My own personal experience and that from leading the data team, is that there are lots of opportunities for people to grow and develop; its one of the areas where I think First Central excels.

We offer excellent structured training options that support professional development (e.g. Microsoft certification for technical and data people), leadership skills development (a range of programmes for non-managers right through to strategic leaders), and specific modules for colleagues who want to focus on specific areas.

There are also well structured mentoring and coaching options available, where colleagues can look to partner with someone else in the business who can help them work on their strengths and areas for development.

We also make excellent use of apprenticeships through a combination of bootcamps (latest example being our Data Analysis 10 week bootcamp for colleagues who want to develop their data skills), and full scale A-level and degree equivalent apprenticeships running over a number of years.

Finally, through active talent planning, we try to match people up to stretching projects and opportunities so that new skills can be learnt through trying new things.

Essentially, if you are keen to develop and grow, this is a great place to be able to do that - your most difficult decision is which of the many options do you choose..!

09 May, 2023 13:40

First Central really encourages colleague's growth and development, there are multiple tools and initiatives that we can get involved with, like mentoring programmes, leadership programmes, up-skilling (depending on role) and obtaining certifications. My personal experience is that I am going on a course in December to obtain (hopefully) a qualification that will assist me in my role as a Test Engineer and give me valuable skills and knowledge to push my career to the next level.
As mentioned by Paul there are so many options to choose from, but that's a good thing because I would never have thought about perusing a career in software/test engineering if it wasn't for First Central.

07 November, 2023 14:31

Plenty of opportunities to grow, from our own range of learning modules and courses, opportunities to attend industry events and support for external training. Everyone is encouraged to have a development plan in place and there are loads of tools and choices around your personal development. There is also an internal mentoring programme in place. I have mentored 3 people since joining and have found the experience really rewarding. We are also very open around requesting and providing feedback which is a great way to identify both development areas and what you are doing well.

30 January, 2024 16:55