Apprenticeship to Mentorship: A Tale of Two Careers at Siemens

A tale of two careers. Learn more about how Charlotte and Hayley not only started their Siemens careers on the same day in the Talent Acquisition team. Discover how a secondment opportunity for one has led to the other having new opportunities.

How it started?

2016, fresh-faced and eager to go; Charlotte and Hayley began new careers at Siemens on the same day in the Talent Acquisition Team. 

Charlotte was taking the first exciting step into her Level 3 Recruitment Apprenticeship. Having just finished her A-levels in English Literature, Media, and Classics, this would be Charlotte’s first adventure in the world of work, and she was incredibly excited to get stuck in. 

Hayley joined as an experienced professional in the Talent Acquisition Partner role, bringing 15 years of recruitment experience. Hayley was excited to work for another well-established brand, moving back to her hometown of Manchester whilst completing her Level 7 CIPD qualification.

In their 2nd week, they went on a road trip to Poole to meet some colleagues and learn more about the onboarding process. ‘I was 18, never driven a car that wasn’t my tiny Citroen C1, and here we were embarking on a shared drive down to Poole,’ described Charlotte. ‘The phrase thrown in at the deep end comes to mind! But my learning and development during those early weeks were invaluable.’

Hayley recalls Charlotte forgetting her daily contact lenses and having to make an emergency evening dash to the nearest optician to get more for the rest of the trip!

How it started V How’s it going? Secondment opportunities x 2!

Fast-forward to May 2022, after navigating a challenging year for TA with Covid, the joys of entirely virtual working and virtual assessments, to name a few, Charlotte and Hayley entered a new chapter. 

Hayley had the fantastic opportunity to go on a Global Secondment in the Digital Industries (DI) People & Organisation team. 

‘This was an incredible opportunity to be even closer to the DI business working on talent attraction initiatives. Having recruited for this business unit for years, it was great to see DI through a different lens and embrace working in a new and international team.

I enjoyed speaking to many different colleagues around the world. Interestingly, their TA challenges were different, yet so similar in other ways. Struggling to fill a Field Service Engineer, yep seems not just the UK struggling with this!’

With Hayley seeking new adventures in the wider Siemens network, this left a spot for Charlotte to join the Professional Hires team, having spent the last 5.5 years recruiting graduates and apprentices. 

This secondment allowed Charlotte to progress from a TA Consultant to a TA Partner.

‘Not only was I allowed to learn about a different way of recruiting; from early careers large volumes, huge events, and assessment days to professionals sourcing, pipe lining, and niche technical roles – I was also developing into the partner role. This meant strategically aligning with the business, understanding their markets, and building partnerships with senior stakeholders. It is a totally different world, and I’m so grateful to have that chance to change things while still being in my incredible team.

Following the Global secondment, Hayley has been in a 2nd secondment for the UK TA team as ‘Employer Branding & Recruitment Marketing Specialist,’ and as of May 23, Charlotte is taking on the partner role for another one of the Siemens businesses, covering a maternity leave in the team.  ‘This has been my dream career for several years,’ says Hayley. ‘I have taken many different steps to develop myself in this area as it has always been where my passion lies.

Having felt the pain of how hard filling these vacancies can give me a much stronger appreciation and determination to create marketing strategies that entice the best candidates to Siemens.

Growth Mindset

Hayley describes’ Siemens encourages a ‘Growth Mindset’ and has the most amazing ‘lifelong learning culture’ enabled by a brilliant learning platform; on every topic you could imagine. Ultimately, it is down to the individual to own their own career. Charlotte and I have been a good example of implementing this. I, too, was an apprentice and understand how tricky it can be to navigate a job and learn’

 

Hayley – Manchester Office

What’s next?

Hayley

‘I will continue to ‘own my own career’ developing my skills and knowledge in Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing for the UK market. I am naturally curious, and learning and developing energises me. I want to see Siemens continue to be positioned as an employer of choice across all our talent audiences.

It has been a pleasure to see Charlotte grow and develop on her journey over the last 6 years. Cemented by me now being Charlotte’s formal mentor as she assumes the responsibility of TA Partner for our Digital Industries business (my former area). ‘

Charlotte 

‘I love all the learning I get to do every day (similar to when I was an apprentice!), expanding my network locally and internationally, and getting involved in many different projects. You can discover and nurture your areas of interest at Siemens alongside your day job, and that’s encouraged all throughout the business. The future is bright for both Hayley and me at Siemens!’ 

For anyone thinking of taking the step to join Siemens, the learning culture is second to none. This is just one example of the endless opportunities here for growth and development. Check out our careers page and start to Create a better#TomorrowWithUs

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