The Big Interview – Marussia F1/monster

Marussia F1 has announced its second new partnership of 2012, teaming with online recruitment website Monster.com. As its global online recruitment partner, Monster will work with the Formula One team to fill as many as 40 positions, including four highly specialised roles, all of which will help influence the technical and commercial success of the team.

As a Marussia F1 Team Official Partner, the Monster brand will be introduced into the team’s trackside environment, including visibility on driver suits throughout every Grand Prix race during the 2012 season. 

Sportindustry.biz spoke to Katie Allen, Head of HR for the Marussia F1 team, Jim Wright, Sales Director for the Marussia F1 Team, and Phillip Snalune, Director of Monster Europe, about what the partnership will mean for both sides, and how the campaign is being pushed.

What does the partnership entail from Monster’s position?

Phillip Snalune (PS): Monster is very much in the business of helping the partners and clients we work with to find better talent to improve their overall business performance, so the partnership is about working closely with the Marussia F1 team – helping them develop their overall group of talent. 

This partnership is born out of a desire to work globally. Monster is present in more than 55 countries, and the Marussia team is looking to source talent, not just in the UK, but possibly across Europe or globally. 

We think we can bring a lot to the Marussia team in helping them recruit the right talent to help move the team forward. 

What would you say to those who might argue this is just a PR stunt or marketing gimmick – rather than an opportunity that could see people take real jobs in a real F1 team?

Jim Wright (JW): I think you have to look at our position on the Formula One starting grid; we are only a young team and we’ve only been going for two years, but we are now expanding rapidly.

We are taking on more and more staff and it is a very competitive marketplace out there – not just with other F1 teams but also in terms of other engineering projects. 

What you want as a Formula One team is to recruit the best talent available, so it just seems commonsense to partner with the best online recruitment company to help you do that. 

For us, as an emerging, growing team, we couldn’t have wished for a better partner. This is genuine, this is real, and jobs are being created with Monster’s assistance.

Official testing for the upcoming season has already begun; will the new recruits be working on this season’s car? Or will you be looking towards the future with your new team – perhaps 2013?

JW: Nope, they will get to work on the current car straight away, we’re currently in build for the new season’s car and we will be testing as soon as that car is finished, then heading off to the first Grand Prix.

We’ll be looking for immediate input from our new recruits, as well as longer-term input.

What does it mean for Monster to be associated with a Formula One racing team, on the grid of one of the most global sports in the world?

PS: It’s an excellent fit, Monster operates around the world so the fit with F1 was a very natural fit in terms of the reach of the sport. 

It’s a passionate sport, and we are a passionate company, and we are very keen to work with Marussia to find their talent and help them succeed. 

These are very interesting jobs, they fit perfectly in our ‘Cool Jobs’ programme, which showcases the exciting jobs in dynamic and competitive industries. We are extremely excited about the potential of the partnership.

The #CoolJobs hashtag has already begun creating movement, particularly through the @Marussia_F1Team Twitter account – is the informal style of the campaign important to both brands?

Katie Allen (KA): I think that style and feel around the idea is very important. One of the reasons we joined forces with Monster was to extend our reach to candidates in a different way. The nature of Formula One is very fast paced so the environment changes rapidly. 

This type of recruitment will help us attract the normal flow of candidates, but also expand us to a wider range of different candidates as well.

As a new team, how important to you is the social media role as part of moving forward?

JW: It’s vitally important and what we are trying to do at the moment is effectively punch above our weight in terms of our social media programmes. We have a long way to go though and we don’t kid ourselves on that. The real opportunities for us are also in Russia where we haven’t made much of a start yet.

As a team, we have big plans coming up this year, internationally as well as in Russia. The social and digital element is very important to us moving forward. 

And finally, hopes for the 2012 season?

JW: Our hopes are high, we have a very motivated workforce here, with new technical direction – and we believe we are producing a very good little car. 

However, we are still mindful that it is still only our third Formula One season. Some of our competitors have been involved since the 1950s, so we have an awful long way to go, but as long as we are making progress in the right direction – which we will do by bringing in new talent – then we will be on course to get to where we want to be.