2020 has been a notable year for many reasons. For me 2020 saw the start of a whole new career direction – I moved from Customer Care to IT – and I’ve never been happier.

Not many people would think that Customer Care and Information Technology have a lot in common and to some this may not sound like a natural career progression, but IT has always been my passion. And lucky for me, Gousto was happy to support me.

I started as a Customer Care agent at Gousto in 2017. In the years that followed, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some amazing people and as a team, we’ve gone on to win two of the biggest awards in our industry two years in a row. The European Contact Centre Award and The Customer Service Award. I also worked my way up to Senior Agent. But despite the success, I always had the desire to follow my passion for IT.

Information Technology has always fascinated me. During my spare time, outside of work at Gousto, I would regularly learn about new software and technological developments as a hobby. So when an IT position opened up at Gousto I was immediately curious. I knew I had to find out more.

My first step was to organise a meeting with the IT Manager, Mohamed Osman, to learn more about IT at Gousto. Next, I spoke to Truly Norman in Gousto’s talent team. Both Truly and Mo really helped me understand the role, the recruitment process, the benefits I could bring to the team and the areas I would need upskilling in. This allowed me to make a balanced and informed decision to move forward.

It wasn’t easy breaking the news to my manager and my team in Customer Care. We had worked together for such a long time and I knew I would miss them and they would miss me. But the encouragement I received was overwhelming. I really felt that Gousto had my best interest at heart and wanted me to and grow as an individual.

I had interviews with the People team, the Recruitment team, the IT Manager, the Operational Systems Director and the other IT Engineers. They all had questions and many of them really tested me but after a number of challenging assessments, I was offered the position.

The transition period was unbelievably smooth. The IT team made me feel right at home and the onboarding process was straightforward and really rewarding. After a few weeks into the new position, I was  able to start working autonomously.

Now, six months in, I am leading projects and see the real impact of my work. From the day to day tasks of answering IT ticket queries, providing live support, managing software and ordering hardware, to the huge job of ensuring our entire London office can continue to work seamlessly from home throughout the lockdown – my role gives me immense job satisfaction.

The feeling of being able to follow my passion is very difficult to explain. Since I work for a food company, I’ll try to describe it through food. Most of the meals we eat fill our stomachs but don’t really fill our hearts. After you eat them you are full, but not necessarily satisfied. But sometimes, if you’re lucky, all the right ingredients come together to create exactly what you’re hungry for and this meal doesn’t just fill you up – it reminds you how amazing life can be (if you’ve ever ordered a Gousto recipe you probably know the feeling).

So if you’re considering a career change and you’re lucky enough to work for a company that will back you up I say – go for it! Organise the meetings, have the tough conversations, do the research, take the risk. I did and I have no regrets!