This week, our Head of Recruitment took a virtual trip across the pond to speak with one of our US team members, Mike Hughes; discussing everything from the empowering culture of ThoughtRiver, to their shared experience of virtually onboarding through a pandemic and finally, how Dungeons and Dragons helps Mike unwind.
What’s your role here at ThoughtRiver? Whose team do you work in?
I’m Mike and I’m a legal product specialist, which is a unique role here reporting into both VP, Sales and VP, Customer. I help with both presales and customer success, which I feel is the best way to get product knowledge.
Why did you decide this was the place for you?
I was considering a variety of different roles and the VP, Sales, COO and VP, Customer really came together to allow me to use the breadth of experience I have from my previous LegalTech role. They were incredibly flexible in giving me a role that I could excel in and seeing that from the get-go made me feel confident and comfortable joining. I was also one of the first employees to join the US team and being part of helping a team grow appealed to me.
Who did you meet at interview?
The VP, Sales reached out to me directly to discuss opportunities and after that initial call, I met with the VP, Customer and then our COO. It was pretty informal in terms of interview format, it didn’t feel that I was on my 3rd interview with a COO – it was conversational, exploring what I wanted and what the business needed.
I know you’re one of the people who onboarded during the pandemic, how has that been for you?
I didn’t know what to expect with a purely virtual onboarding, but I’ve felt supported, always had people to talk to and there’s been a mix of regular check in with my Managers. My onboarding into the business went quickly, everything I needed was available to me and I was set up on the systems quickly. I feel it went as well as it could.
What are you looking forward to doing when you see your team face to face?
Firstly, a nice socially distanced greeting! Meeting my team in person and having that type of organic team building that you get with face to face; perhaps visiting a pub or two.
What’s surprised you the most about working at ThoughtRiver?
Seeing how hands on and approachable management is has been pleasantly surprising. An example of this is ‘Tea with Tim’, which is a video call with our CEO for new starters to get to know him (and vice versa) and the vision of the business. I don’t feel any barriers, it feels natural and easy to talk to anyone that I want/need to.
What’s exciting you the most about what you’re working on?
The newest update for the web app our tech team are working on. I think there’s so much functionality, new use cases and general workflow tools that will help the existing customer I work with and make the platform shine further.
What excites you about the ThoughtRiver product?
The Word plug in excites me. Getting any new user onto new technology is challenging, so keeping them in the systems that they are comfortable with means they can still benefit from the ThoughtRiver technology without any changes.
How would you describe the culture at ThoughtRiver?
Empowering to the individual
How would you describe the leadership?
Passionate and approachable. They know how to react to internal feedback and there seems to be a high level of responsiveness, it feels like your input is valued.
What advice would you give a new starter coming into TR?
Talk to as many people as you can, don’t be afraid to ask questions and make your presence known.
Tell us something we don’t know about you?
I enjoy Dungeons and Dragons in my free time. It gives me an opportunity to do some creative writing (not that emails aren't fun!), but it lets me unwind and spend time with friends from my childhood despite us living in different states.
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