How Jobbatical helps Mindvalley build a diverse, borderless team
Mindvalley, a global education company with over 200 employees, is expanding rapidly and constantly looking for talent that matches their unique culture, mission and values and is willing to relocate.
Location: Kuala Lumpur
Positions Hired: Content Specialist, Advertising Specialist
Who was hired: Damir Abdullin from Saint Petersburg, Russia to Kuala Lumpur as an Advertising Specialist and Alyse Speyer from San Francisco to Kuala Lumpur as a Content Specialist
On Wednesday, July 16, 2003, Nelson Mandela, the South African statesman and main leader against the apartheid, stood in front of the Mindset Network and delivered a speech (and one quote in particular) that would outlast him.
“Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.”
And it really is. Education is the key to eliminating gender inequality, reducing poverty, creating a sustainable planet, and fostering peace.
That same powerful quote opens up the career page for Mindvalley, a global school for 3+ million people.
Mindvalley started as a digital publishing company and rapidly evolved to house successful businesses related to education, entrepreneurship, mindfulness, health and wellness. Now it has dozens of unique courses and is on a mission to reinvent the university.
“I started Mindvalley with $700 and a beat-up laptop in Starbucks,” mentions founder Vishen Lakhiani when talking about the Mindvalley origin story. In 2004, after struggling to keep his US Visa, he moved back to Kuala Lumpur, and made it his mission to build a world-changing company in Asia. Today, Vishen leads a 230+ team of over 40 nationalities.
As a rapidly growing company, they are constantly looking to expand. However, finding people who align with their culture and values is always a challenge.
The bar is high
Mindvalley is a global brand and company that invests in, creates and builds businesses that align with its goal to push humanity forward.
But for it to really work out, people must believe in the mission and share the unique values of the company: to give humanity the education system it deserves.
Mindvalley is looking for people who are excited to touch millions of lives via education, and work on one of their projects for the next three years. Someone who is driven by reinventing university or building the best online learning platform.
Although it’s a noble aspiration, not everyone is moved by the same problems, inspired by the same mission. Which means that finding people who are as excited about the future of education as Mindvalley is has been an interesting task.
“I think our business challenge was being able to find candidates who would fit into our culture. Not many recruiting partners are able to solve this for companies,” explains Marta Kondryn, Head of People at Mindvalley.
That’s where Jobbatical comes in
Mindvalley HQ has over 230 employees from over 40 nationalities, working in an award-winning space in Kuala Lumpur.
Truth be told, Mindvalley isn’t strapped for talent. As Marta mentions: “I can’t say it was difficult for us to hire overall, but definitely Jobbatical has increased our exposure, employer brand and reach to the right audience.”
That said, encouraged by great results and aligned values, Jobbatical took a spot as a trusted and aligned hiring partner for Mindvalley “when hiring for marketing, technical and creative roles.”
Mindvalley is global, and they sure value diversity — “The biggest challenge that Jobbatical has helped us to resolve is to be one of the key partners that has the talent that would fit our company culture,” highlights Marta.
The two hires that Mindvalley has made via Jobbatical, Alyse from San Francisco and Damir from Saint Petersbourg, certainly show it.
“Jobbatical’s strength for us lies in finding the talent that would fit and contribute into our culture.”
Hiring tip: Hiring people who have the right culture and believe in what your company is trying to build is key. As an example, Location Labs has a 95% retention rate,in part due to who they hire from the start.
Alyse joins Mindvalley
The first position Mindvalley filled with Jobbatical was for an Account Manager. This is a unique and crucial role in the organization, as Account Managers are responsible for the successful execution and delivery of products and maintaining relationships with Mindvalley Authors.
This entails working with authors and other internal teams to get the products created and delivered on time and in line with the Mindvalley brand and standards.
In late 2016, Alyse Speyer, a digital nomad and yoga teacher who’s traveled to over 50 countries and speaks four languages, applied through Jobbatical.
The culture match was there: she is a voracious reader, writer, and learner who writes a personal development and travel blog while teaching yoga and meditation all over the world.
In April 2015, a 7.9 earthquake hit Nepal. Alyse was there but instead of fleeing, she stayed, raised $5,000 through her blog and helped over 600 displaced families to continue their life.
In her own words: “I’m looking for inspiring work that contributes to the world and society in a meaningful way. My mission is to inspire and empower humanity to grow and achieve a higher quality of life.”
And with the right skills for the job due to her experience in San Francisco as a Senior Marketing Manager at Yola and Jobvite, Alyse was invited for an interview and later, hired.
Now, after less than a year in her initial position, she has been promoted to Head of Author Relations at Mindvalley.
Hiring tip: Evaluating a candidate requires more than looking at school and work history. Unique life experiences, like raising money to help earthquake victims, can show the real hidden potential of a candidate.
Damir joins Mindvalley
The position Mindvalley was looking to fill — Advertising Specialist — is different from other companies, and crafted for a unique person.
Mindvalley was looking for someone who loves Google Adwords, Facebook ADs, CPC, ROAS and all things paid media and is excited by strategy and not afraid of running 9 to 10 digits’ worth of advertising budget. Someone who “thrives in a high-pressure environment”and wants the opportunity to put their skills to the test in a team of highly skilled individuals.
That’s when Damir enters the picture. Originally from Saint Petersburg, Russia, Damir is young, energetic guy with a passion for numbers and gaming paid platforms.
After spending 6 months travelling and working around Asia, he was looking to do something big, something that pushed the world forward. With the right culture, and experience in Global Promo, Appness and as an affiliate marketer managing budgets of over $40,000 per month, Damir definitely made a splash on the Mindvalley team.
He applied via Jobbatical in early 2017, and by March, he was hired and on a plane from Saint Petersburg to Kuala Lumpur to continue his career and life experience, once again, in Asia.
Wrapping Up
Marta found Jobbatical by chance, thanks to a friend she met via AIESEC who was working at Jobbatical at the time. But what started as a lucky encounter became solid partnership.
“What brought us together was that one of Mindvalley’s values is unity, and as Jobbatical, we also believe in diversity, and borderless world,” explains Marta.
Now, that alignment has transformed into a thriving collaboration: Jobbatical has successfully contributed to Mindvalley’s mission by aligning them with people who were able to excel in their roles.
“We can definitely see how team members that have heard and applied to Mindvalley via Jobbatical excel in their career, how they contribute to diversity and overall culture of Mindvalley.”
