Monique Duarte is a product manager with prestigious academic publisher Taylor and Francis – a role she secured with help from identifi. Our consultant Mark Gale helped Monique overcome her distrust of agencies, guided her through the transition from self-employment to employee, and is still helping her settle and grow in her new role, eight months down the line.
We caught up with her to find out more about the experience.
Monique’s story
Monique has always been entrepreneurial. In 2005 she founded digital agency Morango Media, and in early 2012, her and her team moved into product development to build an eCommerce platform FicShelf – a site focused on the self-publishing startup market. In fact, until this year, she’d always been self employed.
“FicShelf ran relatively well,” says Monique, “but we needed a lot more investment to accelerate the business, which was hard to come by. So we decided to slow down. I realised quickly that I would have to set out looking for a job, which is not something I’d ever done before – I’d always run my own businesses.”
It was a difficult moment: “I knew a change was needed,” Monique explains. “I felt I’d tried to do things in a way that didn’t work, so I needed to rethink my approach.”
Used to being her own boss, Monique found herself on the other side of the table: an experience she was unfamiliar with, but eager to embrace. She signed up with a few recruitment consultants and received a number of suggested roles; some relevant, many not.
Monique was seeking product management roles – roles with a long, detailed hiring process involving three or four hour interviews, workshops, and multiple screenings for cultural fit. It can be a draining process. “As a product manager you tend to be very passionate and involved,” says Monique, “so it’s really difficult to be in the final stage of an interview process, and still keep looking for a new position in case it falls through. You need to be doing big tasks, to focus.”
Two experiences in particular took the wind out of her sails. In six months, she found two roles she fell in love with, went through a lengthy interview process and was offered the role. On both occasions the businesses changed their mind last minute, and on both occasions the recruiters simply stopped communicated with her – radio silence.
“They dropped like a bomb at the last minute,” she explains. “For no reason – nobody contacted me back. It was quite horrible.” One rejection came a week after an acceptance meeting: “I kept calling the agent and said ‘at least let me know what’s going on’. He called me a week later; I could hear there was some sort of party going on, and he said ‘Oh, sorry, they just decided to go with somebody else instead. Bye.’”
“I was jaded,” admits Monique. “I had no trust for agents at that point. I started equalling them to estate agents and car sellers – they’re nice when in front of you, but if they don’t need you, you’re just another car that’s been parked.”
Shortly after, Monique took another call – from Mark at identifi.
Mark’s approach
Mark called with the perfect role for someone like Monique, and it was clear that he had done his research on her and her suitability for the position. The job demanded what Monique had to offer: entrepreneurial streak, focus on user (or reader) experience, and capacity to manage an international team. All he had to do was convince her that pursuing it was worth her time.
“There was no time wasted from start to finish.”
“If there’s one word I can use to describe Mark and the process, it’s ‘efficiency’,” Monique tells says. “I was surprised at how matter of fact he was. There was no time wasted from start to finish. I like people who are busy – they’re not just faffing about on the phone. He was straight down the line from the start.”
To work with Monique, Mark had to manage her expectations of the role, making the job description absolutely clear. “From the beginning,” Monique explains, “he prepared me, and said ‘This is the role; this is what they need; I know you’re good at this or that, but that’s not relevant to them’.”
The first call was a walkthrough – explaining exactly what the client was looking for and exactly what Monique needed to emphasise to show that she was the right client. Subsequent calls managed the logistics of preparation – even the little things like printing maps for the interview, calling beforehand to make sure Monique had exactly what she needed. “The amount of support I got from Mark, from start to finish – and still get now – is something I haven’t seen with any other agency I’ve dealt with.”
After recruitment
Now that Monique’s in place, Mark still checks on her and how she’s doing, and continues to help her settle into the role, by managing her expectations and commitments.
Weekly calls have become monthly calls, and the focus has shifted from raising Monique’s daily rate to her remit and promotion prospects – but there’s still an ongoing agency-candidate relationship, of which Monique says “He doesn’t interfere with my day-today work – I have a line manager at Taylor & Francis. Mark is the one who negotiates the rate and makes sure that my contract is under control. He is a proper agent, like a Hollywood star would have.”
“We help our candidates pace themselves.”
In particular, Mark – and all our consultants – look out for their candidates’ self-care and help them pace themselves. Natural enthusiasm in the early days of a position can lead to problems down the line. We know this, and we help our candidates pace themselves, as Mark has done for Monique.
“When you start, you have this excitement, you want to show that you’re committed. I was contracted to three days a week, 9-5, but was basically doing five, 7am-7pm, for no extra. Mark said ‘No, you need to stop with this, you don’t want to burn yourself out.’ He also made sure to keep tabs on my remit to make sure I was not doing more work than I was contractually obliged to.” Since then, Monique has moved on to a five-day week – but at a pace she can handle, working a four days a week from home, testament to her rather than us, but helped and supported by our agents.
Although most of her contact has been with our agent, Monique is keen to point out that identifi has been nothing but supportive. “Whenever there was anything that didn’t go right with identifi – something outside of Mark’s remit that needed attention – I also had people rushing to get things sorted for me. My impression of the company, that professionalism that I experienced with Mark, is part of the company culture. They know there is a person at the other end of the contract, and I appreciate that very much.”
Huge thanks to Monique for taking the time to speak to us.
One of the things we’re most proud of here at identifi is our candidate led approach to recruitment. If you’re interested in finding out how we can move your career forward, call for a consultation on 01908 886 048. Or for regular updates on our latest jobs, register here.
Image via Pixabay
