Admiral Tech

Summary

We caught up with Muskan, Jay and James, three of our IT Graduates, who joined Admiral virtually in November 2020. After just a few months, they have become familiar with the latest technologies such as Microsoft Azure, and programming languages including HTML, SQL and Gosu. We spoke about their virtual recruitment and onboarding experience, how they have learnt to build good working relationships and how to stay motivated in the new virtual world of work. How would you describe your role? Muskan: I’m a Software Development trainee on Admiral’s IT Graduate Scheme. As part of my learning, I’m undergoing training in Software Development, where I’m able to apply my technical knowledge to small programming tasks. Jay: I’m a trainee on Admiral’s IT Graduate Scheme, pursuing my goal to one day become a Software Engineer. Having come from a non-technical background, I’m currently undergoing intensive training to learn key concepts, languages, and skills. James: I will be part of Admirals continuous effort to improve their IT infrastructure and adopt new beneficial technologies before the competition. Day to day, this means closing tickets in an Agile working environment. What stood out about Admiral’s Tech that encouraged you to apply? Muskan: It became apparent when researching Admiral’s 2.0 strategy, that they understood the importance of digital both now and in the future workplace. Admiral views the business and technology as one, acknowledging that an eco-based system model is required. This encouraged me to apply, as I wanted to work for a forward-thinking company. Jay: I’ve been interested in joining Admiral for a long time due to their excellent reputation as an employer. The chance to do that whilst starting a new career in tech was far too good to pass up. Before joining, I could not write a line of code. In six months, I’ve been introduced to front-end languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React and server-side languages and frameworks such as Java, Spring, and SQL. It’s been intense, but the support offered by Admiral has been absolutely second to none. James: Admiral’s IT Graduate Scheme represented an unmatched opportunity for me to get into the tech field. Admiral were willing to invest much more into building my skills than any other company. Admiral are always looking at using the latest technologies such as Microsoft Azure and use a wide range of programming languages such as Java (Spring Boot), Javascript (React) or Gosu, this further encouraged me to apply. How did you find the virtual recruitment process? Muskan: The recruitment process was seamless. Virtual interviews were conducted by Admiral employees as opposed to using AI/robotics, which made the interview engaging and gave me the opportunity to showcase my personality. Jay: The virtual recruitment process was certainly a new experience for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the group assessments that were set up for candidates. It gave me an insight into the company before joining and the chance to meet some of my future colleagues. James: Surreal at times. It’s harder to get into the mindset for an interview sitting in your living room than it is in a company’s reception area. However, video calls are a very effective tool. Once the interview began it felt just like we were face-to-face. I particularly liked that Admiral took the time to get to know me personally as well as assessing my technical capabilities. What inspires you in your day-to-day role whilst working virtually? Muskan: The biggest motivator for me, is that I’m always learning. Even when I have a new project to deliver, I have a lot to gain for my personal growth. The fact that Admiral cares about me as an individual with my own goals inspires me to keep bettering myself. Working virtually brings pro’s and con’s, however the culture at Admiral makes even working from home enjoyable. There are endless opportunities to get to know your team which helps keep morale in a virtual world. Jay: The biggest inspiration I have in my work right now, is the investment that Admiral are making into my career and the level of trust that comes automatically. This motivates me to give back the same level of commitment in my day-to-day work. The IT Graduate Scheme provides me with the opportunity to learn the fundamentals for a successful career in tech and I’m excited to see what the future holds. James: Time and again, Computer Programmers have changed the world working out of their spare rooms. Tech giants were started in garages. Computer Programming is one of the original work-from-home careers, so working from home feels more natural to me than it perhaps does for people in other professions. Also, call it immature, but letting myself believe a bit of the Hollywood myth that surrounds this field. Play some music that feeds into that. I’m learning to be a hacker (in the coding-as-artform sense, not the criminal sense). How has your team/manager supported you during your onboarding? Muskan: My manager and team have been a great support network during the onboarding process. We have weekly catch ups as a team (sometimes more frequently if needed) and monthly 121’s with my manager. These meetings are not only for professional help but any matters which may have the slightest chance of affecting your everyday work. I’ve felt very supported by my team and manager. Jay: The team has been fantastic during onboarding. We’ve really forged bonds as a group of people, which seems odd in some ways since we’ve never met in person. We’ve had regular meetings and kept in touch with each other, whether by Zoom, Teams or WhatsApp. Our Talent Scheme Coordinator has been amazing, showing us the ropes and going above and beyond to help us feel part of the Admiral family. James: How haven’t they? Weekly catch-up meetings, daily check-ins, gift packages, virtual Friday fun, the list goes on. Our Talent Scheme Co-ordinator fights our corner for tech support and training, and this has been invaluable. It can be difficult when you’re new to say a) you want things done faster, b) you want more resources or c) someone’s made a mistake. Our Talent Scheme Co-Ordinator does that for us, and while she does so, she reminds us that although we’re currently in full-time training, it’s still right to think of our work as important and speak up when something’s stopping us from working effectively.   Have you been able to build good working relationships having joined remotely? Muskan: Surprisingly, yes. You wouldn’t expect to make such good working relationships when working from home, but we really have made the most of all the resources we have available. We arrange Friday Fun every week and have been introduced to the Core and Data Analytics grads, by competing in ‘grad houses’, in social competitions. This has been a great way to meet more of Admiral’s graduates. Jay: The working relationships we’ve been able to build, despite working remotely, has been fantastic. From our weekly ‘Friday Fun’ sessions involving online games and quizzes, to events such as the IT & InfoSec (Information & Security) awards, which included a cocktail master class. There has been a strong emphasis on maintaining the social side of work. This has gone a long way in helping us to build good relationships with one another. I feel comfortable speaking to my team regarding any technical, professional or personal problem and know that they will help me as best they can, as I would do for them. In six months, we’ve been through a lot together! James: Yes, absolutely. That strongest bond is with the other graduates. We think of ourselves as a unit. The more elaborate social events helped, but frankly most of the bonding happened just by swapping memes and cracking frequent jokes on Whatsapp. What would you like to do on your first day back in the office? Muskan: Take a tour of the building and grab a drink with my team! Jay: I never thought I’d miss meetings, but I really look forward to the day that we can all sit around a table again in person, with a coffee, having a chat and bouncing ideas off each other! And without having to say that ubiquitous phrase of our times…. “You’re on mute!” James: Walk through every floor and remind myself how large this company is. I’ve worked for SMEs so far in my professional life and it would be great to get a grasp of the scale of Admiral. More importantly, seeing the physical layout of the office will help solidify what all the departments of the company are and how they fit together.Click here to view our current Tech vacancies. 

