Recruiter Insider Tips Series | Laura Bartlett, Founder & Chief Editor at House of Coco Magazine

Laura Bartlett - Recruiter Insider Tips

I spoke to Laura Bartlett from the awesome and unique House of Coco Magazine this week. With a team of 30 employees working for her Laura has provided some great Recruiter Insider Tips to help you approach that next job application and interview.

Firstly a little bit about Laura for those of you who don’t know her. 

Laura Bartlett has been a #girlboss since the age of 23 when she launched her first company. She started this with zero investment and has since gone on to achieve worldwide recognition. Her company is a magazine which, over the years has evolved. Initially the magazine was all about fashion, championing the underdog of the fashion industry and today its all about travel. Once a local magazine, Laura sought investment from Dragons Den (the UK version of Shark Tank) to help her achieve her goal of taking the company to an international scale. However, she was ridiculed and shot down in front of millions of viewers and had her dreams crushed. As somebody that does not take no for an answer, Laura went on to secure advertisers. She soon launched the magazine on sale in 16 countries, where it sold out worldwide.

After changing the direction of the magazine, Laura now has a team of over 30 people that work with her to produce the content of her House of Coco magazine which is sold in the most exclusive postcodes in London. It targets a millennial adventurous traveller and has been a platform that has allowed her and her team to travel the world.

Now lets get on to the interview for those Recruiter Insider Tips…

What would be your top job interview Recruiter Insider Tips for interviewees?

Always have lots of questions to ask. One of the main questions at the end of any interview is ‘do you have anything you would like to ask us.’ If you say no, you look like you don’t really care about the role.

Instead, be armed with around five question to ask. It is always good to ask what career progression you can expect, this shows you are ambitious and also planning on being at the company for a long time.

What has impressed you most with job applications you’ve received and candidates you’ve interviewed at House of Coco?

Anyone who is creative will always win me over. Working in publishing and media is very creative so if you are applying for a role in this sector then you need to be just that, creative.

If you send a cover letter with a CV attached guess what? You will be just like anybody else. Instead, why not send your CV via post and seal it in a gold envelope to stand out. Or imagine you are applying for a role as a shoe buyer, why not send your CV in a shoe box! I actually told a friend to this and she had no experience in buying BUT she got the job because she stood out.

Some things sound silly but this is how you need to stand out when the industry is so competitive.

What are your Recruiter Insider Tips to help our readers who suffer with interview nerves to put themselves more at ease for their next interview?

Remember, if you weren’t suitable for the role you would not have been invited for the interview. Imagine the job is already yours and be confident!

Different recruiters look for different qualities in candidates – what do you look for when interviewing for House of Coco?

Someone who is ambitious, outgoing, fun, unique, creative. A person that can come up with ideas and can express them well and can set out clear plans on how to execute these ideas. I particularly like confident people who are a little ballsy. I had someone email and tell me that I would be stupid not to employ them and their tongue in cheek attitude won me over. Some corporate companies are probably not impressed by that approach so adjust accordingly depending on the role you are applying for.

What Recruiter Insider Tips would you give our readers who might feel stuck and don’t know how to progress? Someone who knows they are destined for more?

Spend some time visualising what you want and how your future will look. Take 30 minutes at the start of the day in silence and visualise everything you want – the job, the way you look, the money in the bank, everything! This will help you get excited about what you can achieve and should be enough to kick start you in to setting a plan of action.

What Recruiter Insider Tips do you have for those of us inspired by your exciting career path? How can we carve out careers we love too?

Set goals for the next three months, one year and five years. All you have to do is create an end goal and work backwards from there.

For example, you might want to be a full time paid blogger in one years time. So then you think about all the steps that you would have to take to get there. From setting up social media accounts, creating a brand logo, creating content. Then you break down these tasks in to months so that by the end of the year you have achieved everything you needed to.

What advice do you have about taking risks in your career? Overcoming the fear of looking foolish or being judged?

Face the fear and do it anyway! What’s the worst that could happen? Also, the time is going to pass anyway so if you don’t take the risk, you will always look back and wish that you did.

Can you explain your dragons den experience and provide advice to our readers from that experience on how to respond to a situation that doesn’t go how they had hoped? 

It was intense! I spent so many months with the producers who told me that my idea was brilliant and they convinced me that the Dragons would snap it up. So, when I went in to the Den I had only prepared for a positive outcome. When I didn’t get that I was shocked and unprepared. So, always be prepared for every possible outcome.

Who are the 3 people in the world that have had the biggest influence on you and your career and why?

  • My parents because they always tell me to take risks and always believe in anything that I do.
  • Les Brown – motivational speaker. His words of wisdom really resonate with me and I always read his books for inspirational.

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

You can’t make a comeback if you haven’t been anywhere. I have this on a plaque in my house!

It basically means if you fail, go away and work on yourself and then come back bigger and better and try again! It was particularly useful information after my first business failed some years ago.

I really hoped you enjoyed this post from the amazing and inspiring Laura Bartlett. Let me & Laura know in the comments below what the key points were that you took from this interview.

Please do share this article with your friends using the gold icons at the bottom of this post.

If you want to check out Laura’s House of Coco magazine you can buy it online here or it is currently stocked some London stores including Harrods and Selfridges. You can access further House of Coco articles over at the official House of Coco website. You can also follow House of Coco on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest.

*Please note the above are NOT affiliate links, I just want to share the House of Coco love with you*

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