Always Hiring (kind of…)
As the end of the year edges nearer I recently worked out we’ve hired 11 people full-time across the group since January. I have personally conducted eight phone interviews, 17 interviews in person and offered four people a job. In almost all of these instances I was meeting these people for the first time — on the end of the phone or sat across a table, working out if they had the relevant skill set, experience and values fit, and would fulfil the role we were recruiting for.
It’s tough. The level of expectation is high. You’re trying to work a lot out in a short period of time. We’ve met some hugely talented people, both those who we want to bring in and those who we don’t feel are quite right for us but will be brilliant elsewhere. We’ve learnt that it’s far better to hire confidently and bring in the right person rather than hastily with some element of uncertainty and have to spend longer further down the line working out why it’s not working and tackle some difficult conversations.
We run four businesses across The HudsonBec Group and employ 29 full-time roles. It’s a breadth that include editors, writers, creatives, art directors, strategists, producers, project managers, social media managers, marketing managers, HR, a studio manager and a PA. In addition to these full-time roles there are always a number of freelancers added to the mix. We are always looking for talented people to come and help us enable creativity to thrive.
So why am I writing this? What’s the point I’m trying to make? The realisation over the past couple of months is that the best time to get a job is when the studio or agency that you want to work for isn’t advertising. There’s no competition, your portfolio and CV aren’t jostling for attention in an inbox full of other applicants and any conversation you have isn’t based on you joining the team straight away. You also get to clearly show your interest in the company first. The obvious caveat here is they might not be hiring — but don’t worry, that’s kind of the point.
We have employed countless people over the years who we’ve met prior to advertising a specific role. When the idea of looking for that next creative or project manager comes up we reach out to those people we’ve met and let them know we’re hiring. The second time you meet someone you’re not looking for quite so many things. You know their experience and the work they’ve been involved in, their ambition and interests, you already know their values are a good fit and you get to ask more specific questions to confirm their suitability and learn more about them.
So this is my ask. If you are a writer, editor, project manager, producer, creative, art director, strategist, marketing manager, or any of the other roles mentioned above (and those that aren’t). If you like what we do and are interested in working with us at It’s Nice That, Anyways Creative, Lecture in Progress or If You Could Jobs in the future, the best thing to do is get in touch — will@thehudsonbecgroup.com.
