Business Development Manager, Carolyn Campbell explains why she went from LRQA client to sales expert
"When I was 11 I wanted to go to the Ferrari school in Italy because I love formula 1 racing. Aside from the fact that it was in Italy, my parents wouldn't let me go," Business Development Manager, Carolyn Campbell explained. "So, as soon as I finished my exams I went straight into industry as a sponsored student and I studied electro-mechanical engineering for three years, benefiting from hands-on experience and theory based learning at the same time," Carolyn continued.
With experience working for an LRQA client, Carolyn soon transferred her knowledge into a new role with LRQA as an assessor; "Before I joined LRQA, I worked in industry at a power station in the UK and constructing a power station in Uganda. As an LRQA client I regularly worked with their assessment teams and it felt like a good opportunity for me to take."
"In a complete change of direction, I moved to the UK sales team as a Business Development Manager. I'm still applying my industry knowledge on a daily basis, except now I'm thinking about how our services can help clients to solve business challenges and meet their regulatory obligations," explained Carolyn.
Talking about making the leap into the sales team, Carolyn spoke about putting a new perspective on her experiences; "I love that I can still work with clients on a daily basis without being in a traditional engineering role, my experiences and skills have transferred with me. Having worked in the roles that many of my clients have, they now benefit from my knowledge and insight as they start, or build on their existing relationship with LR."
Looking back at her career so far, Carolyn shared some tips she picked up along the way; "If engineering is what you want to do, don't give up regardless of what others might say. Be determined and go after your ambitions."
"There is such a wide range of roles within engineering disciplines but there are also roles in the industry which benefit from the expertise that goes along with being an engineer. Actually, it's great to have this opportunity because you can appreciate the end to end journey that clients take. Behind the scenes, there is such a great network making engineers jobs possible and I love being a part of it." Carolyn concluded.
INWED17 is on the 23 June. Follow the conversation on Twitter and Facebook and join in using #INWED17 and #WomeninLRQA.
See other LRQA INWED stories:
- Celebrating our exceptional people: Area Technical Manager, Katerina Liana
- Inspiring future engineers as a STEM Ambassador: Marine & Offshore Specialist, Lizzie McCaig shares her Women in Engineering story
Find out more about a career with LRQA.
