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Isobel Adams | Infrastructure Pre Sales Manager for the Outsourcing Services division at LogicaCMG | Great Britain
Name: Isobel Adams
Age: 22
Education: BA (Hons) Business and IT (First Class) from University of Wales, Lampeter. Currently undertaking a part-time MSc in Management at Glamorgan University.
Isobel joined LogicaCMG in September 2003 as a management graduate and is now the Infrastructure Pre Sales Manager for the Outsourcing Services division.
1 Job Orientation
1.1 When did you decide doing vocational training in IT
After the first year of my A Levels (approximately 1999) I changed my career focus towards IT and began researching suitable University degrees.
Throughout my degree I had no doubt that this was the career for me and actively started applying for IT graduate schemes with blue-chip companies from September 2003. I joined LogicaCMG on the IT management scheme in September 2003.
1.2 Why do you think did you choose this specific education?
I had always held an interest in IT since my father is heavily involved in computing and I have been fortunate enough to have grown up in an IT literate home. Much of my initial interest in IT was further developed by self-taught efforts.
IT has always excited me and it is a very dynamic environment. I am the sort of person who gets bored easily and for me, IT is ideal because it is constantly changing and evolving.
1.3 Who supported you doing your career decision phase?
My parents, friends etc. Whilst I was not known as a geek, I was considered IT literate amongst my friends and they would look to me for help and assistance (and still do!). I received a fair amount of support from my College lecturers, but I was pro-active in looking for suitable University courses and did not tend to rely on other people (such as the careers service) for support.
It was likewise for my choice to work for LogicaCMG, in terms of the support I received from friends and family. This involved a significant change for me since I moved 120 miles from home for this job. The support was further extended here by the considerable support I received from my University lecturers. Whilst they were not influential in my choice of company, they actively supported my decision to apply for IT graduate schemes and to consider roles all over the country (as well as internationally).
1.4 What is needed to change career counselling?
I believe that part of the problem is that people are not pro-active enough in considering the career opportunities open to them. In essence, careers services and employees can only go so far in encouraging people to apply. To an extent I would say that there is an element of “meeting half way” – both sides (the employees and the employers) need to be pro-active.
One thing worth noting is that due to Lampeter’s size and geographical location, they do not receive a number of visits from graduate employers on the milk rounds. During my time there we were limited to visits from the armed forces and I do not recall any visits from other graduate recruiters such as GCHQ, LogicaCMG or Accenture. However, in my eyes, students should not see this as an excuse but should actively seek out opportunities and attend national careers fairs and other milk round presentations.
2 Educational training
2.1 Did your expectations and wishes about the vocational training come true?
I can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of my IT and business degree – even the programming modules which did not come easily to me! In terms of expectations, yes it was everything I expected.
In terms of my role at LogicaCMG, this was a new venture for the company as they had traditionally taken on graduates on an IT graduate scheme with a focus on technical skills. The scheme I started on was more driven towards developing management skills. Due to the relevant youth of the scheme, the expectations have changed throughout the duration.
2.2 What is it you especially like in your vocational training?
In terms of my degree I enjoyed the variety of the modules I was able to choose from. For me, I wanted to get a broad understanding and shied away from the technical focus of a computer science degree (hence my decision to study for the degree I did).
In my current role at LogicaCMG now, I do not have any specific IT responsibilities and certainly do not spend my time programming. My job definitely isn’t a stereotypical IT job; I don’t write code and I spend a lot of time talking to people from different departments.
2.3 Would you choose the same vocational training again?
Without a doubt
2.4 You have the chance to do advertisement for your profession. Please give us some good reasons why to choose this job.
I work in the outsourcing business services unit of LogicaCMG. We are a major international force in outsourcing services for clients across diverse markets. I act as a point of contact between colleagues who write bids and those who provide the actual services, making sure they have the correct resources and information. An important part of my job is to increase awareness within specific areas within LogicaCMG of new business coming through.
My job definitely isn’t a stereotypical IT job; I don’t write code and I spend a lot of time talking to people. However, I do have an excellent understanding of how IT systems can be applied to help a business run effectively and what LogicaCMG can provide. I love the variety of work I get to do. IT is always developing, so I know that I’ll never get bored and there are many different opportunities open to me as I progress in my career.
3 Differences women and men
3.1 Women are still underrepresented in IT profession, why do you think this is the case?
I can agree with this statement since of the 9 graduates that were taken on this particular graduate scheme, I was the only woman. Whilst I do not have specific data, I can say from observations that there are proportionally more males than females within LogicaCMG.
My opinion is that IT is seen as a male dominated environment. Whilst this may be true, I would not consider this a barrier to entry, in the same way that men should not be put off from applying for roles in traditionally female dominated industries.
In addition, when most people consider IT roles, it is traditionally highly technical roles which come to mind. However, as hopefully I have shown by my own example, not all IT roles are technical.
One issue is because of the way that the education system is set up in the UK, students are often forced to choose their career path relatively early (like at age 16) so by the time they come to make their choices for University, it is more of a foregone conclusion. There is less opportunity here for graduate recruiters to encourage female applicants if there are a limited number of female IT graduates in the first instance.
3.2 What are some typical prejudices which maybe also appeared to you?
In the press there have been reports of pay differences between top male and female IT managers. Whilst I can only comment from the career level that I am currently in, I can say there are no differences and we are judged on our performance compared to our peers, with no reference to our gender. This performance review is the same throughout the organisation at all levels.
One thing I would say is that women in IT are often seen as more approachable and posses more of the ‘people’ skills, as well as stronger organisational skills. Whilst this may be the case, we still have a job to do in the same way men in IT do.
3.3 What would you advice girls who also want to go into IT?
Do your research and be pro-active. Consider all opportunities available to you. Do not be put off by the stereotypical view of the IT industry (though I think this is changing) and think about what YOU want to do, not what other people THINK you should do.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
What made you choose the degree you did?
Due to the choice of A Levels that I had undertaken, which excluded maths, I knew I was restricted from applying for computer science courses. However, since I knew that I did not want to be known as a ‘technical expert’ I wanted a course that would give me a broad understanding and provide a basis on which to build. Therefore, the lack of maths A Level did not hinder me in anyway, since that was not the route I wanted to go anyway.
Why did you choose the University you did?
Coming from a rural town in Dorset, I knew that I would not be suited to city life at this stage of my life. Lampeter was a perfect choice for me since the course was exactly what I was looking for and Lampeter was a perfect location. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Lampeter and whilst I realise it is not for everyone because of its rural location, it was definitely the right choice for me. In any case, I did my research and visited all the Universities to which I was considering applying.