From 6 months to 1 year at Capgemini – Part 3: Roles

Ok so back to the nitty-gritty of actual work! So last time I left off at a large public sector organisation with a new role in the pipeline! This new role took a bit of time to come to light … four months to be exact …”this doesn’t sound good!” … Yes and No is the truthful answer! On the one hand the ideal amount of time for a BTC project is around the six-month mark, so being on a role for nine months doesn’t sound ideal! On the other hand, on a particularly challenging project with challenging deadlines it is difficult to simply move from one project to another, without being disruptive to the whole team.

Coming back to the point of being flexible and open minded as consultants, it’s all about taking it in your stride and making the best of a potentially unwanted situation. OK, I was still on the same project but some of the work I did, like working on integration for a very complex system, as well as having the opportunity to facilitate a User Acceptance Testing sign off session gave me exposure to clients and 3^rd parties as well as a real appreciation for project delivery. Although this isn’t exactly the field of work I want to go into, in the long term the experience I gained was invaluable, as at the end of the day the system Capgemini and the client drafted at the requirements stage needs to be reflected in the actual product delivered. On top of this I was able to pick up some additional work in assisting the development of an archiving strategy as part of the Business Information Management business unit. This has helped me immensely in terms of networking as this is a direction I am potentially looking to ‘transition’.

This additional time on the project also give me the opportunity to scout around for a new role given my new end date. After a few drinks and watching some American Football with some friends from work I managed to secure a role at a major high-end fashion label, to develop their website with a number of interactive and innovative features. I haven’t been in the role long (two weeks to be exact), but I can honestly say I love it, emphasising that ‘good things come to consultants who are flexible’! Initially I am assisting testing some great new customisable product applications and some integration between new mobile applications and social media platforms. This role has already promised to be a short one however with my host of contacts made from facilitating the induction week, and the new ones I have met on the project I already know of a number of new openings for the same client more within my interests, in the near future with my name already firmly stamped upon them!

 All in all you can probably tell it’s been an exciting time, with probably a lot more opportunities available than you might think from a company like Capgemini. As I previously mentioned this style of working might not appeal to some people, but for others quite the opposite! Despite the hard times there have always been positives to take away which can be turned into a positive in the grand scale of things regarding your personal development! Not only this, it is still very much apparent the best aspect of working for Capgemini is the people. When work gets difficult or for example if like me I had to stay on a project longer than expected which was tough, there is always your support network of friends and management to help you get the most from an unwanted situation, and see the positives from what you are adding to Capgemini as a whole.

Looking forward to the next six months, number one on my radar is the upcoming promotion nomination rounds. I will be looking to settle fully into the new project I have recently started before securing myself a new role whilst looking at the software lifecycle from a new angle. From a community point of view I will be going back to my old university in Birmingham to run a number of consulting skills sessions come December and finally I will be starting to look seriously at all of the transition opportunities available to me, some of which I have already made progress with. ‘Transitioning’ in simple terms is the logical next step in your career following the BTC where you start to understand what you enjoy and start to carve out a specialism within the one of the various Capgemini business units! So lots of exciting things to look forward to, and to tell you about in the near future!

Blog by Gareth Woodward