Based in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, Lynda Holt started working for Everything Tech in September 2020.
After being made redundant at the start of the pandemic, a personal connection introduced her to Everything Tech Director, Lee Wrall, who showed her the growing team at the award-winning Managed Services Provider.
Having initially spent 17 years working for Lloyds Bank, before moving into other industries including manufacturing, packaging, sales and merchandise, Lynda had not really considered a role in the tech industry.
She said: “I’d found a good little niche in my previous job, working in purchasing and negotiating with manufacturers in China. So, to start again was quite frightening, especially given I’d never really thought about a career in tech or the opportunities within it.
“Working for a technical company initially scared the life out of me, but there’s lots of support and we’re all being given the opportunity to do more training and increase our knowledge.”
In her current role, she works to ensure that Everything Tech’s clients and service team are equipped with all that they need to enable their offices to operate smoothly and seamlessly in a high demand and high pressure environment.
“It’s a very fast moving industry,” explained Lynda. “Some of our suppliers ship thousands of screens a day, and in the current environment, we are seeing stock selling out and shipped in a matter of minutes so we have to be efficient.
“The crew that Lee and Ruth (Hall) have brought together are really friendly and everyone endeavours to help you. From the smallest query to the biggest, they will find time to make sure you’ve got everything you need. We all help one another.”
Having transitioned her career into the world of tech, Lynda is encouraging more girls and young women to think about the opportunities in tech firms and to help rebalance the industry as a whole. Particularly given the latest statistics from Tech Nation’s Diversity and Inclusion in UK Tech research, which showed 49 percent of UK workers are women, however in tech, they only account for 19 per cent.
Lynda said: “I’d tell any young woman looking at roles in tech that they can do it. There’s loads of resources out there, plenty of opportunity and there’s no reason why it should be such a male-dominated industry. Girls do still tend to shy away from tech more, but that will change as the younger generations grow up and become more comfortable with tech every day.
“Perhaps because of the way IT and computing is taught in schools, it’s immediately off-putting for young women. Having spoken to my children and their friends, I’m not sure there’s that much encouragement given either. You should show young people how computers work rather than just sitting them in front of an excel spreadsheet.”
