WTF is Futurizm?!

Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Futurizm podcast! This week we tell you all about how Futurizm is shaking up tech career services and introduce you to the company's founder Will Grady. We also discuss how tattoos may affect your job prospects and try to get to the bottom of why some Gen Zers have started bringing their parents to job interviews!

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:53 Who is Will Grady?
• 4:56 WTF is Futurizm?
• 12:02 Do tattoos affect your job prospects?
• 19:01 Gen Z bring their parents to interviews!
• 24:37 Outro

Transcript

00:13.09
futurizm
Hello and welcome to the very first episode of the Futurism podcast with me, Peter Scott, general dog's body at the company and thought leader, international recruitment extraordinaire, CEO and founder of Futurism, Mr. Will Grady. All right, mate.

00:29.77
Will Grady 
All right, buddy, thanks for that low-key welcome. Appreciate that.

00:33.99
futurizm
Yeah. Did you like the introduction?

00:37.68
Will Grady 
and Yeah, humble, humble. Really liked it.

00:40.26
futurizm
yeah And how are you feeling about the first podcast?

00:44.21
Will Grady 
Well, I've got a beer. That's that's useful um to get me through, although actually it is five to 12 on a Tuesday morning.

00:52.86
futurizm
Oh, it's not even lunchtime.

00:56.43
Will Grady 
Although pubs are open now, so I think, you know, just about. go what you Yeah.

01:00.49
futurizm
It's fine, it's fine, it's how we roll.

01:02.65
Will Grady 
Yeah.

01:03.05
futurizm
um Now, full disclosure, if you can't tell, me and Will are actually best mates. We go back, I'd say around 15 years now. And with this podcast, we want to discuss everything tech career related from dealing with redundancy to calling out BS on LinkedIn and social media. We'll also have chats with industry experts, tech news, and a quick warning, we certainly won't be shying away from giving our honest opinions on some pretty divisive topics. And of course, we do want to hear from you, our listeners. So if there's anything you want us to discuss, if you have any feedback, please do feel free to drop me an email at pete at futurism.io.

01:43.06
futurizm
And I'm aware that when I say our listeners, well, it's probably just your dad, John Boy, listening at the moment. So a big shout out to John and my dad, Ian.

01:52.11
Will Grady 
I think actually, I think he's at the allotment, actually, right now, my dad.

01:52.22
futurizm
So let's get on with the show.

01:55.88
futurizm
Oh, it's either lotment.

01:56.01
Will Grady 
say ah they didn't kill a though Yeah, send it.

01:58.78
futurizm
Okay. Well, maybe I'll have it later then. All right. Let's get on with the show.

02:11.56
futurizm
Well, I think first of all, it does make sense to give you a proper introduction, Will, without me trying to wind you up and to talk a bit about futurism itself. So I've known you for 15 years or so, as I've already said, and during that time you have worked as a recruiter, and not just some of, but most of the world's top tech firms. It does feel a bit weird interviewing you, because I like to think I do know the answers to most of these questions, but of course not everyone does. So the classic job interview question, Tell us a bit about yourself.

02:44.19
Will Grady 
Oh, about me, or about futurism.

02:46.04
futurizm
Yeah. About you and then futurism.

02:48.85
Will Grady 
Okay. Um, yeah, well again thank you for the for the humble and low key introduction. um I hope our listeners will will decipher that that was self deprecating on, I think, at the has a minimum. um but i think Yeah, so me so I mean, ultimately, yes, we we are best best buddies. um Yes, I've basically worked in the recruitment industry, all my life, left university, skint and fell into recruitment and actually used to work in your gas industry. um And it took me all over the world. So I got to work in in Kazakhstan. I got to work in in Russia, Japan, obviously, we met in Russia. um Then

03:35.83
Will Grady 
More recently, I was in Austria and then Greece before coming back to the UK. And um yeah, ultimately, I've been in technology industry um with AWS. And then I left AWS where I was a technology recruiter to work for Google. So my time at Google was predominantly working in the AI space, really. So it was barred at the time. but but now it's, I think, commonly known as as Gemini. So really getting close to recruiting a lot of the technical experts in AI. And and now, of course, yeah, i'm I'm at Meta. And yeah, and I think ultimately, after a period of time, I saw 20 or so years in the industry, I've kind of got to a stage where I'm a bit tired of a lot of bullshit. So, you know, working in corporate environments, you know, there is a lot of jargon

04:33.01
Will Grady 
And I think one of the things that probably I've noticed the most was in my time working for these organizations is that there's so many people that unfortunately, they're very intimidated by working for these types of organizations. they' ah So we say it's it's it's an ambiguous process, they're intimidated by the processes. They're not representing themselves as well as they could be. It's stressful looking for a job.

