Empowered as a Mum: My Journey of Support and Success at Vodafone

The story of what made me decide to work at Vodafone is very simple. It was the people. When I was doing my Master's in Business Administration, there were events at the school for students to get to know different companies, and Vodafone was always there. It was my first encounter with them as an employer. It was very important for me to do an internship as my bachelor’s degree (Genetics and Molecular Biology) was in a totally different area to the direction I wanted to go in, and I could see immediately that I was very much aligned with Vodafone’s purpose and values. 

I did apply to internships at a few different companies, but when I did my first interview at the Vodafone headquarters and got to know the space and the working environment, I knew that that was the place I would really enjoy. Vodafone was the internship that I wanted, and I started as a summer intern in 2017. 

Since then, I have transitioned from intern to the Vodafone graduate program, to senior employee. At all stages, I have felt very supported from all the different areas of the company, especially management. Even as an intern I was given responsibility and visibility to top management, which was very important at the beginning of my career. 

In fact, I took on my current role when I was pregnant - and during the transition to the role, as well as throughout my maternity leave and subsequent return to work, I’ve been incredibly supported by both my direct managers and the company in general. 

What I’m doing right now

My role right now is Product Manager within the Beyond Connectivity team in the Consumer Business Unit. I'm responsible for the development and management of propositions that, not being specifically within our core activity, do rely on the usage of our network and connectivity.  

The product management process includes different phases, from planning a product’s introduction to the market, to going through its maturity, and into its decommission when applicable. As a product manager, I'm involved in all the phases of the product life cycle and work with different teams to ensure each phase is performed successfully. 

I'm very excited for the latest launch I’ve been working on. One of the things I enjoy most about product management is seeing my projects come to life for our customers, and I’m sure that once it’s live, managing this particular project is going to be very interesting as it has planned evolutions. 

My very positive maternity leave experience

I was pregnant with my twins when I accepted this role. Because twins are considered a ‘risk’ pregnancy, I had to leave work even earlier on a ‘sick leave’ period, which meant I was off for three months before my kids were born. 

I remember being a little anxious about leaving as I had only been in my new position for a month and I was also still doing part of my previous role. However, the managers were so supportive that I ended up feeling very comfortable about stepping down for a while to take care of my children (and myself!) I have found that the culture here is really supportive overall when it comes to working parents. Even since coming back, I have noticed how understanding they are when things come up, like my kids being sick and I need to go home to be with them. 

I have to say that returning from maternity leave is not easy. After spending six months taking care of a baby (in my case, two) you are tired! Starting to work again really added another layer of complexity. So, it was amazing to come back to a team that was so understanding about the phase I was in and allowed me to ease back into everything without too much pressure. I was lucky enough to find vacancies in daycare, and benefit from something we have in Portugal called ‘reduced working hours’ for breastfeeding which my team very much respected as well. 

Future ready

I still have many things I want to accomplish at Vodafone. I’m eager to achieve my current goals, and to embrace new challenges when the opportunities come up. Long-term I would love to pursue a leadership position and I’m doing my best to develop all the skills I need for that with Vodafone’s support. 

Vodafone is just a great place to develop a career. I think it’s partly because the people are very accessible. Everyone is willing to help you, including when you’re a candidate for a specific role, program, or internship. Whatever questions you have, feel free to ask them, and if you end up working here, keep that mindset. Don’t shy away from asking for help if you need it at Vodafone. There is a very strong spirit of mutual support and group work here.