Autumn Budget 2024: What to Expect
The Autumn Budget 2024 will be delivered by Rachel Reeves on Wednesday 30th October,…
Posted by Niche Recruitment
30th March 2021
Finding My Niche During The Pandemic
We recently caught up with Fanni to talk through her experience of starting a new job during the pandemic and what it felt like to ‘find her niche’ in a pandemic…
You successfully started a new role during the last few months and during Covid-19, can you tell me about your new job and the company you work for?
My new role is a Portfolio Manager role at Innovate UK. Innovate UK is the UK’s Innovation agency. At Innovate, we work with people, companies, and partner organisations to find and drive the science and technology innovations that will grow the UK economy.
As Portfolio Manager, I am responsible for the life cycle of innovation competitions. Amongst others, this includes liaising with Innovation leads, working on competition briefs and carrying our live briefings and presentations.
How did you feel before you started about the idea of starting a new job remotely?
I was a bit nervous but very excited at the same time!
How was the communication with your new employer prior to starting your new role?
Innovate were fantastic, the communication was timely and very efficient, they kept me in the loop all the way through.
How have you found integrating into the team virtually?
I feel I have found it quite easy to integrate into the team, due to the fact that everyone was very welcoming and reassured me to reach out to them if I needed any help. The company also has a great networking system in place which helps a lot, especially for a newbie! You feel that you can definitely talk to anyone!
What has been the biggest positive experience you can take away from your first few weeks in the role?
It is said that the easiest way to learn is when you are thrown in the deep end – after the first few weeks, I was helping out on a specific task when an unforeseen issue arose – I had to act quickly and use my initiative to sort the problem out. The outcome of this, provided me with some valuable experience and increased my confidence in my new role.
How have the company been flexible during lockdown to support you?
Innovate have been great in providing all the relevant IT equipment to make sure that I am as comfortable in my ‘home’ office as possible. They also appreciate that we tend to spend the majority of our time on Zoom at the moment, so they try to encourage us to decrease the number of calls during lunchtime so that we can go out to get some fresh air and unwind a bit between calls.
What advice would you give anyone due to start a new role virtually?
Be brave and take a leap of faith, use your initiative and ask lots of questions in your new role.
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Read more about Niche candidates you have started a new role during lockdown here…
