Laura

Project Management - Systems Solutions

Job Title: IT Business Analyst
Joined: September 2005
Degree: BSc (Hons) Business Studies, Lancaster University

I applied to ASDA after taking a gap year to travel around Australia and New Zealand for six months. I was particularly attracted to ASDA as it is a large global retailer offering a very fast moving and challenging Project Management role in an IT environment. There are also many and varied opportunities to train within the scheme.

One thing that was apparent soon after joining was the amount of responsibility given to me; you are in charge of your own projects from day one and are completely accountable for delivering them on time and within budget. The colleagues you work with are all extremely friendly and approachable and there is always plenty of support within the team.

Although I work in the IT department at ASDA House, this is not a technical position but a project management and business analyst role. I started in the Infrastructure team and project managed a broadband solution for all our laptop users across the business as well as directing the laptop and desktop renewals. I am now improving specific aspects of the ASDA Home Shopping website which requires daily conference calls with colleagues in our parent company Wal*Mart in the United States. This programme is much more about understanding the retail business, the systems that underpin it and getting involved in the big business issues.

What's the best thing about ASDA? Well, there's a huge variety of interesting work, but that's not surprising. What really keeps you on your toes is the degree of challenge, you live life outside your comfort zone and you have to be the kind of person who can handle that.

After 2 years now, I can safely say that my time so far has been really challenging with a high degree of responsibility. No two days are the same, which is why you need to be flexible, organised and able to communicate well to cope with the demands of the job.