Insider profil
Keen to receive questions about
Top Insider Advice
Always have a career plan, no matter how vague and set your self targets/goals that you want. Be flexible though, as sometimes you may need to take an indirect route to get to your next goal. Opportunities will come along that might not be an exact fit to the plan, sometimes you will use your head and other times your heart to choose whether to take up an opportunity but keep the plan in the back of your mind at all times. Its good to always consult your friends or colleagues, be prepared to be challenged, embrace this though, do not fight it. You should always listen and take account of both sides an argument, that way you can make and take informed decisions and actions. No such thing as failure and do not be afraid to make mistakes, no matter how careful you are, they will happen, so don't stress it, use that energy for getting things done. When mistakes do happen, own them, be accountable and learn from them. Your mistakes and those made by others are all part of what makes you. They are as important was your successes and make sure you add them to your building experience and knowledge. These lessons can be applied anywhere and will increase your personal resilience. You own your career, no one else, take those opportunities that fit.
Career path
Facilities Project Manager
Phoenix Group
Started 06/2015 to Presenttoo many to list individually
British Army
From 01/1996 to 04/2015Company
What do you like about your job and the company?
Key source of immense personal satisfaction and motivation, is seeing the change that has been planned, resources aligned and budget secured etc, is watching the plan unfold and the change being instigated/delivered with a variety of different levels of involvement from myself (depends on the project or impact on the customer or business).
Greatest achievements
The project management and delivery of concurrent projects to refurbish our office space at 2 different sites (130 miles apart) while minimising the impact to the business using the existing space. The worst bit was as we were nearing completion the principal contractor went into administration and as project manager had to pick up the remaining deliverables in short order to keep to schedule and work with multiple suppliers overnight. Awful at the time but we got through and delivered, that built up reserve of experience, knowledge and importantly resilience over my careers was critical to my personal, team and project success. Over the entire projects (almost 2 years) I saw things all the way through from start to finish and handed back the refurbished space back to Operations/BAU. It took all of my skills, experience and knowledge in operations, project and change management to deliver. All of which was made worthwhile by watching people utilise, with enthusiasm the office space we had envisaged, created and delivered to them.
David B
Senior Risk Manager
Top Insider Advice
Only you will truly know yourself and what you do and do not like. When you are deciding on a role you have to weigh up is it appropriate for you, but also what is your 'gut feel'. Not just about the role, but the people and organisation. You will spend many years of your life in the workplace, so it is critical you enjoy what you do. I have been fortunate in that 95% of time I have loved the work, experiences and people I have worked with. There will always be tasks we don't quiet enjoy, but it is my fondness for the role which has kept me here for 22 years
Stuart T
Operational Governance & Control Consultant
Top Insider Advice
When i joined the first financial institution i worked for, initially working in customer services, i had two goals in mind: 1. I knew Customer Services was not for me long-term, and i wanted to move to a more admin based role as soon as possible. I achieved this within a year of joining the first financial institution i worked for. 2. Standard Life had a great reputation and were well known in the City i worked in as being a great place to work. When i took my first job in financial services my goal was to ultimately join Standard Life but i knew i required some experience in the industry before doing so. After two years in Financial Services i successfully applied for my first role at Standard Life. This was a great decision for my career and i remain at Standard Life/Phoenix to this day, many years later.
Jane A
Employer Brand Manager
Top Insider Advice
If you love doing something but don't have the 'typical' experience for the role, try it anyway or find a company who will give you the opportunity to. At Phoenix and in my previous roles I have tried new things either side-of-desk or via trying a new job and I've learned a lot by doing that. I think ultimately trying different things has led me to be really happy in my current job as I've figured out my strengths and what I genuinely enjoy doing. I appreciate that you need the right environment for that and I've been fortunate enough to work for a couple of organisations who have focused on internal talent and development opportunities. This year I'm doing work in areas that I didn't know much about 12 months ago, and learning about more complex topics and processes which may not outwardly be directly associated with my day-to-day job but will help me when I'm considering what's next!
