Panda Q&A - Senior Digital Marketing Consultant James

In true panda style, we decided to question our newest panda James Skinner, to find out a little more about who he is and what makes him tick. With a mixture of traditional questions and some slightly odd ones, we will see what James has to say.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up and why?

I think I wanted to be a policeman (I didn’t know ecommerce recruitment would exist back then!) The toy guns and cars, hats and uniforms, and a weekly dose of ‘The Bill’ on TV worked all worked a special kind of magic on me and I was sure I wanted to one day become one of the ‘boys in blue’. Seriously glad I didn’t though.

Tell us your most embarrassing story…

Having to walk home across South East London in a small-sized woman’s dressing gown, socks and flip flops (lost property clobber), after my locker got broken into at the swimming pool. I got some looks and unfortunately managed to run into someone I knew. It was pretty awful.

If you could live anywhere in the world, why and who with?

Thai islands, because they are stunning, peaceful and great for adventures… and I’d take my wonderful fiancée there to enjoy life with!

You are trapped on a desert island – what 5 things would you take with you?

My decks, a good book, a swiss army knife, my missus, and a boat. I’ll swap the last 3 for runway and a plane, and a pilot.

You have won £2 million, what would you do with it?

House, treats for family and friends, give a bit away, and start a business. Probably some kind of health/wellbeing business. Oh, and a dog.

How did you come across cranberry panda? What were you doing before?

Our wonderful CEO Jonathan approached me (twice!), and second time I was ready to seriously consider it. I was working in digital recruitment in a full-service agency but didn’t feel there was a strong enough focus on digital marketing, so I ultimately wanted to go to a more specialist consultancy, hence cranberry panda. So happy I did – such an incredible company!

What are your first impressions of working in cranberry panda – be honest!

I liked 3 things:

1) The people - everyone is cool and fun, but also super dedicated and incredibly knowledgeable.

2) The work culture – there is constant ongoing support, meaningful training and lots of collaboration/teamwork.

3) The Process – normally I don’t like too much of this in recruitment, but here things are monitored and analysed in a scientific kind of way, with the aim of keeping consultants focused on success, reminding us what we are all aiming for, and developing everyone’s learning.

Tell us a little about yourself!

When I’m not recruiting, I like drum and bass (DJing and production), conspiracy theories (weirder the better), crystal and sound healing, partying hard and thinking about stuff!

What does the future hold for you in your career? What are your goals?

I want to be a key part of cranberry panda’s continued growth, by being THE main man to come to in London if you’re looking to hire performance or CRM marketers. Just working hard, constantly learning, consistently improving and being the best I can be.