Alison Vincent

"My personality type was a combination of Communicator/Developer/Influencer. Developer : I started my technical career as a Software Engineer and have always been interested in how to make the world a better place through technology. Communicator : With all my jobs people have said I have an ability to simplify the complex and I know it's important to tailor what I say based on the audience I am speaking to. I have presented spoken on the power of technology to members of the UK Government, Key Business leaders and also to school children. Influencer : I tend to be a natural Diplomat - sent in to resolve conflicts. I am also as happy working on my own or as part of a team. All of these personality types have helped me in my career of leading teams of people to deliver some really great solutions to real-world problems. I now use what I have learnt to help many different companies to be successful by being a member of their Boards of Governors. "

"I do many different things - and it is this variety that I love. I run my own business. It's just me ! But it allows me to do a number of things at the same time. Part of my role is being something called a Non-Executive Director. This is a role where you are not employed by a company but you are there to help and steer a company so that it thrives and doesn't make mistakes in how it is managed. Because I have a technical background I can really help these very senior, usually non-technical people - understand and translate what technology could do to transform their businesses. I am also a Technical Advisor to a number of smaller \"start-up\" companies where I help them with the decisions they are trying to make about technical people they need to hire all the way through to whether they are building their software in the best way. I also do small ad-hoc pieces of work for people I have met in my career, usually around Cyber Security and how to help them improve how they are trying to defend their company against the \"bad people\". Very hard to say a starting salary. A Non-Executive can earn anything from 10K - 50K for 10 - 30 days of work (depending on the company size). Technical Advisor/Consultancy you charge by the hour or the day. "

"Most of my choices in my career have been influenced by either doing what I loved, or listening to other people who knew me well. I choose a degree in Maths (found it easy) and Computer Science (at the time PCs were just beginning to appear so I wanted to know what the fuss was about). I'd lined up a management role at the end of my degree but then a Professor asked me if I had considered doing a PhD. If he thought I was capable - then why not ? So I gained a PhD in Cryptography. I realised that working with a large computer company was something I wanted to do (great training and modern benefits). After coding for a bit I found I loved helping others more - so started my career in leadership of technical teams. Understanding people, loving differences, being able to translate the complex into simple language set me on a path of leading larger global teams. At one point I was Executive Vide President of R&D (Research and Development) working with 3000 engineers from the UK, US, India, Israel, France and Korea. Most recently I lead 1000 people globally to deliver Cyber Security for a large bank as a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). I've not always managed lots of people. Sometimes you are an \"individual contributor\" e.g. I was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Cisco which meant I spent time with lots of different kinds of businesses, UK Government or students explaining to them the power of technology and how it could change their businesses/lives for the better. I now made the choice to start my own business providing advice to a variety of small companies on how they run their business and combine that with something called a Non Executive Director (NED) which is a person who works with the leaders of a business the CEO and the CFO and others to ensure they are managing that company well for the benefit of their shareholders and their employees."

"I am married, live in Southampton, and have one grown-up son at University. I have always loved music and sing solos in concerts and perform with local Amateur Dramatic societies. I have a growing collection of unusual musical instruments, some of which I still need to learn to play - but that needs to wait until I am retired ! I have found it important to keep fit, so run when I get a chance and enjoy the odd Body Combat class. I am a bit of a petrol head - which may become out of fashion soon. As a family we've been lucky enough to travel extensively to search out rare animals, or those on the edge of extinction. "

"This is a hard one as there is not really a typical day for me. But to give you a flavour, checking the phone first thing in the morning to spot anything urgent. Having a good breakfast (best meal of the day). Then I'll either be travelling to a board meeting, sitting in a lengthy meeting, reviewing \"papers\" (these are documents created by the management team on a certain key topic that they want help on) and asking questions to help the company think through their challenges. Or, if I'm not at a board meeting, I'll be spending time at my computer reading emails, creating content for a linkedIn Article, posting interesting tweets. Occasionally having an hour long consultation phone call with an analyst or consultant providing my advice on a topic of technical interest. I will also be spending some time reading the papers and reviewing the financial accounts of a company ready for the next board meeting. "

"A levels - Mathematics, Physics and Geography (I choose Maths and Physics because I found them easy. I had to fight my teachers to allow me to take Geography, they wanted something like Biology or Chemistry - but I loved Geography and the freedom of being able to get out and about on field trips).BSC Maths, Computer Science with Statistics - Chosen because I found Maths easy (although be aware it changes significantly at University) and Computer Science was a new field which I wanted to know what it was all about.PhD Cryptography - as mentioned above I hadn't considered this as an option for me - but after my Professor told me I was capable - I did not regret it. In fact I was probably one of the most well off students, as I was sponsored by a company, was a warden of a Halls of Residence (free accommodation and food), marked undergraduate papers, adjudicated exams and was a tutor for an GCSE student.Professionally I did not do anymore qualifications - but I am a Fellow of two professional bodies in my field - the BCS and the IET."