This is a review piece for the lecture, PSC Leadership: Leadership is a Journey, given by Lindsey Paterson, a partner at PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers). PwC is the second largest multi-national professional service network in the world, headquartered in London.

Lindsey Paterson is a politics graduate from the University of Edinburgh, then a qualified chartered accountant, and has worked for PwC for nearly 23-years. She specialises in the delivery of risk assurance services to the public sector and has particular focus upon the higher education sector. Lindsey started the lecture by sharing a little bit about her personal biography. Having advanced from state-school, to a Politics degree at the University of Edinburgh then becoming a chartered accountant, Lindsey has faced numerous challenges in the process to achieving her success today.

Lindsey failed her first chartered exam for accountancy, but attempted a second try and passed. For two years (1992-1994), she was temping and working in local government, but hoped for a more challenging job. In 1994, she applied to PwC which was a perfect fit for her as the position involved the integration of both her interests: politics and accountancy. It started with a small team of four, and grew to approximately 40-people. She was promoted to a Director position in 2003 and had her son, Rory, in 2005. Lindsey spoke about the challenges of balancing life and work, and dealing with unexpected issues. 2013 marked the start of the process to her promotion to partnership, and Lindsey explained how feedback helped her develop during this time. 1 July 2016 marked Lindsey’s first day as a partner at PwC.

Lindsey recommended a book which she holds dear: “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead (2013)”, by Sheryl Sandberg. She placed particular emphasis on the following quote:

“Presenting leadership as a list of carefully defined qualities (like strategic, analytical, and performance-oriented) no longer holds. Instead, true leadership stems from individuality that is honestly and sometimes imperfectly expressed…. Leaders should strive for authenticity over perfection”

(Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, 2013)

The lecture concluded with a few important take-away messages:

1. No two leadership journeys are the same
2. Take conscious decisions
3. Be open to opportunities as they come
4. What’s right for you can change over time
5. Be the best you can be and don’t underplay your achievements
6. Set backs make you stronger and help you to learn
7. Don’t be a sole trader (Sharing your problems can help!)
8. Take personal responsibility

Lindsey concluded the session by taking questions from the audience, including one about the importance of confidence. She said “looking back, I am quite a shy person and had never thought I would be standing in front of an audience talking about my leadership journey. But, my confidence grows either by pushing myself or because I just have to do it as a part of my job. So, confidence will grow but sometimes certain things can knock it down and the important bit is, don’t try solo. If something affects you, speak to someone. Get confidence from people around you and never forget how much you have achieved. Don’t focus solely on your weaknesses but more on your strengths. When you focus on strength, it is a whole different conversation.”

We caught up with PSC Graduate Mathias Holmen Johnsen, currently an instructor at the Norwegian National Emergency Planning College. Below he tells us about his journey into the job market and how his professional skill set has developed since he took part in our course. 

“I graduated from St Andrews first in 2013. That was at the end of an M.A. in International Relations and Psychology. I then went straight on to take an M.Litt. in Terrorism Studies, graduating from that in 2014. I’m now a civil servant, teaching courses on various topics related to civil and public safety and security. My work consists partially of course preparation (gathering materials, doing research, making presentations, etc.), whilst I also hold these courses (lecturing, advising on group-work, etc.). I believe my academic credentials and oratorical experience (I was an active member in the university’s Model United Nations society) was most important in securing this position.

This was all offset by my involvement with the Professional Skills Curriculum, which I saw as an opportunity to obtain skills that would be useful for professional life that I would not get explicit training in through my academic activities. The PSC provided a foundation for understanding the context of a professional work-environment. Whilst the PSC is of course limited by its size and time, I felt it provided a very good introduction that was worthwhile to have when I began my career. It is also something I feel I have been able to build upon further in my job.

For example, I have found workplace diplomacy to be crucial to success. It is useful to cultivate the ability to decline requests when you are overworked, voice concerns or raise issues regarding someone else’s project or product, whilst steering clear of general conflict. Doing this and similar things in a polite, positive and productive way is a very important skill that seems to be rather overlooked. My advice to those currently experiencing the job hunt would be this: Your skills can qualify you for unexpected professions, so keep an open mind and do some in-depth research on what sort of jobs are actually available. You might be pleasantly surprised!”

Want to see more interviews from the PSC? Visit PSC Extra: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/students/careermatters/professionalskills/pscextra/

Find our latest events here: http://www.facebook.com/ProfessionalSkillsCurriculum/

Interviews are often daunting experiences, but remain instrumental to the application process and generally determine why one candidate is successful over another. To try and grasp exactly what employers are looking for from interviewees, the Professional Skills Curriculum Team quizzed several organizations at one of the university’s recent careers fairs.

Police Scotland particularly emphasized the importance of interview styles and recommended using the STAR technique, formulating answers using the following pattern:

describe a SITUATION – explain your TASK – say what ACTION you took – reveal the RESULT.

They believe that the benefit of this method is that it helps you stay focused on giving your interviewer specific examples of your success. Equally, the ‘Result Section’ of your answer allows you to quantify how you personally made a difference to the situation.

This simple acronym is one to keep in mind for when you next attend an interview, as it gives you a transferable structure which can be applied to any question. It also makes it easier to give organised and logical responses, demonstrating to your prospective employer that you have an ability both to provide relevant examples of your competencies and evaluate how projects you have been involved with have progressed from start to finish.

To find out how you can get involved with the Professional Skills Curriculum visit http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/students/careermatters/professionalskills/programme/ 

Find our latest events here: http://www.facebook.com/ProfessionalSkillsCurriculum/

Please introduce yourself.

Tom Freeman. MD of Sanctuary Graduates.

Do many graduates go into recruitment?

More than you would think. There are dozens of firms who actively take on graduates as their main source of staff.

How is working in recruitment as a graduate different from other industries?

The rewards are greater and more immediate. The work is quite repetitive, and the hours long.

What professional skills are necessary to secure a job in recruitment?

Confidence, communication, interpersonal skills. Desire and hunger to succeed. Resilience.

Through what experience on campus can students develop these skills?

Any experiences which involve relationships and influence. Eg. Sports, Society Committee, SU involvement, entrepreneurial ventures.

Do you think Professional Skills Curriculum is a good idea? Why yes/no?

It can only be. Anything that gets students thinking about and honing skills that might be relevant to their preferred career paths.

Professional Skills Curriculum team went to Science Fair and asked employers what professional skill was their key to success. Here is what they told us:

Continue reading →

PSC team attended Management and Finance Careers Fair on Friday 16th of October.

We asked employers the question that is the most feared at interviews – what professional skills is key to your success? Continue reading →

Jennifer Peake completed the PSC in academic year 2011/12. She reflects back on how her PSC experience helped her subsequently, during her year’s placement in industry.

Why did you take part?

I saw an entry in Wednesday memos for undergraduates one week and when I read about the content of the course it sounded really interesting, so I thought I would go along one week and give it a try! After meeting Cat and learning more about how it worked, I knew I had made the right decision.

How did the PSC sessions help you?

The content covered in the sessions filled some of the blanks that I had with regards to the workplace, such as what is it like in a meeting? As a chemistry student, I was able to do a 12 month placement as part of my degree and I think the PSC helped me to prepare for that. There were moments when it might have been a bit daunting but I really think the PSC gave me the confidence I needed.

What advice would you give to people considering taking part in the PSC?

Go for it! There really isn’t a huge time demand to do this course and the knowledge you can gain from it is fantastic. There are lots of things doing a degree can prepare you for, but day to day life in the workplace is very different to student life – surely any advice you can have to maximise your opportunities and smooth the transition is worthwhile?