Summary

We asked our female colleagues, “What has been your career defining moment during your time in the tech industry that you are most proud of?”. Cara Mark: Chapter Lead In 2020, I was a guest speaker at the Big Data conference in London, to discuss the success of Admiral’s Data Warehouse. This was a scary thing to do! Thousands of people from all over the world attend this conference every year, and I knew that I would have to speak to a room holding a couple of hundred of them. As I was walking around the stands, chatting to others from around the industry, another female guest speaker told me that she had seen me in the program, and that only 16% of speakers at the conference were female! That was a defining moment for me to realise how proud I was to be representing this shockingly low representation of females in this industry, and how much we should encourage women to work in tech! It’s a great place to be for a female and the numbers are moving in the right direction.   Maria Richards: InfoSec Product Manager/Business Analyst I studied as a mature student whilst in full-time employment and pregnant with my daughter. The HNC in Software Engineering had very few female students and had a high dropout rate. I was the only female that graduated on the course in that year, whilst receiving distinction grades in many of my modules. Before receiving my exam results, I had already secured my 1st IT role. From this, I have built a successful career in IT for the last 23 years. This was the turning point in my career.   Shweta Rajput: Junior Developer - IT Training Scheme My career in IT is only just beginning, so securing a position on the IT Training Scheme was probably the biggest defining moment. I have been given an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of a career in tech and I’m looking forward to becoming a fully-fledged developer.   Lisa Petryszyn-Edwards: Technical Security Consultant Much of my time before joining Admiral was spent leading Operational and Development teams. However, I took a keen interest in Security and very much led in this area. In 2018, I was given an opportunity to work as a Security Designer, using my knowledge of Operational and Delivery challenges and working with the teams closely to implement security controls. This was a defining change for me as it led me on to start my OU Master’s degree in Cyber Security and I stepped away from leading large teams and focused more on the Cyber arena.     Susan Massay: Domain Lead - Tactical ETL Oh wow! I have so many amazing moments throughout my years in Admiral. I guess the most career defining moment would be when I went from a very technical role as a Telecoms Specialist to a Management role. The support structure that was put in place to achieve this and change my career path was phenomenal and allowed me to progress into the role and achieve several management rewards.   Aisha Arshad: Data Warehouse Developer When I joined Admiral, I didn’t have any experience working on DWH systems that are used here. I was fortunate to be put straight onto a project to build from scratch. Each squad of work was made of two Developers and a Tester. Halfway through the project, the second Developer was reassigned to work on a different project. Despite the systems being relatively new to me, I successfully completed a large proportion of the project alone. This is something I am extremely proud of.   Meg Collis: Head of IT Delivery Early on in my career I worked for a well-known Telco. I was asked to design and implement a technical call centre out in Egypt. This was back at a time when offshoring was limited, and Egypt wasn’t a popular destination for this type of work. The delivery was a success and I worked and lived out in Egypt for a further 12 months whilst the centre ramped. I believe the company is still out there now actually which is good to know that it remains a key part of the strategy. I also made some lifelong connections that I am still in touch with now.   Kimberley Luke: IT Delivery Manager I studied as an 18-year-old for a degree in Pure Maths, having no real idea of what I would do with it. However, jumping onto a reputable Graduate Scheme was the best thing I could have done! That was just the start, after working my way through a few roles in a large Financial Services company, I moved to a very ‘old school’ large Retail company to continue with my career. After a few roles to prove myself, my main career defining moment was achieving my role as the only female, and youngest, IT Development Manager in the company! Since then, I’ve been lucky enough to not experience age and gender being an issue for me, my reputation has spoken far louder.   May Wong: Data Shared Service Squad Lead I joined Admiral as a Developer in the Data Warehouse team, working with the Telematics Data team and six months later joined the Central Data Warehouse. I have been involved in various projects and most recently worked on Programme NEO as a Developer, additionally taking on the role of Scrum Master. The experience I have gained from this opportunity, has resulted in me successfully progressing to the role of Squad Lead. Therefore, the opportunities made available to me by Admiral, as a female in Tech, would be my career highlight.     Lara Court: Head of Business Service I’ve been lucky enough to work for Admiral for 25 years. It’s very difficult to pick one career defining moment because during my time in the IT Department, I’ve been given the opportunity to work in a wide variety of roles whilst progressing my career. What makes me proud is that Admiral offers those opportunities and I have been able to make the most of them.   Click here to view our current opportunities in Tech.