A big thanks to Mitesh Fatnani for sharing his story about his career, balancing life as a working parent and being surrounded by a supportive team.
Q. I’d love for you to start off and tell me a little bit about you, your story and what brought you to work at Change Digital.
Back in 2004 when I lived in India my father gave me the option of studying abroad to get some international experience, and gain some confidence. I decided to go for it as not many people get this opportunity. I finished my Masters in Business Administration specialising in Marketing at the University of Dundee. I travelled from 42 degrees heat in Mumbai to a very cold Dundee.
Whilst studying in Dundee I fell in love, with my now wife, and we now have two lovely kids. The recession hit in 2007/2008 and my Father had to close his business in India. He gave me the option to stay in the UK, or return to India. And I decided, why not, I’ll give it a few years! I’ve primarily worked within sales; from property, credit cards, balance transfers to coffee machines whilst I was a student, then onto BT. At the time my wife was pregnant with our second child and I decided I wanted a proper work life balance. My role at the time meant coming quite late in the evenings and very little family time.
Q. When did you decide to enter the world of recruitment?
Luckily I got the opportunity to enter the world of recruitment. It was a steep learning curve when I joined, getting to know the market, the clients and candidates, and most importantly building up the relationships and trust with all.
When I compare Change Digital to the other agencies I have worked with, it’s just a completely different experience working here. Andrew is a great boss, supportive, through the ups and downs.
Q. There are so many recruitment agencies in the UK, what makes Change Digital different?
From Day 1 Change Digital has been interested in what I am looking to achieve both personally and professionally. We are a collaborative team with a strong focus on teamwork, offering ideas on how to do something different. Andrew Finlayson is a great boss and supports me through the many ups and downs that come as part of the package of working within recruitment.
I remember back to my interview for this role and being asked what motivates me, and what my purpose is. I remember it clearly that I wanted to visit my family in India. I still remember that feeling today, my focus towards this goal. Through clear goals I was able to continually work towards hitting my goals and delivering a good service to both my clients and candidates which resulted in success for me and the ability to take my family to India this year.
Q. Tell us all about India!
After seven years I finally got the opportunity to go to India in April. It was an absolutely amazing experience, for my family to see their grandkids, we took a nice holiday to Goa as well as a family.
Spending quality time with family was the main reason for going, and when that happened, dreams came true. I was there for three weeks, showing my kids where I was born and brought up showing them the Indian culture and allowing them to experience what my life was like growing up. I’d still like to travel across India, and I’ll definitely not be waiting another seven years before I go back.
Change Digital has been absolutely amazing in terms of supporting me, giving me the option if I wanted to go and spend more time with my family that I could work remotely whilst there. On this occasion I decided that I wanted to spend 100% of my time with my family but it’s amazing to know I have this option in the future. To have this level of support, from people who understand the importance of a proper work / life balance. I have a great deal of flexibility in my day allowing me to do school drop offs and pick ups, then work a little later in the evening once the kids go to bed. There is a great deal of trust.
During the pandemic when times were tricky for everyone, we pulled together and day by day we worked towards our common goal. We care for each other, we care for the team, and we want to succeed together. And we continue with this ethos beyond the pandemic.
