James Nedwell, Lead Technical Applications and Platform Manager, Irwin Mitchell
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"The ability to pull on different backgrounds and life experiences is really important”
I have a mild form of ADHD, not fully diagnosed. When I look back on my career, you can see the signposts to it.
As I developed my career, being able to find mechanisms, and ways to pull myself out and take more of a strategic view– rather than being stuck in the detail – has helped me to progress.
Pulling from across the walks of life, you get different ideas, different perspectives, and that's what helps you grow as an organisation.
In IT, it's a great thing in some ways. You’re focused on the problems and on the issues, and you'll dive down to the Nth degree to understand something because you have to.
"Mental health is openly talked about”
I've got a great colleague who refers to themselves as 'neurospicy' rather than 'neurodivergent.' That is fantastic, because we talk about it openly.
We openly embrace the differences and the strategies that each person needs. We work around each other and that creates a great fostering environment.
“Developing outside my comfort zone”
I saw the opportunity with Irwin Mitchell and had my interview with the then-CIO. It sounded fantastic, but there was a lot of the role that was outside of my comfort zone. There was a lot of contract management – a pressure that I've never dealt with before.
It was a learning curve. I'm really lucky that I have such a supportive team. The team was already formed, and I dropped in as its line management. They were fantastic and knew what they needed to do. They didn't need their hand holding to get things done. I learnt a lot from them in the first six months and we're still making changes and improvements to this day.
"We keep the lights on for all the systems that our fee-earning colleagues use throughout the business"
I'm not helping people in their day-to-day lives like the lawyers are. They are supporting people through the best and worst parts of their life.
What I can do is support them to provide that service, and that's where I get my job satisfaction. I know that what I'm doing is supporting them to support other people.
By providing better technology, better solutions, and better systems, I can make them more efficient, and they can provide a better service to our colleagues and our clients.
"The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given”
My dad always used to say: 'If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well'. If you're going to do something, do it to the best of your ability.
Join us
Whatever your background, if you’re a hard worker with a can-do attitude then Irwin Mitchell could be the place for you. There’s lots of opportunities to progress your career and grow as an individual. Come and join our team and help us make a different.