05:00.83
futurizm
Mm hmm.

05:01.43
Will Grady 
you know and And ultimately, I kind of gave to the conclusion that, look, I think it's time you know potentially to share some of this information. So I founded Futurism, which is basically a collective of of big tech recruiters and and other big tech professionals. and um So what about business partners? As an AI engineer, used to work for Apple and Amazon. And you know we're all really passionate ultimately about giving something back. and You know, no, we're not a charity or anything like that. You know, it's in combined around the campfire every night. It's not peace and love, but ultimately, you know, we are really passionate about giving some really good tips and pragmatic advice to people.

05:46.08
Will Grady 
Um, to help them, you know, people who've got aspirations to get into big tech business. Um, if people want to have a career pivot, um, people are really nervous about interviews or they just don't know how to navigate a process with, you know, some of these really, really exhaustive processes that you get with, with, with organizations.

05:55.37
futurizm
Mm hmm.

06:06.04
Will Grady 
So, you know, we're really there to kind of take you from. on that journey and kind of hold your hand for as much as you need it from A to B and to really give you pragmatic solutions and help and support and and not just kind of as a paying customer but you know ultimately as somebody that you know where we're going to give value and and I think you know earn people's trust and you know I think that's a big reason why we're doing this podcast because we want to communicate that really I think authentically um we're not very salesy I think that's fair to say

06:37.72
futurizm
Mm hmm.

06:37.94
Will Grady 
um but yeah But we do want to kind of help people and help them get to to where they want to be.

06:44.82
futurizm
So you've obviously answered my next two questions, Will, in that very comprehensive answer to the first one. um But I know you touched on on this before. You've obviously seen a niche in the market. And what would you say makes futurism different or the rest of the career coaching websites out there? Apart from the fact, of course, that you're behind it. Obviously, you know, it's it's a group of former recruiters in big tech. What else makes it different?

07:11.92
Will Grady 
Yeah, um I mean, I think ultimately what makes us different and, you know, to be to be really blunt about it. um Can I swear, by the way, is it possible to swear?

07:21.36
futurizm
certainly you've already you already have done by the way it's fine i've ticked the explicit box on the the pod the podcast site so it's fine

07:23.36
Will Grady 
oh

07:26.60
Will Grady 
Fair one. Thanks. Thanks. Well, I mean, I think the impression of coaching and things like that is pretty fucking dull. You know, you see these guys in suits and um corporate kind of pictures and people are going into the city and high fiving in their suits and ties and yeah basically a classic office environment. And, you know, the world's moved on. The world's very different. People now are working from home. um a lot more they're in hybrid models we've got digital nomads and yeah the world the world of work has changed and you know i i know from from working at the organizations i've been working at you know it's jeans and t-shirt into the office and and and a hoodie and you know it's really is about kind of trying to break past sort of i think some of the stereotypes really of a professional work and i think what makes us different is a variety of things really i think first and foremost

08:00.01
futurizm
Mmhmm.

08:23.03
Will Grady 
um we we we We come from backgrounds where we've been there and we can we've walked the walk and we can we can talk the talk. and you know Basically, everybody that's part of the team has been um working for big tech organizations, be it in recruitment or in software engineering or data science or in program management, and they're very, very plugged into coaching.

08:34.19
futurizm
Mmhmm.

08:49.19
Will Grady 
and they're very, very plugged into the hiring process. so um So that's been something that I felt is going to give us a ah unique perspective so that we can share that insight. um And what I found is you know working with with clients is that people people trust that because you know ultimately they they they respect that you've been there and seen it and been in the trenches to kind of pass on as much as that insight as possible. And a lot of it is invaluable because you know Google and Amazon and Meta, you can access bits and pieces online about how to interview there, but that's written by by them predominantly.

