Interviews
In the Spotlight: Natasha Zaharova – Head of Talent Acquisition at Sigli
Insights from the Head of Talent Acquisition on building pipelines, tracking KPIs, and the power of curiosity in recruiting.
Natasha Zaharova is the Head of Talent Acquisition at Sigli, a software development company specializing in digital product development and transformation. With over a decade of experience in IT recruitment, she leads hiring strategy, process audits, and team development to ensure structured, scalable, and candidate-respectful recruitment practices.
Hey Natasha, to start, can you tell us a bit about your current role at Sigli? (Are you still doing hands-on recruiting, or is your focus more on leadership now?)
As Head of Talent Acquisition I am responsible for the entire talent acquisition strategy. I lead the team, design and implement all types of recruitment processes, making them structured, consistent, clean and scalable, so that we would be able to build a strong pipeline and attract top talent fast and efficiently every time a new job opening appears. My role does not include any hands-on recruitment, but I help recruiters increase their performance providing training and always being there for them whenever they need help or advice.
Hey Natasha, to start, can you tell us a bit about your current role at Sigli? (Are you still doing hands-on recruiting, or is your focus more on leadership now?)
As Head of Talent Acquisition I am responsible for the entire talent acquisition strategy. I lead the team, design and implement all types of recruitment processes, making them structured, consistent, clean and scalable, so that we would be able to build a strong pipeline and attract top talent fast and efficiently every time a new job opening appears. My role does not include any hands-on recruitment, but I help recruiters increase their performance providing training and always being there for them whenever they need help or advice.
Hey Natasha, to start, can you tell us a bit about your current role at Sigli? (Are you still doing hands-on recruiting, or is your focus more on leadership now?)
As Head of Talent Acquisition I am responsible for the entire talent acquisition strategy. I lead the team, design and implement all types of recruitment processes, making them structured, consistent, clean and scalable, so that we would be able to build a strong pipeline and attract top talent fast and efficiently every time a new job opening appears. My role does not include any hands-on recruitment, but I help recruiters increase their performance providing training and always being there for them whenever they need help or advice.
Is your team currently hiring? What kind of roles are you looking to fill these days?
Despite the fact that the market is complicated, we have several open positions every month, and we fill them successfully. At the moment we would like experienced React and Node Software Engineers to join us in various locations.
Can you walk us through your hiring tech stack - what tools and platforms are you using today? (Do you use an ATS? If yes - which one?)
We use Zoho Recruit as an ATS, although it had to be highly customized to meet our goals.
Where do most of your candidates typically come from - job boards, referrals, proactive sourcing, events, or other channels?
The market has changed a lot lately, and now a recruiter can expect to get really good applications through job boards and LinkedIn. Referrals, events, etc. work quite well just as they did before. Still proactive sourcing provides the majority of our hirings when we need to find the right candidate for the team and for the client fast.
Does your team actively do sourcing? How do you usually approach that?
I find it helpful to "source ahead", creating a talent pool before a hot need-to-be-filled-yesterday position appears. This way you can meet not only the current staffing needs of your company, but also the future ones, which can be cruical - in such a fast-paced business as ours time is essential.
Do you track sourcing/outreach KPIs - things like response rates, outreach volumes, time-to-hire?
Sure, we do track dozens of metrics, I believe that collecting and analyzing data allows you to see where your team's strengths are, where the bottlenecks of your processes can be, and what needs to be changed. I love data and would recommend collecting as much as possible, but only if you have a plan how to analyze it and use it later.
Have you or your team used any recruitment or sourcing tools like SourceWhale, Loxo, AmazingHiring, TalentSight, or others?
We have explored different automation and etc. tools over the years, for different purposes. We are open to learning and experimenting, so why not try something new.
What's your view on how AI is shaping recruiting today? Are you already seeing it change how your team works - or is it still early days?
Well, everyone is super enthusiastic about AI these days! I am excited as well, maybe the routine part of our work will get cut soon, recruiters write better ad texts, conduct initial assessment with its help, develop their own skills. The catch is one should keep in mind that AI is a tool, a super convenient and fast, still just a tool - so it is only effective if used wisely. Never forget to do fact checking, and most importantly, please don't forget that you work with real people, none of us deserves to be treated as some parts at a factory, especially during job hunting which can be a stressful journey in itself.
What is your favourite thing about being a recruiter?
The best thing was - wow, me being super curious and finally polite!
I'm no longer a recruiter, but what made me a good one, and what I actually love about my job now, is asking tons of "why?" questions to learn about the clients' needs, the candidates' expectations, the company's goals, and decide what's best for everyone based on the information I've managed to collect. Sounds like a blend of investigation and magic to me, love it.
Finally - any advice you'd give to fellow Talent Acquisition leaders navigating the current market?
Don't stick to the established processes or practices. Listen, embrace new ideas, discover new opportunities, and be committed to continuous improvement. Let whatever project you are managing be alive, change and grow.
Is your team currently hiring? What kind of roles are you looking to fill these days?
Despite the fact that the market is complicated, we have several open positions every month, and we fill them successfully. At the moment we would like experienced React and Node Software Engineers to join us in various locations.
Can you walk us through your hiring tech stack - what tools and platforms are you using today? (Do you use an ATS? If yes - which one?)
We use Zoho Recruit as an ATS, although it had to be highly customized to meet our goals.
