For Alex Hewitt, his new career has been a bit of a shock – just four years ago he was living and working in Spain. When Covid pushed Alex into a rethink, he opted to change careers and build a new future in Project Management. Now a full-time employee at a multinational electronics company, we caught up with Alex to find out about his journey so far.
Careers don’t have to start and end in the same place. Alex Hewitt is working as a Junior Project Manager at a multinational electronics company, but four years ago he was living in Spain and teaching English at a Primary School.
“I completed a joint honours degree in History and Spanish and moved to Spain to teach,” says Alex. “A couple of years later and the impact of COVID meant that there were restrictions and more limited employment opportunities in Spain. So, I decided to make the move back to the UK”.
Back in the UK, Alex had a neighbour who worked for Vodafone and was quick to speak about the opportunities in tech – suggesting Alex had all of the right skills for Business Analysis.
“Sparta Global stood out as an opportunity. I liked the training element and I knew it was what I needed - being completely new to Business Analysis (BA) - and not having the skills necessarily applicable to tech at that time.
The talent coordinator was extremely helpful. They spoke through the course, the potential clients I could end up working with, and I felt confident that there could be an opportunity for me there”.
Alex passed the application process with flying colours and joined the Sparta Academy BA course in January 2022. For Alex, it was a positive introduction to tech.
“I was really happy with the trainers and people I was working with. There were 13 – a lot of us in the same boat - all junior and all learning in a space where everything was new, but we had a lot of guidance. I loved the group projects where we would set learning objectives, put them to practice, then present back to the whole Academy.”
Now working in Project Management, Alex’s Sparta Global training was focussed on building up critical knowledge of business functions, workflows, and how to work with elements like RAID logs.
“I use RAID logs every day for customers and first got to grips with the process on the Sparta BA course. We also learned about stakeholder engagement, presenting ideas, and problem solving. There are plenty of times now when I will be faced with something new and think - hang on a minute, I did that in my training!”.
But knowledge isn’t the only thing our Spartans pick up in the Academy – there is much to gain from our community too. While Spartans may train in small groups, they are part of a wider group of Academy trainees, Spartans, and alumni who are always willing to help each other.
“There was a point where I was about to interview with some other trainees for a larger deployment, so we got together and spent over an hour practicing interview techniques and routines. We did that because we wanted to genuinely help eachother and we have kept in touch to see how people are getting on too.”
Alex went on to secure a role with Ricoh - a multinational electronics company – and after spending his entire Sparta Global tenure on site, has recently converted to a full-time employee.
“I’ve developed great relationships with the teams here and I am really happy with the responsibilities and the role. My managers have been brilliant and integrated me into the team. I was always set on staying and really look forward to progressing more”.
As for those responsibilities, Alex manages different projects day to day, with three project meetings each day to catch up and go over key RAID logs or approach specific issues that need tech support.
“I pride myself on being very organised and reliable, so people can depend on me to keep them in the loop by sending out reports or setting up meetings - this is where I add value. I also like to thing I bring a different perspective. A number of the people I work with have been at Ricoh for more than 10 years. I may be junior, but my youth brings a different way of thinking to what the team is doing.
Careers are not linear, and it’s important to try and find what you like to do – and do it. George Swirsky thought he was set for a career in the aerospace industry, but after studying the subject at university he identified a passion for problem solving. A career in technology promised to test George, he just needed an opportunity. Two years after joining Sparta Global and George is a Platform Engineer in the Department for Education working in an innovative department. We caught up to talk about his journey.
Abhishek worked in hospitality for more than a decade before seeking a career change after the impact of the Covid pandemic. Faced with a desire to start a role in a new sector, but with little support for personal learning and industry-specific training for career changers thin-on-the-ground, Abhishek finally found an opportunity with Sparta Global. Now working in a successful public sector role, Abhishek was named Spartan of the Month from more than 600 active consultants.
Offshoring is NOT the answer to the digital skills crisis in the UK. In his latest article as a Forbes contributor, Sparta Global CEO and Co Founder David Rai talks about the benefit of onshoring to business resilience in the UK and why business must club together to make a social and economic impact with local talent.