11 Weeks At 11 Investments

11 Weeks at 11 Investments

Firstly, thank you for clicking to read my LinkedIn article, I wrote an article back in 2018, “100 Days In Recruitment” which was mildly popular at the time, My take on the first 100 Days in a totally new industry to me & hoping to help others. So with that in mind, I wanted to do something similar with my new job here at 11 Investments (as it's literally awesome here & I want to share that story)

To set the scene, as I write this, I am sipping on a Can of Redbull, gleefully looking out the window on my train ride home after watching the Snooker World Championships in the Crucible in Sheffield. OMG I WAS ON TV!

I mention this, as I'm a keen reflector & in my 11th week at 11 Investments, I wanted to share a slightly more detailed account of my introduction to 11 Investments. *SPOILERS* It’s awesome & arguably the best decision I’ve ever made in my life.

If you’re short of time (& who isn’t) Top 5 personal highlights:

1.     Video Message From childhood pro-wrestling hero Bret Hart (Sorry, nothing will ever beat that) courtesy via Andy/Chloe

2.     Going to Cheltenham & actually enjoying it

3.     Whitewater rafting, specifically Andy spotting me laughing at Will falling out of the boat and exclaiming “Look at Gilbert!”

4.     Sam discussing in great detail & purchasing me various Energy Drinks

5.     The 11 Investments Linkedin Championship Title Belt!

*Bret Hart message is still MIND BOGGLING!

Just before I start my story on my first day, I won't bore you with the offer process, however what is noteworthy was receiving a video message from an unknown number with simply the message "Someone has a message for you" - It was a video message from my childhood hero Bret "The Hitman" Hart congratulating me on my new role at 11 Investments - this is possibly the coolest thing I've ever received from anyone - to say the bar has been set high, would be an understatement.

*I posted about it before, feel free to watch the video...I have....at least 80+ times

Week 1

WOW what A week! What a first impression!

I spent mainly meeting all these new people, I’ve written about this before in an earlier post (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alexgilbertdowjones_what-a-week-at-11-investments-week-1-completed-activity-6895313219418767360-Vx8B?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web)

However, I must mention, as I'm sure you can imagine (especially after receiving that video) I was SO EXCITED to be joining however I was incredibly nervous too, the standard of awesomeness was set so high. Looking back, I didn't need to be nervous at all, each and every person I met...I just...Instantly I thought "Wow, this person is gooooood"

Vincere Expert

So, to be candid for a second, I knew I needed to “make an impact” so to speak, quickly build some credibility within the business. & if you are still reading, something I need to compliment 11 Investments for, I’ve not met any “ego’s” yet, I like to think it demonstrates their Values really well. What I’m trying to say is, so many people, are so open to new idea, or to be more specific, walking into training with a “Continuous improvement” mentality.

So to build credibility quickly, I made sure I knew absolutely everything I could (with the limited time) on all things Vincere & ran my first company-wide training sessions (to 60+ peeps) on Vincere – I spent loads on the advertising budget

Something I’ve learned & certainly trying to consistently improve on is that 11 Investments is truly hybrid, so many of its teams aren’t always in the office, which makes the training session logistics slightly more difficult. I pride myself on being “engaging” usually in a room OR online (see above as I was "INSIDE" the database) However, something I do need to work on is striking a balance between delivering a “hybrid” session effectively (& not just one or the other)

*The Fun Stuff*

Ok, I’ve typed waaaay longer than I first expected, so lets actually get the all the juicy stuff (& a reward for getting this far in my LinkedIn Article)

 As I got to know the teams a little more, I got to do some more companywide training, & going back to my Call Centre days, I was doing “back to back” sessions on various topics.

But the fun challenge for me has always been “how can I make this ‘boring’ topic interesting/fun” or “How can I gamify this?”

I won’t give the game away here (As other trainers may come on here & steal the materials….I know your game) here are some photos of some teams being very competitive (Think Escape rooms meets TV’s Taskmaster) – I had a blast!

