PMO Review

I work within PMO which assists various projects within CGI's Glasgow operations. I meet regularly with Project Managers to update their project plans. I also assist with the delivery of a project which involves installing WAN/LAN into Schools across Glasgow City Council. I also submit a weekly status report to our client which summarises the status of each of our projects.

I have developed my interpersonal and communication skills massively since joining CGI. Sending emails to colleagues and communicating with clients is now common day-to-day. Through University, I have developed my Microsoft Excel and my Java Programming skills. Whilst learning about various systems used in organisations globally. In order to help stay on top of my workload, my planning and preparation skills have also developed.

CGI's company culture seems to be at a really high standard. They definitely care about their 'members' At the beginning I found the job demotivating as I didn't have a lot to work on. It felt very disorganised and that nobody really knew what I was supposed to be doing. This wasn't what I expected to be honest as it seemed from the on-boarding that there was going to be a structure in place for me. The transition from school to full-time work was never going to be the easiest, however it has definitely not been as hard as I anticipated. I do still miss the holidays, but the opportunity is too good to turn down :)

Induction felt a bit stretched out over the days, I remember feeling like I'd came through to Edinburgh from Glasgow with not much purpose. The support at CGI is good, most of the people are very approachable and happy to share experience and knowledge ! The training opportunities within CGI are fantastic. There is loads of courses available for all different types of roles within CGI. I do feel I'm being given a lot of the straight forward and repetitive tasks that nobody wants to do... however on the other hand I understand as a new joiner it is important to not put too much responsibility on my shoulders. The link between my CGI work and my University work is weak. There has not been much coinciding learning/experience at all. I hope this improves as I progress throughout the course.

The support is there if you go and force it to happen. The HR team normally respond very quickly to cases and most of the time get them resolved. The service desk is a little slow at getting problems solved due to the time it takes to communicate your problem.

The best help I have received for my University work has actually came from a colleague. They were very knowledgeable about Java so it made sense to work with them on it ! We stayed behind after office hours one night and worked through it, after this I nominated the colleague for the CGI member recognition programme and they received a £200 bonus as a result of the help they offered ! :) I think if there was a stronger link between the course and the job role, the support would be much more prominent.

At the moment it hasn't offered much help. I haven't learnt anything new in University that I have been able to apply to my work role as of yet. The university module on Finance helped refresh my memory of Microsoft Excel, which is an application I do use frequently within my role. I had to put in a lot of effort to complete the coding/programming section of the Uni course, as I had no experience beforehand. Despite the importance of passing this module, I have not used any of the knowledge gained at all since.

CGI has a frequent all-hands meeting which engages employees and keeps them up to date with latest local operations. The CGI annual tour gives employees insight into the Global aspect of the company, which I think is great as it keeps employees engaged and actually gives you an opportunity to get to know the senior members of CGI ! There is a social club which I heard about in my induction however have not saw anything about it since.

Yes

So far, it comes across that CGI has a genuine interest in their 'members' and continuously strive to make work an enjoyable and rewarding environment. CGI is a really modern organisation and I believe they will continue to adapt to help retain this. With a foot in the door in so many different sectors across the globe, the opportunities seem endless!

- Be honest in your application process ! - Be calm and be yourself at the interview/assessment ! Personal presentation, preparation & first impressions are key! - Don't stress about starting in the deep end, you will be eased into life at work, most people understand that you are new ! - Take the opportunities that arise, put yourself out there! - Keep a good balance between work & life - Get involved in the Share Purchase Plan and try your best to resist the temptation to withdraw the money you have saved! It is really rewarding when you see how much money you have saved without really thinking about it ! The interest rate is much better than any of the banks I know ! - Talk to people if you are struggling ! - Timekeeping !