Career Close-up is a new video interview series where we chat to senior employees in Ireland’s leading multinationals about their career journeys. This week features iCIMS’ Lena Rogova.
Welcome to episode four of our new Career Close-up series. In partnership with IDA Ireland, we sit down with senior figures from some of Ireland’s most innovative international companies, to get a sense of their exciting career trajectories.
In our latest instalment, SiliconRepublic.com editor Jenny Darmody chats with Lena Rogova of iCIMS, who went from a career in traditional recruitment to a key role in AI product development.
iCIMS is a global HR technology company that supports companies across the globe to attract, engage and hire talent. “We build models that help our customers, our users, to source qualified candidates faster,” says Rogova. “My team, we develop those models, we maintain them, we support them and we make sure that the approach of responsible AI is reflected in every single solution that we put out there.”
Having started her career journey in traditional recruitment and worked her way up the ranks, Rogova soon felt the pull of the dynamic start-up world, and that’s when she met the founder of Opening.io, later acquired by iCIMS.
“At the time, what Opening.io did have was great technology, a great strategy, a great vision,” says Rogova. “But what was lacking was actually that recruitment expertise, and they were ready to trust me without any past background in tech to come and join them.” And she has not looked back since.
Rogova is a great believer in ongoing learning, as demonstrated by her own career trajectory. “You can learn anything if you really want to do it. And I’m not just talking from my own example, because I know I was able to do it, great. But other people are also able to do it and I’ve seen them do it.
“So, when we hire for our own team, it’s not 100pc always based on the skills and on the past of the person,” she says. “What they’re passionate and interested about also matters. And what I do find fascinating is that some people are just capable to learn, and they’re capable to learn so, so fast if they’re interested in the subject matter.”
While Rogova manages a global team, being based in Ireland has worked perfectly, thanks in part to iCIMS’ remote-first policy, something she says also facilitates work-life balance.
“We are remote, and a lot of us are fully remote. We enable people to do their job in whatever location they’re based in and, very often, in whatever time frame that they find appropriate for themselves. We all have families, we all have other commitments.”
Ireland is one of several locations for iCIMS, and Lena believes it is a very appealing location for several reasons. “Irish infrastructure and the support that Ireland gives enterprises and start-ups, and tech companies that’s for sure, and that cannot be underestimated. I think it’s hugely, hugely important.
“The second thing is people and talent. Just the sheer variety of talent and, again, the support the Government gives to that area – both to people who are already based in Ireland, the Irish population, but also those who are coming to work in Ireland for companies like ours.” You need only watch the interview to see Rogova’s love of Ireland is quite contagious.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
