The third part of our series of interviews on the career paths at Investigo features Julian Wakeford, Manager of our TMT and Professional Services team. Julian joined Investigo in August 2017, covering interim accounting and finance recruitment. Having had no prior recruitment experience, he was put onto the Investigo training programme to help his development, and quickly took on more and more responsibility. Now, three-and-a-half years later, he is managing the team covering all areas of accounting and finance recruitment for qualified and part-qualified professionals into the tech, media and telecoms sectors.

What made you choose the management route?

It wasn’t an easy decision. However, I decided to go down the management route ultimately because it boiled down to one thing – my propensity to try and help others. I was proud of the development I had been through, the progress I had made and I wanted to try and help others achieve the same.

There is no denying that as a manager of people, you have other added responsibilities such as assisting the team wherever they may need. As a result you have less time to focus on your ‘desk’ and individual billings. Mentally I was okay with that, I was okay knowing that I would have less time to bill for myself and would instead use this time to help upskill those in the team I had helped to develop.

Ultimately, there’s the feeling of creating an environment in which the team want to succeed for themselves, along with the rest of the team.

How can you be successful in the management route and what are you targeted on?

To be successful in the management route you have to understand that you no longer come first (all the time)! At Investigo managers are still expected to bill and I personally believe that should be the case, because you continue to hone your skills while practicing what you preach. However, you will have less time to do it and therefore organisation, and working out what is most important, become imperative.

In terms of targets, these are twofold: personal billing targets and total team billings. However, in addition to this you are also targeted on the growth and development of existing members alongside the expansion of the team.

Oh, you also have to be a previous circus performer because you’ll be juggling lots of things at the same time!

What should you consider when making your decision between billing and management?

When making decisions like this I find it’s better to understand how you would feel in the role and your true answers to questions like these should give you an indication of which direction to go in:

• If it boiled down to yourself or the team, what would come first?
• How would you feel nurturing relationships and handing them on to others?
• If there were bumps in the road with the team, how would you handle them?
• Are you prepared to potentially have very difficult conversations?
• Are you happy for your further development and progress to now be based on team performance along with your own (and your pay thereby being based on the performance of others – will they work as hard as you?)
• What does the desk / team that you’ll be managing look like? Is there potential for growth?

 At Investigo you can be seen as part of management even if you are not a manager of people. Therefore I do not believe that should be a driving force to becoming a manager.

Further, for me personally, I thought long and hard about what motivates me. For me a huge driver was helping others develop and get to where they want to be. What kind of leader do you want to be and does that fit into Investigo’s model?

What have been the highlights?

Without a shadow of a doubt the greatest highlight has been not just seeing others succeed, but seeing them succeed in an environment that I have helped to create and develop. It’s incredibly rewarding! Furthermore it is incredibly gratifying hearing feedback that an environment and ethos, which you have worked tirelessly to create, is working. That environment will naturally drive success – good people in a good environment will breed high performance.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve encountered along the way?

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach for management, and therefore styles need to be adjusted to the individual. Don’t be afraid to ask how that individual would like to be managed as opposed to assuming. Having said that, it is also a highlight knowing that you have it in yourself to adjust your style to suit different characters.

A lot of people will tell you that the biggest challenge is time management. However, as an organised person I don’t find this to be the case. For me the biggest challenge is not helping too much or getting involved in everything! It’s helping where the team need while allowing them to understand, digest and work by themselves.

If you’d like to find out more about what it’s like working at Investigo, talk to our TA Team.