How to Start Your Career at Mission Labs.

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At Mission Labs, there are plenty of opportunities to start, grow and succeed in your career. We spoke to the People & Culture team, made up of Cath Rispin and Vicky Walker, about our recruitment process and how you can join the Mission Labs team today.

Meet Our P&C team: Cath and Vicky

Will: Can you tell us a bit about your own recruitment stories at Mission Labs. How did you hear about the company, why did you join and what’s it been like so far?

Cath: My husband and I had been travelling Australia, then out of the blue the Mission Labs co-founder Damian messaged me on LinkedIn. I found out Mission Labs was on my doorstep in Rossendale, so I went in for an informal chat and met the team - it was great to get into a tech start-up in Rossendale as it’s not the sort of place you usually get those sorts of companies!

I’ve been here for two years now and when I started there were about 20 people. It’s gone really fast and we’ve grown massively. We've reached our hundredth member of staff now – a big milestone to celebrate when we can meet up again!

Vicky: I was at another recruitment job and Mission Labs appeared in a job search; I reached out to Cath and we had a long chat, before I met some of the other team. I’ve been here a few months now and it’s been great!

What’s changed in terms of recruitment and onboarding since you guys have worked here?

V: It’s become really standardised, but we can also pinpoint what exactly we need and get the right candidates that way. We’ve made the interview stage shorter and made sure candidates are being seen by more people.

Cath: We’ve also been reaching out to people through things like LinkedIn, whereas before you rely on people coming across you by accident on the standard job boards which has made things easier.

What kind of people do you guys look for, in terms of personality types and job roles?

V: Right now there’s a big push on software engineering – were hiring for roles like designers, CX engineers, solution architects – so it’s important they’re the right technical fit. But culturally it’s important to get the right person, which you can usually tell from having a chat with them.

C: They’re values are key, and we need to make sure their values align with ours – Vision, Drive, Collaboration and Care – so we try to see if they have interests in innovation, if they’re the type to look after their teammates and those sorts of things. We want to keep those start-up vibes, which means finding people who don’t mind taking on additional responsibility and getting stuck in.

In our last ‘Chat With’ blog, we spoke to new developer Sian, and touched on the value of getting more women into tech. Is that something you guys are looking out for when hiring?

C: In terms of positive action, we don’t discriminate in any way shape or form, and it’s important we give female candidates a bit of a step up, for instance by pairing them up with female developers to show them what it’s like.

V: It can be tricky, as there are very few women working in tech already, so it’s hard to attract female talent. But there are lots of different roles in the company, not just software engineers, such as project managers and graphic designers, which we want people to apply for.

Is there anything you’ve seen in interviews or applications that have stood out, or anything you think people should know before applying about best practice?

V: There’s a lot of juniors that apply randomly who don’t fit the job spec and don’t have the skillset – we don’t like to reject people, but we need people to read the job spec properly and make sure they have the right experience.

C: I’d say don’t be nervous, be yourself – we keep the interviews quite relaxed and want to see personality. We also want people who are really passionate about tech, so they should show that in their interview… if they’ve worked on tech as a hobby or are proud of projects, they need to mention that.

V: They also need to find out about Mission Labs online and do their research!

C: And it helps if they’re into coffee!

What do staff say about Mission Labs? What do people think of working here?

V: The feedback I get is that it’s close-knit, hard-working teams, with a lot of friendly people – there’s a lot of trust that everyone’s getting on with their work so it’s a lovely place if you can work hard and help one another.

C: Half our workforce has joined us remotely which we never thought would happen – both of you have! Hopefully it’s come across that we’re supportive as well as friendly.

We also want to keep the flat hierarchy we have; we don’t want people to feel they can’t ask questions or approach senior staff because everyone’s opinions are welcome!

What roles are available right now that you need to fill?

V: The main ones right now are software engineers, which are pretty senior roles, front and back end – the tech stack includes React, JavaScript, Node, Typescript and AWS.

C: Working with SmartAgent uses a lot of AWS, but there are other projects which aren’t using AWS, so people should still apply if they have less AWS experience

V: We’re also looking for a senior UX/UI designer, someone to come in and educate the business and build a team around themselves – someone senior looking to step up and grow into the role. It’s a bit of a new role for us so it’s a massive opportunity for someone to come in and teach the team.

We’re also looking for CX engineers to work with Amazon Connect, ideally with a telecoms background.

C: We’re also looking for BAs and Project Managers. Applicants should also know that we’re using hybrid working – people can work from home, but we also want them to come into the office because it’s just been so nice sitting and chatting at desks. You can also bring dogs into the Arbeta office now!

To view the full list of available roles at Mission Labs, you can check out our careers page.