Thanks to the TfW Graduate programme I have completed two training courses through the training provider QA Ltd in my first year:
Since my University degree was very practical in terms of coding, I decided to use the graduate scheme training opportunities to learn other skills that would be useful to maintain a healthy work/life balance.
I am officially part of the promotional material for the graduate scheme at Transport for Wales, which you can read more about on the TfW website (opens in new tab) and watch a small promotional video of me and my fellow graduates sharing our thoughts on the scheme as a whole. This was filmed during my first year on the scheme, I was very nervous.
Through TfW's Learning & Development team, I have completed my Insights Discovery profile and discovered I have a strong blue & green preference to how I handle my work. This makes me a co-ordinating observer. I like to take my time, gather facts, learn through observation and visual mediums but I also like to help guide people to accomplish their goals as well.
I created a presentation to reflect on my first 6 months in the graduate scheme at TfW. Not only did I present this to my fellow graduates, I also presented this at the Knowledge Cafe, a meeting for the wider Knowledge team to get together and share information, as we don't always cross paths in our day-to-day work.
My graduate scheme does not have formal roations so I was brave and reached out to create an opportunity myself. I was able to use a team close to my own to test out how an informal rotation, or shadowing, would work and confirm whether or not it would be beneficial.
In August 2024, I arranged to shadow one of my colleagues, outside of the web development team, who we work and communicate with closely. Although my job relates to creating and maintaining aspects of the TfW website, the words and graphics you see on each page are actually created, updated and maintained by the content team. I was curious to know how the website components were being used after I created them so I asked the content team manager if I could observe the content publisher Lewis Morgan for a week.
The shadowing went well, I satisfied my own curiosity and got a closer look at just how much a content publisher does on a day to day basis! I could not do all that! I was also fortunate enough to be allowed to attend the wider team meeting with the Brand team which was held during that week, so I got a little glimpse into a world outside of IT and Digital Services.
This was a very valuable opportunity for both me and my team and I am very glad I decided to ask the content team manager if it was possible. I am now using that experience to get out into other teams and see how other things are done inside Transport for Wales.
I'm looking forward to shadowing the GIS Analyst at Transport for Wales because I did my final year project on a GIS topic, mapping out car accidents in Wales. I am interested to see how GIS is used in a real world application.
After shadowing a few departments and learning a few new things, I hope I can become a mentor or provide training and support in some capacity so that I can share knowledge as well as gaining it!
