You were with graduatejobs.com (GJ) previously and then joined the Group when graduatejobs.com was acquired. Tell us about your experiences and route into where you are now?

Having initially joined GJ back in 2009, I worked with the team there for over 9 years to help solidify its position as the go-to destination for graduate job seekers in the UK. I ended up leading the sales and delivery functions, but after nearly a decade I decided to move on in order to progress my career. I joined a global recruitment media businesses and spent 3 years there leading the graduate offering, gaining exposure to an operation of much greater scale. When the Unseen Group acquired graduatejobs.com, there was a clear opportunity for me to return to the business, pairing my deep knowledge of GJ and how it operates with my global media experience. I feel like the Group has allowed GJ to operate in a way that is a perfect blend of agility, rapid decision making and minimal bureaucracy, combined with the professionalism and operational structure that is reflective of our ambitions as a brand.

How has joining Unseen helped you develop as an individual?

The initial opportunity has seen me take a lead on more than just the commercial function of a business. This has allowed me to have an active part in reimagining how all of the company functions operate more collaboratively. of this are that there is full consideration of how everyone is contributing to the business regardless of role, and it means that nobody is operating in a silo. By being part of Unseen you also gain insight into how other group businesses operate and can use these learnings to further develop your own arm of the Group.

" When I joined it was clear that the plan was to go places with all areas of the business and my experience has matched this."

How did CPN come to be? Can you tell us about the forming of the portfolio.

One of the biggest challenges when providing attraction solutions within the early careers market is being able to address the broad range of needs and challenges from our clients. By creating the CPN portfolio we are able to work to the strengths of each individual brand and create bespoke solutions that would not have been possible previously. We have graduatejobs.com, GradTouch &amp Kaampus that all have their unique USPs, and by having these all within the same portfolio we now provide a pick & mix approach to the inventory offered. This increases our ability to tailor our services, maximising the potential opportunity whilst providing the most appropriate solutions to our customers.

How has being a part of Unseen helped the platforms within CPN develop?

The support from the group functions has helped in developing many things including the business plan, budgets, and branding, meaning we’ve been able to accelerate the go-to-market time of the CPN portfolio. This has meant that we’ve been able to grow revenues at a much faster rate than if we operated alone. We’ve also been able to collaborate with other brands within the Group on thought leadership projects, helping us to build stronger client relationships and improve our credibility within the space.

Why should someone consider joining Unseen? What do you think the main benefit would be for a company similar to yours?

Without being too corny, a lot of the work in running a business goes unseen as it’s unlikely you’ll have resource for everything you need. This means that time that could be spent on your business is spent on tasks such as invoicing, payroll, budgeting, HR, tech issues, etc. The Group functions in a way where these tasks are handled for you so that you can concentrate on the reasons you would have got into the business you currently lead. I’d also say a big consideration is the experience of your own team. Whilst each group company is relatively small there is real strength in the growing group number meaning everyone has the opportunity of building their own peer group. They gain their own access to learnings and relationships that you may not currently be able to provide.

What’s next for your team/brand?

We’re just about to begin a project on the redesign of GJ to further enhance its place in the market. This will be looking at the aesthetic and functionality of the website. As part of this we’ll be working with a number of different group functions to look into the development of further products and services that we currently don’t offer. We’ve also just recently invested in the evolution of our customer success team to provide a best-in-class service to our customers, increasing retention and growth in wallet share.

Is there anything else you’d like to add about your experiences with the Group?

When I joined it was clear that the plan was to go places with all areas of the business and my experience has matched this. In the past 18 months there has been improvement to a number of areas such as Finance, Tech and HR. The employee experience is something that is always under constant review to ensure that the group values are delivered and not just some bullet points on a poster.