I work as a manager in the operations team at VoucherCodes, a small business based in central London focused on helping savvy shoppers save money on everything from their grocery shop to family holidays.
What does the operations team do?
The ops team manages all the content on site, handles the user support and works hard to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
I lead a team of five people and we source discount codes, sales and deals to put on the site, check that our content is valid and look after a team of 60 remote workers.
On an average day, I usually have a couple of one to ones with people from my team so we can chat about their progress and how they’re finding their role.
Wellbeing at work
Culture is important to VoucherCodes so I try to check in on my team’s wellbeing as often as I can. I also have meetings with different teams in the business about initiatives and have an hour or two of desk time so that I can catch up on emails, support my team or work on projects.
I’ve been a manager for two years now and my favourite part of the job is mentoring my direct reports and watching them grow.
But I didn’t fall straight into the job
I studied English Literature at Kingston University and I felt a bit lost after I graduated.
Although I had a good degree, I had no idea what I wanted to do after university and the job market was tough.
Lacking in direction, I moved back in with my mum in West Sussex so I could find my feet and save some money.
After university
I fell into a copywriting role which was badly paid and didn’t do many favours for my mental health, but did mean I was able to save enough money so that I could leave after six months and do some travelling in Australia.
Read more: I didn’t know what I wanted to do – now I travel the world with my job
On returning, I did some freelance copywriting for a couple of years until I got a junior role at VoucherCodes.
This role kickstarted my career and I’m in my fifth year of working there.
Do your research
My advice to anyone looking to work for a website is to do your research about all the different roles available. I had no idea that ops teams existed when I was at uni, but the role suits my skillset perfectly.
The most important bit of an interview is doing your research about the business. Remember that the business mission is the pride and joy of the people interviewing you, and they won’t be impressed if you have no understanding of how the business model works.
But most importantly, prove that you’ll work hard – grit and determination go a long way.
