Adrien Padayachee
Laura Matthews
Two of our newest employees, Adrien Padayachee and Laura Matthews give their experience of interviewing and starting a new job at Wireless Logic, with the additional challenge of lockdown during a pandemic.
Tell us a little about yourself and what your new roles are.
Adrien – I joined Wireless Logic after being a consultant for the past three years. My last role was with a FinTech in the City called Funding Circle. I’ve joined Wireless Logic as the Head of Product and my role is to create and implement a product management strategy within the organisation.
Outside of work, I live with my wife and have 5-year-old twin daughters, Sansa and Ariella. I’m also a creative musician with a recording studio at home and can play several instruments/perform lead vocals. I’m a DIY enthusiast and love trying out new cuisine as I am very much a foodie!
Laura – I’ve been a lawyer for nearly 10 years, specialising in commercial and consumer law. I previously worked for the John Lewis Partnership and Vodafone Group Enterprise. More recently I was Head of Legal and DPO at Debenhams until January this year when I decided to move back into private practice at Osborne Clarke LLP in their Reading office. However, I soon realised that I preferred working within a business and as Wireless Logic had been recommended to me previously, as soon as I saw the LinkedIn advert, I didn’t hesitate to apply!
I live local to the office in Reading and I’m a member of Shark Trust as I’ve loved sharks ever since being at primary school. A cage dive is on by bucket list!
What was the interview process for Wireless Logic like?
Adrien – This is an interesting one, seeing as I was interviewing for three separate roles all at the same time (I went through a total of 17 interviews in three weeks)! This was nerve-racking at the beginning, but eventually gave me great confidence. My interview with Wireless Logic and what I needed to present felt a lot less stressful compared to some of the other roles where I was having to create massive presentations and mock-ups, for large groups of people.
Laura – I found it to be really smooth. I applied via LinkedIn and heard back on my application through email very quickly. I then had interviews with Rachel Stedman, Matthew Tate and Richard Miller over MS Teams it was great to be able to see and talk to them as if we were in the same room. First impressions were how friendly and enthusiastic everyone is. The only issue I had was having to get a Teams invite resent a couple of times as my personal email didn’t seem to recognise it, however Rachel was great and helped fix the problem.
Starting a new job when you’re unable to go into the office has its challenges. How did the team help you to integrate and find your way around?
Adrien – Before I started, it was great to be introduced to Rachel and Sarah in HR (both of whom were super helpful with all my questions). It was handy that I started on the Friday that we had Wireless Logic’s Got Talent – I was able to see a lighter and fun side to the company!
One of the challenges was not going into the office for the first few weeks and meeting key people. Wireless Logic has that family feel and many staff have been at the company for a long time. I’m looking forward to being able to meet more of the team face-to-face over the coming months.
Laura – I think the use of Teams has really helped. I’ve been able to see and chat with various people in the business. I’ve had a lot of contact with my line manager Matthew which has been really appreciated. I also really liked that there was the social committee Zoom at the end of my first week – a great way to see a larger group of people I hadn’t met yet and listen in to the banter, which really felt like I was part of the company.
What was set up in terms of equipment, starter pack, email account…?
Adrien – This was extremely well managed and executed. Matt Thomas and Matt Hitchborne were fantastic in getting all my equipment setup and shipped out before I started so I was ready to get going from day one.
Laura – It was really smooth. Matt Hitchborne sent me a couple of texts telling me when to expect Amazon orders and they all came right on time ready
for my first day.
Now you’ve been in role for a few weeks, is there anything you think we could’ve done differently and is there anything we can learn moving forward?
Adrien – I think that a buddy system would be great, especially considering onboarding while WFH. This could be someone as well as my line manager. In previous companies, this worked really well as a great way to have a dedicated ‘go to’ person if you have a question in your first few weeks. Overall everyone has been great and I’m looking forward to being able to interact and get to know people when we start to integrate back into the office.
Laura – As we’re not in the office it’s been a bit more of a challenge to understand how the different departments interact and where people sit in the organisation, however I received a structure chart which helped bring this to life and as the weeks go by I’ll learn more through the work I’m doing.
I’ve been made to feel very welcome and external advisers I’ve spoken to have also been really enthusiastic about working with Wireless Logic which is great to hear – I just look forward to actually meeting people in person soon – hopefully!
