I said that I would be organised enough to put out a blog update each Friday, but after one week I have missed my own deadline. The last few months, actually the last year has been a huge rollercoaster. Joining a start-up that was ambitious and talented with a mission to disrupt (oh that wonderful start-up word) the diagnostics market was  just the beginning. 

For over a year each and every member of the team fought bravely to advance our research and answer some of the most challenging obstacles, more often than not, making key advances and swatting away each and every problem as it arose. I remain to this day in genuine awe of the team that we became and their achievements. 

Unfortunately, our dreams were not to become a reality and I watched as the news of our administration broke to the gathered faces, each willing the news to be different. All this came despite the heroic efforts of the Senior Leadership Team who battled to find funding until the very last minute. It was just not to be and, for a team so utterly committed was hard to take. 

I watched as we introduced the administrators, we talked about the situation and what was to happen over the next few days and weeks. My belief, right from the beginning of all this was that we, as a Senior Leadership Team, should be as transparent with everyone as possible, which we were for the months before the awful meeting that confirmed their (and my) worst fears. Finally hearing it said a loud, the shock was real. 

Once I had distanced myself and settled with my own thoughts, I knew it was time to get my CV together, start talking to people about potential new roles and see how the market had changed (if at all) in a year  and a half. 

The bigger shock was yet to come.

My catchment area for work is basically London, with everything from start-ups to your huge global conglomerates. I always feel that you learn so much during any interview process and so was looking forward (in a way) to seeing how my wee corner of the market (HR and Ops) had progressed. 

So, I applied to various roles. I was careful which I selected and I took time with my applications so as to tailor to the role advertised. After a few days of applications, I sat back and waited for the phone to ring and the emails to come back in. 

NOTHING.

I even asked someone to send me an email to check if my account was working. The bloody thing arrived before I’d hung up… it was me. Or so I thought…

Finally someone wanted to speak to me. It was not in any way related to the roles I had applied, this was a recruiter who rang completely out of the blue. This was the start of my understanding of the current market, plenty of people were now out of work, so the candidate shortage of a few years ago had flipped on its head. Each role advertised merited on average 400+ applications (HR Roles) weekly and now huge amounts of time were devoted to screening these applications. Many went unanswered.

This began to make a lot of sense as my search continued. I’d heard the term “Ghosted” used more and more frequently and it’s really a thing. I don’t know how many conversations I eventually had with line or recruitment managers and then nothing. You can imagine the preparation needed for each interview, the research, all of which I really enjoy and so you go into the meeting welcoming an interesting conversation.  In one case, I didn’t hear from a company for over a week, then they rang apologising and asking about a second round interview, oh a they had a 5 stage process. I was out. No thank you. 

Lesson 1. 

There is a huge gap in the market for someone to make a fortune training people in the art of interviewing. When I finally secured interviews, I was asked so many times “what are your weaknesses?”, a question that shows more about the interviewer and their lack of expertise, on one occasion, the interviewer just would not leave up on this question. He followed this with, “what are your weaknesses outside of work?”, a huge no go area. But the best one, the interviewer (a founder who investors had given millions) told me that my role in the interview was to “impress him”, followed by “what are your super powers”. That one is going to be retold for many years to come. 

The beauty of all this was when I did have a decent conversation it stood head and shoulders above everything else!

All of this just adds to the stress of looking for a new role and my way of coping was to find the humour in situations as they arose.  This current market is very different to even 6 months ago, (at least in HR)  and the more I speak to people the more stories like mine, are common. 

I’ve been lucky, I met with a company that I really liked and they have made me an offer. We had adult conversations, no one asked me what colour my cape would be and I had feedback 24 hours after meeting with them. 

From the team at Vidya, I’m hearing that people are moving on and are getting new roles. I knew they would, they are all highly talented and experienced. I’m hoping that things now calm down and that we (I) can get on with my focus on the people within my organisation and support them as best I can. I do not regret a minute of my time with Vidya, whilst the year has been a rollercoaster as I mentioned earlier, I have a mantra that you earn your stripes during tough times. For anyone looking for a new role, stick with it, be true to yourself and know that the right opportunity will come along.