Case Study
What degree subject did you study?
BA English Literature from Winchester University
What is your current role at CGI: role name and overview. What does this job entail (eg. what do you typically do day-to-day).
My current title is Business Development and Sales Analyst. I work within the SDI Bids Team, in Secure Business Engineering. For this, I use my degree by helping create and edit materials that will help the bid team, both internally but also externally in our bids.
Your previous roles at CGI
This is my first role within CGI. I started in October 2018, and so have only been here for 15 months. I am looking at the next career level though, which is a Proposal Analyst role.
Why did you decide to work for CGI / in the IT industry in general?
At university, the Careers Team suggested that I should continue on the pathway of either going into Publishing or Teaching based on what previous students had done. However, I knew I didn’t want to become a teacher and when I started applying to Publishing Roles, it was extremely competitive and demoralising for myself and my peers when our CV’s in some cases were never looked at.
After graduation, I got a marketing internship at a tech company, and really loved being in a business and learning more on a new industry to me, yet still using my English degree and the skills I’d acquired from it, through editing, proofreading and creating content that ultimately aided the business. This inspired me to look into Business Roles, which prior to this opportunity I believed I couldn’t do as I hadn’t done a Business or IT degree. It inspired me to apply to things where my skills could work and where I could continue learning after university within a new sector to me. I looked into roles where my skills would suit, and that is when I came across bidding and got inspired to work in this type of role.
What worried you about working in IT with a non-IT degree (if anything) and what was the reality?
Joining as a grad, I was worried that I wouldn’t fit in as I believed everyone would be ahead of me in their knowledge due to having a Business or IT degree, and therefore fit in faster than me. I found that amongst the grad community, my degree did come as a bit of a surprise to some, however, within the wider CGI community, they were less surprised and just intrigued by how I could help with projects using my skillset. This ultimately allowed me the chance to settle in and not feel like the odd one out, which as a grad was important to me in my first career role. I now realise that my skillset can be used in a different way, making me useful, whilst I still learn new skills and industry knowledge, which will help me further in the future.
What has surprised you most about working for an IT consultancy with a non-IT degree?
The thing that has surprised me the most, is that I am not the odd one out and that there are other people without IT and Business degrees that work here. I don’t know why I thought I’d be the only one, but having now met others who have been through the same process they all say the same thing, so it is nice to realise you aren’t and that the company is open and accepting to all these non-IT and Business graduates.
Tom has taken time out to tell us a little more about his experience of joining CGI as a Business Graduate
Maria shares her experience of joining CGI without an IT degree.
Alisha has taken time out to tell us a little more about her career journey with us so far.
