Exploring Early Careers at HPE’s Bristol office

[Maninder_R]

At HPE we offer a range of early careers opportunities including apprenticeships, internships, and graduate schemes. We sat down with colleagues in our Bristol office, each at a different stage in their career, to understand more about their experiences. Just at the beginning of her career journey, Lily-Mae gave us valuable insight into her internship, and we also chatted to Rav Virdee about the potential for career progression. Dan Coney, now in a managerial position, explained how his career with HPE has flourished and the opportunities that have been presented to him since starting as an intern in 1996.

Laying a strong career foundation – Lily-Mae Gilling

Lily-Mae Gilling is a product manager in HPE’s Data Services Cloud Console Team. Starting her journey in 2021, Lily joined us as an intern as part of her university course. Many universities and colleges now offer the opportunity to complete a year in industry as part of a student’s studies, and Lily chose to join us here at HPE for a full-time internship. This led to an offer of a part-time role which Lily could manage alongside her studies, once the initial internship was complete. She explained a little more about the realities of juggling a job and university work.

“Going back to university with my part-time position, I was worried if I could manage it, but with the support of HPE and my team I was able to continue my dissertation and projects while still contributing to the business 10 hours a week. Overall, I was ecstatic to still have these connections at the company, but also manage my university work which was my top priority.”

Jumping into a role in the tech industry may not have been the career path that Lily had expected, and she explained how her passion for technology has developed within a vibrant office environment.

“I did marketing at university and prior to that I didn't actually have any experience in technology. However, when I was looking for placements, HPE stuck out to me and then since I've got into the role, my passion for technology has grown as I've grown within the role. The Bristol site is amazing, and my team are actually split, with some in the US and some in Bristol, so it gives me an opportunity to still have those face-to-face interactions but also connect on a global scale which I enjoy. There's always something going on, if it's raising money for charity or just an event happening and there's always a really good atmosphere in the office, so I enjoy coming in.” 

With so many potential industries to choose from as a marketing graduate, Lily explained how an internship helped her decide on the right path for her.

“I wasn't really too sure where I wanted to head with my marketing degree. The internship really set the ground for post-uni. I really enjoyed the company’s vision and strategy, but also the people who work here; you work Monday to Friday, so if you're lucky enough to find people you enjoy working with then I believe that you should probably keep on to that! So that's a major reason as to why I stayed at HPE.”

Making life changing career decisions can be fairly intimidating, and Lily offered this advice to those unsure of their next steps.

“If you have an opportunity to do an internship or industrial placement, then go for it. It's daunting, but once you land that role, you'll be thankful for it! It not only develops you professionally, but also returning back to university I felt a lot more ahead of my peers - I was more on schedule with different things, so if you have an opportunity then definitely go for it.”

Watch Lillie's Interview here

Making an impact – Rav Virdee

Rav Virdee is also part of the Data Services Cloud Console Team, having joined HPE in 2019 as an intern. She followed a similar route to Lily, with an internship leading to a part time position and then onto a permanent role, and is now a cloud software engineer. Rav knew she wanted to work in the tech industry, studying for a computer science degree with aspirations to contribute to the evolution of tech in the wider world.

“I think what really drew me to technology originally was appreciating how much of our day to day lives relies on technology, from traffic lights to automatic doors, it's all on a computer program. I just think it's fascinating how our society relies on technology so much.”

For career starters, this may be one of the first interviews they have encountered, and it can be a little daunting. Rav explained the interview process and how they focus on different elements of the role.

“The interview process was made up of a technical interview and a management interview. The technical interview was obviously more technical in nature and that was by two senior software engineers, and then the management interview was more focused on soft skills and problem-solving skills and that was with my current manager.”

Rather than asking interns and early careers colleagues to complete simple tasks, HPE likes to immediately engage them in projects where they can see their work making a real difference. This knits them into the team and ensures they are using their skills in a practical way.

“I think the highlight of working in the team is getting to write impactful code. Getting to work on exciting projects with really up to date and current technologies makes the job really exciting and that's definitely the highlight of my day to day role.”

With a head for problem solving, Rav loves the fact that there’s more to the tech industry than just coding. Every job at HPE requires a mix of skills, within a supportive team and working in an environment that values creativity and softer skills.

