​‘The world is full of opportunity’

AFTER studying journalism at university, and disheartened by the limited career opportunities, Jordan Molloy decided to use his communication skills in a different field.

With just £500 in his pocket, he packed a suitcase and headed to London, taking a leap of faith on a graduate entry level job in a technology company.

He has never looked back.

Now an experienced enterprise account executive in the cloud software industry, Jordan reflects on his school days: “I wish I'd known that things can turn out just fine even if you don't have a thorough plan. Part of working life, for some people, just involves trying some things and seeing if they like it.

“As I gear up to welcome our first child into the world later this year, I'm going to try hard to make sure they know that the world is full of opportunity.

“I've always had an intuitive interest in technology and software, so that's been a natural driver. But truthfully, I'm motivated by the financial incentives.

“Going through school I was aware of lots of school friends having ambitions to be a vet, doctor, dentist or lawyer - the more 'traditional' well-paying jobs.

“I wish I was aware, earlier in life, that a lot of roles at tech companies offered earning potential well in excess of some of these jobs, with a much quicker route to it.

“Ultimately I'd say I fell into this line of work, more so than having a really focussed desire to be here, but I don't regret it and it's changed my life completely.”

Looking back, he feels a sense of gratitude to his old school: “I consider myself lucky to have attended Ripon Grammar School and still talk daily with friends I made there. It definitely sent me out into the world of work with every chance of success.”

Jordan left RGS in 2011 after taking A-levels in biology, psychology and art and initially took a year out to work in a local pub and save while deciding whether to go to university.

Once at Sheffield Hallam University, he soon became disillusioned with the idea of a career in journalism: “Journalism is an intensely competitive field for graduates to get into work.

“When you're younger, the idea of being a journalist when you're exclusively reading something national like The Times seems very cool. But you don't really appreciate that to eventually work somewhere like The Times you're probably going to have to spend many years covering road closures or planning permission disputes for a smaller local paper.

“Also, I'd been constantly reminded by lecturers that there was absolutely no money in this line of work. ‘If you're wanting to work in this industry for the money, you might as well leave now,’ I remember my lecturer saying in week one.”

When he left university, he decided to pursue the most lucrative roles open to him with the skillset he’d developed - good written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to ask good, open-ended questions to get relevant information.

“Most business development (corporate-speak for sales) roles ticked all the boxes without requiring a highly specialised degree qualification,” he explains.

Since then, he’s worked for three London-based tech companies specialising in digital ordering solutions for retailers and restaurant groups.

He currently works for Deliverect: “If you've ever ordered food online from Burger King, Pret a Manger, Pizza Express, Papa Johns, KFC, Itsu (to name a few), without knowing it you've used the technology our company provides.

“My role is to meet with senior teams at national, multi-location restaurant and retail groups and consult with them on their current headaches when it comes to their online ordering systems. Then, if their problems are a good fit for what we offer, it's my responsibility to take them through our solutions with product demonstrations, go through technical scoping, negotiate commercial terms and eventually get contracts signed - essentially anything involved in converting a business into a new, paying customer.

“A typical day can be presenting slide decks, doing live product demonstrations, liaising with software development teams on new features, working with legal teams to work through contracts and feeding back on strategies with marketing teams. It's a very multi-dimensional role.

“I think most people associate salespeople with a pushy used-car dealer, or someone who calls you, unsolicited, to try and get you to upgrade your phone plan.

“Those are sales roles but it's a spectrum. I consult more than convince - it's not my job to try and force someone to be interested in what we do, everyone enquires with us first."

Some of the highlights of Jordan’s career to date include signing some of the larger brands his company works with like Papa Johns, Co-Op, SPAR, Majestic Wine and Dunkin' Donuts.

“A lot of work goes into the whole process. Sometimes the gap between our first meeting and a signed contract can be multiple years, so it's very rewarding to finally get a new client signed up. At my previous company I was also present when we listed on the New York Stock Exchange as a publicly traded company. This was really cool - to have been (in a small way) partly responsible for such a milestone.

The best bit about the job is the variety of the work that keeps things feeling fresh and the accountability, he says.

“That’s accountability in a good way, in that my role is quite unique; I can point to a number on a quarterly or annual sales report and say: ‘I personally brought in X amount of revenue this year. That's your return on investment for me, as an employee.’

