For our next National Careers Week story, we’d like you to meet Sarah Cooley, who recently started a 12 month secondment at Magna as a Project Manager.
We previously caught up with Sarah two years ago when she was studying a Level 5 Operational Manager qualification as part of an apprenticeship she was doing alongside her full-time role at Magna as a Sheltered Housing Team Leader.
Since then, Sarah has completed her apprenticeship and gained her qualification. Sarah said:
“Moving into project management was the next step for me to advance my career. A secondment gives me the opportunity to try out the role and discover whether this move is a future career option for me or not.
“This is very new to me. I’ve done some work on projects before but nothing formal and nothing on this scale. The team is really welcoming, and I’ve learned so much from them already.”
As a Project Manager, Sarah is responsible for looking after various projects and making sure that things are running smoothly. She’s currently working on a few different projects which aim to improve our sheltered housing schemes.
Secondments offer a way for our colleagues to try something new within the organisation and expand their skillset. Sarah continued:
“It gives you the chance to try something new without necessarily having the experience beforehand. A secondment will give you that chance to get experience with the security of going back to the role you know should it not be ideal for you.
“It also allows the team I’m moving into to benefit from a new colleague who’s already knowledgeable in Magna, our systems and processes, and our values.”
Michael Upton, Learning Experience Designer at Magna, helps new colleagues settle into their roles and makes sure they have the support they need to get started. He said:
“Supporting colleagues as they’re onboarded here at Magna is a privilege, and whether it be an amazing internal opportunity to develop like in Sarah’s case, or a new colleague’s first experience with Magna, the onboarding is crucial.
“It’s important to understand that the onboarding process is varied in terms of content and length, but here at Magna we take time with both the colleagues and manager to ensure a bespoke training plan is created, and this will then support new colleagues to feel confident in their role and set out development opportunities for them to strive towards during their career with Magna.”
Sarah finished by saying:
“It’s early days and there’s still a lot to learn, but I do love learning and I’m really enjoying things so far.”
We’re proud to be able to offer fantastic ways for colleagues to develop their skills and explore new career opportunities with teams across the organisation.
Are you interested in joining #TeamMagna? See what opportunities we have available here.
