"I've loved every second of my career in technology: An interview with NatWest's Jennifer Wood
NatWest Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Wood explains why NatWest supports the Women in Tech Excellence Awards and reflects on her own tech career.
There is an increasing awareness in technology, and across industry more widely, that building more diverse workforces is not just a morally correct thing to do but a commercial necessity. Businesses know that their customers are becoming more diverse, and that the products and services they they deliver have to reflect that if they are to be successful. In this interview, Jennifer Goodman from NatWest explains why NatWest considers it important to increase the proportion of women working in technology, particularly at a leadership level.
Why do you support Computing's Women in Tech Excellence Campaign?
Diversity of thought is critical to creating new innovative solutions, and opportunities for customers and colleagues to have better experiences as they interact. To do that, we need to increase the number of women in technology, and we need women to see that they can have a career that's going to be exciting, that's going to be challenging and that they can succeed in within technology. Today we don't have enough women coming through into technology.
How did you get into IT industry?
I got into the technology industry because when I was at school I had a really forward looking career adviser who said, 'you really like solving complex problems, you love doing puzzles, you love creating things, so why don't you look at a career in Technology?' I haven't looked back, I've loved every second of my time I've spent in my career in technology.
What you think is the main reason why the IT Industry is mainly male, especially in technical roles and senior positions?
I think that the reason that IT is mainly male, is because we tend to only represent a narrow portion of the roles in technology. You see movies about geeks who spend all their time engineering, and while some women love engineering and are fabulous at doing that, there are other roles in technology which can be as fulfilling and can help you create your career in very different ways. I spent time coding, but the things that I loved most was actually that interaction with customers and colleagues and how we chose to create a solution between us. Coding was just one part of it, and I think that's the change we need to make when we represent careers in Technology.
What is the biggest lesson you have learned in your career?
The biggest lesson I've learnt in my career is do something I love. It's be true to yourself and find the things you enjoy and follow your career to do more and more of those. That means you not only enjoy the time spend at work, but it becomes immensely fulfilling and you can see the things that you created, and they align with the things you enjoy doing. You spend too many hours at work not to enjoy it.
What advice would you give to young women aspiring to take on leadership roles?
The advise I'd give to young women aspiring to take leadership roles is trust yourself, you're great at what you do. If you're doing something you love, and you love creating things, and you love leading people to create things, then trust yourself. Make sure you look and listen to others around you. Watch great leaders and take the time to listen, because actually what great leaders do is they listen to others, and they help create a path for them to solve the problems that they have.
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