2021 Influential Businesswoman Awards

Acquisition International - Influential Businesswoman Awards 2021 Best Software Organisation Account Director (UK): Sarah Callery Sarah also advocates a passion for learning and development. This year alone she’s taken courses in project management and sales negotiation. She’s undertaking a change management course and has done some one-to-one coaching too. Helping her customers to achieve their goals is her number one priority and she sees the success of her customers as a critical component of her own success and goals. On a personal level, Sarah is passionate about equality and helping women to move forward. She leads the SmartRecruiters Women’s Employee Resource Group (ERG) to support, inspire and educate women and allies of women. SmartRecruiters has a global diversity plan in place to focus on issues that are important to women in the workplace. Topics such as fair compensation and a safe working environment are on the agenda as well as initiatives that look at supporting diversity in the workplace. Sarah is currently setting up a network for women in technical sales roles. In the future, Sarah is also considering coaching and mentoring women pursuing careers in sales. Despite having a forward-thinking CEO, women in sales roles at SmartRecruiters, as with many other technology companies, are still very much a minority. Although Sarah has seen some changes over recent years, she believes that not enough women see the attraction of working in the technology sector. At the time of writing only 16.8% of the total workforce in the UK technology sector is female. Sarah tells us she thinks we need to do more at an educational level: “It’s important to improve education from an early age, teaching individuals what technology can offer as a career. Training teachers and parents to break potential gender stereotypes and encourage more girls to study technology-related subjects. We also need more opportunities for successful women to pass on their experiences. Role models are crucial for future generations. There are mentoring groups and awards to celebrate female success but there is still so much more we can do.” Looking to the future SmartRecruiters has secured Series E funding and is focusing on creating more global opportunities, evolving system capabilities and leveraging to impact multiple dimensions of diversity. Of course, Sarah will be front and centre, winning new contracts with global brands, supporting her customers and empowering her colleagues too. Contact: Sarah Callery Company: SmartRecruiters Web Address: www.smartrecruiters.com