Who am I?
I grew up in North Derbyshire, which is why a lot of the people in London think I sound very “northern” I went to university in Leeds to study business and HR, and lived there for seven years before moving back home. I then carried on with my studies and did my professional chartership in HR with the CIPD at Nottingham Trent university, whilst also working full time as an HR assistant. I then got married and moved down south.
Roles at Capgemini
I joined Capgemini at the end of 2011 as an HR manager and was promoted after two years. I then became pregnant and had a year off work with my beautiful baby boy. I returned to work in 2015 on a four-days-a-week basis, and quickly decided that to progress my career I needed a change in direction. I had several honest conversations with my manager and my manager’s manager about my feelings.
With great timing, a role came up as a learning & development manager and induction facilitator. I was interviewed and got the job. This wasn’t something I had thought about doing before as I am not a natural presenter, but the first few months have been amazing.
My typical work day
My day is mainly spent dealing with development-type queries, and working out lots of ways of trying to improve our onboarding process to make it as inspiring as possible
Planning my career
I have always gone with how I feel. If I have felt like I needed a change, I have been honest about it. My career has sometimes taken a different path after talking to different people and starting to get a different perspective on things. I think it’s important not to be afraid to try new things: sometimes going in at the deep end can be the best form of development, even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.
Managing my development
I regularly think about the gaps I have in my experience, and what I need to do in order to get to the next level up.
Highlights so far
My recent move into learning & development is helping me become a more rounded individual and giving me more exposure within the company. Whether I stay within this area in the future or move back into HR, I’ll have learnt a great deal. I feel very lucky that I have done all this whilst being able to work flexibly.
Best thing about working here
What I value most about working here is the people, flexibility and opportunities to move around.
Support that I value
Networks and flexible working have been especially valuable to me. Networking, in particular, is crucial: building a network is such a powerful way of progressing in any company.
What’s next?
I’ll continue in this role and become established, and then see how I feel. The development opportunities are out there – I just need to shout and let someone know when I am ready for the next step in order to make it happen.
Advice for new joiners
Work hard, network, be flexible and you will get the benefits.
Why working in tech is great
The range of smart people. I learn something every day – in fact, probably every hour of every day.
And finally…
It’s great to be a woman working at Capgemini: you have support from other career women who are amazing role models, from other mums who do an amazing job, and from male colleagues who realise how amazing you are. Capgemini has so many diverse people and you can learn from every one of them.
Read more In Her Shoes profiles here.
