Starting a New Job in a Global Pandemic: My Story From Intern to MD
Jack Smithson joined Curated 5 years ago as an intern in the content team. Five years later, having reached the heights of Curated’s Content Director, he is now making his next move, leaving Curated to become MD at a new company. We caught up with Jack on the cusp of his move to find out what making such a professional transition looks like in the midst of a national lockdown.
In this interview, he delves into what he has learned in his time with Curated, what the future holds, and his experience moving companies in the middle of a global pandemic. If you’re looking to change roles at this time, you may find some of Jack’s insights pretty useful…
What was your professional background before coming to Curated?
Bit of a weird one really. My university course was Writing, Directing & Performance at York; not St. John, the real uni. I always had the vision of coming down to London to get straight into acting. Obviously I was going to be on the silver screen in no time at all. All I had to do was get down there, meet a couple of agents and be cast immediately opposite Sean Bean (local acting hero). But I had no clue about the bloody hard graft you have to put in just to even get a sniff of anything in that industry. Truth is: I hated it.
So, to pay my rent while I figured out what to do, I sold wine over the phone for Laithwaite’s. I learned a lot in that job, especially the value of money. It was during this time I rediscovered my love for writing and I coupled it with my newfound love of wine!
From there, I wrote a few articles for a wine magazine. If you Google ‘Australian wine varieties’ you’ll see me up top in the SERPs (at time of writing — no doubt ol’ Goog’s will eventually have a thing or two to say, probably not ‘expert’ enough).
After that, I did two writing internships before landing on Curated’s intern job posting on LinkedIn in the summer of 2015. And here we are 5 years later.
What has your career trajectory been in your time with the company?
I never really thought about it like a ‘trajectory’ to be honest, I just took the opportunities that were put in front of me and carved my own path. It’s one of the best parts of Curated; you have to work out what you want to do, and then figure out how to get there yourself. It’s not put on a plate for you. You sink or swim.
But, in terms of job titles/roles, it’s gone like this:
- Content Intern
- Content Executive
- Senior Content Executive
- Content Manager
- Head of Content
- Content Director
Responsibilities changed whenever they needed to in order to react positively to a situation, such as someone leaving or winning a new client quickly.
What have you learnt in your 5 years at Curated, about yourself, about business, about your goals?
Shed loads! The best thing I’ve learnt, or rather realised, is that being genuinely decent and good to work with counts for so much when it comes to winning and retaining business.
Learning how to spot the opportune moments is another one, such as when to chip in on a client call with a new idea that you want more money to develop. Over time, being able to read a situation and react quickly in order to shape the conversation to where you want it to go is huge.
On a personal level: patience. Not everyone is you and not everyone works in the same way as you. Recognising that, adapting, and playing to that person’s strengths is lesson #1 in team management.
How did you know it was time to take the next step?
No idea, full leap of faith. Why not? Don’t get too comfortable. It was also an incredible opportunity that would allow me to be closer to home.
When you decided to make this move, you didn’t know you’d be doing it during a global pandemic. How has this lockdown affected your move and how you’ve prepared for it?
It hasn’t affected it… yet. I know that I can’t play the ‘luxury player’ role in the eyes of my new employers. Showing value across the business and developing positive relationships with as many people as you can is crucial to making yourself indispensable.
You can’t be a Paul Pogba all the time, sometimes you’ve got to be a James Milner. This is one of those times: where wider business skills and experience come into play, not just marketing know-how.
How have you managed to do a traditional handover with your team remotely?
To be honest, we work so closely together as a team that they know exactly what to do and how to do it. Now they just need to go and do it.
What does your new role have in store?
I’m taking on the role of Managing Director for a search insights start-up. But, the company has a parent business up in Manchester specialising in social media. The plan is to combine the two skill sets. My role is to lead it. Couldn’t be more excited. What a challenge!
What do you think starting this new role in lockdown will look like?
Weird. As. Hell. I’m just taking it day by day. Luckily, because there is a parent company, I can tap into their existing client base and push the new service that my skill set can provide. So it’s not going to be a ‘you’re on your own’ type thing. There will be a support network there for me to tap into, and I have an external mentor/coach helping me as well. So, it will be scary, but you’ve also just got to get on with it and work out a process that will sell during this time.
Do you have any tips for others starting a new role at the moment?
Show your value beyond what you were hired for, if you can.
A word for the founder and the team:
Thank you for an incredible 5 years Simon and Curated. What a journey. But, all good things must come to an end. Here’s to the next one.
Jack has been a great asset to Curated and has had a big hand in getting the company to where it is today. While we’re sad to see him go, we’re proud of where he’s got to and all he has and will achieve. Best of luck, Jack. See you for a pint soon!
