Growing up
Being born in the 80s, by the time school came around computers were still a luxury. I remember there being lots of “computers for schools” initiatives back then like collecting yoghurt pot lids and supermarket tokens.
My dad was a mechanical engineer in the army and my mum is very good mathematically, she was the budget control centre for the family to make sure there was always food on the table and all bills were paid. I guess I have gained my capability for STEM subjects from both.
Education
I liked school in general, I was very quiet and not at all athletic, but I had a good group of friends and achieved decent grades. My favourite subjects were Science and Business Studies, however, when I started to look at college and university subjects, my interest swayed towards Business and IT.
My degree was great; it spanned Business, Law and Computer Science and allowed me to fit it to my main interests. During my course I realised I was keen to understand the use of tech in business and tailored my degree towards that.
I partly went to university to gain more time in deciding what I wanted to do. I was the first person in my family to go to university, so it wasn’t just the done thing. At the time I remember being really confused about what specific careers existed. I knew what I was interested in and that it could lead to some sort of career, but there wasn’t much information back then to help me see specifically what I could do.
Career
My first proper job was in Decision Systems and I loved it so much that I’ve remained in that field for 18 years. The thing I love most about it is that it’s tech and business combined, understanding both sides helps us deliver the changes the business needs.
Decision systems are a crucial part of any credit provider. We enable automated decisions to be made so that companies can assess hundreds of thousands of credit applications/accounts in a day. To do this manually would massively reduce the number of credit decisions a company could make leading to poor customer experience.
I used to develop these systems but now I lead a team of people who do this. When I first started out, I would have thought leadership wasn’t for me. However, when the opportunity arose, I challenged myself to go for it and am pleased I did.
I love helping people grow. My days are filled with delivery management, strategic planning and creating controls. However, my absolute favourite part of the job is getting to speak to my team. I love getting to know them, helping them when they need it and celebrating their achievements.
I have been in my role for only a year, so my immediate plans are to be the best I can at it. After that, who knows what the future may hold…I plan to enjoy where I am for now.
This article was written by Nicola Pallett from NewDay. Want to find out more? Connect with Nicola on LinkedIn >>
