The Compelling Journey of a Woman in Technology

Imagine growing up in a small town in southeast India. You’re a young woman who believes that technology is your key to a beautiful future, and you desperately want to live in that world.  Your spirit won’t let go of your desire to immerse yourself in the emerging tech world – a man’s world. You hound your parents for permission to study technology. They worry that more education will raise the cost of your dowry because you would then need to marry a man whose education was at least equal to yours. The family of a highly educated man would, of course, expect a bigger dowry – and you had already earned a master’s in education.

As Women’s History Month draws to a close, we call attention to the compelling story of Senior Technical Recruiter, Tia Sharma, one of Elite Technical’s highly accomplished team members.  Below, we share Tia’s personal journey as well as her insights on recruiting and her advice for candidates.

Not one to forfeit her dreams, Tia relentlessly appealed to her father’s own entrepreneurial spirit. “I am not coming to you with a problem,” she told her father, an engineer. “I am coming to you with a solution.” Her approach worked. Tia gained permission to study technology. Further, she won use of her dad’s scooter for the long commute to tech school.

It was the year 2000 and computer technology was booming. “Everyone wanted to learn,” said Tia, who met many others looking to advance themselves with technical skills. Highly enterprising, Tia struck a deal with the owner of a new computer training institute. For each student she enrolled, Tia would receive a 10% commission. Within two months, she had recruited 75 students! Not only had she earned enough to pay for her technical education, she stashed away a surplus.

“I already had a very good education, for which I thank my mother, the biggest influencer of my life. My mother, who got married at 15, and had a 7^th grade education always pushed me to multi-task and never saw a different between girls and boys. My father, an engineer, had an open mind, too, so  I grew up in a very good family environment and developed a go-go attitude.”

From India to the United States of America

In 2006, after moving to New Delhi with her brother (a computer engineer), Tia landed a job as an office coordinator because she had learned the MS Office suite. Then, she responded to an ad for a U.S.-based recruiting firm that offered to train her to recruit candidates in the US market. Given the time difference between India and the U.S., Tia had to work the 8 PM - 4 AM shift and was well compensated for it, earning almost 5x what she had earned in her previous job. “I kind of fell into the recruiting industry,” she said.

Always outgoing and friendly, in 2007, Tia had befriended Andromeda, a recruiter who worked for one of Tia’s clients in the U.S. Andromeda had always wanted to visit India, but suffered from a blood cancer and couldn’t travel. Instead, she sent Tia the formal invitation needed get a tourist visa to the U.S. It took a year of paperwork before Tia was approved to travel to meet her friend in person. As Tia's visit came to a close, her employer suggested filing for an H1B visa for her since she was already in the U.S., and he always appreciated her work. Tia applied for the visa and joined the firm’s New Jersey office in 2015.

“Because of Andromeda’s blessing and love, I came here. My purpose was to come see her, but indirectly she was opening a door for me to the United States,” said Tia, who six months later moved to the U.S. for good.

Senior Technical Recruiter Tia Sharma

Tia’s Recruiting Philosophy

 Since joining Elite Technical in 2021, Tia has focused mainly on IT placements. “There is so much to do in technical recruitment. Every once in a while, you see a new tech coming up, so you never stop learning. There was JAVA, and now AI. You need to learn about each technology so you know what to ask clients and candidates. Technology runs in my veins now.”

While Tia has supplied IT candidates for Elite Technical clients such as APWU, E&Y, and Estée Lauder among others, her background in network engineering and network security informs her ability to recruit for positions in cyber security.

“Without a technical background, it would be hard to understand what’s needed for cyber security. When evaluating candidates, I look at their education backgrounds, certifications, experiences, and how well they can explain themselves.

“I educate candidates on what’s needed to win the jobs they want. Through video screening, I connect with them person-to-person, and I talk to them with a human touch. I want our conversations to be friendly, so they know I am here for them and at the same time helping my client," she said.

When screening candidates, Tia drills down on skills. “I’m asking questions like, ‘What exactly you do? For example, do you do firewall checks? Load balancing? How do you coordinate with your team? How do you secure a Windows environment or Linux system? I need to make sure they can really explain themselves.”

“Sometimes a resume looks good and a candidate can give you answers on a preliminary call. When you do video screening, you can judge if people really know the job by visual cues. (Are they googling for answers while on the call?!) Sometimes you meet a fresh graduate who can detail exact features or their actual responsibilities or provide case studies, but they end up going round and round," said Tia.

“Fake resumes” are a challenge to guard against today. Candidates use resume writers who fluff them up, but don’t themselves understand the technical nuance of job descriptions. Of the eight to ten people Tia screens each day, one or two can’t explain their jobs well, or express their work, or demonstrate the required professionalism.

Tia’s Advice for Candidates

“Trying to match your resume for every client doesn’t work. My job is to make sure the right experience is on the resume.” Tia advises against resume stuffing. “If you are a Java developer, don’t try to be Full Stack, etc., because that will trip you up on interviews. I help candidates with keywords and let them know that they have to explain their experience in the right way. ‘Your resume is going for the interview,’ I tell them, and I am the bridge to making sure their resume is valid before I submit it to my client.

“Stay up to date on the tech side. Learn more and similarly, learn some cross-technology. Let’s say a client needs a Java developer, but they might also want them to know the Cloud environment using AI. Don’t stick to just one technology today! Learn from your peers as much as you can. The more cross-technical skills you have, the faster you will be marketable and get a job.

“Secondly, soft skills quality is very important as is the relationship you develop with your recruiter. Remember that recruiters are a bridge to your future. They are here to help you out. Use good manners and be very patient. When you contact a recruiter, send an follow up email as soon as possible. The customer also is busy. Everybody has a different issue. "Patience is your karma. If you are patient, good things will come your way," said Tia. 

Tia 's Experience with Elite Technical

Before coming to Elite Technical, I had never worked on high-level Federal projects. It’s been very amazing. And I feel very connected when I work on government requirements. It’s fascinated me.”

At Elite Technical, Tia feels empowered to do what she does best. “When I met Jeff (Keller, Director of IT Staffing Programs) and Phil (Mosca, Vice President, Operations), I felt very comfortable. We laughed, we talked, and I loved them, which makes the work easy. And the best part is when I joined, Jeff said, ‘Don’t worry, we do not micromanage. Just do your thing.’” And Tia excels in Elite Technical's can-do environment.

Tia’s Greatest Success

When asked about her greatest success story, Tia replied, “Working in America has been my greatest success. I came on my own. Nobody was here to support me. My friends tell me, ‘You were such a brave girl. You made your own life.’ In my early life, my friends were very traditional, while I learned to ride a scooter. I won sports medals, dancing competitions, everything. Coming to America alone was one of the biggest achievements of my life.

“Recruiting is a very interesting job. You learn new things day by day. You talk to so many people. You learn about behavior. You learn the market culture, how people are, the ups and downs of jobs, of human behavior, and you’re making friends. Once a recruiter, you’re always a recruiter. It gets in your blood.”

Tia’s Life Philosophy
“What is gone is gone, just focus on the future and where you want to go. We have so many things to worry about. So why not celebrate the things you can? When you laugh, your body gets healthy. So why not laugh? In India people gather in a park for laughing groups. It is called ‘artificial laughing.’ They raise their arms and laugh, and it feels good,” she shared.

At home in Centereach, NY, Tia loves gardening and soft music, including Ghazal.