A Journey Through Thales UK Early Careers

Oli Sharpe, a Business Studies student at Sheffield Hallam University, began his journey into Thales UK Early Careers with a finance internship within the Defence Mission Systems (DMS) business at the Cheadle Heath site, near Manchester. Part of his role within finance was to initially assist the finance team with general admin, such as putting together cost summary packs and providing various reports. But before long Oli was given more responsibility having proved his capability, which took the form of compiling overhead packs and reviewing them with managers. After attending various gate meetings and being involved in prospect and demand reviews, Oli enquired about getting some experience in project management, and was supported into this opportunity by the Emerging Talent team, which gave him  a taste of the bid process for one project and creating and presenting each of the gate packs for another.

So what does Oli have to say about his experience as an intern?
“I have thoroughly enjoyed this placement and it has given me more of an idea of what I want to do in the future. Before I started at Thales UK, I had no real experience of working in finance but this placement has given me lots of skills and offered many opportunities to learn throughout.”

And what will Oli’s next career move be?
“I will be applying for the Thales UK Business Management Graduate Development Programme (GDP) as it gives you the opportunity to work in different areas of the business, which will give me a range of skills and help me identify exactly what I want to do in the future. Coupled with my year as an intern in finance this will massively help my career as it would give me a great experience at a relatively young age.”

Someone who has experienced the Business Management GDP first hand is Mike Duncan, who is currently working in the UK Communications team. Mike entered Thales UK Gradaute Development Programme with a project management placement within the Training & Solutions division of the Avionics (AVS) CBU, before securing a communications role within Ground Transportation Systems (GTS). During his time at GTS Mike led the change communications during the final stages of the Jubilee and Northern Line Upgrade (JNUP) programme and launched the communications plan for the Sub Surface Railway (SSR) bid. Whilst this was hard work (under a lot of pressure!), it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as Mike also had the opportunity to organise (and attend!) the end of project celebration for the JNUP project, which was  hosted at The Honorable Artillary Company in London and welcomed over 600 Thales and London Underground employees

After working with the Transportation Communications team, Mike was offered a permanent role in UK Communications team during 2014 and successfully transitioned into working at Thales’s corporate Headquarters (CHQ) in Weybridge as Communications Business Partner (Digital & Content), a position he has found incredibly educational and interesting. He’s not forgotten his GDP roots though – he is the communications partner on the GradMail team!

We challenged Mike to summarise his experience of the GDP in just one line:

“My time on the GDP set me up with a great understanding of many different aspects of the business and has helped my understanding of the way Thales UK operates across such a wide range of markets and industries.”

And does he have any advice for Oli, or anyone else thinking of applying for or joining the Thales UK GDP?

“If I had one piece of advice for anyone on the GDP it would be to open yourself up to every opportunity that presents itself. I have been involved with such a mix of things, both as part of my day job and away from it as a result. The GDP offers graduates so much, as long as you keep your eyes and ears open and jump at any chance you get!”