Senior IT Project Manager
Aaron Crompton, Senior IT Project Manager
I joined UCL in 2002 as a Web IT Administrator in the School of Public policy (now known as the Department of Political Science). I was in this role for about 5 years. During this time, I attended an evening course at Birbeck studying a Computer Science degree in Information Systems and Management. This lasted for four years which UCL supported and paid half the tuition fees through UCL’s Study Assistance Scheme. The Department also supported me with this course and provided some financial assistance for the remaining half of the fees. I then successfully applied for a role as a Faculty Information Support Officer (FISO) within the Information Systems (IS) department at UCL.
This was a meaningful step forward as I was now working within a department of IT specialists whereas in my previous role I was the only IT specialist, and working in this new department meant that there was room for further progression. In this role I had the opportunity to provide IT training to different departments on building websites and using different software applications as this was one of my areas of expertise. After 2 years in this role, my manager went on a secondment which gave way to an opportunity to act up in their place. Following this, the Department underwent a restructure which is when ISD was formed and I had to re-apply for the job that I was in. I then applied for a Customer Relations Manager (CRM) role. I was in this role for about a year and was then given an opportunity to work on the Desktop@UCL project to help validate the software applications requirements for the new service. I then realised I would like to transition into Project Management and asked my line manager and director for support in transitioning which they happily agreed to give. Following this discussion, they found a development opportunity for me in IT for Change and Project Delivery (ITCPD) to further explore working as a project manager. I worked in this role for a year on a large datacentre migration programme as part of a large team.
I was in this role for a year before an opportunity came up to formally apply for a Project Manager role. I was successful in securing the role and worked for a number of years as an IT Project Manager before I successfully applied for a Senior IT Project Manager role.
I wanted to be in control of my own career and decided to go for project manager role as this was a better recognised and defined career path for someone like me who likes to be organised. When I was a CRM I gave myself a 5 year goal to get into project management and become a Senior Project Manager. I was very open about my goal with my managers and found that they were very happy to support me. I found that my managers in ISD were very happy to see people wanting to try something different and move forward in one’s career. In addition to gaining a Degree in Computer Science at Birkbeck, I have also obtained professional certification in ITIL and PRINCE2.
I would advise colleagues not to be afraid to ask your line manager to support you in your career goals. Be proactive in your career journey by always keeping an eye out on what’s available, perhaps even asking your managers if they would support you to take on a course to build up your skills. There are plenty of HR policies that support one’s development and lots of different roles one could try at UCL. I would also advise speaking to the people who are working in the area you would like to be to gain further knowledge.
My next goal is to remain in my current role for at least two years in order to gain further experience. I will also remain proactive in looking for the next challenge in my career.