I would definitely say my journey to NCR was not the most conventional. 

I graduated from University in Scotland, where I studied criminology, as I had a passion to join the Police force once graduating. However, once I completed my studies, I moved to London where I fell into recruitment. After trying out various recruitment roles, I joined Accenture which is a consulting firm, and I joined them as a recruiting consultant where I spent over two years. Due to my personal situation—I was doing a long-distance relationship with my wife—I moved back to Scotland, where she was living, which was when I came to NCR and started my role as a talent acquisition consultant and later found myself in University Recruitment.

Because I didn’t have the focus on what I wanted to do in University, as it was simply the next “step” within the educational ladder to go to University. 

Even during university, I felt overwhelmed by the options at the end of my degree and that left me even more puzzled as to what direction to pursue professionally. So, being able to share my experience and offer direction to the students we bring into NCR has been really rewarding for me.

What impressed me most about NCR and continues to impress me is how the company adapts. 

Looking back, there is so much history behind the company and the people, ethics and infrastructure have been so flexible during difficult times, which is the most remarkable aspect to me. With that being said, the changes and challenges we had to go through as a company during the pandemic placed us where we are now, and that is the most remarkable to me because it reflects how adaptable the company is. 

The other big aspects of NCR that stood out to me from my previous companies were the trust, honesty, and transparency we have from our leadership. It’s not common that you get updates from your CEO every two weeks about what’s happening across the company and how it’s going to continue to be shaped and moved. So, being a part of these conversations is very unique for such a large company like NCR.

To be honest, it was difficult at first because not only was I adapting to working from home, but I also became a father during UK's first lockdown. 

It was probably the strangest time to try to build a family through Covid due to restrictions across the UK because I was asking questions like am I even able to go to the hospital with my wife? So, it kind of left me on edge because I constantly had to adapt to the changing restrictions along with working from home. It was a difficult challenge, but I think that it also came with a lot of positivity. 

My boy is now seven months old, so it feels like a long time ago since he was born—but some family members haven’t been able to meet him yet so we’re still going through that initial stage of adapting. But ultimately, there was also a lot of positivity that resulted. From one standpoint, I have been able to communicate more regularly with my colleagues, and now it feels like we are all part of one virtual office. So, I actually think it has opened a lot of opportunities for me and for my colleagues.

Definitely—yoga is one of the things I started to do, which I previously had never done. 

I come from a very sporting background, playing semi-professional rugby, athletics, and football. Yoga was never one of the things I would have done, but suddenly I’ve started doing it and I just find it very therapeutic, as it allows me to switch off from work and father duties, to simply clear my mind.

From a professional sense, I think having an office space separate from your home space is key to the success of being able to stay sane. Another massive learning curve for me was being able to switch off from work. When I leave the office space, I have to teach myself to be done with work and try not to bring it “home” with me. Ultimately, having those separation points allows me to maintain my focus, stay productive and enjoy work-life-balance.

Have the confidence to ask any question and as many as possible. 

When you are early on in your career, there’s rarely a stupid question, but there’s always that insecurity or fear to ask it. But, I think that asking as many questions as possible is a good thing. I wish I had done that because it not only answers your questions, but also builds relationships with people. The second piece of advice I would say is to get involved beyond your day-to-day work. Take on any projects that come your way or if you see something that is outside of your typical work, then get involved because it will diversify your knowledge about different areas and teams, as well as build your internal network at NCR.

For me, one of my biggest passions is being able to inform students when they don’t know what they want to do in their career and being able to give them suggestions by sharing my own story. But to be honest, I think the one thing that always blows my mind since I’ve started in University Recruiting is how tuned-in early talent is with the market, in a sense that they know what they want. They’re very career-driven and enthusiastic about what they want to be involved in. 

In my experience, many students have a 5-10 year plan, which is mind boggling to me because I simply didn’t have that. I think ultimately, the passion, the drive, and the sense that they really know what they need and want in their careers is what stands out to me the most when I speak to those individuals.