Andrew Gradwell

Download the Ospreys Hub app and learn how to coach like Mark Jones 🏉 Ospreys Hub app is your opportunity to learn from the pros, with masterclass sessions, news, exclusive discounts and so much more. Get involved 👇 👾 bit.ly/4g50j7V 🍎 apple.co/3T7fkfE #TogetherAsOne

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In our final Q&A for Safer Gambling Week, we asked John O'Reilly, CEO: How does player protection support our long-term sustainability as a business? Want to know if John thinks there’s any conflict between running a successful business and protecting our customers? Tune in below to hear his thoughts! You can also view the full interview with John online here: https://lnkd.in/eicbyaPT #SGWeek24 #SaferGambling #KeepItFun 

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This tech start up required two software engineers But had exhausted their recruitment channels Here's how we helped 👇 This tech start up had just received their six figure seed round investment. Excitement was quickly met with a stark realisation That they need to hire 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 software engineers, quickly, to scale the business, We consulted with the founding team on 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀, 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 and 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀. And championed their decision to try and recruit organically first. Three weeks later - "𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴. 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱?" Here's how our process looked.. ✍ Job briefing - Friday 6th September 📃 Five profiles shared - Thursday 12th September 💼 Five first stage interviews - Two final stage interviews 💹 Two offers accepted - Friday 20th September If you're looking to recruit organically first, 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗹𝘀. The A players you want - and need - aren't casually browsing job boards and LinkedIn for adverts. - Their skillset is in demand. - They have endless opportunities put their way. - They aren't (even) always looking at new opportunities. But we can help you identify - and interview - the right people. We're looking at consulting with one (maybe two) more start up from October onwards. If you're based in South Wales/South West and have between two and fifteen employees And want all the heavy lifting done for you? Message me. 📩 [email protected]

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It’s a real spectacle when monetisation managers—the people responsible for squeezing money out of games—try to "call out" gamers. The lack of self-awareness is staggering. You’d think they’d understand the very community they profit from. But no, they seem to live in a different world, one where making money matters more than preserving the gaming experience they’re supposed to care about. It's almost comical how they continue to push cash-grabbing schemes like loot boxes and pay-to-win mechanics and then act surprised when gamers push back. These managers try to justify their tactics, claiming they’re “enhancing” gameplay, but players see through the nonsense. The gaming community knows when it’s being exploited, and it’s only a matter of time before these out-of-touch studios have to face the full force of player backlash.

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🗣️'A Product-Led culture. The business must be able to demonstrate that is has or is very actively working towards having a Product-Led culture'.🗣️ Something taken from a conversation one of the Product Directors in my network this morning, after asking her what some of the non negotiables in her job search might look like. But what exactly is a Product-Led culture? Is it a business that: 🟣Has a clear product strategy and vision? 🟣Has a focus on customer-centric product development? 🟣Is using data to drive decisions?  🟣Has buy in from C-Suite/Executive leaders who are willing to invest in product excellence? Product professionals in my network, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. How would you define a Product-Led culture, and would you be hesitant about joining a business where this was missing? #productledculture

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In our final Safer Gambling Week Q&A, we asked John O'Reilly, CEO: How does player protection support our long-term sustainability as a business? Curious if John thinks there’s any clash between looking after our customers and running a successful business? Hit play below to find out! ... If you want to hear more, you can catch the full interview with John online here 👉 https://bit.ly/4fwGwgT #SGWeek24 #SaferGambling #KeepItFun

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In our final Safer Gambling Week Q&A, we asked John O'Reilly, CEO: How does player protection support our long-term sustainability as a business? Curious if John thinks there’s any clash between looking after our customers and running a successful business? Hit play below to find out! ... If you want to hear more, you can catch the full interview with John online here 👉 https://bit.ly/4fwGwgT #SGWeek24 #SaferGambling #KeepItFun

