Rachel Carter

Based in:

London

First job:

I have done many jobs since my teenage years, but my first "proper" job post-graduating was working at the National Agricultural Centre doing data management and administering training courses. It taught be very quickly that I did not want to work in an office 9-5pm!

Build a network. Take a large piece of paper and make a note of everyone you know and then try and think about all the people they know and what line of work they are in. You will soon find everyone has a network, even if it is via others. In my experience if you ask someone to introduce you someone in their network, most people will be happy to do it and most people are willing to have a chat over coffee with someone starting out. Most people like to be asked their advice and are happy to offer insight.

Ambitions for the future:

Not to have to work full time after the age of 60 and then to enjoy a long and healthy retirement travelling the world.

Managing Director, Chartwells Universities and Colleges, Compass UK&I

Describe your current role and what attracted you to it.

Contract Catering, overseeing a sub sector within the Compass Education Sector.

What’s your favourite part of the role?

The people, the diversity, being part of an education community, and being part of a successful organisation.

What are the key skills you learnt at Warwick that have helped you with your career to date?

University taught me resilience, to think on my feet, to make quick decisions where needed, and to absorb a lot of information quickly.

What top tips do you have for Warwick graduates who would like to work in your sector?

Hospitality is rarely a sector that seems to feature as a conventional graduate pathway for top university graduates. I fell into it as I returned to college to study food and wine eight years after graduating. Alongside my love of history, this has always been an area of interest growing up. Hospitality is the most egalitarian and diverse of sectors, attracting people from all walks of life and from all over the world and you progress based on aptitude and attitude not dependent on your socio-economic or education background.

What does a typical day look like for you?

There is no typical day. I am classed as a mobile worker, so I travel across the UK to business meetings or I work from home

What has been your greatest career challenge to date and how did your experience and skills help overcome it?

Like many, navigating the pandemic was very challenging. My team were frontline workers, all our clients and customers needed our support, and we had to renegotiate every contract and commercial arrangement to reflect the change in the world. Personally, I found working from home through the first lockdown very difficult. The pressure to lead my team was huge and we had no clear guidance as everyone was facing this situation for the first time.

What do you know now that you wish you had known when you were applying for jobs?

To be open minded and focus on what you actually enjoy in life. If you can connect your work to something you like, or even love, that can help you through the hardest days at work. We spend so much time at work that doing something where I didn’t enjoy the subject matter or the people would seem intolerable. Hard work pays off, don't expect anything to be handed to you, you can make your own luck by building your network, and never saying no to an opportunity to meet new people, especially when you are first setting out.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given in relation to your career?

Not exactly a piece of advice, but when I was first starting out in my current career I couldn't see the relevance of my History degree, however, my Managing Director at the time said he saw huge value in it as it represented a degree of attainment that no one could take away and that learning of any kind is always to be seen as a positive. I have replayed that message many times since. It doesn't matter what you study or learn, be it conventionally through academic routes or via other routes, self-learning, on the job apprenticeships etc it is always valued by an employer.