Success Story
Richard Hims, Manila Product Developer
Joined the LexisNexis Visualfiles Graduate Scheme in 2004
The LexisNexis Visualfiles company ethos has to be the number one reason I applied for the Graduate Scheme: How many other employers list 'To have fun' as a company goal? A year later, I'm reminded of that ethos on a daily basis in the actions of the management, the attitude of my colleagues, and the genuinely convivial atmosphere in the office.
Having spent most of my working life before LexisNexis Visualfiles in shirt and tie, I was pretty comfortable in a level of smart wear, but there's no question it's a major advantage to walk through Headingley in shorts on my way to the office!
In the best possible way, looking back over the last twelve months seems like a surprisingly long time: The ground we've covered since starting is comprehensively diverse, and the level of practical experience gained pleasingly high. All jobs promise you responsibility from the outset, but I wasn't quite expecting to have one of the Sales Managers explaining that the project I was working on was roughly worth my starting salary... Being given such trust in my first departmental placement was really encouraging, and I think the prospect of a practical and meaningful challenge really made me push myself to deliver.
With only three months experience of the company software behind me, I was now learning how to communicate with external software that I'd last used several versions before. Nonetheless, I was reassured that there would be people to help if I needed it, and it was a great learning experience for both products. So I found myself four months into the scheme, I'd already been on site twice to demonstrate software to clients, and I could happily wax lyrical about the Sales side of Visualfiles, when I moved on to the second departmental placement in Support.
After six weeks with the Account Managers observing how they get the product out into the world, it was a great contrast to talk to customers on a daily basis, answering more detailed technical questions rather than selling on the strengths we emphasise. Having explored one particular aspect of the system on the Sales project, the holistic learning needed in Support was a great complement, and it was readily obvious how much there is to know about the way our software interacts with the many different products customers use, and how many experts on different areas there are in the company.
Nearing the end of the rotation, I’d spent time with a wide variety of different people and different departments, and could be happy that the LexisNexis Visualfiles scheme gave me the opportunity to learn about the work we do, letting me make an informed decision about where I want to be in the company. Perhaps it’s not surprising that I was eager to join the company’s ‘bleeding-edge’ development project I’m now in, especially since I’d earlier been offered the opportunity to leave the normal rotation and join this team. Considering that, it would be easy to argue that I should have done so then and 'got on with' my permanent role sooner rather than later. There was no pressure to do so from anyone, and having discussed the benefits of the rotation, I'm happy to have realised them. A holistic knowledge of the company’s products shape a purpose for the developing software, and possessing some of that knowledge helps my work on a regular basis.
Now that I’ve been in this role for a few months, it’s enlightening to compare the time I’ve spent ‘in one place’ with the time working through departments. I’m glad to have a sense of commitment to one job, and to have some input to decisions that I can see pan out. I know that the time we spent learning about every aspect of LexisNexis Visualfiles’ work left me capable of working anywhere in the company, but because of that time, I also know I’ve made the right decision in this role, and that's because of the way LexisNexis Visualfiles work the graduate scheme.
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