I'm a Delivery Manager in Technology Consulting, working on Digital Transformations for clients predominantly in the Public Sector (Social Housing, Charities, etc.) At PwC we have Delivery Teams in India, Poland, Portugal and various other countries so I mostly work with their Technical Managers, Developers & Testers to deliver client requirements. We work in 'Agile' and deliver our requirements in 'Sprints' - that essentially means that someone from the client team owns the product, decides the most critical things that need to feature in the system, we support them in designing it functionally and technically, then build, test and deploy it to improve the way that employees work and/or improve the online experience for customers, tenants, donors, etc. Clients see what we've 'built' every few weeks in Agile, meaning they can tweak it if they want to, or just to build their confidence in what we're doing for them. I have lots of different meetings, I manage requirements throughout the day in a tool called Jira, we have lots of Google chats on the go for various meetings, workstreams and system features, and I often mix things up doing coaching, mentoring and outreach to encourage young people into careers in Technology. I split my time across working from home and working from the office - PwC encourage flexible working pretty much 50/50 between home working and office working. Pre-Covid I'd spend 4 days a week on client site, but so far, the project I'm working on hasn't returned to working in this way, with lots of clients also now wanting to work in a more hybrid fashion.

WHAT QUALIFICATIONS DO YOU NEED TO DO YOUR JOB?

Honestly, nothing too specific! You can now join PwC straight from school as a Higher Apprentice with just your A-Levels, do a Degree Apprenticeship in Technology/Accounting which may specify maybe one specific A-Level like Maths, or as a graduate after your degree where none of the programmes (as far as I'm aware) ask for a specific Degree. We work with so many different clients on so many different types of projects that pretty much any combination of A-Levels and/or Degree will be valuable. We never work alone, always in diverse teams, and so all of the different backgrounds and qualifications bring together different ways of thinking and doing, which is the best way to solve problems in Consulting. I have 3 Salesforce certifications, 3 Agile certifications, 2 Design Thinking certifications and a few others - they probably don't mean much right now but they're the more applicable qualifications to the work I do now. I'd have never known that when I was in school (or what those certs meant at all!) so you don't really have to do certain qualifications to get a certain job - just be you, with skill, and you'll find your way. The other thing is, scarily, that Technology will progress so much over the next 10 years that those of you in KS3 and even KS4 may be working on Technology that doesn't even exist right now by the time you get into the world of work - exciting! That's why it's more about capability and capacity to learn rather than knowing specifics.

WHAT WAS YOUR HIGHER EDUCATION PATHWAY?

I did Maths, Physics and Art & Design for A-Level, then a Master's in Mechanical Engineering at University of Liverpool. I loved my Degree - the transition from an all girls' school to basically an all boys' degree taught me loads, and I probably wouldn't have had a clue where to look careers-wise without the guidance of Careers Support, Tutors & my peers at University and the opportunities for work experience. I did placements with a Stage & Events Automation company (they do events like the Olympics, festivals, etc.), a Veterinary Implants start-up using 3D printing, a Building Services company (who work with architects on commercial buildings), a Women in Business Scheme with PwC in Management Consulting, and I also did some work experience teaching STEM subjects as I wasn't sure whether I wanted to go into Secondary teaching too. I eventually went with PwC and I'm so happy I did, even though I loved everything else I tried too. If I had my time again, looking specifically at the degree I do now, I'd probably have done the Technology Degree Apprenticeship: a funded Computer Science degree (so no student debt!) with 3 lots of PwC placements and a guaranteed Graduate job where you start a year ahead of other new joiners - the experience I've seen 19 year olds get is phenomenal and they get the best of both worlds, uni life and corporate life!

WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR JOB?

The variety - no two projects are the same, no two clients are the same, no two teams are the same and, really, no two days are the same. Moving around clients is like moving jobs - I can stay in one company and 'try things out,' moving onto something new if I want to without having to leave the company, which is what you'd have to do at most other companies. The people are also amazing at PwC - everyone is extremely hardworking and honest; I've learnt so much in 4 years. Finally, the places - I've been right across the country working with clients or working in different PwC offices, as well as having been to Paris, Warsaw and New York through work. I have to pinch myself sometimes - less so now when I'm mostly working from home (!) - but I was sent off to Warsaw when I'd only been at PwC for 6 months, which was an amazing experience and sparked the start of a brilliant relationship I now have with my peers in PwC Poland, who I've visited now probably 8 times.

WHAT PROGRESSION IS AVAILABLE IN YOUR CAREER?