Her Story
About Ciara
Ciara Monteclaro Laja is a client services professional specializing in contingent workforce management with over 10 years of experience spanning recruitment, talent acquisition, and stakeholder management. Her career began in the Philippines where she earned a business management degree with a major in human resources and started in recruitment at MicroSourcing, a business process outsourcing company handling offshore transactions for clients in Australia, the United States, and Europe. After relocating to the United States, she took on her current role as a client services professional for PG&E, a major utility in California, where she manages supplier relationships through a collaborative and consultative approach within the MSP framework. She is based in Las Vegas and maintains an affiliation with Women of Work, having received nominations for their gala and awards. Ciara attributes her success to listening to others and building strong professional relationships, and she advises young women, particularly immigrants, to overcome imposter syndrome to build confidence and make an impact.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ciara
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to the collaboration and consultative approach that I bring to strengthen relationships with suppliers. It's not a one-man show. You have to listen to people around you who help you in your career. You cannot always control what other people say but you can control how you respond to them. Having that mentality boosts how you become relevant to people. It's always important to listen to them.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say overcome the imposter syndrome. This is very common to women, especially immigrants like myself. There are voices that whisper you cannot do that because you don't have English as your main language. That stigma needs to change. You've got to believe in yourself and remove that imposter syndrome in your head in order to acquire confidence. Without that, if you're always doubting yourself, it's not going to help. You gotta show the world that you can make an impact even coming from a different country.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I value relationships, both professional and personal. Conflicts come and go but at the end of the day you don't take everything personally. It's important to strengthen your relationships because that relationship is really important.
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