Revolut's head of hiring: Nowhere is safe now (except Revolut)
Revolut's culture is a very public one. Unapologetic about what it demands from its employees, the London based digibank sets the bar high and expects you to jump over it. For those looking to join Revolut, however, you may want to know how its head of recruitment approaches those values before you apply.
Christopher Yankson, Revolut's global head of talent acquisition, says Revolut stands out as a good choice to work for amid difficult hiring conditions. "There is not a safe choice for candidates in this market," he says; fintechs, banks and tech firms have all been making cuts. Candidates are wary: "They'll look at metrics such as, has the company laid off anyone, will I have skin in the game?"
Revolut has not conducted layoffs, and nothing gives you 'skin in the game' quite like an opportunity to climb the ranks very fast, which Revolut is known to have done in the past. Founder associates for example (now called operating principals) found themselves reporting directly to CEO Nik Storonsky while still in their twenties, but is that still possible in 2023?
"We’re not ten guys in a room anymore, not everyone can get promoted very quickly and indefinitely," he says, "but we hold on to our core mantra that it’s not about the most experienced person in the room driving the agenda." Yankson believes that "the best idea wins," and because of that, "people can come in and move very quickly."
For Yankson, the least successful candidate is one that "just wants a role where they can plod along, that is not necessarily focused on promotions."
Yankson's favourite interview question is, "What are your long term goals?" He wants to see that your long term goals and trajectory are "aligned with the business objectives, that’s how you get the best out of people." It will help if you understand Revolut's values: "It's sneaking in a question around: have you done your research?"
How safe is Revolut?
Yankson naturally presents his employer as a fine one, but Revolut's ongoing struggle to achieve a British banking licence suggests some possible precarity. So too does the fact that VC firm Molten Capital slashed the value of its stake in Revolut by 40% this month, after Schroders reduced its own valuation of the fintech in April.
The Times suggested that Revolut is planning to expand in France and Spain because the British licence isn't forthcoming. A spokesperson told the paper that Revolut is, "a British company and London is our home.”
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