SAIREE CHAHAl talks to PRAKRITI ROY about founding and running a women’s only job portal and the career prospects for women who take a break from work life
What prompted you to build this organisationIJ
Sheroes is the career world for women from all walks of professional life. It’s the only platform that provides the career eco-system for women with opportunities of various work formats — full-time, flex work options, entrepreneurial work options, internships, projects etc. The community has access to high growth career resources, mentorship and support. It engages with businesses to help them connect with female talent in form of employees, partners, customers and business owners. The core of our philosophy is to help women navigate career stages and find work that fits their life.
The idea evolved from my previous venture which had started as a pilot for women on career break, to identify flex work options, work from home or those who were looking for more friendly opportunities. it is a platform product built around career and life stages of women and assists them throughout their career in terms of work opportunities that best fit their lives, career resources and mentorship.
What has been the growth trajectoryIJ
We plan to use the angel funding for investing in the community and the product. It is growing at a rapid pace and enhancing our community and its offering is priority for us. Sheroes will put one million in workforce in next three years as a tangible goal. It is community is over half a million member strong. It is a platform centric model that helps connect businesses to women professionals. These include digital product, channel programmes, hiring initiatives, employee branding, custom and special projects. It is also an engagement platform for brand marketers, looking to engage with urban educated women. It powers some of the largest diversity initiatives, channel programs and returning professionals programs. We have been growing at a rate of 300% CAGR.
What are some of the career options for women who want to get back to work after a breakIJ
There are tons of opportunities for those coming back after a break. There are work from home jobs, part time options, telecommuting options, consulting assignments, freelance projects, franchising options, becoming a reseller, distributor amongst others. There are also several returnship programmes as well as diversity initiatives by companies.
Which of these fields is most suitable and accepting of these womenIJ
These days range of companies are looking to have more women in their organisations and teams. These include start-ups, IT, healthcare, e-commerce, SAAS, foodtech companies among others.
How do you engage potential employees and employers in your companyIJ
We host summits every year to bring women and businesses together and create a conversation about the changing workplace. We also help companies connect with women professionals using various products like the ones on the platform besides various thought leadership and discourse initiatives.
You also help senior citizens looking for work...
We do not have special services for senior citizens but a lot of women who are empty nesters or are post retirement find new and different opportunities here.
Do you encourage entrepreneurship tooIJ How do you guide themIJ
We run a strong initiative to help women entrepreneurs scale up and grow their businesses. These including help with mentorship, funding, growth resources and access to diverse startup resources. Many founders fellowship kind of resources are also available to our members.