Opportunity and development from a graduate’s perspective
I joined Civica in 2019 as a Marketing Graduate after graduating from Sheffield Hallam University with a First Class BA Honours in Business Studies. Following my placement year in London, I was looking to join the rat race in the capital. Luckily, I was open to other opportunities!
After lots of job interviews and train journeys, I soon had numerous offers, mainly based in London. I chose to join Civica in Bristol as I believed in Civica as a company, the opportunity, the people and their values.
As this was my first ‘proper’ job since graduating, my main priorities were to join a company with an impressive yet caring corporate culture, with the resources and ability to support my development and career progression. Civica’s a tech company in one of the biggest growing markets so this was the perfect opportunity to get experience.
I was extremely grateful to be part of Civica when the pandemic hit. The amount of support, kind messages and genuine care I received during this time was truly touching. On my return to work with long-covid, all my teams also ensured I was taking it easy, at my pace, adapting my calls and workloads. Civica supported everyone throughout the pandemic, whether it was their physical health or general morale.
Fast forward 18 months…
I’ve been rewarded with a promotion. I’m now a fully-fledged Marketing Executive. In the past 18 months, I’ve built on my knowledge of Pensions, Financials and recently Payments, while supporting four other areas.
What have I learnt? To do the job well you have to know the aims/market very well and align these to our business objectives and sales targets. You’ll need to be a good networker and pay attention to the little things, there’s always a marketing opportunity with the right people!
We’re encouraged to share ideas across business units and since all our job roles are quite different, and we all have unique perspectives – it’s great for new ideas and collaborations.
Civica’s a company that looks to make an impact with its own stakeholders. Every year, Civica employees donate one fully-paid working day towards voluntary work.
You can choose to donate to a charity of your choice, or alternatively take part in one of the many donate-a-day initiatives across the Civica Group. This year over 30 of us from across the country took part in Civica’s annual hike up Pen y Fan, the highest peak in South Wales. We raised over £1,200 which was incredible!
I think the key to my successful development is finding people within the business to give me advice and guidance. The broader the better, whether it was the Marketing team, your people rep or just colleagues you look up to.
Praise is also important, especially being in a junior position. Everyone likes to know they’re on track and doing a good job, but I’ve only just really started to appreciate how much it’s boosted my confidence and helped me to be the best I can.
Civica’s really good at that, spreading the love far and wide! Let’s see what’s next…