How can companies reduce bias in the hiring process? We work on the mindset of the leaders, the line managers and introduce varied ways to equip them to experience good quality interviews completely bias-safe. It is a dedicated and persistent proactivity that we deploy to secure the positive mindset change that eradicates potential types of bias. Helping hiring leaders become aware of this topic benefits their efficienc...

Can you identify how SCIEX stands out from the market and your competitors? When I applied for SCIEX, what stood out for me was its technology. The company has been a major leader in mass spectrometry for the last 50 years. What makes SCIEX different is its innovation used in products and systems. If you look at other players in the market, SCIEX stands out for high precision and ground-breaking technologies.  Personally...

What was the best/worst interview experience you have had? Best interview experience must have been my first interview for AkzoNobel, and one of the first interviews in my life. I was travelling in the US, met the senior director for audit - an old school American gent, three-piece suit and all - and we had lunch together at Chicago O’Hare airport. He was very tough in his questions and had the best poker face...

How can companies reduce bias in the hiring process? Within Kraft Heinz, it really started by acknowledging that there are inherent biases in the hiring process. A lot of people claim that there aren’t, but you just need to realistically look at it and for us we said, ‘yes, they are definitely there’. Once we all established that we had those biases and articulated what they were, we build in what w...

What have you learnt as a leader over the course of your career? For me, there has very much been a pre and a post FMCG giants experience. Both P&G and Unilever have been great business schools. These companies really invest in you, but I believe you grow the most by being able to put what you get taught into practice in different environments. Test, fail, learn, to shape yourself in terms of who you want to be a...

Thank you for joining me today for an Executive Interview. As an intro, Lauren is currently Head of Education and Training at Squirro, which I believe is one of the most exciting emerging technology companies in today’s market. Would you like to introduce Squirro as a business for our audience, Lauren? Of course! So, Squirro is a dynamic tech start-up that focuses primarily on the development of AI - artificia...

As someone who has been working in Switzerland and Germany for many years, what changes have you seen to the employment market, particularly within Data and Analytics? When I started, Data Science was very niche in companies. It was found in either companies that had connections with North America, where Data Science was already well established, or for very special projects, where someone would need a very specific an...

Your career began when you joined PwC in Israel. How do you think your time in the Big 4 has helped you in your longer-term career and what are the benefits of a Big 4 background when you are recruiting? Any drawbacks? The Big 4 is a great school - you get exposure to many industries. I worked with Pharma and Hi-tech, for example – working in high intense projects which help to develop and set your mind when y...

How important do you think it is to have a career plan and, when making career moves, how much did this affect your decision-making process? I think it is very important to have a career plan and, at the same time, I think it is equally important to remain flexible and adaptable, because my experience has been that the path to the dream job is not a straight line. What I believe is essential is to be very clear abou...