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I’ve had some time to write this episode of whatever I’m calling this… so let’s just start with the good part… I’M EMPLOYED! That’s right, employed again and it’s possibly the most exciting chance I’ve ever had. I am now the QA Lead at Lockwell! That’s right, one of my dreams and it’s coming true. Now this gives me some opportunities. I could say “Oh you should follow what I did!” Like so many others who reach their goal. But it isn’t that simple. My goals aren’t over yet. I’ve just attained one dream. But I’m still alive. I get to keep dreaming, to keep getting better at what I do! So could I offer advice? Sure. Am I going to? If you want it! I’d love to help! But I’m not going to shove my methodology down your throat. That, in-itself, is part of my methodology. Acknowledging biases, events, and privileges. So what happened? It’s kind of funny actually, and leads into the real topic. Contingencies! Let’s get our definition out of the way: Contingency - a future event or circumstance which is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty. If you’ve worked with me in the past then you already know I’m big on contingency plans and chaos theory. If they’re good enough for NASA, they’re good enough for me. But contingencies aren’t just for negative things! And funny enough, we make them subconsciously, or even by accident, or coincidence! Let me preface with this: The following is a coincidence, I don't believe in “manifestation”. I spread a wide net, and somewhere great found ME. So now, on we go. Last year I made a reddit post, looking for ways to improve myself. I got my answers, then forgot the post existed. Fast forward to two weeks ago, I get a Reddit DM and get the pitch. They’re looking for a QA and they liked the energy I was showing on Reddit. So they contacted me and we quickly set up the interviews. And once those were done, I was greeted with some of the best news I’ve had in a long time. Employment, doing exactly the thing I’ve been dreaming of for years. So, instead of standing on a box, I offer you this. When you spend hours a day applying for jobs, sometimes it’s easy to forget you’re human and you have knowledge that you’ve earned. Write an article, build a plan, draw something, join a friendly debate. Show that you know your trade! And don’t be afraid NOT to know your trade either. Accepting what you don’t know so you can find out HOW to learn it. One of the most exciting parts of life is learning, after all. But don’t spend your entire life submitting job applications while not also improving yourself somehow.s But that knowledge you've earned? That belongs to you. Believe in it. Sometimes all you need is to take a step back and refresh the basics or learn something new. If you took a long break, if you're starting something new, if you've done the same thing every day… just go back to basics for a day. One day. And that one day might be what you need.

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CH CH CH CHANGES   Is a song by David Bowie from his 1971 album Hunky Dory. It’s a little bit longer than I’ve been working in recruitment (but not much I hear some people say). Whilst some of the ch ch ch changes include the rise of technology and automation, the shift to online job boards and social media, the focus on employer branding and candidate experience, remote working, and global recruitment the constants have been: THE IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD FIT PERSONAL CONNECTIONS AND NETWORKING THE VALUE OF A STRONG INTERVIEW PROCESS THE NEED FOR SKILLS AND COMPETENCE THE COMPETITIVE NATURE OF RECRUITMENT These enduring principles highlight that while recruitment tools, techniques, and landscapes may evolve, the core elements of finding and hiring the right person for the job remain fundamentally the same. So whilst everything changes nothing changes.   Are you struggling to hire? #Recruitment #Hiring #TalentAcquisition #HRStrategies #InterviewPreparation #CandidateExperience #NewHire

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Are you a Product Leader / Manager? Would you like to speak at an event in London on 18th June? We’ll be discussing OKRs and metrics: how to implement (or how you learned from failure) - pitfalls and top tips? Get in touch via my DMs. 🤓

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Episode 21: How Hiring People and Ops Teams Early Can Make The Difference. The Hidden Levels with haptic podcast with Katie, Kiranjit (Kran), Rebecca, and Georgina. All 4 are specialists in their field and hold years of valuable experience. - Katie is a people expert for gaming startups and scale-ups - Rebecca is an Operations specialist from AAA to startup environments  - Kran is a VP of People in games and an Executive Coach - Georgina founded one of the UK’s leading Roblox gaming studios and Forbes 30 under 30 This podcast is perfect for: → Founders and CEOs learning how to run startup teams and impactful team environments → People and Ops professionals improving their skillset → Everyone curious about how to create a thriving studio culture that lasts → Learning how to build teams from day -- Hey, we just hit episode 21!  😀 I sit down with experts in the games industry. Through conversations, I try to unpack their wisdom and unlock some Hidden Levels for you all. If you like this kind of stuff on LinkedIn, consider a like on Hidden Levels.

