I never knew what I wanted to do as a career, even after uni. At first, I thought maybe an architect, which pivoted drastically to perhaps a doctor during my A-levels, culminating in studying Medical Sciences for my actual degree.
However, I quickly realised that labs and pipettes weren’t my thing, and instead I realised what I was good at and did enjoy. I liked managing people and working on bigger projects, but this still didn’t naturally translate to a clear career ambition post-uni. So, like many others, I decided to go travelling instead… this was in 2020, so you can guess what happened next.
COVID meant that, instead, I dotted about doing odd jobs for a while, including working at Lord’s cricket ground where they offered a management training scheme which I undertook and passed. And, around that time, I saw (well, my Mum spotted) the advert for BAE Systems - a Graduate Delivery Manager role as part of their Digital Intelligence business.
It was a project management role, the brief looked suitable, the words ‘digital intelligence’ were cool, and I liked the idea of working in cyber and with big national clients.
Why not?
Learning by doing
I started at BAE Systems in January 2022, and - to be honest - didn’t know exactly what I’d be doing there. I think that was the point though, and it was certainly one of its appeals. The advert was purposefully not tailored to techies or coders or cyber experts. It was highlighting the need for general skills – being a team player, a people person, someone who has strong attention to detail. All under the banner of a cool sounding industry.
Even the term ‘delivery manager’ was quite overarching, but in fact I began in more of a project manager position, dealing with account administration. That was a nice starting point as it allowed me to learn about how projects are built and what their purposes are.
Since then, my trajectory has still not specifically taken me into delivery manager territory yet, as - since September 2022 - I’ve been working within the business analysis function, getting more involved in the nitty gritty of it all.
I’ve really enjoyed this side of things, exposing me to the wider sector and use cases, very much as part of a ‘learning by doing’ structure. I have six months left as a graduate before - hopefully, seamlessly - transitioning into a full-time delivery manager role where I’ll revert back to more of the project management tasks again.
A culture of equality
Over this first year, I’ve been asked a few times about how it feels being a woman in cyber, or working with the arms and defence industry. Maybe I haven’t been faced by that imbalance as much within Digital Intelligence, but on the whole I would say BAE Systems is helping to get away from gender stereotypes.
That being said, I did assume the department would be more male dominated. It’s not something that intimidates me having grown up with two brothers and a lot of guy friends, but it’s certainly something that I’m aware of within tech, that might influence some women’s decision to work in the sector.
You shouldn’t have to enter a company to find out about gender balance initiatives, but being within this organisation, you can see the results of their equality efforts. I remember meeting some senior female employees very early on, who gave me the lowdown on the company’s strengths around equality – maternity leave, female health, homeworking patterns and the like.
It’s a good example of how to run a company. Firstly, that the advert itself didn’t give me any idea that this wouldn’t be suitable for a young female graduate like me, and secondly that the culture once in the business is also geared towards equality.
Yes, it would be nice to see even more women in leadership roles, but I’m surrounded by women – my career manager is female, as was my mentor, and as is my own buddy/mentee now. I certainly don’t feel outnumbered in Digital Intelligence from that perspective.
Career choices don’t have to be made at 17
Not knowing exactly what Digital Intelligence did, or at least not knowing the scope, was actually a good thing I think. I’ve moved around departments and roles picking up new knowledge in each case. But what got me here to begin with was my skill set – skills that a lot of people could own or develop regardless of gender or background.
There was obviously a holistic approach taken to the graduate scheme as a whole. And over the final few months of my graduate experience I’ll certainly look to play my part to pass on the message that you don’t need to have a business or tech background to thrive in this environment. Picking uni courses at 17 shouldn’t dictate your overall career, in the same way that being a certain gender shouldn’t. BAE Systems has given me the flexibility to find what I’m good at and apply my skills as part of a potential career.
Mostly, that flexibility is enabled by the people already here. I’ve met some great, really nice people, from all walks of life, education backgrounds, young, old, male, female. More than anything, that culture and these people make me excited for my next steps here.
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