Paulina Laurie

Head of Women in Technology

Frank Recruitment Group, Global Niche Technology Recruitment Specialist

I work with organizations within the Tech and Digital sector to help them create and recruit mix-gender teams. On the other hand, I work with female candidates to help them accelerate their careers in IT.

I like the people I work with, my small and bigger team is amazing is built up of both people who have been with us for years and also people who have recently joined. I love the fact that I can empower women, help them on their Tech journey, encourage organizations to hire more diverse tech talent and give them some advice on it. I especially enjoy that every day in recruitment is different and I get to meet great professionals from across the globe.

My day involves a lot of conversations & meetings. Some of them are with my team to give them advice and help with ongoing tasks, some of them are with colleagues and peers, most of them are with our customers. I advise Tech & Digital companies out there on the importance of hiring Women in Tech to their teams and help them how they could attract more diverse talent into tech departments. This involves meetings over the phone, video conferences, presentations, etc. I also try to read Women in Tech related news daily to keep updated with what is changing in that space.

I did a Master in Business Psychology in my home country, Poland, 12 years ago but I wanted to go into recruitment or HR fields, they were much more developed already in the UK. I came over to the UK just for 1 year and here it is – I am here 12 years later. As I came to the UK in the recession it was very difficult to find not only a job but even an unpaid internship. Having managed to find one in the recruitment company, I was fortunate enough that they kept me there for an extra 1.5 years on a temporary contract. I would always be grateful to my 1st Manager as she gave me the chance so I knew I had to make the most of it. During that time I got the opportunity to join Nigel Frank, currently Frank Recruitment Group. I started as a Trainee Recruitment Consultant with no experience in recruitment, sales or business development. I kept my head down and I was working very hard to succeed, I placed many people and achieved my first promotion after 12 months, the one I am the proudest of to date as it showed me that I can do the job. Then I moved into a leadership role and I had an excellent mentor, a woman who helped me out to become a leader and aim higher. I trained many people in my career from Trainees to a managerial level, and on a number of occasions have acted as an informal mentor for both male and female staff. When it was hard and things weren’t going my way I was more determined. And other promotions were following to a Manager, Business Manager, Senior Manager, etc. Very often I was the only female at the table, the only foreigner at the table, who speaks with an accent but is very good at their job. It always was challenging but always made me want to thrive more, and aim higher.

I think that juggling both professional and family life isn't always easy, but it is very fulfilling. I would always like to be actively working mam. I would like to be "the person to go" when speaking about Women inTech at least in the UK. There is a lot of work to do on it but I am up for a challenge. And I would love to inspire others.

I love to dance, so if it is a big party or just a small house gathering you always find me dancing on the dancefloor or in the kitchen. I am a massive fashionista so in a spare time I like to look into the big brands and see how they grow from within, how they work internally the likes of Dior, Chanel, etc. I love to attend exhibitions, go through Vogue or Harper's Bazaar, and look through the pieces they have created over the years or more recently. But Chanel was not only a fashion designer she was a great entrepreneur, who created the brand that is now worth 18.5bn US Dollars.

Some days she has got no idea how she'll do it, but every single day it still gets done. (motivational quote)