What attracted you to HDC?
A sense of giving back to the community rather than to shareholders. The opportunity to develop my career in ICT despite my qualifications being in Engineering. When I was 21 I wasn't sure what I wanted to do and the opportunity at HDC gave me a chance to explore my options within ICT and website development.
What do you value most about working here?
Nothing makes me prouder than to hear friends and relatives using and praising the council's online applications that my team and I have had a hand in developing over the years. The job flexibility is great, I have a young family and HDC has been a fantastic employer supporting us through the good and bad times over the years.
What keeps you here?
Definitely the people and relationships that I have built up over my 23 years of service. I couldn't have wished for a more diverse and varied set of people to work with. This has only developed further as we embarked upon a shared ICT service in 2016 with the opportunity to broaden my relationships with even more staff at the other two councils. We now support over 2,000 employees across the three councils and I am proud to know a lot of them by name. You just wouldn't get the same at a large multinational/corporate organisation.
What advice would you give others who are considering a career at HDC?
HDC is a fantastic employer for those at the start of their careers and not sure on what they want to do longer term. If you push hard and show you can deliver then you can be exposed to many opportunities to further yourself and your skills and experience.
HDC doesn't limit people based on qualifications or experience for many of their roles, so keep an eye out for further opportunities both within and outside your chosen field. We now offer a number of apprenticeships at a variety of levels which allow you to explore development opportunities and combine learning in the field with your studies, so I would encourage both new starters and existing staff to check these out.
Working in local government opens the doors to many choices both in and outside the public sector. I have had the privilege to work with some fantastic people over the years, some of whom have gone on to senior roles in the private sector.