Calling all weirdos

At the start of 2020, Dominic Cummings was widely ridiculed in the media for writing a blog entitled ‘Two hands are a lot’ — we’re hiring data scientists, project managers, policy experts, assorted weirdos…

In it the PM’s former advisor sought a different kind of civil servant – ones that were not necessarily from a traditional background or would follow traditional processes but think about things in a different way.  We are currently recruiting for PR roles and I often find myself looking for the weirdos rather than the traditional slick and polished PR professionals.

My own journey

Perhaps this is partly because of my own journey.  I started my career in a civil service like role where the only incentive was to do just enough not to get fired.  Your salary had more to do with how long you had been doing the job than your capabilities and achievements.  Despite this the role gave me fantastic experience, the opportunity to run and manage events by myself and it taught me to write properly – all things that a more practical education might have provided.

When I did make it to a PR company, I thrived in the faster paced environment, progressing quickly, but that was partly due to the brilliant experience I had been given in my first role.

What we look for in people

Perhaps for this reason I value attitude, proactivity and ambition highly – sometimes these are more important than experience and qualifications.  I have become a believer in the premise that you can teach people the job, but you cannot teach people their character.  We love proactive, talkative people that bounce ideas around.  Sure, you need to have an understanding of how the media works and what makes a good story but if you have the other skills, that very quickly becomes almost intuitive.

I have been fortunate to work with people with these skills (as well as a few that have not) and I have learned and benefitted from each one.  But we are currently looking for more.

Are you in a press officer job that does not stretch you?  Have you been furloughed from an events role but possess great client relations? Is not having enough to do in your role frustrating you?  Have you taken a role just to pay the bills but yearn to do something more?  Right now, we are looking for people.  And while PR experience is preferable, if you have a passion for technology, writing, people skills and some relatable skills, we should be talking!

Contact me here: chris@xl-comms.com