Claire Bagnall
Senior Project Manager at Wesleyan
Understand what role you may enjoy and follow that route as early as you can in your life.... I didn't find out about my role until my mid-thirties and wished I had known about it sooner!
About Claire...
Who am I?
"I am reliable, efficient and persistent, which are all important qualities for her role as a manager. There is a lot of planning involved in project management and sometimes projects need to be completed quickly, but still to a high standard – so efficiency is key. Being persistent and persuasive are also important as I need to be able to motivate my team in order for them to achieve their goals – a great quality that the ‘Campaigner’ type will have! I work with lots of different people, so it’s important to be a good communicator. "
What do I do?
"As a Senior Project Manager, I lead a team of Project Managers and help them to develop. I also manage my own projects; this can involve meeting with key stakeholders and planning and updating important documents."
How did I get here?
"I worked her way up to her current role – starting off as a Claims Handler, before moving to Team Leader and Project Management Office Manager. It was in this role, when I first discovered Project Management and realised this was the route I wanted to go down. I always wanted to find a job that I enjoyed, and something that I was good at and Project Management really suited this. I have also completed a master’s degree in Business Studies alongside my work.In the future, I would be able to progress into a Senior Management position within Wesleyan. They run a ‘Welead’ programme to help their employees make this move, as long as they fit the criteria. I would love to progress into the role ‘Head of Change’."
The life I live
"I spend my spare time with her family as I have a young daughter, who I thoroughly enjoys watching grow!Excitingly, I was lucky enough to do a “rap” jump! This involved abseiling forwards off the building that I work in!"
My typical day
"My work involves working with a lot of different people – those who help me to understand the requirements of the business, those who help plan the delivery of a project, and those who help to put it into practice! I lead the team and so needs to keep in touch with them throughout the day. More than anything, I really enjoy seeing my team be successful. I even won an Elite award for one of the larger projects I ran!"
My qualifications
"Master's Degree in Business Studies"