Jenny

Cloud Infrastructure Engineer.

Frustrated with the lack of progression opportunities, Jenny left her former career of 15 years and is now a cloud infrastructure engineer at the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Before joining the ONS, I spent 15 years as a support worker, helping homeless families. However, I realised that I wanted more progression opportunities, flexibility to work around my young family, and a less emotionally challenging career.

I decided to do a conversion masters and now I work as a cloud infrastructure engineer, specialising in Amazon Web Services.

Although I loved my job as a support worker, it was emotionally straining and had no flexibility in shift work, which made it quite challenging to juggle with childcare for my son, who is now five years old. I find IT problems easier to fix versus human ones.

I went to an open day at the ONS Newport headquarters, where I heard from former graduates who worked there. They spoke of their experience at the ONS, including what they were working on as well as the culture.

I liked the feel of it, and the speakers seemed genuinely passionate about their work and the organisation. I thought the tech would be really outdated, but I learned that wasn’t the case. When I started at the ONS, I quickly realised that we’re actually working on some pretty exciting projects within the field.

My role as a cloud infrastructure engineer is not only interesting and challenging but also allows me to have the work-life balance my previous career was lacking. My team is so supportive, and my days are interesting and varied. There’s never a dull day.

The flexitime is great because it is truly flexible, and you’re encouraged to make the most of it. The opportunity to learn within your field or even outside it is always supported too, which is refreshing.