In an exclusive Interview, Sonam Madaan – Sr. Talent Acquisition Evangelist at XICOM talks about her professional journey and gives an insight about the HR domain in India.
IS: Kindly brief us about your professional journey?
Sonam: Well My journey has been a real fun since I started my career via Campus Placement in HCL Bserv as Technical Support Officer in 2010.This experience has added a great advantage to my profile..Then moving on I got an opportunity from a Mumbai based Software Development Company ,Though I applied there for Support Team but fortunately they found me a good fit for Business Development …Further considering Business Development as a core forte ,I got an opportunity in a Product based firm i.e HRizzus – A B2B recruitment portal ….Gained a lot of exposure in meeting CXO level HR professionals …Being there for a petty good tenure I wondered that I got my core Skills i.e BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ..No one might have given a thought that my core skills would change to TALENT ACQUISITION soon…Then I joined Xicom Technologies in Nov 2013 into Business Development. Being in Sales for a good tenure I decided to move on to a more stable profile, fortunately my mentors witnessed my social hunting experience and that’s how my organization has offered me a role in Talent Acquisition team. Since then I’m associated with Xicom …Long time!!!
IS: Kindly talk about the most memorable moments along with the challenges you have been through?
Sonam: Don’t know about others but I ‘m pretty used to accept challenges since my College Days..May be that’s why Life keeps on shattering challenges on me to continue to make me a best version of MINE…I love to interact with Children ,To teach them so I took upon Teaching as a profession while I was in College..I used to provide home tuitions and fortunately I started earning so as to repay my Educational Loan…That was the BIGGEST CHALLENGE I ever faced. Moving ahead in Professional life I eventually came across so many challenges but life always keep on motivating me to look ahead ..
Talking about Moments-Yes I have got so many beautiful moments to cherish through out my career so far…One of the remarkable moment which I can recall right now is that when I over achieved my Sales target for the first time and got a Rs 5000/-cash reward Incentive..
IS: What kind of ethics, principles and manner of working do you observe while working in the HR domain?
Sonam: Its been 5 years now I have been in HR Domain but Look at the Irony side !! Technically I’m not MBA so I haven’t studied anything theoretically..Its just that I have applied everything directly.But I must say being a Business Developer in past that I can easily empathize the situations..
As far as my ethics /Principles are concerned I believe in following a simple friendly approach..I try to source my candidates via various social media channels ; Internal referrals so the primary ethic that need to be follow is –FRIENDLY APPROACH ..Relationship building is the key to get success in any field or domain.
Secondly –I always EMPATHIZE with the candidates I’m connected to.
Thirdly – I always encourage TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION.
IS: Kindly talk about your acumen in the areas of Business Development and Talent Acquisition?
Sonam: For me these two profiles are quite similar via different perspective :-
Business Development –Art of Selling Products /Services to acquire Clients.
Talent Acquisition –Art of selling company’s USP to acquire the best talent around.
Undoubtedly, both the profiles require extempore quality. We need to simultaneously make quicky and tricky decisions either while talking to a client or a Candidate. Else we gonna loose a business equation.
IS: How has HR domain transformed over the years?
Sonam: Indeed HR Domain has transformed a lot over the years…Earlier recruiters were only known for making cold calling on the data fetched by portals..But now it has been evolved to a huge dramatic profile..Gone are the days when recruiters were solely dependent on job portals . Now-a-days Recruiters has to act like a MARKETER.
They have to involve into EMPLOYER BRANDING. With the passage of time Recruiters have understand that PASSIVE candidates are not available on Job portals ..They have to change their working style in order to target the creamy candidates available in market..And that’s how MODERN RECRUITMENT has replaced TRADITIONAL Recruitment.
IS: Please brief us about the HR practices and services you follow in your organization.
Sonam: We follow the MODERN RECRUITMENT Practices here. I’m being involved into Employer Branding ,To create a Great pool of Talent Pipeline. Relationship Building with the Employees /Candidates.
IS: Where do you see yourself in future? Or, what is your ultimate professional objective of your life?
Sonam: After spending a good tenure in HR domain, I’d like to continue putting my best efforts in the same domain And would like to see myself at a CXO level position in future..
IS: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Sonam: Try to Learn and Add Soft Skills at the initial stage of your Career..This will ultimately help you out in a longer run..
IS: What is the one thing that is acting as your motivational tool? Or, who is your role model and how the person inspires and motivates you?
Sonam: Well Yes I do have a ROLE MODEL in my life and he is my only Motivational tool for me..
I’m influenced by one of his exceptional quality i.e Strong DETERMINATION. Irrespective of circumstances if one holds a strong determination both at MIND +HEART then only we can achieve our target…I have witnessed him to succeed in his life…And that’s how whatever I do, whatever I achieve. I just wanna make my Role Model proud of me.
IS: Share your views on the current HR business scenario in India.
Sonam: HR plays an important role in defining the Business Equation of any organization Bec it’s the HR team who fields the best players in the organization…
Rendezvous with Sonam Madaan
