A closer look at our grad culture with Alice
As a graduate business change analyst for Digital Finance Transformation (DFT), Alice has been given early responsibility, while getting to know people all over our Cambridge office. With the one-on-one support of her manager, she’s networked far and wide rotating from finance to tech-focused IP delivery roles and back again. But Alice is big in the business of shaping Arm’s culture too – orchestrating deeper friendships that make working here a joy.
So how does she make the most of being a graduate? Her advice: “Say yes to opportunities. I'm on the global committee running the graduate conference this year. It's for first year graduates and it’s amazing. Usually graduates from all over the world go to London for the week to learn, network and celebrate. There’s a huge black tie dinner and you meet people from as close as Italy to as far away as India and California. This year, COVID means it has to be online – but we’re doing something very innovative with VR, so it’ll still be great.
”As for fitting in, Alice is confident everyone will feel welcome at Arm: “The culture here is like nothing I've experienced before. I love the office environment; it's so relaxed, but at the same time fast paced. Straight away, us grads formed a tight-knit group and we included everyone in our online chat. One of the big things for me was I didn't have to relocate to feel supported. Most of the graduates move to Cambridge for the year, but I lived at home and travelled in. Don't think you're going to miss out, because it’s not all about the pub – you don’t have to do that. There are lunches and other activities like bowling or Halloween fright nights. There’s plenty for everyone.”
“Don't be scared that it's going to be too technical.”
Arm may lead the world in many areas, but Alice doesn’t think there’s anything daunting about joining: “All of my friends are very, very technical whereas I'm business based. Sometimes I get totally lost in what they're talking about, but a company can't run without business people. So don't be scared it's going to be too technical. You learn stuff along the way and everyone's very helpful.”