Think outside the box

Increasingly, careers are not linear, especially for women. If companies want to attract and hire experienced female talent they need to be more open and welcoming to women who haven't followed the traditional male career path. Otherwise, employers and talent will continue to miss each other like ships in the mist.

So, I recently got together with Sophie Holdcroft , an award-winning Commercial Director trained by Procter and Gamble, to get her take on this challenge.

Here's a summary of our conversation. Looking at women's careers as a series of chapters is far healthier and not surprisingly opportunities emerge… for both the employer and their future employee.

About Sophie

She is a highly motivated and energetic, top-rated, award-winning Commercial Director that built a career at blue-chip Procter & Gamble. She is a proven leader able to confidently manage large teams, complex projects and $multi-million budgets to deliver exceptional results and performance. She has experience in Sales, Marketing, Management Consulting and HR across Retail, FMCG, Tech and Consulting sectors.

She was lucky enough to take time out of work when her children were young. She ‘kept her eye in' with part-time, flexible jobs but broadly her focus was on her family. As we emerged from the pandemic she decided to step back into the corporate world and over the past three years has completed two fantastic Director level interim contracts with two different businesses.

So, what is next?

She's taken some time to reflect since her last contract came to an end. She's looked at a number of interesting opportunities and had some brilliant conversations with some seriously impressive people and was on the brink of taking on a senior role based in London.

In the end though, she realised that the opportunity that is going to work best for her today is right in front of her at her children’s school.

Why is this right for Sophie now?

She's realised that over her 25+ year career that titles, status, salary expectations and job levels are not the only criteria that motivate or interest her. There are many more boxes that need ticking for her to be happy. They relocated from SW London in 2022 and are now based in South Wales with a husband that is an entrepreneur and travels/is away from home frequently.?It is critical that she find work that works for her and the family, including the dog!

Her new role

Is a 2-minute walk from her front door so no commuting time or costs. It is part-time and flexible – heavier in term-time, less so in the school holidays. It is in the school with the children and their friends and teachers.She is also alumni so there is a sense of community/giving back in her return. The work feels valuable and will suit her skills of communication, commercial acumen, teamwork, fun, challenge; it’s all packed into the role.

The chapter that follows on from this one...

For now, this is a great opportunity and one that she is relishing getting started on. However, her long-term ambitions haven’t changed. Her next chapter will be in a senior leadership/Director level role, perhaps at the school or elsewhere. Nothing iabout Sophie or her skill set will have changed. It’s just a future chapter that she is looking forward to when the time is right -- and in the meantime she is embracing another squiggle in her career journey.

Juliet's takeaway

• Squiggles should be embraced, not rejected.
• Squiggles in careers show resilience, innovation, adaptiveness and gaining of experience and contacts
• All of which can be taken into the next chapter of one’s career.

So squiggle on....