When I finished my Masters, I decided to work in a summer job before I decided what I was going to do next. In a flurry of applying to graduate schemes, I found the Ford application, filled it in and sent it off. A few weeks later I was invited to the telephone interview; I passed successfully, and was invited to the assessment centre. Before attending the assessment centre I cannot say that I had a preference for Ford over any other company. However, after attending, my opinion had changed.
I enjoyed the assessment centre and compared to other assessment centres and interviews, it did not feel like a filtering process. The activities were much the same that I had been to before, but the atmosphere was different, I felt that Ford focused on an ability to learn rather than what you already knew. So, when I was offered the job I accepted it straight away as I felt that Ford would be somewhere I could apply what I knew and continue to develop.
Right now, I'm in an IT Business analyst role. I am working on the Ford European website (ford.co.uk, ford.de, ford.ru etc). It’s a really busy team to be on as our business customer, the Ford Marketing team are really trying to make progress with digital marketing. I'm learning quite a lot, developing both technical and business skills.
It's hard to describe a "typical day" since every day is so different. My typical day usually starts at 8:30am where it's pretty quiet until 9:30 so I get a chance to catch up on my email that had been running since the morning (as my team in Asia come online a few hours before the UK). At 9:30, I usually begin meeting people.
Throughout the day I meet with developers, architects, the Marketing managers, the Marketing agencies, other new hires. At lunchtime, I try to get some exercise, there is a large green area at the car test track here on site, running around the perimeter of the track clocks up about 3K! After lunch, I would usually have a workshop, these are normally large meetings where everyone involved in a project gets together to try to come up with a solution and some next steps.
In the late afternoon, I get some time to send emails, confirm the day's meeting minutes and do non-project related items (like creating a welcome site for new people joining!). I normally leave the office at 5pm, which leaves plenty of time to go into Central London for the evening, or take a trip to Southend pier if the sun is out!
I see myself moving around Ford and seeing other parts of the Business outside Marketing IT. I am thinking that since I have gained an insight into how to sell the cars I would like to get closer to the cars and engines by either working with the manufacturing, plant or product development teams. Another area that interests me is finance. I will be able to rotate in a few months and I really want to expand my knowledge of Ford so I think I have some big decisions to make!
The most exciting project I worked on involved getting a logged in area for customers who currently own a Ford across Europe. My project manager trusted me to work with the Marketing agency without supervision. In the session I would talk to the marketing team to hear their creative ideas on what they would like to see this new part of the website do, and how they wanted it to behave.
From there, I would work with the developers on getting the new functionality up and running to how the Marketing team wanted it. The site is planned to be piloted in Ireland next month, and should open up opportunities for Marketing to get closer to current Ford vehicle owners.
The biggest challenge I have had since joining has been to understand the IT environment. As I had only studied structural engineering, I was afraid that I would not have enough technical knowledge to work directly with a development team. However, when I joined my interpersonal skills were valued, and I began working on IT projects straight away.
When I first joined I was told that my professional development was completely up to me and that if I didn’t do it, it wouldn't happen! This is not entirely true - Ford IT has a dedicated group of people who work full time on helping us plan our development and get the training we need, all I have ever needed to do is ask! Being in control of your development is actually quite liberating, as I don't feel tied to a strict career ladder.
