When Ellie joined us as a CX executive, her day-to-day was all about talking to members and helping them get the most out of By Miles. Now, as an Associate Engineer in our platforms team, she works on tools that empower those same conversations.
Here, we talk to her about her time with us so far.
From a failed trip to a new journey.
“I joined By Miles in 2020. That year, I was supposed to be taking a good chunk of time off to travel around South East Asia. Unfortunately, Covid struck and, like so many other people, my plans were scuppered. By April I was back in the UK.
“Because the trip ended much earlier than it was supposed to, I had time on my hands. So once I stopped sulking and started looking for jobs, I could afford to be really picky.
I was only applying for roles where it seemed like the company really had something to offer in terms of a good culture and benefits – which certainly applied to By Miles.
A path to progression from day one.
“From my first interview, I felt really at ease. The conversation was nice and natural, as all the questions about actual competencies. There were none of those odd curve balls that only seem to come up in interviews and seem designed to get you to make something up on the spot.
“Probably the most encouraging thing was the fact they were open to me joining the CX team knowing that, yes, I’d be able to do that job well – but that ultimately I wanted to move into engineering. They were really proactive in helping me make that happen right from the start.”
Supporting ambition.
“I love technology and I’m quite a creative person – so I thought engineering would be a good path for me. Before the pandemic put an end to my travels, I’d made it to Cambodia. While I was there I vividly remember deciding that I would learn to code and try to make a career change (it was while eating tacos at the time to be really specific).
“I joined a course and started learning in my spare time. But I was really fortunate in that it wasn’t solely a case of learning after work. Lloyd, our CTO, gave me great opportunities to develop my skills. That November, every Tuesday, when I wasn’t doing frontline work with the CX team, I had the chance to shadow the different engineering teams.
“I learnt so much more that way than I did on my course. I got to experience all the real world complexities that don’t really come up when you’re learning skills in a more abstract way. Imagine starting a new job, in a new language. It was a bit like that! But everyone took me under their wing and I felt part of the team right away.
“It all meant I could pursue this career shift without needing to look for a new employer. I’m not really sure where else I could have done this. Without By Miles I don’t think I’d be an associate engineer today.
Leveraging past experience.
“My time in the CX team has been really useful – because my current role is mostly about making the platform they use everyday work as well as it possibly can. That’s a lot easier when you know all the details of what it’s like from a user’s perspective – those little things that can be really easy to fix, but really bug you when they get in your way.
“When CX are talking to a member, all of their energy and attention is on the person they’re talking to – so the platform they use has to give them all of the information and tools they need without diverting any of that focus. So I’m always make tweaks to ensure that’s the case.
“It’s like a chain of empathy. I know what’s going in CX’s world, so I can focus on making their lives easier – and that helps them focus on empathising with members and making life easier for them.”
Looking to join a smarter, fairer kind of team? Keep an eye on our careers page.
