Support and Guidance - An Interview with Hardi Patel

Hardi Patel joined Connor Group’s New York office as a Senior last year and is now a Supervising Senior with the Digital Solutions practice. Hardi enjoys weight lifting and cooking and during her time with Connor Group has been involved in two of the firm’s largest and most complex systems implementation projects.?

What has your experience at Connor Group been so far?

Everyone is friendly and approachable. There's never a question that I put to the back of my mind to ask later because there's always someone available to ask, whether it’s to talk about career development goals or day-to-day concerns.?

At other companies, I’ve always felt like just another screw in the machine. At Connor Group, the leadership does a very good job of making you feel important and valued. I feel heard and that’s what really matters.

What was it like joining a company during the COVID lockdown?

It's definitely been a unique experience. I work out of the New York office, and I haven't been back there since my interview. I joined Connor Group at the very beginning of the pandemic, and everyone was transitioning to work from home. It helped that even though I was new, we were all going through the same experience.

Onboarding was all through Zoom, and the IT and HR teams were great at making everything seamless. The teams had virtual Happy Hours and regular online events. The firm really handled the transition to remote working amazingly well.

How would you describe the clients you’ve worked with at Connor group?

Our clients tend to be hard-working, experienced, and knowledgeable. They know what they're looking for and they know what they want. That can be challenging as what they want is not always possible, but at least it makes it something we can discuss and explore whereas if they don't know what they want, it's a shot in the dark.

I’m currently on a more challenging project. It’s been hard work and at the end of the day I'm exhausted, but I also feel like the learning experience has been invaluable and I'm much more prepared for similar projects in the future.

How would you say Connor Group contributes most to a client's success?

Clients often know what they want, but the path to get there is either impossible, or too hard, or just not going to lead them to success the way they expect. The partners have a crazy amount of knowledge and industry experience and they’re very good at explaining to a client why what they may be asking for may not work and guiding them towards an effective solution.

Connor Group really looks out for their clients, ensuring they have the right practices and systems in place to get them where they want to be, whether it’s IPO readiness or system implementation.

Any career highlights from your time at Connor Group so far?

The support and the guidance have been absolutely amazing. We all have coaches assigned to us when we start at Connor Group and I can discuss my career development with her and plan what I can do today, tomorrow, or next week to build the habits, attitudes, and work ethics to succeed in my 5-year plan.

?I was gunning for a promotion and my coach was very informative. She, along with the partners and the directors, gave me very clear steps of how I could reach my goal. And I did it. I got my promotion.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

The people that I work with! Even on challenging engagements, the team is supportive and helps as much as they can. My coach is amazing. She looks out for me more than I look out for myself. Everyone that I work with would stick up for me and look out for my best interests. This is not something that I experienced before moving to Connor Group.

How do you manage your stress and maintain the balance between work and personal life?

The last couple of months have not been very balanced. But I know that if I wanted to log off on a Friday at 3 o’clock because I had plans with my husband or my family, the response would be “Sounds great. Have fun.” because they trust that the work is done and done properly.?

Hardi Patel is a Supervising Senior at Connor Group’s Digital Solutions practice in New York. She helps clients implement leading technology solutions to drive scale and automation.?

Interested in joining the Connor Group team?

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https://bit.ly/JoinTheConnorGroupTeam

https://www.connorgp.com/careers/