How to get a job at 50 Degrees
And so we come to the end of another round of graduate recruitment. I confess I love doing this.
Reviewing CVs and cover letters, assessing how well people sell themselves in a way that’s relevant to the job (as good an initial indication of their ability to write a compelling sales document as you’re going to get), evaluating their writing from the essay task and finally – if they pass these tests – getting to meet them in person. Matching the person sitting in front of you with the picture portrayed on paper is fascinating. And often surprising.
Without exception, all candidates applying for the role were incredibly impressive on paper. Yet another recruitment round where I’m humbled by the academic brilliance and achievement of today’s graduates. Why have one degree when you can have three? Free time spent in the pub? Not for this cohort. Captains of sports teams, editors of student newspapers, teaching themselves Mandarin etc etc. You get the idea. Despite this being obviously impressive (and somewhat intimidating), this isn’t what we’re focused on. What we look for first are skills and attributes that matter most when working on bids:
Can they write well? The first thing we look for is a flair for producing short, sharp, beautifully constructed sentences. Without this foundation, it’s virtually impossible to teach someone to write good bids. The second, is a well-structured argument with evidence (and this applies to both essay and cover letter).
Critical thinking. This is why we set an essay task. Yes, these are all graduates used to churning out essays at university. But the candidates we’re impressed by are not just those who focus on answering the question, but who tailor it to the work of 50 Degrees, thinking critically about why we’ve set the question and what it means for us.
Interest in the role. Sounds obvious right? Yet not every candidate evidences this. Aside from saying they would love the opportunity to work at 50 Degrees blah blah blah, we need to understand why they want to work with us and be convinced this isn’t one of a hundred other applications made that day (even if it is!).
All the candidates we shortlisted, without exception, demonstrated these skills. It was seriously impressive. But these skills alone are not enough.
At 50 Degrees, we work for our clients. We integrate with their teams, operating flexibly however they want to work and adapting to different requirements. We have to quickly build rapport and learn how they want to operate so we can fit seamlessly into their team for the duration of the bid – and try to have fun whilst doing it. We also work as a team internally, supporting each other, bouncing ideas around, reviewing and editing each other’s drafts (one of our values is ‘collegiate’ after all).
All of this means that we look for excellent interpersonal skills. And this is why the interview stage is so important. We want people with whom we can easily converse; people who are open, personable, engaging and can hold their own in a conversation. We always ask ourselves two questions – will we enjoy working with this person? Will our clients warm to them? If the answer is no to either of these, then however good someone is on paper, it’s just not going to work.
Happily, we found exceptional candidates who ticked all the boxes and they’ll be joining the 50D team very soon. Give their calibre, we’ve no doubt that they’ll soon be excelling in the role like our first two graduate cohorts, see here and here for (well written) Blogs talking about the ‘graduate experience’.
Watch this space for Blogs from our new Grads in the weeks to come.
Emily Bagley-Duncan
Co-partner
50 Degrees