hosted by: Sujani Siva
Show Notes
Today’s episode is not with a public health professional, but rather a “friend of public health” – this is what we are calling the individuals who can support us with the services, advice/tips, and value they are able to share.
Today’s friend of public health is Kiriga Konalingam, an HR recruiter who has worked in public health organizations hiring public health professionals. We wanted to bring someone like Kiriga on the show to talk about a topic we could always use some guidance on: job applications, specifically resumes and interviews.
We wanted to hear first hand from someone in HR about things to keep in mind when applying to jobs, preparing and submitting resumes, and even tips around evaluations or exams, and interviews.
This episode is a lengthy one because Kiriga is extremely passionate about these topics…and you’ll hear towards the end that we didn’t want to finish the conversation because there was so much more to talk about! If by the end of the episode you are still left with additional questions, please let us know through our podcast form (choose “I would like to recommend a topic and/or guest for the podcast” option) other questions/topics you’d like us to discuss with Kiriga (we would love to have her back on for another episode).
You’ll Learn
- The process that an HR department would take when an organization wants to hire a public health professional
- What happens once an applicant submits an application, and an HR specialist receives it
- Tips, advice, things to consider, etc. around:
- Resumes
- Interviews
- Exams/Evaluations
- Things to consider when looking for a job; looking beyond the pay grade, and thinking about the experience as a whole (culture, benefits, mentorship, etc.)
Today’s Guest
Kiriga Konalingam
Kiriga is a Talent Acquisition Consultant with over 10+ years of experience as an HR professional recruiting for both public and private sector. She started her career working for one of the largest banks supporting multiple portfolios including Finance, Audit, Capital Markets and Risk Management.
She then decided to move to the public sector where she began recruiting for various public health roles. Her passion for talent and wanting to make impact to community life, led her to take a position with York Region, where she helped to build effective and dynamic public health teams.
Resources
- Here is the Interview Fail experience that Sujani speaks about in the episode.
- We mention in the episode that you can visit an organization’s website to understand what the job application process looks like. Here are some examples we pulled out (for more, google the organization’s name + hiring process):
Other PH SPOT resources:
- Never heard of a podcast before? Read this guide we put together to help you get set up.
- Interested in knowing how PH SPOT came to be? Read about the Accidental birth of PH SPOT.
- Be notified when new episodes come out, and receive hand-picked public health opportunities every week by joining the PH SPOT community.
Before you go…
- Do you have a topic that you would like us to cover or a guest we should sit down with? Tell us using this form.
About the Show
PH SPOTlight: Public health career stories, inspiration, and guidance from current-day public health heroes
On the show, Sujani sits down with public health heroes of our time to share career stories, inspiration, and guidance for building public health careers. From time to time, she also has conversations with friends of public health – individuals who are not public health professionals, but their advice and guidance are equally important.
YOUR HOST:
Sujani Siva
Sujani is the founder of PHSPOT.ca and Infographics101.com. After guiding a number of public health students, new grads and professionals, Sujani created these two platforms to reach, inspire and support even more of her peers.
