What drew you to join Upscope?
When I first saw the job description, it immediately caught my attention as it was an exact match to what I was looking for. I am coming from a recruitment background - having briefly worked as an agency recruiter before moving on to inhouse talent acquisition for the last couple years, I was looking for a role where I could add value to the growth of the business through finding the best candidates, while also having a big focus on employer branding.
A lot of roles out there focus only on talent acquisition, but my role also includes a good amount of employer branding and marketing - which was important for me as I really enjoy being creative. Showcasing the work environment and daily life is becoming a big part of my role here at Upscope.
During the interview process I felt super comfortable and really enjoyed getting to know the team - it seemed like a great environment to develop, grow and have a massive impact. The company culture seemed super down to earth and friendly, and the product, HelloScreen, was something I thought was useful, interesting and easy to understand!
What are some skills you have developed since starting?
Working in a small business, a startup, requires you to be adaptable, proactive and comfortable solving problems. It is a fast-paced environment, where you’re held accountable for your own tasks and time management. In extra busy times, you need to keep your head cool and your calendar up to date. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without my paper-planner, it’s my literal life saver.
You need to be comfortable managing your workflow, your output - I think discipline is super important in order to get things done.
Being the only person in my role, it means that I have complete autonomy over my work, which is great! It can be challenging at times, especially when the workload is intense, which it has been as we’ve been speaking to a lot of new potential hires, but the satisfaction when we’re finding great people is amazing. I definitely think I’ve developed my organisational and time-management skills further, as well as becoming much more confident in myself and my work.
Tell us about work life balance! How do you feel it has been so far?
I think it’s great! Work-life balance is well appreciated, and it shows. We do want everyone to come in at least four days a week, only because we work so well that way. Being a small, innovative team also means that there are different changes we have to adapt to, and being in the office makes it much easier to discuss things and act on them straight away.
Having said that, I think it’s worth mentioning that our office environment is also much different to what you’d normally think of. We often go and grab a coffee or breakfast together in the morning, take breaks to catch up, and soon we’ll also start doing important, business critical TikTok dances (although I know not everyone is on the same page regarding this at the moment…).
For the last week, I’ve been working remotely from Norway, where I spent time with my family over Easter. It’s great having such flexibility! As long as the work gets done, Upscope is super supportive.
I have to add that since starting here, I’ve already joined a gym, which is partly because I got so motivated always hearing about how often everyone here goes for a workout. It’s also great that the business has a generous health & wellness allowance that you can take use of as you choose.
What is your experience working with the teams across other departments?
We are a small team in general. In my previous roles, I often had to book meetings to go over specific things for example, while at Upscope, for now at least due to our size, I can literally pop my head out of my office to catch up with whoever I need to. It’s a very chill environment. We discuss a lot of things together as a team, obviously making you feel very included, which is great. You get to stay up to date with what’s going on in other areas of the business that aren’t necessarily your niche, but you get to learn, get an insight and contribute to other important decisions.
What is one thing that you’re excited about?
There are actually quite a few things I am excited for! As already mentioned here and there, we are working on a new, exciting product. There are still a lot of things that need to get done before it goes live, but I am super excited to be able to reveal more, and of course start using it internally.
We’re also looking to expand our teams both in London and Miami, and that’s obviously very fun to be a part of! Being such a big part of the growth and seeing Upscope develop as a business is great!
Overall, it’s been a great journey so far, and I believe that I get the same message across when speaking to candidates. We’re growing, and there’s still so much we want to improve on and develop. Being a part of Upscope gives you a massive opportunity to take charge, be proactive and grow in your role. We’re a fun, friendly, weird and cool bunch of people, working together to make cool products in a great environment.
