I have worked at Oracle for almost 2 years now which doesn’t sound like much but to me I have had so many learning experiences I feel like I’ve compressed 10 years of working life into 2 years, talk about fast paced! And I’m saying this as a positive thing for me, I haven’t had the chance to get bored or too snug in my role, I’m always being kept on my feet.
Corporate Social Leadership
I graduated from Durham University during the summer of 2007 and saw a role posted on Monster for a programme manager job for a website built by the Oracle Education Foundation going by the name of Think.com (now known as ThinkQuest find out more here) It was a contract role but I remained positive that once I had my foot in the door the possibilities were endless and they were! My first role as an EMEA programme manager for ThinkQuest was such a great experience for me, I found myself working with an EMEA team and also closely with the US for 9 months. Working with ThinkQuest enabled me to see what a strong corporate citizen Oracle was in terms of connecting with the education system and schools to really enhance their learning and provide children with the skills to survive in their future workplace. This position allowed me to see the bigger picture of Corporate Citizenship, where education is actually one of four pillars along with diversity, environment and community.
It was when I started to expand my network that I started to get involved more with corporate citizenship, in EMEA known as Corporate Social Leadership under the vision 2010 programme. And as if by magic when I was coming to the end of my contract with ThinkQuest, another ProgrammeManager role became available now for EMEA CSL. I naturally progressed into the role, having already made ties with the CSL programme and community.
Both roles have really been great stepping stones into the corporate world for me, I’ve been able to travel, work with other regions, take on a lot of responsibility and get to work with people on all levels of the organisation. A challenge has been the reality that working with a team overseas means that I need to keep myself motivated and challenged as I don’t have team members around me.
Graduates within Oracle
I really enjoy how much Oracle values it’s graduates and invests in their individual growth. Too often do employees view graduates as low value and a risk to recruit, but you can really get the feeling that Oracle cherishes their graduates. I think Oracle, unlike other companies don’t just hire graduates and young candidates as they are less costly, but they really seek out talent, they are very selective which graduates they hire, looking for people who take initiative, who are innovative thinkers, who are able to cope with change, who can keep up with the fast pace and people who aim high. I get the feeling that Oracle like to keep it’s employees, that they don’t have a huge turnaround of people, so I think when they select graduates they chose those who not only can be successful in the job but those who can also have a successful career in Oracle.
Advice for graduates
Advice I could give to graduates is to keep on track with your own progress, talk openly with your manager about what you want to achieve and how they can help you, do your appraisals, network using web2.0 tools which are great for this purpose, and if you have an isolated role like my own, try and keep yourself educated on what else goes on in Oracle and other Lines of Business.
My experience thus far has been a great one at Oracle, I’m beginning to feel less like a graduate and more like a working professional now, and in a good way of course! I’m really determined to stay with Oracle as I feel that I could have a really great career ahead of me here, I’ve already been giving some great opportunities here and I’m hopeful there will be many more in the future.
Thanks Amy for giving us this opportunity to talk to you about your life in Oracle.
To find out more about graduate opportunities in Ireland and the UK with Oracle please feel free to contact Fiona at fiona.mcconnell@oracle.com
