
Henrietta Akindele
Janus Henderson Investors
HR Trainee
Graduate
Why do you enjoy your job?
I have recently joined the HR Coordinator team and it has been an amazing experience so far. HR is made up of a variety of areas including Learning and Development, Payroll, Pensions, Recruitment; the list goes on. My specific role is quite broad and allows me to get involved in all aspects of HR every day. Working in my team, no day is the same and this is what keeps me interested. I am an organised person and always want to create order in any environment I am in. Working in HR allows me to do just that. As well as to fully exercise my strong communication skills; whether it be orally or via email. Furthermore, I have gained a significant amount of confidence in liaising and speaking with colleagues in much more senior positions as this is all part of the job.
What is the most
challenging thing about your job?
The
most challenging part of working in HR could be the fact that there is
absolutely no room for error. Of course, we all make mistakes, however it is a
requirement to have great attention to detail. It is crucial for us to be as
accurate as possible with the information we send out. All parts of the
business rely on us from the CEOs to line managers to fellow colleagues and
even clients outside of the business.
We are the central processing unit of the business: everything and everyone goes through us to function effectively; so that can put a lot of pressure on us as a team. However with the right attitude and level of resilience, I am able to work through it successfully. Also as I am new to the role, my team has been very supportive in providing on the job training and showing me how to carry out particular tasks first hand so I can eventually tackle queries and various tasks on my own.
My journey to HR at Janus Henderson Investors has been a little unusual. I graduated in BEng Medical Engineering at Queen Mary University of London followed by an MSc in Performing Arts Medicine at University College London. I have always had a love and interest for anything maths and science related, however not as a career. I worked briefly at a bank, lived and worked in Shenzhen, China for a year and came back to teach at a boarding school – but didn’t feel fulfilled. A friend introduced me to the Investment20/20 website and I realised the career potential for me.
What are your future
aspirations?
Within
my first two weeks of working at Janus Henderson Investors, I was told I had
the potential to be in a director or managerial role within the next couple of
years. That was extremely inspiring and encouraging and has motivated me even
more to work towards obtaining a senior position in HR within the next three
years by taking advantage of the help and support I am currently receiving and
studying for those qualifications that can aid my career progression.
How would you sum up your Investment20/20 experience?
Investment20/20 has literally been an angel in the sense that it has opened up many doors for me, given me an opportunity to finally start my career and still supports me along the way by inviting me to social and other networking events, where I am able to meet with likeminded people in the industry.