Levi, one of our Contact Centre Managers, joined us in the spring during the first lockdown. She took a few moments to tell us about her career to date and also her experience of joining a new company in such unusual circumstances. Tell us about your background and what led you to Hastings Direct? When I finished college I wasn’t sure about continuing education at university. At one point I wanted to join the RAF as a dog handler, then I wanted to travel the world but I also wondered whether I should ‘just get a job'. So I decided, with good steer from my parents, to take a year and figure it all out. That led to 12 years with British Gas, working in a variety of positions from operations to business improvement. My time with British Gas led me to a career move with Volkswagen Financial Services (Milton Keynes) in 2018. I started life at VW as the Operations Manager for our Complaints Team and after a year I moved on to be responsible for Quality and Training for all of customer service – around 500 colleagues in total. I joined Hastings Direct in May 2020 – a great opportunity on a personal note to move closer to home, invest further time with my two children (and husband) and continue to add value in an operations environment. Tell us about your development journey so far at Hastings Direct. Whilst my time with Hastings has been short, the opportunities are more than I could ever imagine. From formal training environments and leadership guidance, to best practice advice, which is shared across our stakeholder network and my team. The best thing about this is that there are so many improvements that we are actively working on, including our dedicated Learning and Development team and our roadmap initiatives in Customer Service. One of my peers is designing and developing a Leadership Development Programme which will launch soon. Who would you say has been your biggest support during this time? People have constantly said, both in and outside of a work capacity – “I do not know how you moved jobs during a pandemic” (whilst homeschooling I may add!) and I am not sure what I imagined it would be like. In reality, however, it’s been seamless. Julian from our Recruitment Team kept in constant contact pre and during my on-boarding and my peers have been nothing short of incredible in showing me the ropes. This blog is a great opportunity for me to thank them for actively offering me help and taking time out during their already very busy schedules. They have perfectly demonstrated our 4Cs values, so thank you! What advice would you give to someone looking to develop their career at Hastings? Really simple… do it! I moved from a role I enjoyed to a role at Hastings which I love even more! I’ve not looked back and that’s all down to the people, our business vision, company values and the environment. Finally, what do you love most about working for Hastings Direct? Everybody genuinely wants to set you up for success through offering support and guidance. We work collaboratively to achieve all round best possible outcomes and to enjoy it along the way. I really feel a part of the team and that my voice is heard. Collectively we can make a difference – if that isn’t cool then I don’t know what is! For a list of our current vacancies, click here.