New beginnings
It only feels right to conclude my journey to find a new job with a blog post but it’s difficult to know where to start. After months of applications, chats, and interviews with many setbacks, I can finally share the four words I’ve been wanting to share for a long time “I got the job”.
It was really important to me that I joined a company where the recruitment process was a positive one and up until I met the company I’ve recently joined (read on for the big reveal!), I’d had very few experiences where this had been the case.
Just over a month ago, I was at a stalemate, I was waiting for the process to conclude on a job I’d applied for back in September. I felt nervy just having one job in the pipeline and also felt increasingly restless, I was concerned about the economic climate and really wanted to go into a New Year with a job in the bag.
I felt like I was being held captive waiting for this company to conclude my fate and then out of the blue, an old colleague sent me a message to ask if I could recommend a part-time project manager to work with them. I replied “me!”, within a really short amount of time I’d set up an Ltd company, a website, and a business bank account and had accepted a new gig to start after a one-week trip to Spain. I suddenly had energy again and it gave me the confidence boost I needed. This is your note to carry on with life, when I stopped waiting, ironically everything started to fall into place.
Around the same time, a friend sent me the job ad for a Principle Delivery Manager role. I’d had a chat with the company a few months prior and there wasn’t anything quite right for me at that stage. When I read the job description of this role, I got excited. It sounded right up my street. It wasn’t the ‘Head of’ or leadership role I’d started out my search looking for but it ticked almost every other box.
One thing I’ve learned as a result of this search is that you have to be flexible and these things I was prepared to make compromises on. One quote that resonated with me towards the end of the search was “choose what’s good for your soul, not your ego”. I definitely found myself being drawn to the roles with the senior-looking titles and big salaries, it took me a while but I’m glad I got to the point where I could see past those things, to what was actually good for me. (btw I’m not saying you can’t have all of those things!)
One thing that helped me a lot is to think about the role in the context of the organisation you’re looking to join i.e. looking beyond job titles. The size of the team as well as the size of the agency I’m joining is considerably bigger than my current experience — there’s room to grow here.
After an initial chat, I was shortlisted for the final interview. A two-step interview process (another tick). The final interview was earmarked for two hours, the longest yet but had a really clear structure which consisted of:
A 15 min presentation — I used to set presentations for delivery managers’ joining the team and have spent my job search musing on the tangible benefit but done right they can be really good. I particularly liked this one, it was clearly tied to the outcome of the job and really helped me communicate my approach/style in a way sometimes interview questions don’t.
The interview also comprised a strengths and weaknesses task, a scenario, and some competency-based questions as well as plenty of time for me to ask questions.
After the interview, I didn’t feel super confident but I knew I still wanted the job and really enjoyed meeting other members of the team. I spent that night completely over-thinking my response to every question, was I too honest about my weaknesses, why did I say ‘x’, why didn’t I say ‘y’. It was draining and I had a bad night's sleep.
I was told I’d hear in a few days and true to their word I got a phone call a few days later. I didn’t recognise the number and my partner had just taken me to our health club for a jacuzzi because my anxiety was becoming too much for the both of us as we played the waiting game. I took the missed call as a good sign but after so many near misses and disappointments, I tried to not get too excited.
The following morning, I finally got to speak to the hiring manager and was told they’d be delighted to offer me the job! At last! It was hard not to let out a squeal of excitement.
Four reasons why I chose to accept the job and join 🥁 Torchbox
Community
- Torchbox has an office space literally 5 miles from my door. It’s been a long time since I’ve had access to a local office and I think it’ll be great to meet some new people who live near me and hopefully make some new friends too!
People Focused
- When I asked what swung it in my favour, I was told it was how my approach was very in line with Torchbox’s in terms of being “people-focused”. My perspective on coaching and mentoring over more traditional forms of line management resonated.
Employee-owned
- It’s taken me a while to properly understand the benefits associated with being employee-owned but having worked for a company that got acquired and having gone through a merger. I like the security and stability this offers as well as how the team get financially recognized when the business achieves.
The role itself
- This is the first and only Principle DM role at Torchbox currently. I like that I’ll have a say in how the role is crafted and evolves. I’ll be working with a bigger team of delivery managers and I’ll have the pleasure of mentoring and coaching some of them. The team is around 13+ now which is really exciting! My role will also be responsible for implementing a delivery framework that is right up my street.
Thanks to everyone who has offered support and encouragement over the last few months. I appreciate every one of you.
