For 2021, FierceWireless has compiled a young and accomplished slate of up-and-coming wireless executives. We’re doling out the names of our winners, two per day, so that readers have the time to enjoy reading their profiles. These are all folks to keep an eye on as they make a mark in wireless, working in diverse areas of telecommunications.
Finding talented employees is a big challenge for the entire wireless industry. That’s why many of the unsung heroes of today’s top companies are in the human resources department. For Paula Netzer, HR coordinator and talent acquisition at Parallel Wireless, relationship building is the secret to finding the right people to hire and keeping them happy and engaged. “I not only find the talent but I also engage with them as they enter the company and make them feel comfortable as they take their first steps here,” she said. “I want them to feel welcome and comfortable talking to me.”
Netzer believes she is particularly adept at making people feel comfortable in a new work environment because she immigrated to Israel from Brazil when she was 10 years old.
Netzer joined Parallel two years ago after working as a personal assistant at different firms in Israel. The job at Parallel appealed to her because it involved working with people but also allowed her to develop new skills. She was Parallel’s 60th employee when she joined the company and helped it grow to 170 employees today. “It’s been very fast paced,” she said.
One of the biggest challenges of working in HR is having to deal with rejection when job candidates that you think will be a great fit for the company turn down the offer and take a job somewhere else. “There is a lot of competition for good people,” she said. “It can be frustrating when you get rejected.”
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But she has noticed that as Parallel Wireless has become a familiar name in the wireless industry it has made it easier to attract more candidates. “People have heard of the company today. That wasn’t the case a few years ago,” she said.
Her advice to other newcomers to the wireless industry is to try to learn something from everyone you meet.
In her spare time, Netzer is a runner and likes to spend time with her family, including her two children and two dogs.