09:13.63
futurizm
Mm hmm, mm hmm.

09:24.01
Will Grady 
And there are so many sort of secret nuances for you know that you'll only know if you've worked for those organizations on the inside.

09:27.47
futurizm
Mm hmm.

09:31.15
Will Grady 
So and I think that really is probably ah unique value proposition i would say um and kind of sets us apart and the other thing that sets us apart i think is you know and hopefully hopefully that comes across to today is you know no bullshit um we're very keen to ensure that you know we're doing right by our clients and you know we're not here to you know keep you uh on a on a coaching course for the rest of your life we're here to help you get results quick and you know i think

10:04.55
Will Grady 
giving that value and you know over time earning that reputation is is what we want to achieve.

10:10.04
futurizm
And finally, Will, again, you you have touched on this before, but obviously a lot of people, they would kill to land jobs at the likes of Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. Why did you turn your back on those big tech companies and decide to go it alone and set up Futurism?

10:28.78
Will Grady 
Yeah, good question. I mean, you're right. And are there are lots of people that aspire to work for those organizations. um I would say don't be fooled. that you know no the every Every company has has its imperfections. and you know, I remember when I was younger, wet behind the ears, you go into these organisations thinking, oh, they're going to be perfect. And they they are all far from perfect in in many regards.

10:52.74
futurizm
Mmhmm.

10:52.82
Will Grady 
um But i think I think entrepreneurialism, I think, I think, you know, I've been doing this for over 20 years. And, you know, i've I've enjoyed it immensely. And obviously, it's been really It's been really good to me, and I've had some amazing opportunities out of it. But also, I'm a little bit older these days. I've got two little ones. And you know ultimately, yeah i feel yeah i feel I feel that I want to give something back. I know that sounds kind of quite cliche, but I'm really kind of passionate about breaking

11:25.10
Will Grady 
breaking the mold really a little bit in terms of how coaching is done and you know being kind of a little bit disruptive in that in that kind of space really by providing people with proper proper support and you know and I've had coaching myself before in the past and you know it's just been a lot of a lot of talk and of course you know there's always going to be a lot of dialogue but not a lot of action and I think ultimately seeing that there was opportunity to be able to address that um but in a in ah in ah unique and original and hopefully refreshing way I think that was just too big an appeal really for me not to do it.

12:09.45
futurizm
Awesome. well Well, I think that's the the Futurism housekeeping out of the way. Let's move on to the next part of the show.

12:21.91
futurizm
Right, well, seeing as you're the recruitment expert, Will, it's time for our Unpopular Opinion segment where we discuss a topic that could ruffle some feathers. And now we've both read this article that appeared recently in Business Insider about a woman who claims that her tattoos got her rejected for a job at TJ Maxx or TK Maxx the British version which is what I put in the script just then. Now it's something the hiring manager has denied and I know it's obviously the retail sector and more customer facing maybe but it does raise some interesting points about how your appearance can affect your job chances. So well you've sat at the opposite side of the table

13:02.45
futurizm
What would your first thought be if someone was applying for, say, a role as a software engineer, but like Ash Putnam in the article, they have a skull and horns on their neck, solid black patches on their arms and heavy facial tattoos. But on the other hand, their experience is impressive. And on paper, they're they're a good match for the role. What are your thoughts?

13:23.78
Will Grady 
Yeah, I mean, it's's it's a good question. um I think in this day and age, I mean, ultimately, it doesn't matter, does it really? um You know, and I and i think, um you know, the world is has become a lot more progressive around these kind of areas in terms of diversity and equity and inclusion. And, you know, ultimately, you know, organizations are, you know, are trying to be a lot more wise to this. Are organizations really wise to it, though? I think that's another question, you know, because ultimately, you know, they may use this as a backdrop to kind of promote themselves as you know, you know, we're really inclusive, and we're really diverse. And, you know, it doesn't matter to us where you come from, what you look like, your sexuality or gender, etc, etc. But unfortunately, you know, unconscious bias comes into play.

14:14.86
Will Grady 
um

14:14.87
futurizm
Mm hmm.

