Natalie Seaman walks us through her journey at Indeed, her passion for coaching and developing people, and what it takes to be successful in a sales team.
I was originally referred by a friend of an Indeed employee. I had heard of the company because of its excellent reputation. I knew it was the world’s number one job site, respected for being innovative and inclusive, with a great work culture. What’s not to like!
The idea of working for a company that puts job seekers first, giving them free access to search for jobs and post resumes also appealed to me. We all know how hard it can be finding a good, suitable position, so I was attracted to a company that had that mission statement at its heart. It’s good to feel you are helping people while contributing to a company’s success, learning and having fun at the same time. Win win!
At the time of referral, I had been offered a position at another tech company, but opted to attend the interview at Indeed as it was a dynamic start-up in a small office overlooking The Sydney Opera house and Harbour Bridge – a dream for a Brit!
In the interview, I was told that they were looking for two people to help launch the Content team in Sydney. It was only a pilot project, and the role might only last for two months. I readily accepted and as soon as I joined, I knew this was a company I could see myself with for the long haul. With that mindset, I was more determined than ever to make an impact on the Content team, with the goal to become a permanent Indeedian. The pilot was successful and the following weeks and months saw the team grow and my contract was extended.
After six months in the role, I moved to an Account Executive role looking after the Staffing segment (the team focusing on recruitment firms) and then shortly after, I was asked to help start up the Dradis team (which is the team looking after all businesses that operated solely on the hosted platform). This proved very successful where the revenue and team grew very quickly, and I was promoted to Team Lead after overachieving all of my targets.
Being a Team Lead helped me focus on my passion for coaching and developing people to perform to their very best, helping them achieve their targets, as well as my own. After a successful year in the role as Team Lead, I was promoted to a Sales Director.
It’s been an incredible journey and I’m hugely grateful for the opportunities Indeed has presented me with.
It’s great to work for a company that seeks to invest in its talent and promote from within – this brings about great loyalty and respect.
This experience has taught me skills that I am able to bring with me wherever I go. From wearing many hats in my current role, I’ve picked up skills such as the ability to be flexible, work under pressure, collaborate well with others, have good communication skills and determination. Not forgetting a good sense of humour – that goes a long way in life!
As I learn to sharpen those skills, grit, passion, hard work and dedication has helped me achieve my goals.
Indeed is a highly innovative company that is ever evolving and re-inventing itself, so we need to be resilient and be able not just to adapt to change, but also thrive and be successful within the ‘new world’.
We operate in a highly competitive industry so we also need to be courageous enough to try new methods and dare to make mistakes – as long as we learn from them.
I love the working culture here in Sydney. Our culture is inspiring, fun, collaborative and hugely supportive. Indeed Australia is currently number two in the market and this drives us as employees to fight even harder for every deal to get to our goal of being number one.
I believe this translates into the constant collaboration across teams to increase performance and close those deals that will get us to number one in the Australian market. Together we are stronger!
There are many aspects of my job which I find rewarding… here are a few that makes me want to get up in the morning and perform to the best of my abilities:
- Smashing sales figures
- Developing and motivating others – seeing them learn, grow, perform and be their best selves. When one person wins, we all win!
- Inspiring the team. Sales is a hugely exciting and dynamic area of the business – with great highs and therefore great lows too. It’s my job to ensure people get through those lows, motivating them to push on, do better and perform to the best level they can. I get a great deal of satisfaction from this part of my role.
That said, these aspects are also the reason for my hiring decisions for the team. A good resume can only tell you so much about a person, so when I am looking for candidates I want to really understand what drives them.
Sales is not an easy role, so I look for people with true grit and determination, resilience and people who are strong team players. We are only as strong as our weakest performer. These are essential attributes that can see individuals thrive and contribute to the success of Indeed.
In addition to a great team and learning from them, I feel proud to work for a company that is ahead of the field when it comes to diversity, inclusion and belonging.
At Indeed, we have Inclusive Resource Groups (IRGs) and as I believe in leading by example, I actively participate in these initiatives to drive engagement and awareness to my team and the organisation.
I am one of the founding members of iPride which has been established for over 4 years and Access Indeed that was established two and a half years ago. In addition, I have also recently joined the All Generations Empowered IRG.
For me, working closely with these groups has made me more mindful, compassionate, supportive and most of all, a more well-rounded Sales Director that treats all employees equally and gives them the space to bring their true authentic self to work.
As I am a huge champion of diversity, I believe whole-heartedly that ‘in difference there is strength’! It has been proven in multiple studies that diverse work forces produce high-performing, happier work cultures – and in turn, more profitable companies too.
In short, nothing but positives come from cultivating a diverse workforce.
I wanted to end with a quote from my current heroine, Jacinta Ardern who’s the New Zealand Prime Minister. She is universally respected and most importantly, she is true to her own leadership style. In her words:
“One of the criticisms I’ve faced over the years is that I’m not aggressive enough or assertive enough, or maybe somehow because I’m empathetic it means I’m weak. I totally rebel against that. I refuse to believe that you cannot be both compassionate and strong.”
― Jacinta Ardern
Believe in yourself. Don’t second guess yourself and be true to your own leadership style.
She who dares, wins!
For more stories about our series on ‘How I Became A…’, visit our blog page here.
