Oxford

OTHER CAREERS
OTHER CAREERS
FRAN NEWMAN
Leadership Development
Director – Unilever
Fran studied Geography at
Hertford College, 2004.
WHAT: My job is about making sure
Unilever has the right people, with the
right skills and capabilities, doing the
right jobs to help Unilever achieve its
business ambitions. I focus on making
sure we are developing our people so
they get the experiences they need to
grow and get ready for bigger jobs,
and on bringing in the best talent from
outside Unilever.
WHY: I love working in HR because I’m able
to do what really motivates and drives me –
helping others to realise their own potential
and to find contentment in their lives.
The best part of my current job is that it is
all about helping our employees to realise
their own potential, cope with the normal
stresses of life, work productively and
fruitfully, and make a contribution to their
community both at work and at home. I
have a real personal passion for this and
find it incredibly inspiring to work for a
company that sees this as such a priority.
ADVICE: If you are interested in working
in HR, my advice would be to look for a
company that really takes it seriously and
sees it as integral to the success of the
business. To be successful, you need a
keen sense of commercial and business
ALUMNI PROFILES
acumen in addition to a strong desire
to work with and to help other people
to achieve success. You need to be
a good listener and an empathetic
coach, and be able to make tough
decisions. Finally you need to have
a reasonably thick skin – HR is not
always popular!
TOP TIPS: Get some experience
in the area you want to work in. I
spent 6 months working as an HR
administrator after graduating which
gave me a good insight into what HR
was all about and made me feel more
confident about my choice of career.
ALUMNI PROFILES
JULIEN ANANI-ISAAC
Troop Leader in the Royal
Lancers – British Army
WHAT: As a Troop Leader in the Royal
Lancers, one of three Armoured
Cavalry regiments in the British Army,
I am responsible for the training,
welfare, education, development and
performance of my troop. This may
involve leading my troop on training
exercises or overseas deployments,
often operating independently of
my chain of command, or simply
organising sporting or adventurous
training activities.
WHY: The most exciting element of
the job is the privilege of commanding
soldiers. Soldiers are a unique group
of people, who will surprise you time
and time again but who make the job
worthwhile.
Within the British Army there is such
a variety of different units and roles
that there is a specific job role to suit
almost everyone, no matter what your
interests and background. This ranges
from the Infantry, who engage in close
combat action, to the Royal Logistics
Corps, who provide sustainment and
support to the rest of the Army, to units with
purely ceremonial roles.
PROS & CONS: Despite the differences,
some things are identical for all Officers.
It is a job that will challenge you mentally,
physically and intellectually as well as giving
you large amounts of responsibility from
the very beginning. In addition, you will feel
a unique sense of camaraderie between
yourself and your fellow officers. However,
Army life is a vocation rather than a job and
you can expect to spend many weekends
and evenings working, especially during
your initial training.
GETTING IN: To join the Army as an
Officer you need to speak to your local
Army Careers Officer, and attend an Army
Officer Selection Board, where you have a
medical, fitness tests, interviews, command
tasks and a planning exercise. If you pass
this, you then attend Sandhurst, the Royal
Military Academy, for their challenging
11 month course, leading to your first
commission with whichever Regiment has
offered you a position.
Julien studied Modern
Languages (French and
Spanish) at Worcester
College, 2013.
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