Your Team Mates

Rob Dickinson

When I was at university, I had my life sorted. I did not need to go to the careers service or fairs. I knew exactly what I wanted to do: I was going to be a helicopter pilot.

Unfortunately, it turns out that being over six foot tall makes me too tall to fly helicopters. I probably should have checked that in the first year!

So, I began looking for other careers. I went through quite a few options, but none of them were suitable. (It seems that there is a height limit to be an astronaut as well!)

I was studying Engineering at the time and was quite enjoying it. I knew that I wanted to stay in a technical field for the start of my working life, but was certain that I ultimately wanted to end up in management. I also wanted there to be more to my life than work and to find an employer who promoted a healthy work-life balance.

Armed with this self-knowledge, I set out to do the careers fair thing. I chatted to the City firms, but they struggled to tick my boxes. I met a few Engineering companies, but the idea of spending months in far flung parts of the country on a graduate training programme did not quite float my boat. It turned out that finding the ideal job was not going to be as easy as I had first thought.

As I gazed across the sea of business casual wear, application deadlines and free USB pens, I began to feel a little disheartened. There must be an employer out there that would have a more flexible approach to working life. Then, I happened across Data Connection.

From the first time I met DC, I knew that they were my kind of company. They were small, but successful. Flexible in their approach to applications, start dates and pre-requisite experience. But most of all, they were friendly, dynamic and intelligent people.

I took particular advantage of the flexible start date. Once I had the job offer, I deferred the place, packed my rucksack and bought a plane ticket. Eventually, I came back and I have been working at DC for almost a year now and have not looked back once.

The job is challenging but rewarding; the people are motivated but still fun to work with; and, I feel that I have a genuine say in where my career is going and how it fits into my life. All in all, my only regret is that it is not quite as exciting as flying a helicopter… Good luck.