Meet our Academy Consultants – Emma Lobley

Every year we hear from hundreds of people who feel they have the drive and passion to work in IT, but don’t know how to take that first step towards a new career. Take Emma Lobley for example. Emma worked in Retail part-time while completing a Master’s degree in Mathematics but found herself drawn towards IT without a clear route into the industry. She joined the Ten10 Academy at the start of 2024 and is now one of four Academy Consultants working for a Tech Consultancy client.

We spoke with Emma to reflect on her career transformation and take us behind the scenes of her client work.

What were you doing before the Academy?

Before I found the Academy I had graduated about half a year beforehand. I was working part-time at a supermarket and doing a few coding courses in the evenings.

How do you feel you’ve transitioned from the Ten10 Academy to your client work?

I think it’s been really great adjusting to being client side from the Academy. I joined the client as part of the group so it’s been really good to have people with me that are going through similar situations and being able to use what we learned in the academy to help us adjust to that working environment.

Take us through your placement – what client teams have you worked with and what specific projects have you been responsible for during your placement?

I’m placed at a consultancy tech company. We’re a Microsoft Gold Partner so I’m doing a lot of work within the Microsoft space. The team I sit in is Power Platforms and I’m mostly working with Power BI in my day-to-day.

What technology, tools, frameworks, and processes have you gained experience with since starting client work?

Since joining I’ve been able to learn a lot of different areas of Microsoft in general. I’ve been able to do a bit of research into Azure and, like I say, primarily in the Power Platform. So I’ve been working with Power BI doing bits of data analysis in my day-to-day.

What parts of the Ten10 Academy training have been most useful in your placement?

For me, I think the data proportion of core training came in very useful, especially in setting good foundations for building the T-shape in my skill set – having that basis to work on and build on as I gain more experience is really good. I also hugely benefited from building my soft skills during the Academy. As a not-very-confident speaker, it was good to do regular presentations and push myself out of my comfort zone to keep speaking and practising, which has been very rewarding and useful in my client placement.

What is a normal working day or week for you?

Because the nature of our work is consultancy work, it can hugely vary depending on what clients are working with. I’ve had some days where I’ve gone to visit clients in person and I’ve been delivering with them in person. A lot of the time I’m doing Teams meetings to gather certain requirements or working with their data directly to provide those solutions but all around a nice amount of additional learning as I’m getting into learning these new tools.

Has your role and/or responsibilities changed during your time on placement?

It has, slightly. When I started, I was more orientated towards an Azure team and work environment. The nature of projects coming up – more in work in the Power BI space – meant that I’ve been reoriented a bit more down a Data Analysis route. This has worked nicely for me because it’s what I enjoy and it was good that I was able to make those changes and adapt to the requirements.

How has your client supported your development?

Yeah, they’re really strong on encouragement of your own personal growth and building qualifications, very similar to Ten10 in that they will help encourage us to keep learning and keep getting those certificates. Another great thing within my team: we have objectives set that are aligned with our team’s broader goals so it’s great to have those and bring in my personal goals alongside that.

What support have you received from Ten10 during your placement?

It’s always great with Ten10. I’m able to message the trainers and Wellbeing team, especially whenever I’ve got anything that comes up that I’m unsure about or if I need any advice on anything. I know there have been a few things cropped up, I’ve reached out and they’ve always been so supportive and if someone hasn’t known what exactly I needed, they’re able to point me in the right direction, if nothing else. But yeah, big kudos to the Wellbeing team especially. It’s nice to have them.

What would you say to someone considering joining the Ten10 Tech Academy?

Do it! Try it! You never know. It could be the best decision you make. What have you got to lose from applying? I think Ten10 offers a very encouraging work environment and there’s so much support there. So any issues – even just talking to the onboarding team – they can give you all sorts of advice. Definitely, do it.