Scarlett - Procurement Assistant, Ecosystems
I couldn’t see myself going to university full time, I wanted to learn on the job as this has always been my preferred learning style. It was a big decision given all my friends went to university, but I knew it was best for me. I knew was never going to thrive through classroom-based learning alone, Capgemini gave me the opportunity to obtain a degree whilst getting the real time work experience.
What is your favourite thing about working at Capgemini?
The culture. I have managed to find likeminded individuals of all ages who I class as friends for life. We have the chance to collaborate on meaningful work and have produced outcomes together that are worth celebrating.
What is your favourite Capgemini value and why?
Fun! The extracurricular activities we have the chance to get involved in means that I can maintain a work life balance and get to know other people (from all areas of the business and from all different walks of life!). I can also find new work opportunities through meeting so many new people in a comfortable environment away from the workplace.
What does a day in the life look like for you?
My day looks a lot like collecting data on our partners by going out to delivery areas and asking for appraisals & feedback. I am currently working with the Partner Relationship Manager to create positive working relationships with our partners/suppliers. The future for me looks like going out to our partners to meet them and enhancing these relationships.
I’m also studying the Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship which is a business and leadership course. It has helped me understand how to manage and run projects in detail and I have recently had the opportunity to own my own project in my current team. In this role and previous I have learnt skills to help me train new starters, put new ideas forward to help my team work more efficiently and have grown a lot in confidence.
What would you say to a student (apprentice or graduate) looking for next steps after school/sixth form?
I would say apply for as many apprenticeships as you can and attend all careers and apprenticeship events as you can find. My experience was schools do not always give students full support in finding an apprenticeship or next step as university is still the typical next step in the path.
I personally found a company online and attended a lot of their events to find out more about companies offering apprenticeships I was interested in. Capgemini attend their events and that’s where my interest in Capgemini began.
What advice would you give to students looking to apply to Capgemini?
Be yourself. I found that when I joined the apprenticeship, we were all from different academic backgrounds, you do not necessarily need the top grades to be successful in joining Capgemini. I found that those who showed a positive attitude and a personality that would fit in with the culture, were the ones who were accepted into the apprenticeship. Skills can be taught overtime at Capgemini whereas passion and personability can’t.