I joined Arm in July 2019 as an Apprentice Business Analyst, in Digital IT. My career before becoming a Mum was in the Financial Services industry. When my children started secondary education, I had a part time role at a large sports facility. My duties ranged from receptionist, cooking for large functions, tennis coach, being caretaker Manager for a few months, and everything in between. I left that role to pursue a career in IT. This may seem like a strange leap, but it was something that I have always wanted to have a go at, my children did not need me quite so much, and sitting idle is not something I am good at.
My role in Digital IT has been varied too, I have worked on three projects so far; Product Download Hub, a Global Payroll Project for a couple of months and I have been working with the Employee Central (People Group (HR) core system) Enhancement team. There have been many challenges, and lots of change on top of the projects I have been involved in since I started 18 months ago. I have had 4 Mentors so far – I promise it was circumstance, and not me, that resulted in multiple changes! When people told me “it is a fast-paced environment” they were not kidding. I am getting used to that pace as normal. I spend a lot of time engaging with the People Group, and they are great to work with, but despite it being “their” system there are multiple systems that use the data held within in it, so I have met Stakeholders from all over the business for example Analytics, Finance, and the Workplace Team.
A requirement of the 18-month Level 4 Apprenticeship program was to attend British Computing Society courses, and take the exams. I had not sat an exam in over 20 years, but here I am with 4 certificates and 1 exam to go. I am not the typical age you may associate with an Apprentice. Thinking back to my first day, it was IT Quarterly planning day, which mirrored, what I imagine to be like, the atmosphere of the trading floor during a stock market crash! Honestly, I felt terrified. I know there are things that I would have appreciated on my first day, week and month, but I was too scared to ask. I hope that I can use my own experience to help anyone making a similar leap. The challenges I have faced during my Apprenticeship will be different to those met by school leavers and graduates, but I believe we can all bring something as individuals to benefit Arm, and with that, help to continue the work in creating a diverse and inclusive space we can all thrive in.
