Describe your background and how you got into IT
I started my career at Provident in 1985 as a temporary filing clerk and moved through various clerical roles until finally moving into a helpdesk environment about 13 years ago. I picked up the bug for technical and customer support here and rapidly increased my technical knowledge by taking up an applications support role (2nd line) and being sponsored by the company to complete further education and went to Huddersfield University, part time for 3 years and attained a distinction HND in Computing and a post graduate certificate in Information Systems. From there I became a Junior Programmer/Analyst and then a Development Team Leader. I have held various posts since then, picking up a breadth of knowledge across most IT disciplines.
I am currently the Support Services Manager with responsibility for the Service Desk and Applications Support, 1st, 2nd and 3rd line support with approximately 40 line management responsibilities.
What do you like best about working in IT?
The variety, the disparate technologies, the opportunity to consult on various new initiatives, the ability to develop people and their skills and ultimately helping our users and customers get the best service from us and getting the best out of the technology they use.
Why did you choose a career in IT in the first place?
It was a natural progression really as originally I aspired to become a forensic pathologist !! believe it or not?
What have been the highlights of your career so far?
Continuing to be engaged and really enjoy the job. Meeting lots of people and developing them to be the best they can be. Being awarded the University school prize for the best final year HND project – a web based knowledge base and KMS still in use today. Being respected and sought out to collaborate or consult on new projects.
What are your career aspirations?
At the moment I aspire to making our service desk world class, after that………a head of function, preferably in the IT Support and Operational arena………even longer term? I guess an IT Director !!!
What are your tips for success?
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t know something!
- Get a good mentor or someone you aspire to be like
- Never turn down a challenge
- Have a good family support network
What books / websites etc. would you recommend?
- The BCS have a good women’s forum
- Charlene from the Blackberry awards is very inspirational for women in IT
Can you share a few words of wisdom for those people who are thinking about pursuing a career in IT?
- Not all who work in IT are geeks!!!
- Try everything until you find something you like
- There is no harm in starting at the beginning such as a Helpdesk or Service Desk, it gives you the variety to decide if and where you would like to specialise
How important do think your education or background has been in influencing your career choices?
I would definitely recommend at least the HND Computing course.
My education hasn’t really influenced my career decisions, but it has certainly helped me to get a good all round understanding.
Do you think it might have been a different story, of "how you got to where you are now", if you'd been a man?
Not sure, IT is still very male oriented but women are bringing personality and fun to IT !!!
Tell us a little about your life outside of work
- I play darts in a Yorkshire Super League Team
- I do salsasize once a week
- I read fantasy books – a break from reality !!
- I spend time with the family and socialise with friends
Do you think that there are obvious differences between what men and women have to offer an IT department?
Not really, we just have to get more women into IT for people to see there are no differences, because there is a disparage in numbers at the moment it just looks like men do better at it.
Are you aware of any preconceptions or stereotypes of women in IT, and if so what do you think of them?
I guess people think women are or get emotional about things and situations, I however would prefer to describe it as a passion for doing it right.
What do you think could be done to actively encourage more women to join the technology market place in general?
We women need to get out there and promote it. We could also take on more female apprentices – in fact we should encourage the re-introduction of graduate trainee programmes where take-on is evenly split between male and female
Do you think enough is currently being done to counterbalance what has become an obvious lack of women in technology?
Things like this help and also awards like the Blackberry women in technology one
If you could give young women looking for a position in the IT market place a single piece of advice what would it be?
Don’t discount a career in IT as being geeky, it’s not, there is much more to IT than programming and taking computers apart. We actually excel in planning, project management, analysis, design, support, customer service, management and multi skilling. | 