Like Women Empowerment Series, I wanted to share the first installment of our Celebrate Female Authors Series with Leena Alex. Leena is an outstanding female leader in Enbridge’s Human Resources team and the author of a book we should all have on our shelves. “Overcome your Interview Anxieties: Advice on interview preparation to maximize your chance of success.” Leena provides practical advice on resumes, interview types and how to prepare for an interview when you apply for a role. Her frame of reference and expertise comes from the lens of a talent acquisition lead in a large organization, and she has interviewed many talented individuals. Leena shares her experience, insights, interview faux pas we may have experienced in the past and tips and tricks on reducing dreaded interview anxieties.
Let’s dig into Leena’s Power of 7 Questions
1. What are you most passionate about?
In my professional area, I am passionate about education, women empowerment, and equity. As a Human resources professional, I have motivated many people to find right careers thus helping them with their next opportunity, which improves their career path and overall wellbeing. I am a huge proponent of education and encourage continuous education no matter which stage or age you are in.
2. Who is your greatest role model?
I have a few role models who I look up to. One of them is Indira Nooyi who was the CEO of PepsiCo for about 12 years. She was born and raised in South India, in a very conservative family. She went to Yale for higher education and got her masters. Her exemplary career is an example for many women who balance a career, family and raising kids. I am originally from south India and can relate to a lot of the trials she might have faced.
3. What is your greatest accomplishment in your career trajectory?
One of my biggest accomplishments was to get the Certified HR professional designation. I had to face many challenges in getting it. When I first wrote the test, I was 8 months pregnant. It was so uncomfortable even to sit in the exam room for 3 hours. They had to escort me into the washroom when I needed to go. I was not successful during my first round. But I did not lose my patience, nor did I give up. I tried until I was successful. This designation opened many doors in front of me for which I am thankful.
4. What would you say is your leadership approach?
My leadership style is Democratic and Participative. I’d like to include the team’s opinion and thoughts before decision making. I also give an opportunity for all to express opinions, so they feel that their voices are heard. When their suggestions are implemented it’s a good moral boost for them and they feel motivated & empowered. I also believe in sharing knowledge and lived experiences so others can learn from it.
5. What advice would you give a new or emerging leader who is building their career?
- A leader needs their team more than the team needs the leader. Surround yourself with a competent team. As a leader, you are in a position to motivate your team to be creative, achieve bigger goals and attain success. When your team wins, you win with them.
- A good leader is not one with many followers but who can create many leaders.
Let’s talk about your book:
6a. What drove you to writing a book?
I always wanted to pen down the knowledge I gained over the years and reach a wider audience. Many people used to call me a day or couple of days before an interview and asked me to help them prepare. There was not enough time for me to help them. I started writing articles on LinkedIn to help others with this preparation piece. But later, I wanted to have a collection of these in one place. The best way to do was to publish a book that would be helpful for people in their job hunt and preparing for interviews. Earlier on in my career, if I had come across something like this to help me with my interviews, this would have helped me immensely. There were times I could not speak up in interviews due to performance anxieties.
6b. Have you found, in your career and writing your book, anything that stands out in the way women prepare for interviews or show up in an interview that women leaders should consider?
- Men tend to apply for roles even if they do not meet most of the requirements. They express interest and apply even if they have close to 60% of the qualifications. Research shows that women apply when they meet close to a 100% of the qualifications listed in the job posting.
- So, among the pool of candidates, the number of male candidates will be more than female.
- Though women might have more credentials, they might add all of them on the resume.
- Women tend to show traits of collaboration and teamwork in interviews and how they write resumes.
- When a candidate is well prepared, we can see that they shine in an interview. It comes with practice and public speaking skills.
6c. What do you see as the top 5 interview faux pas’ women in particular do that could impact their changes of moving forward?
- I feel that women, mostly downplay their credentials during an interview.
- They tend to be more polite, courteous, and modest, which is great. Again, it depends on each individual’s personality.
- Women might be inhibited to talk highly about themselves. On the other hand, men don’t shy away from highlighting and drawing attention to their accomplishments.
- In the one hour that we get to talk about key achievements, men tend to do this with much more ease. I feel that it doesn’t come naturally for most women.
- Perhaps, women don’t want to sound like they are bragging or too proud about their success. It becomes easier if they quote specific examples of what success looked, like in the past.
7. You are now sharing videos on LinkedIn, have you seen a great response from your network and others? Where can people find your videos when preparing for their next interview?
- I have started sharing videos on LinkedIn this year and have been thinking of doing this for a long time. Right now, I am sharing them only on LinkedIn since I think that’s where people go to network when they are on their job hunt.
- All the videos are under my profile, and I’ve made it public so that everyone on LinkedIn can view them and review before writing resumes or attending interviews.
If you are interested in Leena’s book, “Overcome your Interview Anxieties: Advice on interview preparation to maximize your chance of success,” order it from Amazon and never wonder how to prepare for an interview again! I can tell you it will be a must-read if I apply for internal or external roles in the future!
Connect with Penny on LinkedIn or check out www.theizzyway.ca for more of her collection of blog posts