This blog summarises my journey from a big corporate to a start up. I wanted to document the experience to see if it measured up to what I expected and to see how far I’ve come. I hope it’s useful for others who may find themselves in a similar situation.
Week 1 – Settling In
This week was all about settling in at Hiring Hub.
Being in regular communication with my soon-to-be line manager was a game changer. As soon as I stepped into the office on day one, it felt as though I’d been here weeks already. No awkward introductions. Diving straight in…to overviews and policy reading.
Swapping the power dress for jeans (and not just on Fridays) was a big change for me. I’d come to see the power dress as the only way to get people to view me as a competent engineering professional. Perhaps this was my way of getting ready for work – with business dress comes business mind? Perhaps this was a characteristic of corporate environments?
To date, nobody has questioned my competence under any circumstances. We’re all here to make a difference – I’m here to do just that too. Donning the jeans just makes the ‘difference making’ more comfortable.
Perhaps the power dress will make some cameo appearances. Hopefully they won’t think I’m staging a coup…
Week 2 – The Coal Face
This week I spent time with the account management team.
My first observation – they knew the names of every employer and agency they were working with. Awash with anecdotes, I felt as though I was getting to know the people behind the profiles on the platform.
My second observation – there are always snacks available. You name it, it’s there.
I happened to observe the team when there was an issue with duplication of candidates on a particular job. Given that there is a team of account managers dedicated to employers and another for recruiters, this issue meant both groups had to strategise. How were we going to make sure this wasn’t a show stopper for the recruiters and the employer in this situation? What happened here? Did someone have information they shouldn’t? Did the candidate know about the job already and let another agency put them forward again? Who had evidence that they were first to the finish line? The most important questions for the teams were how were we going to stop this happening again, and what procedure should we put in place to be clear on who submitted a candidate first.
This was interesting from a product perspective. The platform has a timestamp for application submission, but has no way of knowing if this application was submitted with the consent of the candidate. Was there a way the platform could smooth this process in future and remove the emotion? Interesting question.
Week 3 – Getting Stuck In
This week it’s time to do my job for real!
I dipped my toe into the user research water this week. The goal of my experiment is to better understand why recruitment agencies churn (stop paying their subscription). There are a number of theories as to why this is but to really understand it, I need to hear it from those who experienced it.
Numbers crunched thus far seem to fit some of the theories, but others are raising more questions than they are answering. For example, we know the ratio of jobs to recruitment agencies is healthy in IT, so why is this not reflected in a significant improvement in conversion rate in that vertical over other sectors where the ratio of jobs to recruiters is not as well matched? Could it be simply that there aren’t enough candidates to fill the roles (I mean, the skills shortage in tech is well documented)? Or perhaps the quality of those candidates isn’t good enough for that job? Maybe the salaries aren’t right to attract the right candidates, or employers don’t want to pay the salaries being demanded? All valid hypotheses but until we begin qualitative research, we can’t assume the answers to these questions vindicate the Hiring Hub platform itself.
My plan for the experiment is to use the service design double diamond method – discover, define, develop, deliver. With quantitative research complete, the next stage of the experiment is to interview recruitment agencies who have recently churned. Synthesising the interview information will allow us to validate our assumptions on why our agencies are churning. From there, we can use the insights gained to prototype new designs and functions for the platform.
Exciting times ahead!
Week 4 – Looking Back
I held my first retrospective this week. My approach was to research best practice for retrospectives, put together an agenda for a trial run then adapt from there.
Having such a small tech team meant that the team could function well without having a rigid set of meetings to attend each week to monitor progress. This had been incorporated into other regular team meetings, so it was happening but not being documented. Now that the team is expanding, getting ourselves into a more formalised routine of continuous improvement can only be a benefit.
When planning the retrospective, I noticed a distinct lack of Lego anywhere in the office. Of course this issue had to be rectified with immediate effect. If not only for retrospective purposes, but general office morale. No problem seems insurmountable when colourful Lego bricks are within reaching distance.
We used Lego at the beginning of the session to build an interpretation of how the team felt about the previous sprint. This was a good way of helping the team think about the work they had done in a different way to a list of Trello tickets. Next, we looked at activities and behaviours to start, stop and continue. A real positive to this exercise was there weren’t very many things to stop and lots of positive things to continue. Some may say this isn’t as positive as it seems, but that’s the conclusion I’m drawing for my first attempt. The team left feeling uplifted that everyone felt we were on the right track and had clear paths for improvement. This is the point of retrospectives.
The session was so successful that our operations colleagues decided to replicate it for their team meetings, as it was collaborative, creative and a good morale boost.
Day 30 – Did you make the right choice?
Reflecting on the past 30 days has been a really happy experience. I’ve never felt more fulfilled.
My time with the account managers reconfirmed for me why I’m so excited about this job. They embody the purpose of why we’re all here. The work I do as part of the tech team affects the lives of the people working on the platform. It’s taking the stress out of getting your job out there to build your team. It’s working on a role you have the perfect candidate for. It’s getting a call from the account managers when you’ve made a placement and they’re so excited for you. It’s seeing confetti on your profile when your job offer has been accepted (confetti is coming, I promise). It’s enjoying the experience of recruitment again.
There’s so much great work still to be done on the platform and I can’t wait to be a part of it!
