Forces: Army
Kelly M - Cpt
Kelly Mullane, a former Captain in the British Army, now works as a Deal Manager at Asset Servicing company Northern Trust. Kelly shares her story of transitioning from the Army to the Financial Services and managing a successful career alongside her family.
"Before
joining the universe of corporate policies and multiple computer
screens, I was in the Army. I served for 7 years and my skills in Arabic
language guided my military career. Once I had made the decision to
leave, I was put in touch with CTP.
"It was during my
resettlement period that I attended a three-day CTP Career Transition
Workshop (CTW) designed specifically for Officers. This workshop enabled
me to identify and evaluate the skills and qualities I gained during my
time in the Army, and taught me how to market myself for potential
employers.
I uploaded my CV onto several websites and received a
call a few weeks later from a retired Infantry Major who wanted to know
whether I was interested in a role in the ‘City’. My first question was
‘which city?! Once I had been thoroughly debriefed, I headed into said
City to learn all about the financial industry and how I had
‘transferable’ skills aplenty that these giant conglomerates would lap
up in spades. And do you know what? They did! Five roles in three
different companies later, a fabulous mentor or two, and now a
managerial role within a fast-paced Sales team, I feel that I have come a
long way since my days in uniform. It’s been a real journey as they say
on X-Factor!
"As a working mum of two, I partake in the endless
juggle. I have very little free time – but my firm has agreed to let me
work from home every Friday morning and to give me every Friday
afternoon off – which means I do actually get to see the kids and I am
much happier working hard when I am in the office. I’m still in the
minority being a female and I’m often the only woman in the meeting but
we are used to that. The industry is also changing very quickly - there
are lots of women’s networks discussing how women can break through
those glass ceilings, up-to-date corporate policies around flexible
working, important business ideas around engaging more females and the
need to prepare for the next generations to join us in the workplace.
"To
be honest, I’m much the same as any other working mum – I prepare my
work outfit the night before (who has time to hunt for that other
earring?!), I scrape the food off my collar that my toddler has
helpfully thrown at me over breakfast before getting to the office, I’m
always surgically connected to my mobile in case school or our
childminder calls, I leave the office by 5.30pm latest even though some
nights I’ll be working much later that everyone else and I need a ‘mummy
pass’ to join in with the office drinks on a Thursday night.
"All
that said, I like being a City mum – I always hold on to the fact that
although some of these City-types think they’re masters of the universe,
they haven’t really experienced much outside this bubble of a world –
and I’ve definitely got one or two up on them there and so have you!"
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