It’s the fire that counts!
- Excel at school.
- Decide at 18 your career path and life purpose.
- Go to university (ideally a red brick) and study the computer sciences.
- Graduate with a First.
- Get onto a graduate training programme at a blue-chip firm.
Do all this, and you will have your career path mapped out until you are retired. But, veer off this path and you will be judged as not being enough for a career in technology.
This is the message that a lot of us had growing up, and the one many still do. But is it true? The very quick answer is no!
The judgement is still out there – I can attest to that one – however thankfully increasing numbers of tech organisations have started to wake up to the fact that wearing a gown and mortarboard are not a prerequisite for a successful career. In fact, job postings that did not require a degree increased 90 percent between 2021 and 2023, according to LinkedIn.
Forget the perfect pathway – it doesn’t exist
It’s an encouraging step from where I joined the tech workforce as a 21 year old university drop out with no path mapped out in front of me. I’ve faced scepticism and discrimination more times than I’d care to count. Surprisingly – and depressingly - this has come from both men and women, from questioning my expertise, to not-so subtly implying that my success is sheer luck and then the all too familiar gender-driven microaggressions.
As you’ve probably guessed by now, my career has been far from conventional. It was not meticulously planned, and I definitely did not do any of the desired pathway outlined at the start of the piece. But have I let that hold me back or seen that as an immovable barrier? No – not a chance. Has it given me more fire to succeed? Absolutely.
Before we go any further, I should stress that I’m not university-bashing - far from it. Some of the best colleagues I have been lucky enough to work with have every educational qualification you could list and some left school at 16 but one thing they have in common is an enviable work ethic. I have equal respect and have learnt so much from both which demonstrates the importance of opening options for every background. And if you must know, I did complete my degree in English Literature many years later – but on my terms.
Look forwards, not back
Because it’s not about where you have come from, it’s about where you are headed. It’s about how you show up every day and the gumption and can-do attitude you bring to get the job done - taking initiative, being resourceful and not seeking permission to be who you are and who you are going to be.
Managers, or should I say leaders, need to encourage and reward gumption and willingness to take risks. In my career, I had been working at a firm for many years and thought I would always be in the box I had been put in. That was until one of my greatest managers, Doug joined the firm. A large project was being initiated and I wanted it. So, I asked for it and he gave it to me! Ignoring other’s opinions that would have said I had no business taking on such a large project due to lack of experience. My work ethic and gumption had given him faith that I could do this and I was not going to prove him wrong and others right – this was my chance and I grabbed it with both hands. I was not going to be restricted by my previous experiences or what other colleagues thought I should be doing at my level – I read every book and blog on project management I could get my hands on, I researched best practices and put in the extra hours to ensure I gave myself the best chance of success. .
There was always a risk that I would fail, but if I, or Doug, had given into that fear, I never would have had the success.
Whilst it is important for people, especially women, to find their voice and speak up for what they want, it is even more crucial that employers step up and change their approach. It’s not aggression, it’s not arrogance, it’s ambition. We must recognise and reward that trailblazing approach, regardless of who is showing it or if it makes others uncomfortable. Skills and knowledge can be taught and learned but an ingrained determination to take risks and succeed just naturally burns inside someone – do not put out that fire in people when you see it. Think differently about the behaviour you reward and what great looks like from your people. Let’s park the biases, stop sleepwalking into stereotypes and celebrate the hunger and desire these individuals bring.
If we take that approach as a tech industry – celebrating, welcoming and nurturing the go-getters rather than just looking for the specific qualifications or experience – then, we not only widen the pool of talent, we crucially breakdown a huge barrier to entry into the industry and take further strides towards equality and diversity. Which let’s be real, despite the progress, the tech industry is a way off achieving.
Building an environment for everyone to thrive
We have so much to gain from creating environments safe enough for anyone from any background or qualification to have the opportunity to grab life’s opportunities. At UP3, I am proud that gender equality is a given. This culture has been set at the top and cascades through the organisation.
I look at the women I work alongside every day and they personify gumption. I take huge inspiration and learn from them all. And when I say gumption, I mean it. One of our trailblazers started their UP3 journey by demonstrating in her interview how she had put herself through a number of certifications in the ServiceNow space with no previous experience because the platform had sparked her interest. Once she had shown me her revision and study plan, which included a full timeline to success, I knew she was something very special – she then informed me she executed all of this whilst on maternity leave! And another who feared she would not get to the interview stage based on her experience, asked if she could come in and shadow at UP3 for a day to get a better understanding of consultancy – we said yes. During that day, we saw what we value the most. The fire and passion to get where you want to go. And I am so pleased that we are a culture that meets that kind of ambition – whoever it comes from - with opportunity. So of course, we offered her a role and she is flying.
While we have made great progress as a sector, I’m under no illusion that we’ve reached utopia. But I do take confidence that the narrative of career success in technology is evolving, opening up new possibilities for anyone to thrive. For women, those pathways are still not equal to men but it sure is progress from the industry I entered as a 21-year-old.
So as an industry, let’s celebrate the go-getters, hold a mirror up to dated mindsets and create new pathways for entry and growth for everyone. If we do that, we will all benefit and achieve so much more.
Thank you to Becci for this fantastic insight, if you want to bring your passion to a ServiceNow partner who can appreciate it and support you, check out our careers page.