14:15.61
Will Grady 
you know, so there is a lot of training that organizations around unconscious bias. um But, you know, unconscious bias at the same time, it's, you know, it is a tricky one, you know, ultimately,

14:26.19
futurizm
but It is I mean, if if you're not conscious of it, how do you train someone to to deal with it?

14:33.79
Will Grady 
Well, you can. There is there is definitely you know trainings that can be done to make you more, so we say, cognizant of it, um and to make sure that you are being fair and sort of equitable in these processes. I mean, I think if it was me, and it's easy to say this now on on a podcast, but but ultimately, I think what you'd find in my my personal view is that I think it depends in what industry or you're going to have an interview at.

14:51.03
futurizm
Mm hmm.

14:55.51
futurizm
Mm hmm.

15:00.22
Will Grady 
So you know you take the technology industry, which is I would say is, you know, looked upon as being quite dynamic, quite, you know, quite young, quite cool. um My personal view is, and I know this from personal experiences that working in the office, Google or Amazon, you know, it wouldn't matter whatsoever. um yeah But you know, if this person went for an interview at financial services organization, which had perhaps beho more conservative and traditional, probably would.

15:21.92
futurizm
Right. but Well, maybe I'm i'm guilty now of of or about to be guilty of stereotyping what I imagine Silicon Valley to be. But you do imagine that tech firms are supposed to be, as you said, quite progressive and welcome diversity. And by welcome, I mean actively encouraging it, like know positive discrimination. Couldn't being a little bit alternative actually work in your favor?

15:57.80
Will Grady 
Again, I mean, I think yes, it could. But I think um if you're with it depends on the interviewer as well. I mean, I think there's so many.

16:05.66
futurizm
Mm

16:06.59
Will Grady 
I mean, it's such an emotive topic. um I mean, I thought it was. quite funny when i when I read the article, and there was somebody, I think they commented on it, who was an ah HR supervisor, and they just basically commented, there's no way any company would put you in front of customers like that, especially at TJ Maxx. I was kind of like, wow, sitting on the fence there, aren't you? HR supervisor.

16:27.95
futurizm
Yeah, I didn't exactly pull a punches. um but it But it is interesting because in 2018, as it says in this article, it was a LinkedIn survey found that 40% of respondents had rejected a candidate because of a visible tattoo and 88% of recruiters said that they could limit a candidate's prospects. So you know as progressive as we like to think we are in 2024, it does seem that like you say, personal prejudice, you know, still does come into it.

17:01.70
Will Grady 
Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think <unk>s there's always elements of unconscious bias. And I've sat in so many interviews. And I wouldn't say I've ever had anybody i and like I say this, honestly, I've ever had anybody of comment on someone's appearance or um yeah make judgment around yeah the aesthetics or, you know, somebody. But at the same time, I definitely have people that I think have just jumped to conclusions really, really quickly. And obviously, you know, really unfairly.

17:34.04
Will Grady 
It's difficult for me this one on on tattoos because I've got loads of tattoos, not on my face or my head, not yet.

17:38.57
futurizm
Mm hmm.

17:41.52
Will Grady 
um But so I must have over 10. So, you know, I think it doesn't matter to me. So perhaps that's a an unconscious bias coming up for myself.

17:50.76
futurizm
well maybe and it's I guess from the article as well it's not exactly clear why Ash Putnam got rejected from the job she did say that it was because of her tattoos the hiring manager said it wasn't someone else seemed to think she had a bit of an attitude problem so I think it's not very clear cut obviously it's very easy it would be easier to blame it on your tattoos than then be a bit more self-reflective and acknowledge that maybe you know you could have um there so but couple bit other reasons behind you not getting that job.

18:21.43
Will Grady 
Yeah, I mean, it's just, this is the funny thing, isn't it? I mean, there's so many times, you know, as a recruiter, where you want to give people feedback for when they don't get the job. And the reality is that perhaps she wasn't a great candidate, perhaps her interview didn't go so well. um And, you know, she's kind of struggling to come to terms with that and grasping at straws. I'm not saying that is the case. But there's so many times where unfortunately you can give feedback to people and they can react to it really negatively.

18:52.20
Will Grady 
So yeah, it's an interesting one.

