Sandra Lim is the Talent Lead at InDebted, where she leads the global talent acquisition and recruitment activities for InDebted’s Product, Data, and Engineering functions.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
I’ve spent close to 15 years in HR and recruitment roles mostly within the utilities industry. The last decade has allowed me to specialise within the Talent Acquisition space, building teams, improving processes, and setting up great candidate experiences and employment brands for the organisations I have been part of.
I’m currently the Talent Lead for InDebted’s Research & Development team looking after all things Talent Acquisition across a global landscape.
2) What does a day in your life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
No two days are the same. I spend quite a lot of my time together with my stakeholders understanding their hiring needs, and their department goals and strategy.
As you can imagine, I also spend a lot of my days on LinkedIn connecting with potential candidates, as well as speaking to referrals and generally networking to find quality candidates for InDebted.
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
Yes, it does! InDebted’s 100% fully remote across the world. We also work on a 4 day work week (and get paid full time!).
So this fits in really well with my life, as I have a long weekend every week to just catch up on life admin, spending time with my friends and family and play time with my puppy.
4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
It is crazy how we’re still talking about this in 2022. But for me, I am lucky to have a 3 day weekend, which allows me to completely get away from the daily grind at work. Working from home comes with its challenges that you never really switch off and to always be on.
So I’ve learnt that when I’m at my desk, I’m fully engaged and committed. I do have to set reminders in my diary to take a break, else I tend to sit there for a few hours without moving. But the moment I step away from it, I have learnt to focus on other things and not feel guilty about not working.
5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?
I got a puppy this year, and my routine has completely changed! Kudos to all the working parents out there. I don’t know how you do it. I feel that I have had to make adjustments to my work schedule to accommodate my puppy life.
I don’t work such long continuous stretches anymore (which is a great thing), and I am forced to take a break for play time or walks!
6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?
I don’t really read or listen to business, leadership books or podcasts.
I like to switch off completely from work life as we have enough to think about when we’re at work, or watching/reading the news. So I am a big fan of fantasy and sci-fi books as they allow me to dissociate from what is going on in reality.
7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?
I couldn’t live without my mobile. I do everything on it. Keeping up to date with work, life, and family.
8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?
I would love to hear more from working parents, particularly single mothers. They are truly inspirational. One of my favourite people, Joanna McCatty, comes to mind.
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
I think we just need to remember to be kind to ourselves. In my role in HR and TA, we’re always looking out for other people, and I find we do tend to forget about ourselves a little bit. So be kind to ourselves, and to know that it is okay to take some time to rebalance else you end up being burnt-out (and I’ve been there before!).
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