Suzanne W.
About me
| Suzanne W. | |
| Psychology | |
| psychology | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Derwent | |
| 1998 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Head of HR - The Sun | |
| News UK | |
| United Kingdom | |
| HR, recruitment and training / Journalism and publishing | |
| Large business (250+ employees) | |
| 2000 | |
| 2016 | |
| £40,000 | |
| >£100,000 |
Like this profile?
Add this profile to your favourites so you can return to it later from your account.
A day in the life of a Head of HR - The Sun in the United Kingdom
Happy to help with career questions about HR or newspapers
My career goals when I graduated
I didn't really have any beyond knowing that I wanted something that I was really interested in and that it would involve people!
My career history
Started off a long time ago as a retail manager and then went back to uni aged 25 to study psychology. That took me in the direction of HR.
I started off as a general HR administrator in a Sainsbury's distribution centre (500 people, heavily unionised and lots of employee relations issues). They then promoted me after graduation to Projects Co-Ordinator and I got to do lots of meaty, interesting stuff like devising and running development centres, co-ordinating Investors in People and lots of training.
After a couple of years I realised that I wanted a more stand-alone role and got a job with News International (now News Uk) working across their printing sites in Liverpool and Glasgow. I then embarked on a 4 year, $1Billion project to completely revamp the national operational structure and processes.
Once this was done I moved to London and moved around the company as a HR troubleshooter, working across all areas of the business.
I left News Uk in 2009 to work for myself and had a year of consulting and running my own business before News Uk lured me back to head up HR for Operations and then The Sun.
What has helped my career to progress
Being good at my job and being someone that people like working with and for. You're only as good as your reputation.
Courses taken since graduation
Too many to mention ; Coaching, Mentoring, Finance, Employment Law, hostage negotiations.........
How my studies have helped my career
They haven't really. They made me interested in people, but HR is full of people from all different backgrounds.
What surprised me about my career so far
How many times I've been approached out of the blue to do new roles, or have been offered a promotion.
Where I hope to be in 5 years
Hopefully with a better work/life balance; maybe doing some more coaching/mentoring rather than full time working.
My advice to students considering work
Find out everything you can about the company you want to work for. People love it when you are interested in what they do. Be personable, and be professional.
My advice about working in my industry
HR - be a real person, not a HR jargon monkey. Be bright, be funny, be someone that they want to work with. You're not there as the fun police!
Journalism - write, write, write. Do a blog, sell stories to locals and nationals, get work experience, do casual shifts. Be prepared to travel anywhere for a job.
Other advice
Be someone that they remember (for the right reasons). Don't be quirky or aloof. Be personable and funny and bright and interesting. Ask good questions. Make sure your CV is polished - no spelling or grammatical mistakes. Don't lie - we can see through that in a heartbeat.
Contacting me
Happy to chat about HR or Newspapers, or help with interview prep or general careers advice.
What I do
I've recently moved back to York after being Head of HR for The Sun newspaper for the last couple of years. I worked for News Uk for about 16 years in total, and had the great fortune to work across every area of the company as a HR Manager (The Times, Marketing, Technology, Commercial, Operations and Finance to name a few).
I've also worked for myself as a consultant and have worked in retail, FMCG, and banking. Newspapers were my best fit, however!
I managed teams of HR Managers across the UK and I am an experienced coach and mentor.
I'm currently doing up my new (old) house and having a bit of time off from HR.
Skills I use and how I developed them
HR is all about relationships and being able to influence people. It's important to know your stuff from a legal perspective, but it's more important that you become a business partner and a key part of the company.
I've done lots of personal development, from learning about NLP and Myers Briggs to understand what makes people tick, to finance and legal courses.
As a Head of HR you also need to be a good leader, so my leadership training has also come in useful.
What I like most
The people and being part of the business. Newspapers are the best places to work; the most interesting , the most challenging, the funniest and most rewarding when it goes well. They are also bloody hard work. If you want a Monday-Friday 9-5 job, this isn't for you.
What I like least
HR-speak. People who rely on policies & procedures to influence others & who forget that HR specialists are there as facilitators - the world does not revolve around us. We are there to keep the wheels on.
What surprised me most
How varied my job would be. What other profession has you coaching one day, running a leadership course the next, interviewing for a showbiz editor, dealing with life or death situations on another. (I've had to deal with some very difficult situations with journalists in foreign countries, and also in their own homes)