Current role at UCL: I have been at UCL almost 5 years now and have been in my current Administration and Operations Manager position for the last 2 years.
I work at a Public Anthropology section which is part of the Faculty for Social and Historical Sciences. I lead a team of highly skilled people, manage the operational structure for the section’s professional services team, manage various projects for the section such as the move of Public Anthropology from Bloomsbury to UCL East and overseeing the section’s budget and expenses and a lot more.
But as with many operational roles at UCL, I do a lot of different tasks and my main role really is to be a go-to person for all things UCL. The person who finds solutions and puts out ‘fires’ as they come.
Please could you describe your career journey
My career started when I was 19 and got a job offer in the private sector in Estonia, to be a receptionist to an entire building. I then moved to Hyundai Motors Baltic, one of the firms residing in the building and they offered me a position to be their Sales Administrator for the Baltic states. This was the first time an employer had come to me to ask if I was interested in working for them.
In 2008 when the financial crisis hit, my job got made redundant and I moved to London for a couple of months. Itried being an au-pair, which lasted for 4 days, and decided to go back to Estonia, to finish school, before moving back permanently to London.
Back in Estonia I got a job at a board and video game store. I stayed there for longer than I anticipated but did eventually leave to work for an online retail start up that sells home improvement products. My next opportunity was to work for a real estate agency to be a Marketing Specialist/Customer Service Specialist only to find out when I started that last minute, they ended up hiring two people and only one of us would keep the job after the probation period. This really put me off working for the company, so I left and got a job as an Office Coordinator for a commercial developer company.
I then moved back to London, worked in retail for about 3 years and then got multiple part-time jobs in my university as a Summer Residential Coordinator, a Short Courses and Events Coordinator and an Employability Assistant.
Then a permanent job as a Financial Administrator at the University of Westminster became available, and after two years, an Office Coordinator position became available at Westminster. 5 years later I got offered a job to be a Centre Administrator at UCL; a job I stayed in for a little over 3 years and then moved to the Public Anthropology section as an Administration and Operations Manager, the position I am in now.
As you moved through your career journey, please describe your experience(s) in how you progressed to your current role?
I have had to take risks to reap the rewards; my progression has not been linear. I ended up having to work in retail when I moved countries, it took going to university for me to get the opportunities to establish my career in this country.
I decided to quit my permanent job in retail while I was studying at university to take up a full-time 4-month summer job as a Residential Coordinator within my university. I had no idea how I was going to pay my bills after this temporary position. Luckily, I managed to secure a part-time position as the Short Courses and Events Coordinator. The role was supposed to be for 2 months, but they extended my contract until end of December.
During the final week, a call came through for my next opportunity as an Employability Administrator. I remained in that position for 6 months, and after graduating took up a fixed-term contract over the summer working within the Scholarships Team. My first permanent position as a Finance Administrator again came during my final week. When moving to UCL I had another offer from Queen Mary University that was for a permanent position, whereas the UCL offer was for a 2-year grant funded contract with the possibility of extension. I took the risk and chose the UCL offer as I felt that I would enjoy the UCL role more.
I am very happy I took the risks, and I do really believe that nothing worthy comes from playing it safe all the time.
What lessons have you learnt on your career journey?
The main thing I’ve learned is that it is okay to change your mind about what you want to do in life and in your career. As we get older, we learn, we grow, our interests and values change. Honestly, I am still trying to figure out who I want to be when I grow up, and that is absolutely fine.
I’ve normally never regretted moving on from a job and doing something new, it has always been a right choice for me. The only time when I felt like I had to leave was from my previous job at UCL because the grant was ending. I really loved the culture of the department, the team and the job.
What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?
My first job at UCL started a week before Covid-19 and I quickly took up the Wellbeing Champion role at the WEISS Centre. Keeping up the morale during lockdown was a challenge. I had an idea to organise and manage bi-weekly themed photo competitions that really took off and became so popular we continued after Covid-19 on special occasions, usually as part of WEISS Awards before the UCL Winter closure. I have done other things, but this really brought me a lot of joy to organise and the feedback of appreciation I received was very motivating.
What advice would you offer to others?
Ask questions during the interview process about the culture in the team and the management style of the line manager; this can really make or break your experience and motivation. Know that you can change your mind at any time, move to a different job or change your career trajectory altogether!
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