The Veritas Early Career Program’s (VECP) recent launch stirred many memories for me. This 10-week prescriptive sales academy programme, whose goal is to accelerate career paths and nurture future leaders, has some of the same elements of a similar programme that played a pivotal role in my career.
As I grew up, I had dreams of attending university, but family circumstances meant I had to be creative with finances to achieve my goal. Fortunately, I heard about company programmes intended for recent graduates or professionals early in their careers. I knew instinctively that this route would allow me to develop as a leader while also alleviating my financial challenges. So, with my good school grades and a glass-half-full attitude, I purposely sought local companies with early-career fast-track programmes.
My perseverance paid off with the early career development programme at National Westminister Bank (NatWest), now part of Royal Bank of Scotland; joining their programme allowed me to go to university in the evenings and weekends while working full-time.
The structure of their programme and the development I received propelled my career. Within a few years, I progressed from general banking, lending, customer-facing on front tills to joining the Human Resources (HR) organisation in London.
I knew nothing about the HR function but had access to a fabulous mentor who was instrumental in guiding me. Whilst in London, I was sponsored to go to Middlesex University and completed a post-graduate diploma in human resources management. Nortel offered me a great role during my trials, and I worked there for almost 12 years.
My own firsthand experience shows how a well-structured and managed early career programme can help drive a career. I learnt to work hard, network, gain knowledge from colleagues, and used all available learning and development resources to grow my career.
Now, as a Senior Director in HR for the International Region at Veritas, I continue to draw upon my experiences and the amazing mentors and managers with whom I’ve had the privilege of working. I am pleased to be working at Veritas which helps employees spark their innovation to accelerate their career growth continuously.
The Veritas Early Career Program launched globally with 51 hires, and I am super excited for them as I know what an incredible start to their careers this programme will give them. I already see early signs of how this programme adds business value, and I am excited to launch the next class of early-career hires later this spring.
I’m very excited to follow their career journeys at Veritas and look forward to further intakes in the Autumn. If you’re interested in joining our team, then please take a look at our latest vacancies here.
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