Building My Career: Dani's Story
Danielle Mole
Retirement Advice Support Manager
I’m a driven person and for me, a fulfilling career means challenge, variety and finding opportunities to stretch yourself – no matter your role.
Early beginnings at LV=
Six years ago, I started as a Customer Service Representative, helping customers with their car insurance renewals. A few months later, the Claims department asked for some support and what started as a bit of help, ended up as a two year stint!
Speaking to customers at fault for an accident wasn’t always easy but I soon realised that I had a sympathetic ear and quickly became confident at handling difficult calls. For something new, I put my name forward to work on some high profile projects. It gave me the confidence to step out of my comfort zone and the hunger for a good challenge!
After two years, it was time for a change and I spotted a role in recruitment. Although I had no experience in recruitment and I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted my career to go in, I knew it’d be a great opportunity to progress using the skills I’d gained in my previous roles.
To keep stretching myself within this role, I focused 1-2-1s with my manager that covered what had gone well, what needed working on and what was next. I also got regular feedback from my colleagues and stakeholders so I knew what I needed to do to keep developing.
My Journey
In April 2019 I took the leap away from recruitment and moved into a role within our Retirement Advice business. My personal goal for a long time had been working towards managing my own team which is why I was thrilled to move into my Retirement Advice Support Manager role.
I currently manage a team of 9 technical administrators who support our clients with their pension transfers. This has been a very challenging transition for me with having no prior pensions or management experience. I have had a fantastic 4 months getting to know my team, learning all about retirement advice and have been thoroughly supported by my manager. I am very passionate about helping my team and I will always do what I can to support them in their roles and future career paths. I will also be continuing to develop my management skills and I am always open to constructive feedback to help me improve.
I am a massive believer that everything happens for a reason and you need to sometimes step out of your comfort zone to get the things you want in life, even though it might not be easy. Variety and challenge are the things that give me the greatest job satisfaction and by understanding my strengths and what I enjoy, I’ve been able to develop and evolve my career at LV= into something wide-ranging and rewarding.
My top tips…
- Know what you enjoy and what you want - then set yourself achievable goals for getting there. Identifying small steps and achievement can really help with your motivation.
- Have confidence in yourself! Early on I realised, “If I doubt myself, others will too”. I make a plan and use data to drive my thought process, which gives me and my stakeholders trust and confidence in my decisions.
- If you’re thinking about your next career move, it’s ok not to have all the skills or experience. I’d never worked in recruitment before but I looked at the strengths I’d built and thought about how they’d transfer. Don’t let the role profile put you off. Talk to the recruitment team for support and go for it!
If you would like to know more about opportunities at LV= then please contact the recruitment team - LV.Recruitment@lv.com.