18:53.19
futurizm
Yeah. Well, I guess we didn't really get to the bottom of why Ash got rejected from that job, but I think we've we've certainly covered that topic.

19:00.31
Will Grady 
i be

19:01.10
futurizm
Will, that definitely settles that. Thank you. We'd love to hear your thoughts on tattoos and job prospects. Do you have any tattoos? Do you feel you've been rejected because of them? Are you a recruiter or do you not mind tattoos? Please send us a message. Send me a message at pete at futurism.io and let us know what you think and we'll discuss your thoughts in the next episode.

19:29.82
futurizm
Right, and now for some quirky career news. Just before we go, Will, I want to run one more thing past you as our resident expert. um There was a survey published this month by resume templates. There's no prizes for guessing what they do. And they found that 26% of US Gen Z job applicants brought a parent to their job interview. Now the sample size was almost 1,500 and I also do get confused between all these gens. So Gen Z are apparently people born from 1997 to 2012 and I think that technically makes me a geriatric millennial because I was born in the early 80s and I think you're just a geriatric mate.

20:13.89
Will Grady 
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true.

20:17.14
futurizm
ah so Will, as a recruiter, what would you think if a candidate brought a parent to the interview in person or online? I take it that's never happened to you.

20:29.85
Will Grady 
No, ah no, it's not. But just I just thinking perhaps, perhaps, yeah, well, I definitely wouldn't have got the job if I brought my dad with me. That's for sure. um Yeah.

20:39.94
futurizm
Is that because of John Boy because you brought him with you?

20:42.48
Will Grady 
<unk> No, no, no. It's just, yeah, sorry, Dad. Sorry about that one. um No, I don't know. Just, that is odd. I mean, that is really bloody odd, isn't it? I mean, is there any more context about why they brought their parents with them?

20:58.92
futurizm
ah No, there's not there's not any context. It is just the survey. um Yeah, it's just a survey. there's There's no reason why. It says that the majority of on-camera parents actually spoke directly to the hiring manager.

21:11.74
Will Grady 
Oh! so

21:12.36
futurizm
um Yeah, according to the survey. There's a quote here.

21:15.80
Will Grady 
So that would make them how old? Remind me, how old? How old would they be?

21:18.56
futurizm
So ah just let me yeah so if you're if you're in Gen Z, you are born from 1997 to 2012.

21:24.24
Will Grady 
Yeah.

21:26.40
futurizm
So you could be 12 years old. I don't think you'd be interviewing if you're 12 years old in 2024. But yeah, born in 1997, you're still a Gen Z-er.

21:36.89
Will Grady 
Okay, which makes you how old?

21:37.55
futurizm
And there's yeah there's an executive resume writer here, Andrew Stoner.

21:38.49
Will Grady 
When are you 24? Okay.

21:41.11
futurizm
He says, it's understandable, parents wanting to ensure that their child does well in an interview or that an employer is reputable. Conversely, it's hard to see where a parent being directly involved in an interview is appropriate. Here, here.

21:55.08
Will Grady 
when me where where

21:55.84
futurizm
I mean, what what do you think's happening these days, Will? I mean, are we just getting softer? I mean, I'd be mortified if my mum or dad had come to to any of my job interviews and I don't think I'd be able to relax or or be myself.

22:04.01
Will Grady 
ah so

22:06.58
futurizm
Again, sorry, mum and dad, but I think you understand why. is it Are we just getting softer and we need to molly coddle our children um and you know not let them out into the into the scary world out there?

22:20.53
Will Grady 
Jesus, I mean, Well, firstly, I mean, I think it explains you why, you know, if you didn't get that job at Asda, or was it Asda when you were a kid and you didn't get a job at Asda?

22:28.56
futurizm
It was, it was as the, but I didn't say I didn't get it yet as to our American listeners as there is always, its but it's warm. It's part of Walmart now. Anyway, it's a supermarket.

22:35.82
Will Grady 
for

22:36.11
futurizm
Yeah.

22:36.31
Will Grady 
It's Walmart, yeah. Yeah, so that's, yeah, that explains why you didn't get the job, because you didn't take your mom and dad.

22:38.00
futurizm
Yeah.

22:41.49
futurizm
that's That's true. Well, no one else took their mum and dads either. um So I guess no one no one got the job there.

