Are you stressing over your exams and worrying that making the wrong choice now will completely ruin your future tech career? If the thought of mapping out the next ten years of your life makes you want to hide, take a massive sigh of relief. In this incredibly fun episode of Behind the Future, we sit down with Mhairi Harris, a Senior Project Manager and Client Delivery Lead at ZeroLight, to uncover her totally unpredictable journey. Mhairi proves that finding your perfect job is rarely a straight line, and you absolutely do not need to have everything figured out right now.

Mhairi’s story is the ultimate plot twist. Originally, she had her heart set on heading to Oxford to study English and history, but she threw that plan out the window and went to drama school in Edinburgh instead! After three brilliant years of acting, and even going to New York to work with Stephen Sondheim, she realised that consistent acting roles were incredibly rare. She took on a massive mix of part-time jobs, from working in a chocolate shop to pulling pints in local bars, and even answering phones for a nursery software company. Eventually, craving the stability of a standard nine-to-five, she boldly applied for an after-sales role at G-Forces, a massive digital automotive company in her local area.

Despite having absolutely zero background in software or the automotive world, Mhairi hustled to stand out. Before her interview, she tracked down current employees on social media to figure out what the company actually did so she could be fully prepared. She bagged the job, turned up on her first day wearing jeans amongst a sea of corporate suits, and quickly learned the ropes. She started out solving software problems before moving upstairs to client services, eventually discovering that her super-organised nature made her perfect for project management. Today, she uses her skills at ZeroLight, a close-knit company of 55 people that builds mind-blowing 3D visualisation tools for huge car brands like Jaguar Land Rover.

Mhairi drops some brilliant truth bombs about why the communication and room-reading skills she picked up in drama school are secretly her biggest superpowers in her tech career today. She is the living proof that no experience is ever wasted and that making a decision at seventeen is not a “forever decision”. Whether you are desperately trying to build an epic tech career or you just want to figure out your next steps after exams, tune in to hear why swapping your path, trying new things, and embracing the unexpected is the absolute best way to grow!

Behind the Future is a podcast for the next generation of digital talent, offering weekly interviews, real-world insights and career advice. Subscribe for more conversations like this, and follow us on TikTok and Instagram @aspirationdigital.

Hosts: Becky Simms & Bella Ashlee

Guest: Mhairi Harris

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