{"id":570800,"date":"2022-07-13T04:26:28","date_gmt":"2022-07-13T04:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.capgemini.com\/gb-en\/?post_type=employee-testimonial&p=570800"},"modified":"2025-09-25T10:08:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T10:08:35","slug":"krystine","status":"publish","type":"employee-testimonial","link":"https:\/\/www.capgemini.com\/gb-en\/careers\/meet-our-people\/krystine\/","title":{"rendered":"Krystine"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/header>\n\n\n
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\u201c<\/strong>I joined Capgemini on the Returner programme as a Business Analyst with BTS, in September 2018.“<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I had previously worked as a consultant with a business and IT consultancy and had chosen to take a career break of around 15 years, to focus on family.  In fact, I did the reverse of what most women do \u2013 I stopped working when the children started<\/em> school rather than going back to work at that time.  I participated in their school and after school activities as much as I could \u2013 in the classroom, on excursions, class parent representative, and held office on school parent governing bodies.  During this time, I also managed a small IT consultancy with my husband and did some occasional work for clients.  All of which helped keep my skills up to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had always planned to return to my career sometime \u2013 I didn\u2019t want to just return to the workforce, I wanted my career back.  So, as my youngest child was nearing the end of her school years, I decided the time was right.  But I faced the double issue of not just having had a long career break, but I was also a lot older than I imagined most applicants would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These factors combined to mean that I had very little confidence in my ability to land a position and, more importantly, do the job to a level I would be happy with.  With a break of 15 years I felt this lack of confidence was completely rational but very hard to overcome.  Doing so was my biggest challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I applied for a couple of business analyst roles, but it was clear (though never actually stated) that I wasn\u2019t really being considered for roles, I can only assume, because of the gap in my CV and perhaps my age.  During this time, I had some significant set-backs and I was close to giving up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my searches I happened upon the Women Returners organisation and attended their first conference in London in 2017.  Initially I was really nervous.  On meeting other attendees, I began to think I had left it too late \u2013 I felt like (and probably was) the oldest person in the room and the one with the longest career break.  I certainly had the longest career break of anyone I met in the room that day.  Most people I spoke to seemed much younger, with breaks of only a couple of years.  But I was determined, and I got enough encouragement to persevere.  I spent the next few months updating my skills with a course in Data Science and some BCS business analysis certifications.  Just to prove to myself that I could refresh my skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As my daughter\u2019s departure for university loomed ever closer, I applied for several returnships \u2013 I had a few rejections but progressed to the assessment day with one of them and second interview and eventually a job offer from another.  So, my confidence was growing but I wasn\u2019t there yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around this time, I attended the Capgemini returnship launch event in Holborn and was blown away.  I was really impressed with the senior management briefings and welcome, and the consulting nature of the business was a much closer match to my background than any other returnship I had come across thus far.  I applied and was invited in for interview \u2013 I remember the day of my interview in London \u2013 it was a glorious summer day and I thought the interview went very well.  I emerged from the building on a bit of a high, in time to enjoy the latter part of the RAF centenary flypast overhead.  I was on top of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually I was offered a place on the returners programme and officially started in September 2018, two weeks before my daughter went off to uni.  Perfect timing.  After a few days induction in London I was back home to Somerset to \u201cfind my feet\u201d until I was assigned a project.  It turned out that this was probably the hardest part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was still worrying could I do the work, was I too old, would I be accepted by the team, even, how would I be able to keep going with the other activities in my life like choir, that I loved so much?  Although I had strong support from HR and BTS was working hard to find me a project, I was on the bench for  what seemed like an age and I did feel isolated.  This didn\u2019t help my confidence and, as time dragged on, I began to really doubt myself again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tried to keep busy, focussing on taking the next step.  I did some online training and spoke to a few people via Skype, joined some capability groups and travelled up to the London office a few times so that I felt part of the team but it was always a bit of a gamble as to who would be in the office on those days, so that didn\u2019t always work out as well as I had hoped.   I tried, as best I could, to get involved in finding a project and promoting myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After two months, I was assigned to a project in the north of England, as a Business Analyst on an agile project. The travelling was a bit of an adjustment, being required to be on site 4 days each week, but once there, I quickly realised that while the work environment had changed, (skype calls, virtual teams etc), the work itself hadn\u2019t, even with agile.  And, no-one knew (or could tell) I was on the returners programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest surprise, and the greatest relief of all was that it was like I had never had a break.  The transition back to work had been almost seamless, once I was working on a project.  And, worrying about my age?  It was all in my head as I have never even had a hint of it being an issue.  In fact, if anything people assume, as a more senior member of the team, you\u2019re in charge, so it can be a positive.  Bottom line is that if you can do the work, it\u2019s actually not an issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have moved on from the project up north, leaving with excellent feedback from both the client and the team, and am already working on another account.  And, still, no-one knows I\u2019m a returner unless I tell them \u2013 I\u2019m back in the game!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, I still have the odd bout of imposter syndrome from time to time but talking to other team members, even the younger ones, we all do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what have I learned?<\/p>\n\n\n\n