Every month we ask an influential industry leader to answer the big questions on every Young Professionals mind.

The aim of this is to help you thrive in your current careers whilst looking ahead to the future and some of the challenges you may face.

We hope you find these questions & answers useful to both your current career experiences and future ones!

What would you say are the greatest challenges Young Professionals today face?

The police today are facing many more challenges; the increase in crime, particularly violent crime; budgetary constraints which impacts upon resources, both human and material;  the mass increase of social media;  and the fact that the public are more challenging interrogating all aspects of policing.  This combination of economic, environmental and cultural change puts the new young professional in the spotlight in every aspect. Public perception is that the police are the organisation that can resolve everything and with this perception, come expectation. We carry power and influence lives greatly. With this influence, comes responsibility.

If you could give one piece of advice to yourself when you first joined the industry what would it be?

The Police isn’t a job, it isn’t a career, it is a life choice decision. When I first joined I don’t think I really understood that. If I had known I would still have joined but I may have been better prepared.  It affects everything that you do in life, it affects your family. There is nothing I would rather do as a career but you have to go into the police with your eyes open as the rest of the world look to you to lead.

What is the one key lesson you have learnt in your career?

That there are crests and troughs in your career. I have experienced huge crests and you feel energised by life and nothing can bring you down,. But I have experienced lows where it would have been easy to walk away. But when you ride those waves, you become resilient and you come back stronger. The strength I have now can sometimes be tested. There are moments when I feel nervous or apprehensive but I now know that I can deal with anything that is throw at me as long as I do what I think is the right thing.

What area/aspects of the sector do you think Young Professionals can make the most impact in?

The world is changing, social media is such a platform. Today young professional are so knowledgeable about social media, often being much more experienced than the older generation, and they can use this as a huge advantage to develop their career. Creativity is also key. Today’s young people are creative, and aren’t scared at throwing ideas out there, however wild they may seem. Children in schools are taught it’s fine to make a mistake, the key message is, try and make a difference. If young people take this attitude to the workplace, they will make mistakes but they will also do great things.

Being a female leader, have you found there to be equal training and development opportunities during your professional career?

I think being a female leader is more challenging, and this is largely, but not exclusively down to the fact of growing a family. The female grows the baby and with that, can come ailments, fatigue, risk and a host of experiences which can impact on work. The birth of the child brings another stage with associated childcare challenges which largely do not ‘fit’ with the world of work. The most challenging part of my life is trying to maintain and drive my career while bringing up my children. It isn’t easy and you can fall into a trap of feeling like you aren’t doing either well. I used to feel that being a mother prevented me from developing my career. However, I have turned this around and see the skills I need in motherhood helps me greatly at work and the skills I develop at work, enables me to parent better. There will always be more challenges for women, but we need to see these as opportunities and change the perception. That change starts from within.

What advice would you give to people experiencing the glass ceiling? What are your top tips for breaking through?

See the challenge and turn it inside out. With confidence, drive and motivation, you can turn the problems you are encountering into opportunities. If you are different to everyone else, embrace that and be the difference. I have recently undertaken a role of Superintendent duties for a period. I think others in the organisation were surprised as I am the only part time Chief Inspector in the UK in BTP and there are no part time superintendents. I want to be that difference.