My career path...

After university, I didn't have a clear roadmap for my career. But working on the university help desk while studying sparked a passion for supporting students. This, alongside the fact that I loved the university environment, planted the seed for a career in Higher Education.

My first role at Leeds Beckett following university was as an admin assistant in the student immigration advice and compliance team, before moving into course admin. I then went on to share a team leader role during a maternity cover and really enjoyed taking on more responsibilities and being a line manager.

The fact that I've now worked in roles at every grade between 2-6 might suggest a fairly linear route, but I'd definitely say that my path has been 'squiggly' within that. I've pivoted a bit between different roles and areas.

Some career turning points...

After acting up I was keen to keep using my team leader skills, so I actually briefly left for a role at Bradford, only to return to Leeds Beckett, drawn back by the supportive culture and familiar environment. 

Whilst there’s been times in the past where I might have been unsure about where my next move may be or the overall plan for my career, I’ve found that being willing to go outside my comfort zone and taking people up on the opportunities available has helped to keep things moving along.
I also think that it’s been helpful to not be too focussed on a particular role or area. For me it’s been more about being clear about what’s important to me - my love for the university environment and supporting people. 

Following a few roles in course admin and immigration advice, I applied for the Professional Placement Team Leader role, confident in my transferable skills. I’ve been in the role for around two years now. Whilst moving into an experienced team with lots of knowledge already was daunting at first, I just tried to be open and honest in recognising that and trying to show what I could bring with a new perspective.

The aspects of my job that I enjoy the most...

The thing that I enjoy most in my role is seeing the team develop - celebrating achievements or supporting people to do something different as part of their role. Utilising the school's 'learning leave' initiative and policy, I'm a big advocate for encouraging colleagues to explore new opportunities, which might include job shadowing to understand different roles or volunteering. I recently read in a local school, for example.

The team is amazing! Key to this is understanding all our skills sets and appreciating that there's a real strength in the diversity of the team. I see it as like a jigsaw puzzle, where each piece brings unique value and contributions. But at the heart of it we all want to achieve the same thing - ensuring an incredible experience for our students.

A big thing in the Carnegie School of Education is social justice and supporting the diverse range of schools and students we work with. Our students might be the first in their family to go to university, like I was, and they might not realise the potential they have or the range of careers and things that they can go in to. So, we're really trying to work with them on building their confidence and help them to have a clear path and successful careers. I find this really rewarding.

Inspired by others...

My former team leader when I started in the school, Rosie, was a major influence for me. I learnt a lot from seeing how she created a safe, supportive environment and prioritised wellbeing. She wanted to get the best out of everyone and encouraged me to get involved in different things and explore what I enjoyed. I've taken this people-first ethos with me, always valuing the importance of work-life balance and development.

I've always been very open to development opportunities and have leaned on the university community. I've learnt a lot from everyone I've worked alongside and taken up lots of opportunities. This includes mentoring, which helped me to feel confident and empowered in what I was doing, and completing a coaching qualification, which has given me confidence to have deeper conversations and to support others in finding their own answers.

Three things that best sum up my career so far...

I still feel early on my career (it's eight years since I left university), I can see how I have grown as a person during that time, and I'd go back to the word 'squiggly'.

More about the Professional Placement Team...

The team works with nearly 800 partner schools across the region, matching students to placements to help them achieve Qualified Teacher Status or gain valuable work-based learning experiences and develop employability skills.

There are some exciting opportunities coming up for the team, with significant new projects and increasing variety in our work. For example, we're aiming to shift the focus toward partnerships with local schools and organisations, building mutually beneficial relationships, as one idea to think creatively about how we do things.