Faces of Reading

I've always felt that I should be a good citizen. We all have our specific roles and job descriptions, but if you stick to just that, life becomes pretty boring. So I have many roles. I coordinate international collaboration and engagement in my Department, which gives me the opportunity to travel and meet people from all over the world, I'm the Warden of Windsor Hall and I'm a Harassment Advisor. I always wanted to do more than just the 9-5.

My suggestion to colleagues would be to get involved. It's not just about teaching and research here. There's lots happening at the University, and you can have an enriching and fulfilling career with good social interaction as well. We have colleagues and students from all over the world, so you can meet all kinds of people, and the experience is very satisfying. This is an enlightened place to work.

Read more about the University's harassment reporting and support.

The HR team was really helpful in going through my options with me, and my manager helped to make sure my responsibilities were split between the other Business Partners while I was on leave. Because of this, I was able to help my wife, Khrystyna, but I also had the opportunity to get to know my son.

What I found is that going to work is the easy part. At home, you have to dress and feed your child, bathe them and read to them, make sure they sleep and take part in activities. And just being there for them is integral. That time is very hard to achieve when you鈥檙e working: you come home, de-stress, and do all the basic necessities, but just spending time with your child is when you really bond with them and see what type of person they鈥檙e becoming. Thanks to the University鈥檚 flexibility, I got that time with Luke.

Read more about family leave at the 色狗导航. 

My previous job was in retail so it was quite unsociable and involved long hours. My department gives you flexibility, you have to be in for core hours but you can come in early and then you're off again, it's fantastic.

Following the Professional and Administrative Services (PAS) review, I got the job here as Programme Administrator in August 2016. I work with a good group of people - we all bounce off each other, dig in and help each other out.

There is definitely a focus on staff development - I've recently finished the Springboard Women's Development Programme. My manager gave me the time to go on that course because it was important to me and being part of that cohort was really fulfilling.

I'm also an LGBTQIA+ Ally. I've always considered myself a diversity and LGBTQIA+ ally, mainly because I have a brother who is transgender, so it is something close to my heart. As soon as I heard about the Ally programme, I was very keen to be part of it.

I entered higher education on a series of fixed term contracts which is common to our sector as there is a disproportionate demand for EAP teachers/lecturers in the summer, but this reduces once Autumn is upon us. Living in this state of employment precarity was unnerving, especially when I was expecting my first child. In 2009, I did manage to secure my first permanent post despite being five months pregnant at the time of the interview. Even though it is unlawful to consider this ‘temporary condition’ during the selection and recruitment process, just 11 years ago attitudes differed. I felt incredibly anxious before the interview panel. Currently, as a member of the Unviersity Parent and Family steering group, I am keen to open up discussions on issues facing parents -to- be, parents, and carers working at universities, and share best practice in support across the University. 

I came to work at UoR, after working for nine years at Royal Holloway, University of London. Moving jobs mid-career is a huge leap of faith for anyone, but with a young family to relocate, this was a significant undertaking for me. In addition, my carefully built network of personal and professional contacts had also been removed. At first the benefits of changing employer and location can seem quite small in comparison to the sacrifices. I would say to anybody in this position though that the gains do start to emerge incrementally. 

Reflecting on the long working lives ahead of us, we should reconsider outstaying employers. Four years on my family are settled and working at Reading has brought me so many new opportunities in teaching a greater diversity of nationalities, supporting outreach work in English Language teaching, and leading on new provision. Most of all I have experienced a more positive approach to different contracts types. I now work 0.9FT and have a better work/family balance as a result, something that was not conceivable in my past roles.