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My First Day At Capdesk

11th Feb 2022

A guest feature, written by Melissa Thomas, Talent Acquisition Partner at Capdesk.

The first day at a new company brings many emotions: excitement, anxiety, uncertainty. It can be so nerve-wracking that you’re not even sure how to act and you end up sitting there smiling and nodding, while your brain slowly fries with all the new information being fed to you — from all these new people who you’ve already forgotten the names of, let alone their role in the company.

It’s. Just. Too. Much. 🤯 Your brain inevitably overloads and results in an often unproductive, unstable and not enjoyable first day. And we all know how much first impressions count.

Well, at Capdesk, this just wasn’t the case at all. They nailed the first day and the days leading up to my first day; it was efficient, it was organised, and more importantly, it was led… by me.

Who am I?

Let me add some context, I’m a working, breastfeeding, stay-at-home mum with a very small support system around me. I live in Cyprus, where the daycare really isn’t up to my standards so my daughter, Anabelle, is at home with me, all day long.

She’s nineteen months now but has been going through the separation anxiety phase since she was born; bundle that up with teething, the terrible twos (that kicked in early), three home-cooked meals a day, a two-hour nap, and the mum guilt that sets in when I read that toddlers need to get some fresh air at least twice a day, I really start to wonder how well I’ll be able to function at a full-time job, while also being a full-time stay-at-home mother.

The solution is quite simple: I stop being a full-time human. How? I grab my portal gun, pop over to dimension 35-C where different variants of mega seed grow. These include the Attack Mega SeedDefense Mega SeedSpeed Mega Seed, and Level Up Mega Seed. All of which increase the physical capability of an individual. I grind these up into my coffee and here I am. A superhuman. (Just kidding…sort of.)

Capdesk, with its amazing team-first approach, accepted me into the company as I am. What a sense of relief and safety knowing they adapt their work culture to welcome team members like me. I was able to shape my onboarding in a way that best suited my daily needs and restrictions.

Here we go

In the days leading up to my start date, everyone was so involved and helpful it was almost too good to be true. Lucky for me, it was real and I’m here as Capdesk’s new Talent Acquisition Partner: hello! 👋🏻

I had our Talent Lead and PeopleOps Lead helping me to get through the paperwork, set up on company systems and with equipment. I even had access to my calendar before my start date (how’s that for prepared?) which meant I felt empowered to ask about re-scheduling some of the company-wide onboarding meetings that overlapped with Anabelle’s routine. PeopleOps were on it, and very quickly adapted to my needs and my availability. When I thanked them for her help, they said: “That’s how we work — team first.”

An extract from the Capdesk team-first document:

Wow.

The same team-first work culture shined through on my first day at Capdesk. I have an assigned buddy, who’s there for me if I have any questions and is someone I can rely on. It helped to know I already had someone to go to, which feels really nice when you have no idea who’s who.

Finally, day one

We kicked off the day with my Talent Lead at the time, and like a breath of fresh air, she let me pick the pace of my first couple of weeks (everyone learns differently, right?). There was a personalised checklist at the ready, and we began ticking things off. After two hours, we had lots of checked boxes and had also added new exciting projects to the list which we’d brainstormed together — now THAT’S a productive kick-off call!

There’s an incredible amount of content that has been pre-recorded and written down in Capdesk’s central hub: Notion. This allows anyone who wants to learn more about the company, the product or the people to really do so in their own time. For me, that’s golden. I can watch videos, I can read notion pages, I can get to know everyone at Capdesk… during the time that Anabelle is sleeping and I need to remain quiet, or while breastfeeding for what feels like 10 hours a day.

If I had to sit in meetings for every bit of information I needed to do my job properly, it would mean taking time away from my daughter — and I’m not prepared to do that, so thank you, Capdesk!

The thing that stood out to me the most on my first day, was that Capdesk seemed to have accomplished something that I haven’t seen happen before elsewhere. I didn’t feel like the new person, even though I was the new person. Everyone is so transparent, friendly, involved and approachable that it just felt… natural.

I’m looking forward to a wonderful journey with everyone at Capdesk and we are always looking for talented and passionate people here, so feel free to get in touch with me directly, or see our open roles, here. 🙋🏻‍♀️

Read more from Melissa Thomas and Capdesk, here!