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Like many hiring managers / decision makers going to develop this year, there’s probably one thing you are dreading. REPEATING YOURSELF TO AGENCY RECRUITERS ⛔ Not working with agency at the moment ⛔ Not hiring at the moment ⛔ Not adding to our PSL at the moment And when you say ‘At the moment’ you probably mean ‘Please leave me alone, if I’m interested I will reach out myself’ - Am I wrong? You know they’re just doing their job but you can’t help that it gives you the ‘ICK’ (Yes, I learned this phrase from Love Island). SO LET’S BE HONEST If/when you require support with your vacancies, there’s a few reasons why you might go to one agency over another: ✔️ Existing relationships ↳ You worked with them before ✔️ Niche/Specialism ↳ They have the network of you need ✔️ Competence ↳ They’re efficient/effective ✔️ Rates/Cost of hire ↳ You have to think about the budget A good recruitment partner will hit all 4 of these reasons, and if they don’t, maybe THEN you will try working with someone new. SO HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO TO PICK? AND WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO THINK ABOUT THIS NOW? ↳ What If I could give you something now ↳ That you can keep for as long as you need ↳ And save you thousands on your next hire? Would that be fair enough? I will only be offering this to 3x companies for now. Drop me a message or send me an email and I’ll send you the info. [email protected] #GamesIndustry #Develop #GameDev

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Integration challenges—the joy of introducing shiny new tech into your system, only to watch it politely refuse to work with everything else. It’s like trying to make your cat and dog share a bed. At Change Rebellion, whilst we’re not technical specialists, we will work hard to prevent those awkward tech stand-offs. We’ll help make sure your new systems play nicely with the old ones, so your operations don’t feel like they’ve been thrown into a blender. (Or at least we’ll make sure the very clever technical guys do). That way you’ll be ready for Go Live and a brighter future! #changerebellion #jointherebellion #bestadvice #businesschange #change #empathy #changemanagement #honesty #open #transparent #fun #happiness #leadership #embracechange #transparency #collaboration #problemsolving #supportoneanother #essentialbutignored #changemanagerlife #rebellion

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⚽Yesterday, I went to the Amex Stadium with my son to watch Brighton vs Liverpool.⚽ Now, I wouldn't call myself a massive football fan, but spending quality time with my son? Count me in! And we had a brilliant evening, even though Brighton didn't take the win. We saw some top players in action, ate a (way too warm) tasty pie, and—most importantly—cheered for Brighton team right up to the final whistle. 👉 Which got me thinking about team support. At the 85th minute, Liverpool scored their 3rd goal, making it 1-3. Suddenly, a chunk of the crowd started leaving. Fair enough, some may have wanted to avoid packed trains or didn't fancy the car park chaos—but many just stopped believing in the team. And you know what? They missed the most exciting 10 minutes of the game. Brighton rallied and scored again at the 90th minute, bringing it to 2-3. In the five minutes of extra time, the team gave everything they had left—adrenaline, hunger, hope, joy, passion, and belief. We felt it all. As a Team Lead, I've always done my best to support my team, no matter what. I'm not saying I've never failed, but at least I've always tried. And as your Coach, I'm here as your biggest supporter too. I'm on your team, ready to respond to your needs, and I believe in your capacity to make that next move towards your goal (😎 pun fully intended!). So, which kind of team supporter are you? The one who stays till the end, always ready for that last-minute goal? 🥅😊 Or the one who stops believing as soon as the smallest challenge arises? #teamsupport #coaching #coachingculture #believe #teamsupporter Pic: My son and me at the Amex Stadium, waiting for the Brighton-Liverpool kick-off!