“It means I can relax a little about job security when I can run the numbers and calculate being a net benefit to the business. It also means you really always feel like a key player. New business keeps the wheels turning for any company and it's my job to secure it.”

Not being a natural extrovert, he can find corporate presentations challenging: “Getting out of my comfort zone on a regular basis to host meetings and meet a lot of new people is an ongoing challenge. It can be daunting to stand in front of a room of 10-15 people and present to them. You have to prepare well enough to field all the questions off the back of it.

“I used to have a natural aversion to being centre stage or doing public speaking, but now I'm much more comfortable with it. It's a bit of a cliché, but I do believe only good things can come from getting out of your comfort zone in the world of work.”

Q: What was the most important thing you learnt at RGS?

A: I think the school did a great job of instilling ambition in students. Being surrounded by people who had aspirations and expectations for life after school was useful. I think I absorbed this mindset.

Q: What do you wish you’d known back then?

A: Truthfully, probably that academic excellence is not necessarily a defining factor in where you can end up. RGS was a brilliant school with high attainers when it came to grades, and I was always fairly 'middle of the road'. At times it felt like I was doomed with my mediocre grades. I also didn't have a plan or a really specific career goal like a lot of people seemed to have.

I wish I'd known that things can turn out just fine even if you don't have a thorough plan. Part of working life, for some people, just involves trying some things and seeing if they like it

As I gear up to welcome our first child into the world later this year, I'm going to try hard to make sure they know that the world is full of opportunity and a huge amount of it is not dependent on academic success. It helps for sure, and undoubtedly tilts the odds in your favour, but I've worked alongside brilliant colleagues who didn't go to university.

Q: What did you want to do/was your dream when you were at school?

A: For a good while I wanted to be a photographer. I still do this as a bit of a hobby, I took loads of photos on a recent trip to Japan. But see above for the same pay cheque rationale re: journalism! I'm now very relieved I didn't go down this path as we enter the era of generative AI.

Q: What is the one piece of advice you’d give students interested in following a similar career path?

A: If you're naturally articulate and interested in business/economics/finance/tech, then this type of role is a lesser-talked-about option that can be very rewarding and offer rapid career progression. You learn a lot about how businesses run, how they budget & grow - a lot of people in the space end up launching their own company.

I would say though, never go and work in a role where you're expected to sell/market something you don't truly believe in. It will never work.

Q: Who was your favourite teacher and why?

A: I'd have to put forward a few:

Mr Fell as I always admired the passion he taught with - even more so now I'm older. The enthusiasm he had for ensuring we'd digested the messages behind books like To Kill a Mockingbird was amazing. Regrettably, I didn't take English as seriously as I should have. It's only after leaving school that I've become a keen reader. I remember his visible disappointment one time when we had to do a book review in front of the class and I'd chosen Matilda, a book that is really aimed at 7-10 year olds despite me being 16 at the time. It was lazy, to be honest.

Mr McGrann. He always talked and reasoned with you like an adult - even though at the time I very much wasn't! Firm but fair.

Mr Williams who taught biology was also excellent - he made difficult concepts really engaging.

Q: What would you say has been your greatest success?

A: Adult milestones I'd say! I moved from my childhood village, Grewelthorpe, down to London as a graduate in 2016 with a single suitcase and about £500 to my name, spare-rooming with strangers and taking a leap of faith on an entry-level job. I met my wife in London shortly after moving down and in 2022 we bought our first home together. I suppose I'm proud of myself for setting up solid foundations for a secure, happy life in such a short space of time.

Q: And biggest disaster?

A: A brief stint in 2015 working in Manchester immediately after university doing a job that wasn't for me. I rushed into it, being so eager to get a job straight out of university. I lasted five months there before heading back to Mum and Dad's near Ripon to come up with a new plan. At the time that felt like a failure, but in hindsight now I can see it as part of the path that led me to exactly where I am now. I may never have moved down to London and met my wife if I hadn't have failed there first!

Q: What are your hopes for the future?

A: We are currently expecting our first child, so right now it can only be that he/she arrives healthy and happy and that I can be a good dad.

Q: What do you miss most about Ripon?

A: It has to be the surrounding countryside - nowhere does it quite like Yorkshire! Whenever I go back up North to see my parents, I make the most of the outdoors.