More Than a Job
_{Two Decades of Passion and Progress at Capgemini}

21 years and counting… 

When you ask someone to sit down and reflect on their career and how they ended up where they are today or what lead them to this point, it can be a daunting exercise especially when your journey in the same company has been as long as mine.  

Like many women who work in the IT technology industry, this was not my career of choice and did not align with what I studied at university. I started off in Marketing and Business Communications, back in South Africa, hoping that I would end up writing catchy slogans and working on global brand advertising. But the need to see places and experience cultures outside of my home country led me to the UK all those years ago and I have never left. A chance opportunity at a small IT firm in London managing a team of Deskside Engineers grew into a career as it is today; and I now sit at Capgemini working in the Transition world within Managed Services. Back in 2003 I joining as part of TUPE deal for a local London council and soon realised that a company like Capgemini can offer so much more than just the technical streams you would think.  

In order to stay in a place for as long as I have, you have to be kept intrigued, challenged and constantly have the chance to learn. But above all else the people you meet on the way are the primary reason for sticking around – supportive, mentoring, fun and in some cases truly inspirational.  

Circumstances change, and Capgemini prides itself on flexibility and understanding its workforce. Becoming a parent did not mean that I had to step away from my role but instead meant I was able to carve a role in the transition world, where working flexibly became an accepted norm. Teaming up with clients on championing the flexible working mantra and demonstrating that working fewer days didn’t mean your quality of work suffered (sometimes it still surprises people that I work fewer days than others).  

Thinking back to when I first started in this industry, the heavily male-dominated offices and meetings could’ve put me in a position where I didn’t feel comfortable to speak up or share my opinions. Luckily the ethos and the culture at Capgemini really pushes those boundaries here and the gender balance is so much stronger nowadays. Groups like Between Us, which links people across the business who are interested in establishing connections as ‘friends’ rather than colleagues especially as project-driven deadlines and remote working can mean we don’t have as many coffee break moments to catch about life and all things personal. Our mentoring programmes for women, and career counselling are all the types of things that make you want to get involved and keep the talent coming in.  

I have tried to pinpoint a single moment in my career that made a difference, which has been quite hard to do as there have been so many incredible key moments. 

Here is my roundup of my ‘best bits’ so far; visiting the Les Fontaines campus for various training and kick off events and building an amazing network, being included in a mentor and protégé programme for top talent with life coaches and executive presence coaching, delivering some of the most complex and exciting transitions and seeing your clients names in the headlines knowing you safely made their transition a success and finally meeting so many people who are friends for life!  

Outside of work I am passionate about sustainability (having been able to further that through Capgemini in my day-to-day job via like-minded communities), adore gardening, and cooking (some of what I grow) and am training to be a yoga instructor so watch out, one day I may be arranging a lunchtime yoga session near you.   We’re currently hiring for a number of roles across manages Services, and beyond.