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In our final Q&A for Safer Gambling Week, we sat down with Rank's CEO, John O'Reilly, to ask: How does player protection support our long-term sustainability as a business? Want to know if John thinks there’s any conflict between running a successful business and protecting our customers? Tune in below to hear his thoughts! You can also view the full interview with John on rank.com here: https://lnkd.in/eicbyaPT #SGWeek24 #SaferGambling #KeepItFun

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Today I'm seeking wisdom... As an introvert with a regular dose of #impostersyndrome thrown in the mix, the thought of presenting fills me with anxiety but I know stepping out of your comfort zone comes an opportunity for growth... 😬 I'm keen to hear from others who have faced similar fears! What strategies have you found useful for managing pre-presentation jitters? I'd be most grateful for any tips or tricks you'd be willing to share in the comments 🙌 #publicspeaking #presenting #growthmindset

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How's everyone holding up this hump day? Well I'm here to hopefully make it even better with this week's DevNews Weekly Roundup! Here are the headlines and link to the newsletter is in the comments! Let me know what needs to be included next week! 🏆Funding Wins Log10.io Raises $7.2 Million in Seed Funding to Boost AI Accuracy AI Coding Assistant Startup @Augment Comes out of Stealth with $227 Million Funding BforeAI Secures $15M Series A to Predict and Prevent Cyberattacks Before They Happen Turnkey Raises $15M to Simplify Crypto Onboarding for Developers Teleskope Wins $5 Million Seed Investment to Automate Data Protection Anon Closes $6.5M to Build the "Integration Platform for the Internet" 🚀Lovely Launches Hookdeck Tackles Asynchronous Processing with Vercel Middleware Play Unveils Real-Time Conversational Voice AI Platform for Human-like Interactions VectorShift Launches No-Code Chat Assistant Interface for AI Workflows Context.ai Combats Multi-Call Chain Evaluation for LLMs Outerbase 2.0: Data Management Made Easy Subframe Produces Visual UI Editor for Designers & Developers Embrace Enhances Mobile App Observability with OpenTelemetry Support 🔦DevTools of the Week ⌨️Fleksy - Virtual keyboard SDK & Text Input Technologies: Building a Better Keyboard, One Keystroke at a Time 🚨Faros AI: Illuminating Engineering with AI-Native Intelligence #DevTools #DeveloperTools #Develocity #DevNews

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Unpopular opinion: Brazil has the best pound for pound Software Engineers on the planet 🇧🇷📈 In 10 years of tech recruitment I've worked virtually every English speaking market. When you take into account code quality, engineering practices, value for money and soft skills Brazil takes #1 spot, easy! 🌎🧑‍💻 #braziltalent #softwareengineers #techrecruitment #bestpractices #value

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Yesterday was another brilliant day as our momentum continues to build! 💻 A team at the BBC has started trialing our software for a 2 year contract, and was putting it through its paces. They discovered a function we clearly need but haven't built yet, so my day kicked off with me replicating that function manually! Fortunately our early tech is already so slick and fast (shoutout to Dharmil, Pooja, Bhaskar, Vidhi) that the manual workaround took less than 5 mins & didn't require any code changes. 🎙️ I immediately jumped into recording another podcast with the awesome Greg Mccallum. I'm the first guest to return for a second recording, and there was so much to share on our updated story, we had a great long chat. Greg - when's the recording due to come out? 👋 Followed that with a load of chats with potential partners and investors, including 2 people who contacted me about investing, as a direct result of my post on Tuesday! 💡 In amongst those calls, I got a bunch of feedback from my group of early SuperScout beta testers including Oliver Laurenson-Gore Joseph Ferreira Campos Alex Brooks and others on what taglines would interest fellow location scouts & managers. ✉️ In very little time after hearing their thoughts, I managed to put two of their taglines into a blog post about SuperScout.ai that was posted to The Location Guide last night and will be emailed to 1000s of potential users today! (will put the link in comments) 📽️ Lastly I had the pleasure of catching up with Calvin Mays who I hadn't spoken to since I showcased the first version of SuperScout at Berlin Film Festival in February! 😍 And after all that, my wife returned home after her last work trip for a while, and we finished the night off with an episode of Taskmaster (season 9)! All in all, a wild but very fun day!! #startup #founder #locations #fundraising #beta

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