Heidi - the Lifelong Learner

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Heidi

Lifelong Learner

Heidi

Current role: Clinical Support Lead
Age at time of interview: 51
Length of time at IAS: 3 years, 4 months

A self-confessed speed freak who loves horses, bikes and fast cars, Heidi enjoys variety, change and lifelong learning. She constantly challenges herself to move out of her comfort zone – and encourages other mature workers to do the same. Her advice? Be brave, be confident and be the best you can be.

I have a philosophy of saying yes to most things. I find that the more you say yes, the more opportunities come your way. It doesn’t always work out, but life’s too short to sit back and miss out on something that could be exciting.

A career spanning nursing and business ventures

During my career, I’ve spent 30 years in nursing and have also run various businesses, including a pharmacy, a domiciliary care business and an estates company. In addition, I’m a qualified counsellor and hope to set up a private counselling practice at some point.

I joined IAS in 2015 as a healthcare practitioner when I was 48, was seconded to a Clinical Support Lead role within a year and was made permanent in December last year.

Drawing on my experience

My background in nursing and business has provided me with many transferable skills that I use in my role today.

Through nursing, I gained a wealth of clinical experience and learned to accept that change is not just inevitable, it’s a positive process that we should embrace.

Meanwhile, my business experience has taught me about team building, management, staff development and stakeholder relationships.

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What I enjoy about my job

I enjoy being able to develop my team and ensure we provide a high-quality service to our stakeholders and service users.

I’m supporting my team in Truro to be recognised as a Centre of Excellence both clinically and operationally, and I’m delighted that we have very low attrition in this team. I also mentor new Clinical Support Leads and have been lucky enough to attend and speak at stakeholder forums for the last two years.

Smashing age stereotypes

I think it’s really important to smash the myth that age is a barrier to career progression. If you want to change jobs, you can do that at any time, whether you’re 20, 30, 70 or 80. If you see an opportunity and either have the skills to do it, or can learn those skills, why wouldn’t you go for it?

Try a new career at IAS

That’s why IAS is a great place for people aged 45+ to work. The organisation actively recruits mature candidates to make sure it has the benefit of our vital skills and experience. And why wouldn’t it? We’re amazing!

Mature workers bring the benefit of their life and work experience to the workplace. We’ve seen success and we’ve seen failure. We’ve lived through all kinds of changes and know how to deal with the ups and the downs.

In my experience, mature workers here are respected and listened to. IAS gives you the opportunity to develop new skills, mix with new people and gain valuable experience. And who knows? If you join us, you might even change the world.

Future plans and ambitions

Looking ahead, in the next year, I’d like my team to be recognised as a Centre of Excellence. In the next 10 years, it would be great to have more responsibility within IAS and to become a spokesperson for the company. I’d like to alter public perceptions of IAS so that people understand how professional and objective we are as an organisation.

Personally, I’d like to have horses and maybe live on a moor running holiday lets, with an art gallery and a studio. I’d also like to offer a counselling service and work with a charity like Help for Heroes. Or maybe I could just make delicious jam and sell it via the Women’s Institute. Who knows? Ten years is a lifetime.

What's Great About IAS?

It’s an age-friendly workplace

At IAS, opportunities are based on your ability, not on your age. It doesn’t matter how old you are, the organisation is far more interested in your work ethic, your capabilities and your qualifications, and whether you’re the right person for the job. Young and experienced staff are all welcome and all bring value to the team.

A fantastic place to work

IAS is a great company to work for. There are nice benefits, a good overall package and it’s a fantastic team to be part of. It is a pressured environment, but we are supported and it’s a positive place to work.

Plenty of opportunities

IAS provides a huge amount of opportunities for employees. It encourages us to challenge ourselves and learn new skills so we can reach our potential. If you want to stretch yourself, the possibilities are there.

“Come to us with an open mind, you have the skills we need, let us develop together.”

Heidi
Clinical Support Lead, IAS

Heidi's career journey

Heidi's advice to others

Be confident, be brave

If you’re over 45 and applying for a role with IAS, be confident that they don’t care what your age is. What they care about is whether you can do the job, work well with the team and bring something extra to the party. So be brave, be confident and be the best you can be.

Be a lifelong learner

It’s vitally important for mature workers to constantly update their skills and not allow the old brain cells to get too comfortable. If we want to move forward and be promoted, we have to bring new ideas and have the right skills in place. Exciting things are happening so we must keep up and stand with the best of them - learning is for life!

Listen to feedback

Open yourself up to your team and be ready to listen to feedback. There’s no such thing as a foolish question. Accept that to do your job as well as you possibly can, you can’t just do things the way you’ve always done them. You have to learn new ways of doing things from the people around you.

Dogs, horses, fast cars - especially rally car driving.

Just some of Heidi’s interests and side hustles