Kieron H.
About me
| Kieron H. | |
| History | |
| History | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Langwith | |
| 2014 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Consultant for Central Government | |
| Capgemini | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Finance and consultancy | |
| Large business (250+ employees) | |
| 2020 |
More about Kieron
Like this profile?
Add this profile to your favourites so you can return to it later from your account.
A day in the life of a Consultant for Central Government in the United Kingdom
Don't undervalue summer or part-time jobs. Taking on responsibility within a retail or summer job context still teaches you many soft & some hard skills. It's understood that not everyone can do unpaid internships.
Briefly describe the organisation you work for
I currently work for the consulting arm of Capgemini, Capgemini Invent. It's a growing part of the organisation, and I'm in the most rapidly expanding area, Public Sector.
What do you do?
I tend to work on large digital or technology focussed projects for central government. Some of these may be to create or improve citizen services, create new services or behind the scenes for the department / government internally.
Reflecting upon your past employment and education, what led you to your current career choice?
While at university I was involved in the York consulting society and also interned for one of the Big 4 shortly after graduating. I then went on to complete the graduate scheme at that Big 4 employer, before moving on to my current company at the start of the pandemic. The consulting society and Rotary club were certainly good societies to participate in while at university to give me an initial idea, and once working my focus has narrowed with experience to now be fully on central government.
Is your current job sector different from what you thought you would enter when you graduated?
I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do when graduating but this is closest aligned to what I thought I might do.
Describe your most memorable day at work
I probably do not have a single most memorable moment, but have enjoyed working on some projects in particular. One of these was the Building Safety Programme, set up in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster while another more recent one from this year (2021) has been related to wider government action on homicide and the aspiration to reduce it by 20%.
Are there any challenges associated with your job?
Any given project or programme will have its own challenges but the most common ones will tend to be things such as:
- stakeholder management (ensuring you please your clients and internal stakeholders too)
- scope creep (ensuring you don't get pulled into delivering more than you should beyond your contracted work, while not missing out on opportunities)
- career management (in the bigger scheme of things, ensuring you get the roles you want and which enable you to progress as you'd like to)
What’s your work environment and culture like?
My current employer is relaxed and I find myself respecting my colleagues and enjoy collaborating with them. I think in a consulting environment where you work with different teams and for different clients, the environment and culture can vary substantially within any one company.
What extracurricular activities did you undertake at university and what transferable skills did you develop through these?
Please see the above on the Rotary and consulting society.
Beyond this I was also involved in playing for my college football team, other social college events and the Latin American society. All of these activities were more for social reasons, but ultimately even learning the skill of feeling socially confident or comfortable in different situations is invaluable for a career where you are frequently changing your team members and clients.
What would you like to do next with your career?
That's a great question!
Given that the projects I've enjoyed most so far to date have involved or been related to policy, I wouldn't mind doing more such work. While I'd need to look at the finances, that aside, I'd strongly consider further training e.g. a masters if that's what would enable me to do more of that type of work, and less pure technology or commercial work.
What top tips do you have for York students preparing for today’s job market and life after graduation?
Firstly, don't be too hard on yourselves. I don't envy students graduating into a challenging pandemic / post-pandemic economy under the scheme 2 loan rules.
Having said that, I think there is still plenty of opportunity (e.g. my company is expanding its graduate scheme constantly!). So my other top tips would be:
- Do your research. On potential careers, where they can take you, what the hours are like, what the pay's like.
- Don't undervalue summer or part-time jobs. Taking on responsibility within a retail or summer job context still teaches you many soft & some hard skills. It's understood that not everyone can do unpaid internships.
- Make the most of university, structuring your time well to do so allowing you to have fun while developing valuable skills.
What topics from students are you happy to answer questions on?
Anything really! But off the top of my head:
- What it's like to work for a Big 4 or BlueChip consulting company
- What experience may help
Next steps...
If you like the look of Kieron’s profile, the next steps are down to you! You can send Kieron a message to find out more about their career journey. If you feel you would benefit from more in-depth conversations, ask Kieron to be your mentor.