22:46.89
Will Grady 
read read Read into that what you want.

22:48.10
futurizm
And they were left with no one to stack the shelves. Yeah. So um as you've mentioned, Will, you're a parent. You must understand the urge, though, to look out for your for your kids. um Do you think you would go to a job interview with them?

22:58.02
Will Grady 
not really not really i mean my daughter's three and i mean obviously i'm not sending her any job interviews just yet um that's just really fucked up isn't it i mean what what are you thinking i mean i think i'm i'm totally It's so surreal. I mean, I've never had it. I mean, don't get me wrong. I've definitely interviewed people who are graduates or, you know, of that age. And I can safely say that they've never brought their parents with them.

23:30.10
Will Grady 
I wouldn't be surprised if their parents were downstairs in the car with a sandwich box or something for them when they run their interview, which is sweet.

23:34.87
futurizm
Well, yeah. Well, that's quite nice.

23:37.56
Will Grady 
Yeah, that's just really weird.

23:37.59
futurizm
Yeah.

23:39.85
Will Grady 
um Yeah, I mean, I'd love to know more about it really into kind of what the interactions were. and is they actually did Did they answer any you of the questions? for the for for the they did it Did they prompt them?

23:50.04
futurizm
Like a lawyer. Yeah, he means this, she means this.

23:55.83
Will Grady 
yeah ah Give her another try.

23:58.55
futurizm
Yeah.

23:59.38
Will Grady 
Was she on the candidate feedback call, mum or dad? you know It's just like, oh my gosh, wow.

24:04.18
futurizm
Well, what happens if if, you know, there's some coaching in futurism and someone's parents there as well. Do you think that's going to happen?

24:12.01
Will Grady 
It'd be an interesting one. I'm wondering, could I charge double?

24:14.70
futurizm
yeah Well, I know what you could do. It's a group session.

24:19.54
Will Grady 
Maybe this is a market that we need to target. It is the Gen Z and parents market. And we can create some products around that ultimately the to help.

24:25.08
futurizm
Yeah. Yeah. The sort of a kindergarten package maybe.

24:32.28
Will Grady 
Yeah. Just, just to hold your hand literally and mommy and daddies whilst you go through the job search process.

24:37.64
futurizm
Yeah.

24:38.10
Will Grady 
I mean, that's bizarre. i I'm struggling with that one.

24:41.19
futurizm
It is weird.

24:41.45
Will Grady 
Um, period.

24:41.75
futurizm
It is weird. Well, as always, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Our listeners on Gen Z is bringing parents to the interview. um I guess I won't ask you if you've brought one of your parents to the interview or if you are a parent that would consider accompanying your child to the interview, but do send us a message at pete at futurism.io. It's certainly ah certainly an interesting one there.

25:11.12
futurizm
So, Will, that's a wrap for our very first Futurism podcast. How do you think it went?

25:20.00
Will Grady 
Are you asking me or are you asking the listeners?

25:22.07
futurizm
ah Well, I did say so, Will. ah You paid attention, mate.

25:28.96
Will Grady 
Yeah, I mean, I mean, I suppose it went all right, didn't it? All right.

25:32.13
futurizm
Yeah, the first one.

25:32.88
Will Grady 
Yeah, well, I mean, the proof will be in the pudding.

25:35.27
futurizm
Well, that's true. And the feedback that we get for it.

25:37.76
Will Grady 
I'll give my dad a call later to see what he thought.

25:37.97
futurizm
um

25:41.16
Will Grady 
And yeah, hopefully we can add to that one listener.

25:43.40
futurizm
but but Well, I certainly hope so. um Well, John Boy and any other listeners out there, we certainly hope you enjoyed listening to the podcast as much as we enjoyed making it. Do subscribe to our newsletter. There'll be a link in the description or on our website, futurism dot.io, as well as on LinkedIn. And there you'll find pro career resume tips and tricks, insider tips and tricks there. um as well as Futurism News and lots more. We'd love to hear from you as well. So do get in touch with me, Peter, at pete at futurism.io. So that's all from me, Peter Scott, and Will Grady, and we'll see you next time. Cheers, Will.

26:20.10
Will Grady 
Thank you.