I am Zanele Ndlovu, and I studied Mathematics at the University of Essex and the area I was most interested in was Statistics. I found the subject very interesting because you can apply it to everyday life and use it to predict future events, patterns and behaviours and therefore I sort out a career that involved working with Statistics as an Analyst. That role opened up doors and eventually led to my current role at Mitie.

I would say to be open to opportunities that come your way even if it’s not what you pictured or had in my mind. That opportunity could be a stepping stone or you could find that you enjoy that particular role and want to pursue and develop in it.

It happened organically, it’s not something that I had in mind or had in my radar. I had no idea about this sector of business but my pervious role led me in this direction.

In my current role I was given a project to work on that would change the process of how we worked. It involved sifting through data and uploading relevant information onto our database basically streamlining and the result was gratifying. We now work efficiently as a team.

Attending university and completing my course and getting my degree. I am proud of it because it was not easy and a lot of internal struggle and hard work was involved but I managed to push through it and get to the end.

Each day is different, and we work with autonomy in a hybrid model (office and home). I know my service lines and the service level agreements of our Strategic and Regional clients and therefore I create proposals based on each request that comes through.

The ability to work autonomously is my favourite part of this job. Analysing information provided and making decisions or recommendations based off that and the training I have received over the years is interesting and a challenge I thrive on.

Right after graduation it was difficult to find a job in the sector I was interested in as most Companies were looking for relevant experience. To get around this challenge I did specific online training and workshops, and this helped to get myself a job I was looking for.

I live in a village surrounded by open fields, farms and nature. I enjoy taking long walks and practicing mindfulness and that helps to take a step back from everyday life stressors.

Yes, in my first role that allowed me to utilize my degree. I did experience imposter syndrome. I reminded myself that I did have the skills, I had earned the opportunity and that I was hired for a reason everything else would fall in place. It was all about realizing that I didn’t have to know everything, I could rely on my team and trust in the training I would receive.

Recognition that I achieved what I set out to do and I still have more growth to do and doing my best to learn as much as I can as I progress in my career.