After completing a BSc in Computer Science at Reading University, Lucy joined the Atos Project Management scheme. She completed it in March 2011.

Like many graduates, I hadn’t heard of Atos before applying to the graduate scheme. But after researching the company, I was impressed with their reputation and success. I discovered how much they’re involved in, and also the wide range of opportunities that would be available to me as a graduate.

Since starting in September 2009, I‘ve been working on a government account in London. My first role, as part of the Project Management Office team, was in risk management. I was given exposure to a wide variety of different projects that were on the go, which in turn meant getting to know the many people working on the account. After a few months I was given the opportunity to attend a Management of Risk Foundation course, which gave me an industry-recognised qualification. I’ve also gained the PRINCE2 Practitioner qualification and attended numerous internal training days.

As well as risk management, I was involved in project reporting. This meant working alongside the Reporting Manager and the majority of the Project Managers – and that gave me a greater understanding of the account, of the Atos processes, and of project management in general.

As part of this role, I was heavily involved in the ‘Lean’ transformation of the PMO, which is essentially implementing process improvement and cost savings. At the same time, I was working alongside three Delivery Directors, giving me exposure to the government sector as a whole. Then I had the chance to shadow one of the Project Managers on a large project, while taking responsibility for the delivery of several small projects. That gave me exposure to our client and some excellent hands-on experience too.

In February of this year I was offered a completely different role: Service Delivery Manager of the London region. I decided to take it to gain experience in a different area of the business. I’m finding the role very challenging and very different to my previous role in project management. But it’s giving me a lot more exposure to the client and helping to build my confidence.

The one piece of advice that I would give is to network as much as possible. It does sound like a cliché, but it is often who you know, not just what you know. It’s vital that you’re proactive and seek new opportunities wherever possible. Everyone is very supportive and willing to give advice, but at the end of the day, it’s down to you to make the most of what Atos has to offer.