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I started working for O2 in Retail HR in August 2005 on a part time basis as I was running my own small business but needed to supplement my income.  At that time, O2 were opening a number of new stores and I was supporting the volume application process.  Even though I was not a permanent employee, I was made to feel welcome from day one and soon got absorbed into the team.  After a short time, I was asked by the Head of Retail HR to consider whether I would consider 5 days and so did some soul searching (for at least half an hour!) and decided that I wanted to work for O2 rather than for myself.

…. and so I embarked on a new career in HR.  Prior to running my business, I had worked for many years as a Buyer in the pharmaceutical industry, heading up a team for much of that.  What’s that got to do with HR I hear you ask?  Well on first glance you may think very little, however in reality there are many transferable skills that I have used since being in HR: negotiating is always a handy one, team management and development has also been high on the list as has networking and connecting with people .  Additionally, in dealing with line managers, I can often appreciate their issues having been one myself.

Since that time in Retail, I have taken on the role of HR Consultant working in some different areas of the business such as Professional Services, Devices and Solutions, Tesco Mobile and Fraud and Security, and I can honestly say that I love working in O2.

When I came to think about what I was going to say before writing this short piece, I reflected on the fact that there are very few organisations in my view who would give you the opportunity to work in a completely different field of expertise having not had the direct experience.  O2 have also supported me with my professional qualification in HR, recently having gained full member accreditation to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.  Whilst taking me on might have been a gamble (hopefully I have proved otherwise since then!), I think it shows that anything is possible in O2.

   -Libby

Careers…We have access to careers advisors from our early teens, who make us fill out random lifestyle profiling forms; which then tell us that we are destined to be a tea-pot sculptor, a landlord, or deputy health minister. We’re forced to make decisions at a very naïve 15 years old, to choose what subjects we will take forward to GCSE, which will ultimately shape our future…Of course, like most plans, they never go as…planned.

I left University after the first year, as it was a young course that hadn’t found its feet; I didn’t get what I was predicted for A-Level, so didn’t get onto the course I picked a year before; and wasn’t being stretched, so went into work…

My first role was an Outbound one, selling personal loans to customers for a major bank, pretty much cold calling. It was awful, and I lasted 10 months. I then went to work for a mobile service provider, as Inbound sales, and then moved onto Broadband sales. After a year, I took redundancy, 1 month before everyone lost their jobs as the work went to India. I then got a job as a driver for a mobile operator, on their network optimisation team, and when my engineer left, I took that role. This was a contract, however, and as good as it paid, it had to end at some time. It was then that I realised I wanted job security…

It was a local paper where I first saw the advert for O2; Inbound Business Customer Services. It was the usual process, telephone interview, then assessment day. All went very smoothly, and I was offered the position.

It was the atmosphere that first struck me when I arrived, and took my first walk round the Operation. Very relaxed, and trustworthy, it felt. People were left to do the job they were paid to do. Pretty soon I was enjoying this modern approach to working.

I applied for a role on Real Time Planning after a year, as I’d had a short secondment in my second job shadowing the MI Analyst, so had a rough idea of basic stat manipulation and call centre performance concepts and KPI’s. I was successful, and threw myself into my work. I had some excellent mentoring from both direct and indirect managers within the wider Planning team, who were more than willing to nurture my enthusiasm and talents, and hone them in.

I applied for my current position a year ago today. It was a brand new role within O2, and with it carried huge responsibilities, and an amount of pressure. I would be managing analysts, be responsible for the Outbound departments performance, and be the required to come up with fresh new idea’s on how we can push things forward, and utilise the Dialler for the benefit of the business.

 - Dale