It's so exciting seeing PwC grow and invest so much into social mobility
Meet Chloe, a Salesforce Delivery Manager in our Manchester Technology Consulting practice. Having completed our Women in Business programme in 2016, Chloe joined the firm in 2017 and now leads programs across the UK, Poland and India to deliver Digital Transformations. Chloe also champions Social Mobility and Women in Technology. Here’s her story…
At University I studied Mechanical Engineering, and ended up obtaining a masters degree in this same field - however, having been offered an associate role of the back of the Women in Business programme to join the PwC in Technology Consulting, I took the plunge and 5 years later I can say it was the best thing I ever did.
What were the driving factors for choosing a career in Tech and how can you combat biases in the Tech industry?
In my short space of time in the Women in Business programme, I learnt that the processes of developing products as a Technologist and Engineer are incredibly similar, the only big difference being that Technologists tend to develop softwares as opposed to engineers who produce physical product developments. This was the catalyst that ignited my decision to rejoin PwC after I graduated and I haven't look back since. The diversity of people, programmes, clients and opportunities available in my role means that I am able to be exposed to a vast amount of experiences at such an early stage in my career.
I’m involved in Women in Technology whose aim is for women to become equal participants in creating and developing the new tech businesses, products and services that shape our world. The second is that I am also a social mobility champion. Every conversation, mentoring session, and school workshop is a step in the right direction and these two rapidly growing, and unprecedented groups are key to helping to provide equal opportunities in the workplace at PwC, and especially in underrepresented industries like Tech.
PwC is helping to solve the important societal problem of social mobility through our recruitment, development and community activities. Can you tell us about your involvement in this drive?
Social Mobility is something I'm really passionate about coming from a single parent, low income, first gen uni home in Liverpool. I recall very vividly being sat in my university library in 3rd year receiving an email from Gradcracker about PwC's Women in Business Scheme. I had no idea who PwC were but found the name of the scheme interesting so I applied, and here I am as a Manager 5 years later! Without a doubt, I wouldn't be working at PwC if it wasn't for that email, as PwC wasn't a company or a career that had been highlighted to me at home, at school or at university. I'm a passionate Liverpudlian and admire the humour, grit and kindness of the people in my city, so much so I stayed in Liverpool for university and still live here now. It seemed sad that so many of the people growing up like me didn't know that this world was out there for them so I really wanted to do something about it.
I'm now a Social Mobility Champion and get involved in events and initiatives with PwC staff across all Lines of Service and locations. I visit secondary schools across the North West delivering PwC, technology and careers sessions to young people; have great relationships with key all girls schools in Liverpool to encourage more young women into Professional Services and technology; support charities such as The Girls Network, Social Mobility Foundation, UpReach and STEM Women with careers panels and mentoring; spread the message of PwC's Women in Business Scheme through the recruitment team on panel events and in virtual parks; support our Technology Degree Apprentices finding their feet in the business; lead on the New World New Skills work experience for socially mobile Year 12s in Manchester; and even younger, I'm a School Governor at a high percentage pupil premium primary school in a low socio-economic area of the Wirral. I'm also involved in the Manchester Tech Hub work introducing 1,000 new jobs to people in the North West, where one of the focal points is Social Mobility as well as Neurodiversity, Black Talent, Women and Career Switchers and Returners. It's so exciting seeing PwC grow and invest so much in this space, and to be given the time to work on these initiatives alongside my day job.
Tell us about the most exciting project you’ve worked on so far?
Going back to my passion for Liverpool, probably a Digital Transformation for a Social Housing client. It wasn't the biggest programme I've worked on, but it will always hold a special place in my heart as the first client programme I ever worked on, and a programme that saw me rotate roles from PMO Support to Functional Consultant and eventually to Programme Delivery Manager, learning heaps along the way from the amazing PwC team and client team I got to work with. We also worked with our colleagues in PwC Poland where, again, I made deep rooted friendships and got the chance to visit Warsaw multiple times. It really was the making of me and from an imposter syndrome perspective - something I really felt coming in wondering whether I had the right background and accent - that programme made me realise why I was a good fit for PwC. Someone like me was the right person to work on a programme in Liverpool who really got the client's purpose and gelled with the client team.
What's been the biggest challenge/obstacle in your career?
During Lockdown 1.0, I was really happy both personally and professionally. Then I went to the Lake District and, in the blink of an eye, my life changed. I was in an extremely serious cycling accident that, without a helmet, would've killed me as I sustained all of my injuries to my face. Two hospitals, six hours in maxillofacial surgery, a week's stay, learning to speak and eat again, my family having to travel up to Preston daly during local lockdown, another surgery, 11 weeks off work and a set of dentures to fill the gap of 13 missing teeth, I returned to work trying to come to terms with the new me. I didn't really look or feel like 'me' anymore. I'd also been away from work for so long that I'd lost my confidence, the programme I'd given so much to had finished without me, I was having to navigate working with new people on new work with a new personal situation and it was all completely overwhelming. As part of this journey and the stress and trauma, I also went through an equally painful process of skin problems, namely topical steroid withdrawal which I wrote about in my Womens health mag article.
I worked off camera for months, embarrassed of who I'd become, and balanced difficult dental and maxfac appointments amongst work. At times, it's been a blur, but after about a year I got a grasp of it and nearly two years on now I've had three further reconstruction surgeries with another three or four to go: nose reconstruction, lip reconstruction and an upper and lower jaw bone graft. Sometimes I mourn what I lost that day and get upset that work and life would've been much easier without that split second that changed everything, but at the same time, the amount I have learnt and grown, the people I've met, the empathy I've developed, the journey of personal growth I've been on... I could say I'm grateful because of where it's placed me now. PwC has been immensely supportive and it gives me even more passion when going out to young people and potential recruits in saying just how good PwC are to work for day to day, but also how good PwC people and processes are to help you when things get dark and/or difficult.
What 3 pieces of advice would you give to someone looking at a career in Technology?
Experience as much variety as you can as young as you can - I found what I liked, i.e. Delivery Management, pretty quickly cause I'd historically had a skill set for project/people management throughout my life and so it was the best fit, and definitely always will be. I'm constantly trying to grow my technical ability, though, to be a more understanding leader and probably wish I'd stepped out of my comfort zone more to experience the 'techie' side of things sooner;
Equally, you don't have to be technical to work in tech. A lot of people think it's all coding and software but Technology is multifaceted. There's no point building the tech if people don't like it or don't know how to use it - it's a massive superpower to be able to 'talk tech' to the least technical people in the room in a way that they understand, thinking about every demographic of customer, accessibility, etc. There's a role for everyone in tech and it's really exciting to see things grow
You're never too old. Yes we have Degree Apprentices and Graduates but Tech is an amazing career option for career switchers and career returners. So many other roles, industries and fields have similar skill sets that can be applied to tech and for - e.g. working mums coming back after a career break to raise children - there's loads of training opportunities and flexibility options to not feel scared about doing something new.
View our Tech opportunities here
