For the third post in our Unlocking My Potential series, we hear from Alice Smith, senior technical consultant in the technical consultancy team at UP3. Alice has worked at UP3 since February 2021, creating and implementing software solutions via the ServiceNow platform to solve clients’ pressing problems. In this post she talks about how a personality test changed her career path, and why starting a new career later in life shouldn’t hold you back.
Understanding yourself can help unlock your passion
A few years ago, I was working in an office job that I knew wasn’t going to go anywhere as a long-term career. Someone suggested I should take a Myers-Briggs personality test to get a better understanding of my strengths. I was really impressed by how accurate it was about me.
The test recommends jobs that you should be good at, given your personality type, and one of them for me was a computer programmer. My dad’s a computer programmer, and I’d always resisted following in his footsteps. But after doing that test, I realised that I like to analyse things, and I enjoy looking for tiny mistakes, so I realised I had the characteristics you need to be good at that kind of work.
Thanks to that personality test, I decided I should consider that career path after all. It’s been a great lesson in how understanding yourself a bit better can help you identify the jobs that will give you fulfilment and satisfaction. Aligning your passion with your abilities is incredibly powerful.
Developing can be an interactive role too
My job at UP3 is essentially software development – building new solutions for our clients on the ServiceNow platform. I really like that aspect of creating new things and finding a way to solve a problem.
But my job also involves consulting too. We deal with customers a lot and consult with them to find out what they want, what they currently do, and how we can help them. It’s a much more interactive role than people might think. It’s really rewarding to have that interaction aspect and feel like you’re fixing a problem that makes the client happy.
It's never too late
After my personality test, in my late 20s I did a part-time degree in IT and Computing at the Open University. It completely transformed my career and what I thought I was capable of. I think it’s really important that people realise they shouldn’t be put off from entering the tech industry because they’re a certain age. You’re never too old to learn something new and change career. Find yourself a course, get an entry role – there are lots of ways into the industry and there’s no reason to be afraid.
When I was younger this field didn’t really exist. ServiceNow wasn’t around. I couldn’t know it was for me. So it’s totally fine to discover it a bit later on in life. In fact, loads of the tech jobs people do today weren’t around when they were kids. That just goes to emphasise the importance of staying up to date with the opportunities out there.
When I first started, I was 10 years older than the people I worked with – but they never made me feel bad about that or out of place. No one knows everything and by being a bit older you often have something else to bring that’s valuable for the team, some experience in the workplace and the different perspective that comes with it, and I think my careers has progressed quickly thanks to that.
When the door is there, walk through it
I’ve never had a particular end goal in mind for my new career in IT. I was made redundant before my degree had finished so I had to start my new career at the bottom. I did various different roles to get a broad range of experience and to help me realise what I did and didn’t enjoy. Getting the experience from one job helped me to move on to the next job. When I felt that I had got everything I could get from one role, I knew it was time to look for the next. This enabled me to progress quickly in the IT industry.
The way I see it, when you spot a door to the next opportunity, walk through it. And then after a while there’s another door, walk through that too. Of course, you have to show that you are up to the challenge and believe in yourself so that others believe in you. And you might have to push yourself beyond your comfort zone, but if you feel like you haven’t got to the level you want to be at, keep pushing until you get there!
I was working as a system admin, and then joined UP3 as a Technical Consultant. With the opportunity to work on some flagship clients, I continued to grow and develop with support from the senior leadership team, and I was promoted to Senior Technical Consultant. And this summer I was lucky enough to go to ServiceNow Knowledge 2024, their big annual event in Las Vegas. As I was sat there with 20,000 members of the ServiceNow community, listening to their updates and roadmap, it was a moment to appreciate how far I’d come.
What unlocking potential means to me
I think you can really unlock your potential when you have someone who believes in you. Someone who spots what you’ve done, encourages you, and tackles your self-doubt.
I’ve always been inspired by people who know exactly what they want, and aren’t held back by society. You come across people like that quite a bit in the technology industry. But not everyone fits that description.
Lots of us need role models to look up to, and champions to make us believe in ourselves. If you can find those people, it’s a lot easier to unlock the potential inside of you.
Lots of really great insight from Alice, and we're really grateful for her showing an alternate route into a career in tech. If you're looking for your next step in a career working with ServiceNow, visit our careers page to look at the opportunities currently available at UP3, and to learn some more about life working here.
