How do you know a candidate is perfect for your company? Are your own biases creating a monoculture? How important are gut feelings? Jake Kimber, head of talent at rapidly growing mobile games company Product Madness reveals his own recipe for making the right hire.

Concrete. That's where Jake Kimber's career began. Designing it, mixing it and selling the stuff. Now, 11 years later, he's head of talent acquisition at international mobile game company Product Madness. With that sort of journey, he knows more than anyone that you don't need to become stuck fast in one area, and that careers can, and should, evolve over time.

UK headquartered Product Madness has expanded from 100 employees in 2019 to almost 500 employees today - with offices in five countries. Filling these places successfully in a very competitive market is proving to be a masterclass in finding people with the Right Stuff. He tells us his philosophy for spotting talent in unlikely places and driving growth through diversity.

Why in-house recruiting?

What I really love about the job is working with people. When I was working for an agency, the bit I found hard was that you find someone a job, you work with these in-house recruiters, and then they get placed and you don't work with them anymore. I always thought I'd love to work for these companies that I'm actually hiring for, which is what made me move in-house.

And when you're not working, what do you like to do?

I'm very nerdy and in fact so are a lot of my colleagues because we obviously like games! You've probably heard about the big resurgence of Dungeons and Dragons - I play a lot of that. I also play the piano everyday as well as the saxophone and clarinet. I really enjoy cars and I've got an old 'classic' Celica GT4 that I work on.

Who's right for Product Madness?

There's a study that shows people make their minds up about others within five seconds. I think the most important part of the job when interviewing is to turn off these unconscious biases and to try and go against your instinct a bit. That said, gut feeling can be right but I think you've got to be really careful with how you use it. If you're thinking, 'I hired someone like this person five years ago, and it didn't work out, so all people like XYZ must be the same', it becomes discriminatory and counterproductive.

Companies talk about looking for candidates that will fit the culture but really, they're often talking about hiring people like them. You see a lot of these hipster digital agencies claiming that but really, they want someone else who likes Pink Floyd and has a topknot. We need to look beyond that.

Uniformity vs diversity

When hiring the key for us is to make sure that we always show we're a place for everyone, because we are. You see some gaming companies, for example, that are making war games that offer free beer, and their employer branding is covered in guys with guns, which is stereotypically male. We need to avoid things like that.

I'm delighted that we won the HR Excellence Awards for Best Health and Wellbeing strategy because it's something we focus strongly on. People spend a lot of their lives at work and we want to make sure that our employees are looked after.

Our next step is to support future talent and raise awareness about the industry in different communities, as some people may not otherwise have the opportunity to learn about these kinds of roles.

What's your favourite thing about Product Madness?

The people - I don't even need to think. I love the people I work with. I'm excited to go in every day and see them.

What are the main things you look for when hiring for the company?

We really like creative people who have a passion for what they do. If people show that when we interview them then that's a huge plus.

Just as important is integrity. We don't mind if people make a mistake and this comes from Yoav, the managing director. He always says, 'I don't mind if you make a mistake, just don't make the same one twice'. It's the same when we interview people; it's okay to not be 'right' - but it's good to show that you have integrity and not try to bluff or hide behind words.

Product Madness' trajectory has rocketed in two years - what's the secret?

We were a relatively small London-based company three years ago - now we're in five countries and a part of digital gaming giant Pixel United - it's a sea change. I think our amazing growth has been through the success of our games. A lot of companies try to grow through attracting people to the potential of their success. You see a lot of start-ups say, 'We're small today, but we're going to be the new Google'. But I think for us, it's through genuine achievement. We have games that rank in the top five in Australia and in the US we have top ranking apps - and we're now the leading social casino company.

It's also through how we care about people, and how we are more of a family. You hear this in the games industry all the time, but I really do genuinely believe this is one of the friendliest atmospheres I've ever worked in.

What would you be doing if you weren't at Product Madness?

I mean, I genuinely love my job so that's really difficult. I'd do more with early careers because a lot of kids don't know the opportunities that are out there. The education system encourages us to go to university, with the implication being that if you don't go then you're never going to be anything. That's nonsense. Don't tell anyone, but if I weren't in HR, I'd love to work in motorsport - I'm passionate about it and would love to work at a racetrack.

Dream dinner guest?

I'd love to talk to the (now sadly departed) racing icon Stirling Moss. Music wise, I'd love to have a drink with Michael Stipe from REM - or dinner with Madonna would be a blast.

For more information contact:

Sujas Rait

Product Madness

E: Sujas.rait@productmadness.com

Brian O'Sullivan

Daredevil PR

E: brian.osullivan@daredevilpr.com

M: +44 (0) 77 333 50307

About Product Madness

Founded in 2007, Product Madness is one of the world's largest mobile game studios. With a global presence, it is today a top-grossing leader in social casino mobile games, entertaining millions of players around the world with titles such as Heart of Vegas, Cashman Casino, Lightning Link and FaFaFa Gold. The company's flagship title, Heart of Vegas, has entertained players since launching in 2013. It remains a top grossing game on Facebook's charts and continues to capture mobile markets around the globe. Product Madness is a subsidiary of Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX:ALL) a leading global gaming provider and games publisher, with more than 6,000 employees around the world. https://www.productmadness.com/

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