“Being a software engineer entails a massive load of skills. I think the core is thinking of interesting new ways to solve everyday problems, as well as big business Enterprise level problems. It has enabled me to be creative, there's lots of different solutions for one problem, so being able to think around that is a really good opportunity to have. And I think it's allowed me to develop softer skills as well. My confidence has developed massively, my communication skills and collaborating in a team effectively to meet deadlines.”

Having experienced the internship process and now being comfortably settled into her role, Rav understands how to get the best out of working at HPE, offering this advice to those considering an internship at HPE.

“There's loads of opportunities to get involved in, and I think the best advice is just to get involved in as much as you can and make your mark. I returned to HPE because I not only enjoyed the job and the projects that I get to work on, but I love the culture of the company. I think HPE Bristol is a very collaborative and comfortable working environment which allows me to ask lots of questions, work with interesting people and thrive.”

Watch Rav's interview here

From intern to senior manager – Dan Coney

Dan Coney has spent over a quarter of a century at HPE, having started as an intern in 1996. Working across many teams, Dan is now a senior manager working in Storage. Having started in tape technology, he’s seen a lot of change, however HPE’s commitment to interns has stayed as a constant. Dan explained more about his career journey.

“At university I did electronic and electrical engineering which has very little to do with the software development that I do today! I used to do wiring and soldering, which I haven’t done for a number of years, but through my time at HPE, things have changed, things have moved on but there's been a huge amount of training and support. HPE has always been a really friendly and exciting place to be. When I joined back in the early days, I was immediately made to feel welcome, immediately made to feel part of the team.”

Finding the internship process extremely beneficial himself, Dan stayed involved in the recruitment and support of interns and is now responsible for hiring new interns in the Bristol office.

“Over that time, it’s really evolved, we’ve got so much support for our young engineers, for our interns and apprentices. Something I'm very proud of is just how we have supported bringing in new talent, bringing in interns and apprentices. I've seen the process change dramatically, but I've also seen so many people join the company and really fulfil their careers and become senior level engineers through that process which I think has worked brilliantly for many years.”

Seeing interns successfully progress through the company, Dan himself has been offered some incredible opportunities, gaining experience and becoming a manager, which he didn’t necessarily foresee.

“I really had no idea where I was going to go with my career! I came in doing testing, then working as a systems engineer. I didn't know I wanted to be a manager, but as I went through my career, I found that increasingly I would be leading teams. I ended up working with a team in Mumbai who were working on a web interface, and I was leading all the things they were doing, and I thought, ‘Well actually I could probably be a manager,’ so I started to pursue that. After that I got thrown into leading some software engineering teams which was something I really had never expected to do, and carried on from there, which is how I've got to where I am today.”

One thing Dan has discovered through his career journey is that the learning never stops. Taking on a management position simply meant the learning curve continued as he aimed to support his teams in the best way possible.

“One thing that I learnt very early on is that leadership is not about telling people what to do - that doesn't get you anywhere - leadership is about your employees becoming the best they can be, delivering on their own potential and in doing that they also deliver on HPE’s goals. I try very hard as a leader to make sure that I remove roadblocks from my team and help them to find the training needs that they might have, I escalate issues or I give them advice. I can't solve their problems for them, I don't have the technical skills in some of the areas that they do!”

With so many opportunities for early careers, Dan can see the benefit of taking a year in industry, and now encourages school leavers to give the tech industry, and specifically HPE, a try.

“Joining HPE, you get to work with some phenomenal engineers, people who have a lot of experience and are willing to share that experience with you. A year in industry is a perfect way to give yourself the opportunity to understand whether it's something you want to be doing going forward and it's also a massive stepping stone, something you can put on your CV.”

And finally, with 25 years under his belt, Dan told us just how diverse the opportunities really are at HPE, “I've never done the same thing for more than a year at a time, there's been so many opportunities for me to seek out, new challenges and take on new things.”

Watch Dan's interview here

If you’re interested in finding out more about HPE early careers, visit https://www.hpe.com/uk/en/about/jobs/students.html

Maninder Randhawa
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

twitter.com/HPE_UKI
linkedin.com/company/hewlett-packard-enterprise
hpe.com/uk