Although this was fun, I like to think it was around this time, if I hadn’t already, this was when I believe I’d earned people’s respect, credibility….trust.

The People

OH MY GOODNESS the people!

I…*full disclosure* I feel a bit of a fraud, literally, every single person (with ZERO exceptions) I’ve had the privilege of meeting at 11 Investments has been unbelievably wonderful, friendly, kind, clever & *totally honest* people I want to be like.

Everyday is a joy being in the office & I firmly believe 11 Investments have cracked this"modern work-life balance" thing with a truly hybrid working pattern, with the majority of people coming in on a Tuesday & Thursday. It really creates a "best of both worlds" & maintains such a brilliant company culture!

 Side Story: I always get a "buzz" coming into the office on a Tues/Thur, like, an excitement "I get to be in a cool place, with cool people...and get paid for it - pinch me"

I've just realised I haven't really thanked anyone yet, or mentioned enough people specifically, I know I've made various LinkedIn posts in the past thanking people, but this LinkedIn Article (and we know how the algorithms work, that'll be available forever) I must mention a few people by name (however, it's at the risk of not mentioning the other awesome 50+ people & i'm sorry in advance)

So firstly, MASSIVE thank you to Sarah (I've just realised, I have not snapped a photo of Sarah yet #challengeaccepted) However, Sarah has been unbelievably brilliant in all facets of my introduction to 11 Investments. From knowing her albeit for a short period of time, I can tell she is cringing as I type this, so i'll just say "Thank You Sarah" you are ALWAYS a highlight of my day.

Then, I'm going to be mean (and try to keep the word count down) & I'm going to group the Directors together here, Joe, Andy & Charlie. SUCH brilliant leaders, SUCH a fantastic vision...Such fantastic people.

To possibly stroke his ego (& an excuse for him to mock me), I was actually a little "star struck" when I first interviewed with Joe, I'd been following Joe's LinkedIn posts for a while & often found myself chuckling to his musings/comments/sarcasm. I actually have 2 personal highlights with Joe, 1) The cab ride & train journey from hell back from Cheltenham with Chris & 2) Being on the same boat with Joe for the White Water rafting (where Joe for a solid 90 minutes had to deal with me constantly screaming "Woo" or "YEAH!"

Then there's the ever smily Andy, probably doesn't help that almost everything he says has me in stitches, as mentioned above earlier, a highlight of mine was again at the whitewater rafting we did, "poor ol' will" fell out the boat, I did find that quite funny (because I could see it coming), THEN seeing Andy, see me laughing "LOOK AT GILBERT!" while laughing and pointing (as I was miles back) - cracked me up.

Charlie, "The man I'd love to be", To misuse a quote quickly, If I can be half as good as Charlie, then I'll be all right. I absolutely adore working with Charlie, 'heart of gold', I really admire Charlie's "way with people". I consider myself incredibly lucky/fortunate that I work with Charlie, who truly does want what is best for people & it shows in all of the tasks/decisions/actions he makes. I'm really underselling Charlie here, All I can say is, when I walk into the office & Charlie is the first face I see "Today is going to be a good day"

OF course I could fill this article with ton's of thank you'd for each person (if you're one of the 70+ people at 11 Investments & would like a thank you message, comment below)

But I'd like to jump to all the cool bits & bobs / events / random acts of Awesomeness

Like the day Chloe & her team of Mental Health First Aiders randomly delivered for the whole office Neat Burgers: As a keen "Burger Enthusiast" (that totally should be on my linkedin profile) THIS BLEW MY MIND, I think you can see my excitement in the group photo

Then there was my "random" invite to the Cheltenham Horse Racing, I'm not one for Horse Racing, it's a "totally different world", and unlike other events, I've been to that were similar, I was "Looked after", we had our own private section (thank goodness - the introverted me could have had a meltdown) Don't get me wrong, it was awesomely cool seeing the horses run, but actual enjoyment came from being able to talk & get to know everyone, we had the time. I REALLY enjoyed myself & certainly have some stories for another day

^ I love how it looks like Joe on the right has been super-imposed into the image & for some reason I'm hiding behind Charlotte

AND STILL within the 11 Weeks at 11 Investments I was able to do something i;ve always fancied doing, whitewater rafting. Now, the other cool thing(s) about this trip, not only was it my Birthday, not only was it Sam's birthday(p.s. LOVE "energy drink chat") but this was an event I could 'show off' my passion for photography/videos.

