From HR Graduate to Marketing Professional

Maya Varma (Assoc CIPD) joined us in 2021 as a graduate in HR and has recently moved into a new permanent role in Marketing. We were keen to learn more about her experience with us on the graduate scheme, how she’s navigated a cross functional career move and how she’s now working on a major transformation project which will impact the nation.

Check out her story below 👇

Can you tell us how you started your career with BT? 

I’ve had quite the journey at BT. So, how did it start…? 

I studied Management at Leeds University, and undertook a sandwich year between second and third year on BT’s Commercial Management Industrial Placement scheme, lasting one year. I never imagined myself living in London, yet I took the plunge and moved from the quiet north to the big city. This turned out to be the best decision I’ve ever made. 

During university, I thoroughly enjoyed HR and took many optional HR modules to reflect this. I aligned my academic interest with my career path upon graduation, and joined BT’s HR graduate programme in 2021, I was so excited to move back down to central London again and continue my adventure!  

The graduate scheme comprised of three eight month rotations in HR. BT were supportive of my development, funding my CIPD Level 5 certification, the HR industry qualification that I studied for over my scheme.  

For my first rotation, I co-led the company employee engagement survey, gaining great transferrable skills such as project management and data analysis, analysing over 10,000 survey responses and reporting this to senior leaders.  

Next, I was in the early careers team. Early careers is a microcosm of HR: you’re involved in every stage of the employee lifecycle, from attracting students at careers fairs, recruiting them at assessment centres, onboarding them through an engaging induction, ensuring they have a positive scheme experience with development opportunities, and off-boarding as they roll of their respective schemes.  

I was in the Talent Acquisition team for my final rotation, responsible for recruitment within BT Ireland, as well as UK Sales roles. I had such a wonderful time with a fantastic, inclusive team, placing suitable candidates in various vacancies. Here, I developed my relationship building and stakeholder management skills, and spoke to countless candidates and hiring managers over my time. I enjoyed my role so much I extended it beyond the eight months for a whole year! 

Despite thoroughly loving Talent Acquisition, I was keen to further expand my skillset – that’s what attracted me to BT in the first place: the endless possibilities that you can take with your career. That decision has taken me to where I am now – Marketing. 

You’ve now moved from HR to Marketing. Can you tell us about that experience and how you’re able to drive your own career? 

The best thing about working for BT is that your career development opportunities are endless due to the organisation’s scope and scale. I wished I had taken a greater variety of modules in university, yet had always stayed within my comfort zone of HR modules that I knew I enjoyed. On reflection, I should have taken an additional Marketing module or two as this was an area I was curious about. That’s why after my final rotation on the HR grad scheme, I knew this was the ideal time to try something new, and explore where my career could take me within BT. 

I wasn’t put off from applying for roles which I had no direct experience for. I knew that I had a great variety of transferrable skills from my time in HR, which I could weave into my interview answers and demonstrate how I’d apply this to a new role in Marketing. You might have heard of the STAR method when it comes to interview answers. However, have you heard of STARLA? This stands for Situation, Task, Action, Response, Learning, and Application. I’d say these last two points of what you learnt from the example you provided (learning), and how you’d apply the skill and learning to the new context (application) are crucial to demonstrating your transferrable skills and navigating your career in a new direction. This approach allowed me to seamlessly move to a new function. 

Changing functions has been an exciting new chapter for me, and also a steep learning curve. However, I am surrounded by a range of great stakeholders who have been supportive of my journey. In addition, BT provides LinkedIn Learning free of charge for the development of its employees, which has been a great resource in providing foundational content, and helping me be prepared for my new role. 

Can you tell us about your current role in marketing? 

My new role is a Product Marketing Professional for IP (Internet Protocol) in BT Business. But what does that actually mean? Let me give you some context.  

The whole telecoms market is going through fundamental change, including BT. You might remember the analogue to digital television switch which happened in 2012. This is similar. Calls have traditionally been delivered through the PSTN (Publicly Switched Telephone Networks) network, which is the legacy, copper analogue network that the UK infrastructure has relied upon for years. However today’s needs are changing and PSTN is outdated, costly to upkeep and no longer fit for purpose, so PSTN will be switched off in 2025. Customers will need to switch over to IP technology before then, signalling the move from analogue calls to digital. 

I’m responsible for the marketing of the IP migration. As part of this, I work with a variety of different stakeholders throughout the business to drive business customer awareness of the migration, ensuring they are ready for the all-IP digital migration prior to the 2025 switch off. I create and update collateral, and will be running a series of webinars and events to further increase awareness. I’m really looking forward to developing my skills and being part of this significant IP migration transformation project for BT. 

What is unique or special about the Marketing/Product function in BT Business? How do we empower you to have an impact in your role? 

Within IP Product Marketing, it is fundamental to really understand customers’ needs, so we can create compelling, tailored and fit for purpose content which drives behaviour change of switching to IP solutions. As part of this, creative problem solving is key. One of the challenges we face is communicating with small business owners of the PSTN to IP change, who may have language barriers as English is not their first language.

On the surface, IP voice communications can seem like a complex topic. That’s why our team have been empowered to come up with inclusive solutions to communicate these changes to the business community as a whole. We are currently exploring our options, simplifying content using graphics, and giving the option for website users to not just digest content by reading, but also providing audio clips to listen to this. 

How has the business helped you feel like you belong? How do we do this more broadly? 

There is a great sense of inclusion within BT as a whole, where I feel a real sense of belonging. BT has a number of internal People Networks, which are open to all colleagues to join. For instance, there is an Armed Forces network, Muslim Network and Pride Network – just to name a few. 

For every year that I have been with BT, I have participated and also organised activities to celebrate the Hindu festival of Diwali. It’s through these networks that I’ve made some great friends! Most recently, myself and my colleagues dressed up in bright dresses and traditional clothing, and came together to share traditional foods and snacks for Diwali. There was even a henna artist who attended this event, who produced intricate designs on people’s hands. This was a fantastic in-person event which was open to all, and had a great turn out! 

IE&D (Inclusion, Equity and Diversity) is such an important topic at BT that resonates with leaders and colleagues. Through various activities and initiatives throughout the year, you can enhance your knowledge more broadly on so many different areas. For instance, the Future Careers IE&D Centre are running an awareness session on PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome) and Endometriosis, incorporating a panel discussion, Q&A, as well as access to internal and external resources.  

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