Where do most of your candidates typically come from - job boards, referrals, proactive sourcing, events, or other channels?
The market has changed a lot lately, and now a recruiter can expect to get really good applications through job boards and LinkedIn. Referrals, events, etc. work quite well just as they did before. Still proactive sourcing provides the majority of our hirings when we need to find the right candidate for the team and for the client fast.
Does your team actively do sourcing? How do you usually approach that?
I find it helpful to "source ahead", creating a talent pool before a hot need-to-be-filled-yesterday position appears. This way you can meet not only the current staffing needs of your company, but also the future ones, which can be cruical - in such a fast-paced business as ours time is essential.
Do you track sourcing/outreach KPIs - things like response rates, outreach volumes, time-to-hire?
Sure, we do track dozens of metrics, I believe that collecting and analyzing data allows you to see where your team's strengths are, where the bottlenecks of your processes can be, and what needs to be changed. I love data and would recommend collecting as much as possible, but only if you have a plan how to analyze it and use it later.
Have you or your team used any recruitment or sourcing tools like SourceWhale, Loxo, AmazingHiring, TalentSight, or others?
We have explored different automation and etc. tools over the years, for different purposes. We are open to learning and experimenting, so why not try something new.
What's your view on how AI is shaping recruiting today? Are you already seeing it change how your team works - or is it still early days?
Well, everyone is super enthusiastic about AI these days! I am excited as well, maybe the routine part of our work will get cut soon, recruiters write better ad texts, conduct initial assessment with its help, develop their own skills. The catch is one should keep in mind that AI is a tool, a super convenient and fast, still just a tool - so it is only effective if used wisely. Never forget to do fact checking, and most importantly, please don't forget that you work with real people, none of us deserves to be treated as some parts at a factory, especially during job hunting which can be a stressful journey in itself.
What is your favourite thing about being a recruiter?
The best thing was - wow, me being super curious and finally polite!
I'm no longer a recruiter, but what made me a good one, and what I actually love about my job now, is asking tons of "why?" questions to learn about the clients' needs, the candidates' expectations, the company's goals, and decide what's best for everyone based on the information I've managed to collect. Sounds like a blend of investigation and magic to me, love it.
Finally - any advice you'd give to fellow Talent Acquisition leaders navigating the current market?
Don't stick to the established processes or practices. Listen, embrace new ideas, discover new opportunities, and be committed to continuous improvement. Let whatever project you are managing be alive, change and grow.
Is your team currently hiring? What kind of roles are you looking to fill these days?
Despite the fact that the market is complicated, we have several open positions every month, and we fill them successfully. At the moment we would like experienced React and Node Software Engineers to join us in various locations.
Can you walk us through your hiring tech stack - what tools and platforms are you using today? (Do you use an ATS? If yes - which one?)
We use Zoho Recruit as an ATS, although it had to be highly customized to meet our goals.
Where do most of your candidates typically come from - job boards, referrals, proactive sourcing, events, or other channels?
The market has changed a lot lately, and now a recruiter can expect to get really good applications through job boards and LinkedIn. Referrals, events, etc. work quite well just as they did before. Still proactive sourcing provides the majority of our hirings when we need to find the right candidate for the team and for the client fast.
Does your team actively do sourcing? How do you usually approach that?
I find it helpful to "source ahead", creating a talent pool before a hot need-to-be-filled-yesterday position appears. This way you can meet not only the current staffing needs of your company, but also the future ones, which can be cruical - in such a fast-paced business as ours time is essential.
Do you track sourcing/outreach KPIs - things like response rates, outreach volumes, time-to-hire?
Sure, we do track dozens of metrics, I believe that collecting and analyzing data allows you to see where your team's strengths are, where the bottlenecks of your processes can be, and what needs to be changed. I love data and would recommend collecting as much as possible, but only if you have a plan how to analyze it and use it later.
Have you or your team used any recruitment or sourcing tools like SourceWhale, Loxo, AmazingHiring, TalentSight, or others?
We have explored different automation and etc. tools over the years, for different purposes. We are open to learning and experimenting, so why not try something new.
What's your view on how AI is shaping recruiting today? Are you already seeing it change how your team works - or is it still early days?
Well, everyone is super enthusiastic about AI these days! I am excited as well, maybe the routine part of our work will get cut soon, recruiters write better ad texts, conduct initial assessment with its help, develop their own skills. The catch is one should keep in mind that AI is a tool, a super convenient and fast, still just a tool - so it is only effective if used wisely. Never forget to do fact checking, and most importantly, please don't forget that you work with real people, none of us deserves to be treated as some parts at a factory, especially during job hunting which can be a stressful journey in itself.
What is your favourite thing about being a recruiter?
The best thing was - wow, me being super curious and finally polite!
I'm no longer a recruiter, but what made me a good one, and what I actually love about my job now, is asking tons of "why?" questions to learn about the clients' needs, the candidates' expectations, the company's goals, and decide what's best for everyone based on the information I've managed to collect. Sounds like a blend of investigation and magic to me, love it.
Finally - any advice you'd give to fellow Talent Acquisition leaders navigating the current market?
Don't stick to the established processes or practices. Listen, embrace new ideas, discover new opportunities, and be committed to continuous improvement. Let whatever project you are managing be alive, change and grow.