Fun fact, I look approx 2000+ images from the day, I got a real kick at trying to capture moments of joy....or extreme peril!

Andy made a comment that at first sounded sad, but also the same moment when I thought to myself "I'm home" was when the '2nd group' were to get ready, Andy was almost SHOCKED that I was going to take part "Oh, you're taking part, that's awesome, but a shame too, as who will take the photos now" - I actually loved that comment, it might seem insignificant, it might seem like an odd detail to include, however it was the moment that I knew my "In work personal brand" had clicked.

To make up for the lack of photos, I made sure I was as entertaining to watch as possible, i.e. screaming "YEAH" in Joe's face repeatedly.

So yeah, in summary - as I reflect on just 11 weeks at 11 Investments, it's been amazing. Truly amazing, I haven't even been able to mention in this article about how cool it is we're right next to Picadilly Circus, or all the free breakfast, free soft drinks, excellent tech equipment, health perks/gym, monthly wrap-ups, the commission & all the opportunities that await.

Challenges going forward,

Well, I’m going to take this as a compliment to myself, everyone wants a piece of me now! I get asked on a daily basis "Alex how can i..." or "Can you run a session on...." - which is obviously awesome (I must be doing something right)

So the real challenge is fitting in all the requests, a real-time & even priority management piece. So I need to crack the “Hybrid” training session, or create some kind of training plan that allowed In-Person & Online learning to happen

 & then, of course, all the new people joining on a regular basis, it's finding the balance between "New Learning" & "Continued Development" - maybe that's an article for another day.

 ^^ gain, i've not even talked about the LinkedIn Championship or the Vincere Titles!

So I sort of have 3 endings for this Article, choose which one applies to you

I work at 11 Investments

Oh my goodness, I think you’re great, if you’re ever having a bad day, pop over to my desk & I’ll tell you to your face why you’re wonderful.

I’ve loved every single minute since joining, I’ve never been happier & I have you to thank.

However I do need to specifically thank Joe, Andy, Charlie & Sarah for their incredibly work, I owe them a whole hell of a lot & honestly…I’ve never been happier.

I know you Alex, Personally or Professionally

Yeah, this feels like a “perfect fit” for me, I did really like my previous places of work & I do have them to thank for getting me into this position, however the Values at 11 Investments are certainly in-line with my own personal ones.

To say that I’m “happy” with my decision, would certainly be an understatement.

I’m thinking about And/Or Joining 11 Investments

DO IT!

Ok, seriously though, especially in the world of recruitment, there are tons of options to join a recruitment company. I’ll happily argue with anyone that 11 Investments is the single best one to join…right now.

It’s a larger recruitment company, that still retains its small, nimble, ‘start-up’ feel, while also keeping & benefiting from its large scale with genuine employee features & benefits (Commission, Top Equipment/Software on the market, Gym, Truly Hybrid Working, Mental Health First Aiders, Top Quality Quarterly Events, High End Lunch Clubs….Training….that’s literally me!, I could go on.

So, if you’ve never done recruitment before, 11 Investments is certainly a great place to start, detailed training program, all the equipment, 70+ other people to learn from.

If you’re an existing recruiter thinking of making a change…honestly, do it. You won’t regret it, we’ve seen people make their first placement within 3 weeks (& then continue to make high end placements regularly)

Regardless of your true motivations when it comes to employment, 11 Investments have you covered

and I'd like to leave you with my METALLICA MONTAGE of our Q1 event from the Whitewater rafting