Team update: A lot has happened since this blog - all great things! We’re now in the United States and our new product launched in November 2021, helping teams in fast-growing organizations find and hire their best-fit junior and mid-level talent in Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Customer Success. Try it here for free. This means some of our articles before this date may have product shots that look a little different. That’s all from us, enjoy the blog.

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Serina is the embodiment of what Hatch is all about; a talented young person finding their fit through varied work experiences, and adding a tremendous amount of value in the process.

We first got a glimpse of Serina's talents in her Hatch role at Westpac. Come April this year when the Hatch Exchange was taking off, and we were in dire need of an extra pair of hands, Serina joined us as our Customer Success and Operations Coordinator, and it became hard to imagine our team without her.

Now we have to - she's moving onto a great new role where we know she will be as much of an asset to their team as she was to ours. A big thank you Serina, from the Hatch Team! ‍

When you were at uni, did you know what career path you wanted to take?‍

For a time, I was a bit lost. I was doing a double degree in Commerce and Arts, and I wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go in.‍

You were studying when you started your first Hatch role at Westpac; did that help give you any clarity?‍

At the time, I was doing subjects for my marketing major, but the work I was doing in my Hatch role was internal comms and process mapping. It helped me realise that I could do things outside of what I was studying and that in life, you're always learning and picking up skills on the go. ‍

What was your Hatch experience like at Westpac?‍

It was a big eye-opener. It was my first "real" job in a corporate. In my role in the Knowledge & Capability Merchants team, I also worked with the Payments Delivery team. So it taught me how to present myself professionally to many different stakeholders. 

I gained a lot of confidence interacting with people; from asking for their time, getting to the outcome I was looking for, and doing any follow-up required. ‍

Tell us about one of your favourite tasks you worked on?‍

I was trusted with a brief for the Merchant Knowledge Hub where they needed banker training videos on how to sell different EFTPOS terminals to small businesses nationally. I came up with the concept, got feedback from my manager and created multiple cartoon clips in PowToon. 

What was really great was that I had the opportunity to share those videos with another team, who showed them to customers. ‍

What's it been like as a graduate entering the workforce during COVID-19?‍

This year has been tough for a lot of grads. But I do believe we will get back to a sense of normality; eventually, we just don't know when. 

Although it's been very challenging, I think we're all building our resilience and agility skills, which we'll no doubt need again in the future. ‍

You joined Hatch during the COVID-19 lockdowns and as we'd just pivoted to the Hatch Exchange; what was that like?‍

A challenging, meaningful and fulfilling rollercoaster. This was my first ever experience at a startup, and you hear a lot about what it would be like. Still, I was really struck and inspired by how driven and goal-oriented everyone was here. 

Joining the team during the lockdowns taught me a lot about how to maintain a balance. When you're working remotely, you need to get tasks done, but also know your limits and set boundaries for a work-life balance. 

Getting to know people through activities like virtual cooking nights was fun. And Friday Zoom drinks was something everyone had to try at least once in 2020!‍

What about your role at Hatch have you enjoyed?‍

What was unexpected, but great, was how my role transformed quite a bit. When I first joined, I was doing a lot of operations tasks, like onboarding jobseekers. From there, I started working on more Customer Success activities, like following up on inbound leads and managing conversations on Intercom. 

When we came back into the office in August, I got the opportunity to learn more about how we assess roles and our matching science. I had gone through the process as a Hatch student, so it was really interesting to see how it worked on the other side. Learning about our matching science helped me understand Hatch's mission more, and how important it is to what we're doing.‍

What have you learnt through your work experiences, that you didn't learn at uni?‍

The importance of being proactive and visible. You want your manager to know that you're reliable, dependable and think of you as a safe pair of hands. I thrive knowing my role will help others; so I always let my manager know I'm more than willing to help them out when they need it. 

One thing Mandy in my team helped me see, was if you're given a task, don't just think of it as a task, think of it as a responsibility. It's easy to become task-oriented and just think about getting it done. But if you see it as a responsibility, you think more about its purpose and what its implications are.‍

Any standout memories?

A phone call I had during the Hatch Exchange is one I'll always remember. I was helping my manager Shirley screen workers for their availability over the phone for a role. If they were available, I would offer them the job. 

There was one woman who I called who had been stood down from her role in the aviation industry and was feeling really bleak about her prospects. When I offered her the role, she was overcome with emotion, I could hear it in her voice, and it really made me feel the impact we were having.