra picked up contract work and recently entered a permanent role with InDebted, where she’s leading the talent functions for the product and engineering team.
If there’s one thing we know, it’s that contract roles can be very different from permanent roles. So what has Sandra learnt from that change?
“With contract roles, I think the mindset is that you are there to do a job. There is no time to get sucked in with the politics and the BS and all the games that happen. You get given a task, you go in there, you deliver. And I think that’s important to keep in mind about any role, whether you’re going in for a permanent role or a contract role, to keep that mindset in frame.”
We also found out what has been the key to Sandra’s success along the way, how she keeps on top of everything and what she wished she knew about recruitment and HR when she started out.
