The end of the year
An amazing year has absolutely flown by and I am now settling into my next rotation, accounting for power in the Network department. I am now based in the Hook office in Hampshire and meeting a whole bunch of new stakeholders and suppliers, expanding my network within Virgin Media and getting to learn a LOT about a technical area of the business.
The graduate scheme was so helpful with the house move, which can sometimes be a stressful situation. We were given adequate time to find, view and secure a new home, with some financial help too when agency fees were involved. Now I’m settled into my new flat I am straight into the next CIMA exam, P2. It’s surprising how many exams you can get through when you put your mind to it, with each pass motivating you even more to do the next one.
Something I felt was pretty special in the past year was the finance graduate community. Moving to a new city can be daunting, but everyone in the scheme whether first or third year made me feel welcome and I have now made some really good friends. Virgin Media are great at getting the graduates together, whether it’s the quarterly finance grad meeting (always followed by drinks) or the annual summer event where all schemes attend (this year it had bumper cars)! On top of this, the grads are quite good at arranging our own socials with current and previous graduates; it’s always a great night and a good way to speak to those who aren’t in your intake year.
Another highlight from the past year was the charity day for Scope, dressing up as a purple dragon and raising money on the streets of London. It was so much fun and we all helped a great cause. This will take place in winter of your first year and again, it’s another opportunity for the graduates to work together, even though there can be some healthy competition for your team to raise the highest total!
Regarding my role last year, I have learnt some skills that are vital to progress in my career such as senior stakeholder communication and hosting meetings, evolving your work to the pace of change in the business and owning the development of certain metrics for the company scorecard. A fast paced role teaches you how to be agile and adapt to situations, it’s exciting and never monotonous. Working within a Group role really shows you how the different departments of a business are interrelated. I have learnt a lot about Virgin Media and I am thankful for the opportunity.
