Although I wasn’t actively looking for a new role, when the job spec for a marketing executive at Blues Point Recruitment Agency appeared in my inbox, I felt it was something I wanted to pursue.

I had a decent amount of relevant experience under my belt and it was about time, I thought, for a new challenge. So, I polished my CV, wrote a covering letter and clicked apply.

Fast forward a month or so; here we are. My name is Joseph. I’m new the ‘marketing guy‘ here at Blues Point. Now, you may be thinking: “Congrats on your new job – but why should I care about this?” And that is a valid question.

However, the reason I am writing this blog post and telling you about my new role is because I think the month (or so) between me sending my initial application and now has been quite an eye-opener in terms of how on-boarding should be approached.

First Contact With Blues Point Recruitment Agency

A day or two after sending off my application, I received a call. After a quick conversation, I agreed to come in for an interview with Matt and Alex.

We sat for around an hour and a half and talked about my experience, my skills and what I could bring to the role. They told me about themselves, their company and what they do. So far, so good. I was shown around the office and met the rest of the team.

I left the interview not entirely sure how it had gone, as is often the case. But I felt happy that I’d put my best foot forward and had done all I could. They told me that they would be sending across some links for some assessments so I kept an eye out in my inbox.

Learning About Myself

Later that day, I received an email from Blues Point Recruitment Agency with links for two separate assessments. Although I’ve done assessments in the past for other roles, they have often been very simple English and Maths-based tests. I assumed these would be similar.

I sat down at my computer the same night and loaded up the first of the two. It was the GIA, which stands for General Intelligence Assessment. It’s a 5-part assessment which tests the candidates understanding and ability in areas such as reasoning and spacial visualisation. The assessment scores you on how quickly you answer, as well as how many you get right.

The GIA assessment seems like a fantastic way to get a good idea of somebody’s strengths and weaknesses. It turns out that I’m quite good with word meanings (3 years of studying professional and creative writing have served me well, it seems!) but a bit slower when it comes to numbers.

The second assessment was a PPA assessment – or the Personality Profile Assessment. It is, so far as I can tell, some type of strange sorcery, disguised as an easy 8-minute test, that is able to analyse your inner-most self and articulate it into a concise document complete with graphs.

It offers you a number of attributes, such as: creative, determined, reserved, etc. You simply need to select which is the most like you and which is the least like you. Once you’ve finished it, you receive a report which basically breaks down your personality, as well as your work personality.

The thing that really struck me about this test is how easy it was, yet how spot-on the final report was. It accurately captured a lot of my ‘quirks’, shall we say. And I can see how it would be a fantastic tool for employers to be able to effectively manage somebody.

Receiving A Job Offer

I was offered the job here at Blues Point Recruitment Agency (no spoilers there!) a week or so later. Usually, this is where the process has ended for a lot of the roles I’ve had before. You apply, do the interview, get the job and then it’s a case of ‘great, we’ll see you on your first day‘.

This is very often the way things are done. But just because it’s the way it’s done, doesn’t mean it’s the way it should be done.

Following my acceptance of the job offer, I handed in my notice (which is never nice, I should have read this article before-hand!). And over the coming weeks, Blues Point did a fantastic job of making me feel welcome.

To give some examples of this; Matt stayed in touch. Not too much, nothing over-bearing or intrusive. But he kept me updated via email with information I would need for the role. I received my contract before starting, along with a variety of marketing materials to read through.

I appreciated this as I didn’t feel like I’d been forgotten about. It’s good to feel in the loop of what’s going on and know that you won’t turn up on your first day and the company has half-forgotten you’re even coming.

The second thing they did is they invited me out for food – before I had even started. This was great for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I love eating food – so there’s that. But also, it meant that I could meet all of the team properly in a relaxed, casual environment.

Do you think I felt nervous to meet everybody on Monday morning when I started? Nope, why would I? I’d already sat down for a meal with them a couple of weeks ago.

I arrived on my first day and my desk was waiting for me. I had a computer that had been set up ready for me to use, along with some stationery. The whole process felt smooth and stress-free which, ultimately, is how it should be.

What was the end result?

In short, the end result was this: I felt part of the team before I was actually part of the team.

It meant that when a counter-offer from my previous employer came, I felt confident that I was still happy to move forward with my new role because my new employers seemed keen to have me on board.

I knew that they had a good idea, thanks to the assessments, of the type of personality I have and the type of worker I am and that they still felt I would be a good match for the company.

I now know that these on-boarding techniques are the same ones that Blues Point Recruitment Agency advise their clients to use. And, take it from me, they work.

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