I LOVE MY JOB!
Simon Corke, viva, Head of Learning & Development
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Where did you go to school? Caister High School
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What path did you take to get to your current positon? I was due to atend college afer
leaving school but chose to go straight into work instead as I wanted to earn money. I
joined Norwich Union and have been working ever since - which was 30 years ago!
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What subjects did you study? Normal GCSEs at school, no levels but I achieved an Open
University Diploma in Management whilst working at viva, which was very useful as had
practcal applicaton in my day job.
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How many jobs have you had, and can you name them? Probably about 10, either in Hu-
man Resources or Learning & Development. I started as the office assistant so right at the
botom and worked my way up. I’ve been a Trainer, HR Consultant, Talent Consultant and
HR Business Partner and now Head of Learning & Development
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What school subjects link to your career? English and Maths as I needed them to get my
first job. I’ve had to learn on the job mainly, but the Diploma in Management was invalua-
ble and I stll use it now. What’s the lesson? Vocatonal learning is good.
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typical day in your current role looks like: Quite varied really although usually involve
meetngs with other colleagues, coaching my team, working out ways in which we can im-
prove the capability of our workforce at viva.
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What skills do you use daily, that you learnt at school? Listening, asking questons and be-
ing curious - invaluable whatever job you have.
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What is the number #1 piece of advice you’ve been given that helped you with your
career choice? ttude is everything—be positve, work hard and believe in yourself.
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Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Doing a similar role to what I do now, although per-
haps more independent training & coaching.
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What is the average salary for this role? round £80k
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If you could have done anything differently on your career journey, what would it be? I
would’ve moved into a customer facing role earlier in my career - there’s no substtute for
getng close to customers and what they want. It’s the reason companies exist.
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Why do you love your job?
Working with some great people at viva, the variety and autonomy I
have and seeing the benefit of what we implement͘ It’s a great compa-
ny to work for!