My name is Mary Donnelly, I lead the Cyber Security Consultants here at Ergo, I’m mammy to Aleisha and Patrick and I’m Ergo’s company lead for Connecting Women in Technology. I’ve had the pleasure of working in Ergo for nearly eighteen years.
In this article, I would like to share my journey with Ergo and offer recommendations for those considering a career change.
Ergo’s unique culture
My educational background is a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Maths followed by an M.Sc. in Internet Systems. My journey with Ergo begun in our Software Solutions division. We were building bespoke software applications, and I managed our Quality Assurance engineers. We were a team of five and schedules were always tight and the pressure on. I quickly learned that unlike other software companies, Ergo was about more than just delivering IT. The people here are a unique blend, diverse in many ways but their core values so similar, they care about what we were doing and the people around us, they are ambitious, full of integrity and so much fun to be around, I knew from early on I would be here a while.
The importance of being agile
I love the science of how things work, and I am always intrigued to learn more. The Celtic tiger crash (yes, I am that old) taught me how important it is to be able to pivot, partially for job security but mostly for job satisfaction. Curiosity and learning have intertwined my Ergo journey. The opportunities and support Ergo gave me along the way allowed me to try new things from QA manager to Business Analyst to Legal & Compliance Officer to Cyber Security Consultant. Each hop encouraged, supported, and planned carefully.
I like that in each of these roles there is an underpinning framework of rules upon which we operate and there are synergies between them which meant that each hop was about building on what has been learned already rather than starting again from scratch. By way of examples, the principles of control in ISO 27001 are the foundations of cyber security or from a legal perspective the GDPR is a solid framework for data governance as DORA is for resilience.
Exploring the cybersecurity world
Cybersecurity is an area that has very much evolved in Ergo over the past ten years. We have some of the best specialists in the industry working with us and are trusted custodians for many of our customers. We have a carefully curated portfolio of vendors we trust and work closely with. Under the leadership of Gary Corley, Head of Cyber services at Ergo, our plans for the next 12 months are ambitious, exciting and resolute.
A year and a half into the cyber security world and I couldn’t be happier. When the opportunity presented itself to move into this part of the business, through an internal job posting, I was full of apprehension, I didn’t think the timing was right, would I be able for it? Inspired by the people around me who were making brave decisions and were encouraging me to believe in myself, I took a leap of faith and dived in. I am so grateful I did. The work I had done on to date in combination with the right training, a supportive team and colleagues across the business alongside great managers all helped me to learn and grow in the role.
Advice for career changers
My key takeaways for anyone who might be considering changing roles are:
- Have a genuine interest in the area, be prepared to work hard and learn.
- Build your networks – the allyship, support and encouragement are critical to your success.
- Be brave, believe in yourself and follow your aspirations.
It takes courage to make a change, however change can be as rewarding as it might uncomfortable and it will definitely teach you more about yourself, so trust in your abilities and your goals and take that first step on your journey.
