Untraditional was the word Mark Murphy used to describe his career trajectory to date. After graduating with a degree in drama and working in hospitality, he kickstarted his career in a completely different direction to the one he envisaged, when he found his feet working in the tech industry with Advanced.
Mark recently celebrated his fifth anniversary with the business, during which he's made the most of the progression opportunities that have been made available to him; earning himself 3 promotions in total. His latest venture has lead him out of the support team and into a new area of the business by becoming a Product Owner Team Leader.
Why Advanced?
The main reason why I’ve been able to switch career paths into a different area of the business, (with next-to-no experience) is that I’m very fortunate to find myself at a company that has an abudance of opportunities, placing a huge focus upon employee progression.
It's the first time I’ve felt like a company has truly cared about me as an employee which is something that I’ve never really had before. In the past: I've worked for large chains, independent companies, and small businesses, so sometimes I would just feel like a number that would often be overlooked.
Advanced have given me a platform to progress and an incentive to keep developing, whereas in previous roles I was always told that I couldn’t do things; whenever a chance to progress presented itself my employers would always opt for someone with more experience.
During the 5 years I’ve spent with the company, I’ve been encouraged to go and try out different things and look at roles that could potentially interest me across the business to try and figure out a career path. Not only have Advanced helped me to develop into a better employee, but they’ve also nurtured me into a better person.
"Not only have Advanced helped me to develop into a better employee, but they’ve also nurtured me into a better person"
It’s very important to have that drive and fearlessness to go and try things out. Ultimately, no one will ever care more about your career than you do. You've got to be willing to take some initiative by putting yourself forward for the things that interest you. Luckily here at Advanced, we have this amazing progression culture that encourages people to dive into new roles and helps employees find and develop their future careers.
Company Culture
The word I would use to describe the culture at Advanced is inclusive, especially during the last couple of years. I feel like there’s been a collective effort from everyone to make sure that people feel included and recognised within the business as a whole.
It’s easy to take for granted the fact that here at Advanced we have quite a relaxed culture in comparison to other companies. You feel trusted to just do your job and get on with it, rather than having someone micromanaging you and breathing down your neck all the time.
For me, it’s what sets Advanced apart from other companies, well certainly the ones that I’ve worked for previously. It’s nice to see and hear that people have that all-important job autonomy where they feel trusted and appreciated when they come into work.
"Ultimately, no one will ever care more about your career than you do"
Career Advice
Unless you have a very specialized master’s or Ph.D. in a particular subject, you’re not going to know exactly what it is you want to do. So, my advice for those people who are unsure about their future career paths is that ‘it’s okay to not know what it is you want to do’. I certainly didn’t - if you were to tell me 6/7 years ago that I was going to work at a tech company and call that my career; I probably would’ve given you a very weird look.
I’ve got friends and family who have been and still are in that position, where they’re not sure what they want their long-term career to be, and every time I tell them that it’s okay. You might not know what it is you want to do, but you will eventually find it, and you might not even realise it right away, and that’s certainly what I found.
Work-Life Balance
Even though Advanced is very flexible when it comes to working in the office/from home, in a typical week I'll find myself coming into the office most days. I choose to come in because first of all, I live so close to the office and it's very accessible to me, plus the fact that I don’t have a reliance on public transport certainly makes it easier (and cheaper).
"Unless you have a very specialized master’s or Ph.D. in a particular subject, you’re not going to know exactly what it is you want to do"
But most of all I come into the office as I feel like it massively benefits my mental wellbeing, which was something I struggled with during the pandemic when we had no choice but to work from home. In a typical week during lockdown, I’d spend 5 days working in the spare bedroom, and then devote my entire evening within the confines of my living room.
Even when the restrictions started easing, but we still weren’t allowed to come back into the office; I found that I wouldn't leave my house for weeks at a time - it’s safe to say that spending that amount of time within the four walls of my home wasn’t particularly healthy for my mental or physical health.
Hence why I decided to always try and come into the office when they opened back up, going in as much as I can to stretch my legs, breathe a bit of fresh air, and speak to some other human beings in the flesh rather than through a laptop screen.
