After starting her career in the finance industry, Clare Greenhalgh joined Informed Solutions to pursue her interest in the tech sector and is now leading Informed Solutions’ early careers recruitment programme.
Here, Clare talks about her own career journey, and how that has informed her current role in supporting the career development of other young professionals.
Finding the Right Career for Me
For three years I studied IT and Business Management at the University of Manchester, but after graduating, I wasn’t sure what career path I wanted to take. Despite having good exposure to the IT industry at university, I still wasn’t convinced there was a perfect role for me within the tech world. Now, it’s an important part of my job to dispel the myth that you have to study computer science and make sure that others know about the varied opportunities in the sector.
I had been working in the insurance and financial services sector for a couple of years when a friend from university told me about an opportunity in the People Services team at Informed Solutions. As I have always been sociable and love working with people, coupled with my interest with the tech industry, I knew I had to apply.
On being offered the job, the idea of doing something more technically hands-on still appealed to me, but working in tech from a people perspective has turned out to be much better suited to my own skills and interests. Additionally, through regular contact with Informed’s Project Services team, I am still able to satisfy my curiosity about software development, hear all about the exciting work they are doing, and get involved where I am able.
Supporting Early Careers Development
My main responsibility at Informed is to coordinate early careers and graduate recruitment. When recruiting early career professionals, we typically look for people who have completed a graduate programme and are looking for a new challenge. Graduate programmes are a great opportunity for people who are open-minded, keen to try out lots of different things, and are looking to build a long-term career.
At Informed, our graduate programme is designed to give people the chance to explore a variety of different roles and specialisms. As such, we look for and attract people with a range of educational backgrounds, from Maths or Computer Science to Humanities, Modern Languages, and the Arts. My job is to find people who don’t just fit the role descriptions, but those that can add to the strength of our culture and have a strong bond with our values.
Supporting people as they progress in their careers is incredibly rewarding. I attend all the internal end-of-graduate presentations and it’s amazing to see how far people can develop within two years through the breadth and depth of roles and projects they have experienced.
Our People
The people we recruit at Informed are given hands-on experience of projects, which are not only interesting, but help to make the world a smarter, safer, greener, and healthier place. Exposure to these kinds of projects, as well as the highly knowledgeable consultants who work on them, makes Informed a great place to kick-start your career.
One of the best things about working at Informed is the sense of teamwork that is shared across the business. Despite working on some very large-scale projects, it is easy for colleagues at Informed to get to know each other and build relationships. From support through the buddy scheme, and the graduate cohort social events we organise, to the detailed induction plans developed with line managers and expert curation of the InformedACADEMY® curriculum, we put a great deal of effort into helping new joiners settle in and develop early career learning and development pathways.
As a member of the People Services team, I put this supportive environment down to the fact that we hire like-minded individuals, who all share the same values and ambitions. Whether it be working alongside each other on projects, going for drinks after work, or running 10ks together, the people at Informed cultivate a supportive environment in which it feels like everyone is contributing to the same goal.
Future Leaders
All of our graduates are employed because of their future potential and its great to see a significant and growing percentage stay with us once they have completed the programme.
It’s extremely rewarding to see people continue their professional development with us and know that I have played a part in setting them off on their career journey. A number of our senior colleagues have been with the business upwards of 10, 15 and 20 years, having all started their careers as graduates at Informed. To have such great role models is extremely motivating to the younger generation.
We have now opened the next graduate application window for our 2024 intake, and I’m already excited about identifying potential future leaders for Informed and the wider tech sector, as well as starting them off on their career path.
Could you be a part of our next graduate cohort? Find out more here: Informed.com/Careers/Graduate-Programme
