Unique direction

A surprising first day

“It’s your first day on the graduate program at Capgemini Singapore. Thanks to your military service, you arrive early and sit in reception glancing down at your socks. These are not just ordinary socks: These are lucky socks you’ve designed yourself. 
 
“At last, you’re brought into the office and wait nervously to be introduced to your new colleagues. And one of the first people you meet is none other than… Gaurav Modi, chief executive officer of South East Asia and Hong Kong, the most senior Capgemini employee in the region!” 
 
This is exactly what happened to Ethan Lee when he joined the program in October 2019, after finishing his degree from the University of Buffalo, New York, where he majored in economics. “We were really surprised,” says Ethan. “It’s the last thing you expect. I found it amazing that from the start we were face-to-face with one of the company’s leaders.” 

Encouraging fresh thinking

Meeting a senior manager on his first day made a big impression on Ethan, one that has stayed with him ever since. “Right away, Gaurav made us realize we don’t have to be fearful of our superiors. He portrayed an environment that encourages fresh thinking and new ideas, and a company that would help us grow into the people we wanted to be.”

According to Ethan, who came to Capgemini without much experience of IT, this message really resonated with him. “To me, it meant that – despite my then limited level of technical knowledge – my ideas, my solutions, and even my thought processes when approaching a project would be seen as valuable.”

Choosing your own path

An encouragement to find one’s own unique path is a theme that Ethan has experienced again and again with Capgemini. “At every stage, I’ve felt free to choose what I want to do. Our graduate program lead asked us individually what we wanted to get from the scheme. I asked to be involved in a project because, from my internships, I knew it would be a great way to get experience.”

An officer and a sock designer

Ethan was able to draw on his experience of being a commissioned signals officer in the Singapore Armed Forces. “In Singapore, all young men are conscripted for national service for two years, and I led a team responsible for network maintenance and restructuring. It gave me confidence and skills for convincing others in my peer group to see my point of view.” 

While sock design may not be a widely shared interest among Capgemini graduates, such a sense of creativity, entrepreneurship, and adventure can be a great asset for bringing innovative ideas to a project!