How is this company different to your expectations before joining?

I joined in 2021 during lockdown so all my interviews were remote by phone and video which was a little odd as I hadn't met any of my colleagues or manager in person before joining. I was promised great things by the recruitment agency when I applied but in reality they were all accurate. I was told about the rest of the team and my manager and others in the organisation were known for being approachable, friendly and helpful and I was very pleased to find that was all true!

I think I really started to enjoy the job when after around 6 weeks the covid rules changed and I was able to come into my local office in Wythall to meet my manager and colleagues for the first time. I then started coming in more regularly to get to know people and to truly understand the business which I had found harder at home.

The only thing I personally found challenging was my access on day 1. Although I was sent most of my equipment before joining as it was a laptop there were some connectivity issues but I did get it sorted, and you'll be pleased to hear we're focussing on the onboarding experience for all new joiners as well as internal movers to iron out niggles such as this.

Overall my expectations were exceeded, I was made to feel very welcome, thought had been given to my access, training and induction needs and I was also enrolled on the corporate induction where I got to meet other new starters across the business. I'm still very glad that I made the move and have no regrets!

Phoenix has changed significantly since I joined so the biggest difference in expectation is the company is no longer a specialist closed life consolidator and now has multiple business streams including the Open division, Asset Management and Reinsurance.