Recruiting, Your career
RACHEL, PRODUCT DIRECTOR
Rachel is nine years into a varied career which has already seen her working in venture capital, management consulting, start-ups and as a Board member of Europe’s top flight search site, Skycanner after they acquired her start-up, Zoombu, in December 2010. Rachel is now CEO & Founder of a product development company.
She kindly agreed to share her inspiring career story working at Sky Scanner with us:
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WHERE DO YOU WORK?
I previously worked as the Product Director for Skyscanner, Europe’s leading flight search engine. I now run my own product development company.
WHERE DID YOU START YOUR CAREER?
I studied engineering at Oxford University and my first role after graduating was with the venture capital firm Oxford Capital Partners, where I evaluated new science and technology investments. I really enjoyed the role and industry but felt that I wanted to gain broader business experience, so moved into a position as a management consultant with Diamond (recently acquired by PriceWaterHouse Coopers). Three years in, I got itchy feet and was keen to do something more hands-on. So when an opportunity to co-found a company came along, I jumped at the chance.
HOW MANY YEARS INTO YOUR CAREER ARE YOU?
Nine years since graduating.
HOW MANY COMPANIES HAVE YOU WORKED FOR SO FAR IN YOUR CAREER?
Four, but if you count the clients I worked with when consulting, more like nine. I also interned at an engineering consultancy during my degree, so that’s ten.
HOW MANY HOURS A WEEK DO YOU WORK?
That’s a difficult one, as I’m not sure what counts as a typical week! I’d say around 55 hours. I usually try to take weekends off.
WHO DO YOU REPORT TO?
At Skyscanner I reported directly to the CEO.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO LEAVE YOUR PREVIOUS JOB?
I co-founded the travel search company Zoombu with a friend and colleague from university, Alistair Hann. We worked on the business for two years building up the core technology, partnerships and the team. Our business was acquired by Skyscanner in Dec 2010 and I was working with Skyscanner to make their travel search engine even better using what we learned at Zoombu.
WHAT ARE THE BEST BITS ABOUT THE JOB?
The culture at Skyscanner is brilliant – it’s very dynamic and innovative and every week is different. The company is now 100 people strong, profitable and growing quickly, but it still has the same start-up environment that I enjoyed about Zoombu. We’re creating lots of exciting new aspects to the product and the work of my team directly contributes to the bottom line, which is rewarding.
HOW DOES YOUR EXPERIENCE FROM YOUR PREVIOUS JOB(S), HELP YOU IN YOUR NEW ROLE?
Zoombu was tackling a lot of the same challenges as Skyscanner; travel search is a complex field of software engineering, and the business model is challenging to get right. Running a start-up is preparation for any role, but particularly fitting for my current role which is at the intersection of business and engineering and involves spinning many plates at any one time.
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF AT THE HEIGHT OF YOUR CAREER?
Running my own company, which I have just founded.
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR TALENTED YOUNG PEOPLE BUILDING THEIR CAREER?
Don’t be afraid to try new opportunities or to take a leap into a new venture. It’s all too easy to get into the trap of waiting until the next promotion before trying something new, but if you’re not learning and constantly being challenged, it’s time to think about what’s next.
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Your career
LAURA WINFIELD, HEAD OF MEMBER FEEDBACK
Movemeon candidate spotlights are a series of articles focusing on member’s journeys into new opportunities. Here Laura explains her career journey and how she used movemeon to find her next role.
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“It was great to help Laura secure her next role at PureGym. Thanks for talking me through your interesting career journey, I wish you all the best in your new role!”
– Sabah, PureGym’s Client Success Manager
Where did you start your career/where are you going?
I started my career at a small consultancy called Pragma Consulting. Through a recruitment agency, I was given the opportunity to move to OC&C, however, my plan was never for consulting to be my whole career. I was not happy with the lack of control of the industries I was working in and the work-life balance. I then moved to Whitbread in the Strategy team and within a year was promoted to Senior Strategy Analyst. When Whitbread was restructuring, I used that as a point to transition and I joined Costa in a non-strategy position to try something new.
I spent a year in the Store Design team. I was not looking to move from Whitbread but I came across a role at Pret on Linkedin and as it was a brand I really liked, I applied and have been there since May. However, for various reasons I’ve been doing work that wasn’t for the role I was hired for. Therefore, I started looking on movemeon. I saw movemeon’s invite to apply to a role and I applied.
What first attracted you to your new role, and why did you want a change?
The situation I was in put me in a good position to possibly do something riskier. When I was looking for a new role, I was looking for a brand that is in growth, a brand I believe someone wants to buy into and would continue to grow. I also wanted international exposure. I was being picky as I only wanted to apply for something I felt really excited about and it was a chance to do something new. When I was invited for the role and saw it was PureGym, I was interested as it is a great brand. I knew of the hiring manager although we never crossed paths at OC&C and I was more junior. I knew he was very well regarded and could learn a lot from him. The fact he was putting himself behind this brand is one of the reasons I applied.
I never intended to go into food and drink. I ended up at Costa as I wanted an upward career move. I am industry agnostic as I believe it is more important that the brand speaks to a clear target audience and has an appeal for that market and is not a brand that is going backwards.
In your opinion, how does movemeon differ from other platforms/agencies?
I liked the independence to look through jobs myself and being able to go through the suggested jobs, save them and then make a decision later. Also, having to make a cover note as I was not having to do them before. I have had chats with recruitment consultants about what I was doing previously and where I wanted to work and have then been presented jobs that were not in line with what we discussed. These conversations were often time-wasting and roles tended to be a mismatch with my level. It was also hard to get feedback as it was coming to me secondhand. As soon as I was made the suggestion [invited] to apply to the PureGym role by movemeon, I was shortlisted and then shortly introduced to the hiring manager. I had direct communication with the hiring manager and it was not a game of Chinese whispers! All my meetings were with the hiring manager and were organised quickly. It was easier to have a conversation with the hiring manager to organise the interview, know where I needed to be and what to expect from the interview.
Through which of movemeon channels were you initially made aware of the role?
I was invited to view and apply for the role. I think in the past I had one invitation because I wasn’t actively looking. This was the first time I was actively looking. I had already saved the job and the invite was secondary validation and encouraged me to apply. As I had to write a cover note and upload a CV, I didn’t want to just be firing out applications and it was good to have the role highlighted to me as a potential fit.
How would you describe your experience as a member of movemeon?
I really liked taking the middle-man out of the process and having a conversation directly with the person hiring. I’ve had a bad experience with recruitment agencies previously, where I was sent for an interview for a different role to the one I was interviewing for. I was not prepared and the interview was outside of London. The recruitment consultant was not apologetic and continued pushing me to go for other roles. When I use movemeon, I am not constantly on the phone with someone putting pressure on me to apply for inappropriate roles. I previously have felt pressure to apply for roles I was not excited for and this is not the case with movemeon.
What advice would you give to other movemeon candidates?
I would say put the time in. The difference between movemeon and an agency is that you will have to do the leg work and look through job descriptions and make your own choice on what you want to apply for. Commit some time to it as with movemeon you take back control. You do not feel like a commodity that someone is desperate to make some commission from!
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