Name: Mike Anderson

Birthplace: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Joined Meltwater: 2007, Sales Consultant, Meltwater News, Dublin, Ireland

Current Role: 2011, Area Director, Meltwater Buzz, UK, Netherlands, Spain, Africa

Who inspires you: John Box, Area Director, North America East, Meltwater News

My three words to describe Meltwater: Ambitious, Friendly, Inspiring

If a friend came to Mike Anderson and asked him if he would recommend getting a job at Meltwater you might be surprised to learn that Mike’s answer would be no.

But that’s only because Mike believes that working at Meltwater is for people interested in careers, not just jobs.

“It may seem obvious but there really is a big difference between a career and a job,” Mike explains. “A career means investing in yourself; building on skills and continually striving to be better, to improve and advance. That’s why I appreciate the recruitment process at Meltwater.  It’s vigorous and even though everyone begins on the same rung of the ladder – learning the ropes, Meltwater still only looks for the best; only those people really interested in careers. This means everyone you work with at Meltwater is interested in long term success. Some companies recruit to fill holes; Meltwater recruits to drive the business forward.”

The selection

If that is the case then candidates must feel somewhat honoured to be selected to join the company?

“It did feel that way for me,” Anderson says. “The interview was probably one of the most challenging experiences of my professional career. And, to be honest, I walked away from it totally fearing the worst, just knowing that during the one-on-one stage of the interview process that I hadn’t given a very good account of myself. In fact, at one point I was asked, ‘If we stopped the interview right now do you think you’re in or out?’ and I just felt deflated; I answered truthfully that I thought I was out – and even though the interview continued on for another hour and a half I still spent the whole drive back home to Belfast kicking myself, convinced I hadn’t got the job,” Mike says candidly. “So when I received a call three or four days later I can tell you that frankly, I just wanted the rejection over with quickly. Instead the person who called me gave me extensive feedback; he outlined my interview in detail, pointing out where I could have been stronger and then I was told that the candidates I had been up against were very impressive, so I thought … oh no, just as expected, here it comes, and … he offered me the role,” Anderson smiles, “I felt ecstatic. It seemed like an incredible opportunity and a great time personally for me to make a career change.”

The change

But why would Mike, with a successful career in investment accounting ahead of him, want a career change in the first place?

“That’s simple,” Anderson says. “Admittedly I had been working for a well-established and reputable accountancy firm; a global company with good prospects, but it was a company whose culture was heavily regulated and, well, just not that exciting. The entrepreneurial side of me simply wasn’t being challenged. Meltwater offered fast-track career options and international travel, the types of opportunities I just wasn’t getting at the time.” Mike continues, “At all stages of the interview process I remember being so impressed with the people I was meeting; they were ambitious and professional – and they simply looked like they really enjoyed their work. I thought to myself then and there, if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing you are never going to feel fulfilled. Your career will always just feel like a job. I knew it was time for a change.”

But did Mike, with a Bachelor Degree (Honours) in Business Studies, not think that the role on offer – as a ‘sales consultant’ was a step-down from his current position?

“No,” Mike answers resolutely. “Let me explain. It’s true; everyone at Meltwater begins as a sales consultant. But this is not a call-centre job – and that is exactly why the recruitment process is so vigorous, why Meltwater is only looking for the best candidates, the top graduates. Every single person at Meltwater spends time understanding the product, our services and our clients’ needs from the ground up. It’s a fundamental part of the learning process,” Mike says. “Meltwater is growing at a phenomenal pace and they are genuinely looking for people who can run a company – whether that’s as the Sales Manager of a team or as a Managing Director running an office, or as an Area Director running an entire territory, Meltwater is looking for leaders; leaders who like to be challenged,” Mike says. “To be part of a future-team that’s working on a new product division, in a new industry, we need top calibre people who are going to be smart enough, resilient enough and ambitious enough to be able to respond to the various different challenges which come our way.”

“I remember back to my interview,” Mike continues, “where the CEO presented this image of a flower which had one ‘petal’ on it and a lot of ‘empty petals’ where all the proposed new product divisions were going to be.  I recall thinking that it was quite a strange graphic to show in a recruitment session.  But now, of course, just four years later the company has six product division ‘petals’ on that same, previously empty flower … and it really hits home to me that this forward-thinking, this ability to plan ahead and have a clear vision for your company is the very reason why Meltwater is the perfect place to plan your own career; and the obvious reason why the people we recruit have to be absolutely top-notch. These people are, after all, the means for executing the company’s strategic vision.”

The career

Mike goes on to explain how talent is nurtured within the company and how the company look at each person’s potential as an individual as well as part of the team. Anderson himself is an example of Meltwater’s eye for detail. Within five short months of starting with Meltwater he was promoted to Sales Manager and relocated from Dublin to the London office. Less than 12 months after that he was promoted again, this time stepping into the role of Managing Director of Meltwater News before his move to a new ‘petal’ of the business as the Managing Director, and now Area Director, of Meltwater Buzz – the social media arm of the Meltwater group.

“Throughout my time at Meltwater the one thing I’ve noticed is how management support your career at all stages. Opportunities and promotions are presented to you when you deserve them, not just because you were next in line of some tired old-fashioned hierarchical pecking-order,” Mike says. “Here the bottom-line is that management cares. They care about the future of the business and they care about your future.”

“It’s no surprise though,” Mike says, “that care-factor was obvious to me right from the very beginning. When I think back to that follow-up call, the one I received after the interview, even though I had a pre-conceived notion that the call was going to be a rejection the Meltwater representative on the phone was still giving me the type of feedback that showed a level of care I’d never experienced before – this is what I’d done well, this is where I could improve – he was already encouraging me to see my potential, with absolutely no way of knowing whether I’d accept the role or not,” Anderson smiles. “That kind of commitment to the individual is the exact example of a company that has a core of truly being invested in your best. And the kind of company that is invested in your best is the type of company where you can grow and build a career.  A real career – one that is fulfilling, challenging and … humbling.”