Noopur Jain enjoys Capgemini's collaborative work culture

Noopur Jain is a Capgemini Solution Architect Manager.

Noopur discusses Capgemini's inspiring culture of collaboration that supports her in getting the future she wants and describes how the company supports its employees to thrive.

What does a day in your life at Capgemini look like?

My work is mostly project-based and I’m essentially the solution architect and a team lead. I could be handling a team of four to six people, depending on the kind of project and the scope of the project.

Typically, my day revolves around bridging the gap between my team and the client, making sure that the work we are doing is effective and up to standard. On the client side, I am constantly engaging with the client, taking requirements, discussing and clarifying options to facilitate delivery. In my own team, I am guiding my team members to work effectively, push themselves, and deliver what’s right for the client.

What's the best thing about working at Capgemini?

The people. The teams at Capgemini are fun and a dream to work with. They capture the culture of the company completely and work doesn’t seem a tedious task around them. Everybody’s very dedicated, so it’s fun, but we never lose sight of what we are supposed to do. The work-life balance is very good. This is something in Capgemini that I appreciate. We’ve had some very crazy days and hectic hours, but then it always balances out and the leads or the management are very supportive. You’re not constantly overwhelmed and overburdened and it enables you to do your best work.

If there’s too much going on and if my manager can pick up something from me or my team, they’re always ready to do that so that they can give us enough time to focus on other things. I have the flexibility that if I finish my work late in the evening and send it out at that time, nobody would ask me what were you doing at 12:00. You are trusted to do your job and as long as you do it well, there are no problems with how you do it.

What makes you proud to work at Capgemini?

Work-life balance without compromising on the quality of delivery. We all know how tough the IT industry can be with cut-throat competition, yet Capgemini lets you work at your pace and makes sure the delivery is top-notch. Along with this, the Values it embodies of Team Spirit, Fun and Honesty, for example, really are visible in day-to-day workings which makes me very proud.

How are you working towards the future you want?

For me, it’s all about looking to the future. So, being able to work on the latest offerings that we have in terms of technology or looking at new ideas is key for me. And Capgemini gives me the flexibility to do this. I’m never faced with reluctance or resistance when it comes to the adoption or exploration of new technology. We’ve been working a lot with RPEs, EIE, DevOps and other new tools and technology offerings that are on the market. I’ve had a chance to work on these and it’s been really fun and great for my future development, not to mention the potential it offers for my clients.

What advice would you give someone joining Capgemini?

The best one is: Network. Connect, talk, discuss as much as you can. The people are great and always willing to lend an ear, as well as some advice. Mentors, buddies, teammates all are more than happy to help. Also, another thing which would really help is to be a hands-on person. Get into the action straight away, everyone appreciates a person who is in the thick of things and has good energy.

How has Capgemini’s support been since the pandemic began?

It’s been very good. Our leads or managers are constantly in touch with us. Our project manager kept up connections with the entire team and then with individual leads like me and we would then have separate connect-ups with our teams too. If you have any issues or concerns, there’s always people to talk to whenever you need to.

In terms of assets and equipment, we’ve been well-supported in that respect too, and the IT and HR departments are doing an incredible job of keeping things running smoothly.

Everybody is striving to make sure people are okay in terms of their own family space and their mental wellbeing as well. If somebody wants a few days off because they need to take care of their family, or just for themselves, then we are making sure they get time off. If somebody feels that they need more time to spend with their family and want to reduce their workload, we are offering their team additional people as well, so the workload can be shared.

Capgemini has a strong policy about everything COVID-related at a group level, but equally at ground level. The culture has come into its own and is really helping everyone cope, if not thrive.