 Interview with Chris Watson
|
 |
Did you choose IT or did IT choose you?
It chose me. I never expected to have a career in IT -
when I was sixteen, I had a ‘failed attempt’ at programming, after which I left
that side of IT behind and focussed more on the business angle. Eventually, it turned out that IT is
ingrained in me; I am quite technically minded and coming from account and project management roles, I was able to offer both business savvy and
technical skills.
|
 |
Is there such as thing as a 'typical day' for you? If so, what does it consist of?
To be honest there really isn’t
such a thing as a typical day for me...apart from being very busy! I am seldom ever at my desk, normally for
about half an hour in the morning sorting out emails from our various other
offices around the World and then for the rest of the day I’m in meetings and
talking to people about how to drive the business forward, for example I would
sit down with the senior management team and discuss the ‘technical road map’ of the
business for the next one, two, three years.
This could involve anything from the front end design of the website, to
where best to host the servers, to our growth into the EU. Since the recent acquisition of toptable by
OpenTable (an American-based Company), there’s a lot more work and a lot more
people to think about on a daily basis, which is what takes up a lot of my time
- teleconferencing, webconferencing and making sure that everyone is on the
same page!
|
 |
What is your favourite thing about your job?
Working within a large
development team, you get to be a part of some great products going out there
into the world; products that people need and like, and a lot of the time
didn’t realize they wanted until they are available. One of the best parts for me is making the
business and IT sides of a business work together as one, it’s no good if there
are two separate camps within a Company, that’s why it’s so important for
people within IT to understand the business needs as well as just the technical
aspects. Building growth initiative, new
technologies and discovering the course of the business and the IT within that
business is really rewarding. Whether
you’re in management or you just enjoy the ‘behind-the-scenes’ coding or
programming, I think IT is a very distinctive career choice.
|
 |
What are some of the challenges of your job?
Working within a global Company
can pose quite a challenge in itself, trying to organize and operate across
time zones as we have bases in both San Francisco and
India. Despite all the advances of
modern technology, conferencing facilities still aren’t up to scratch. We have a small ‘window of opportunity’
between about 4pm and 5.30pm where all offices are open and functional, which
in itself poses difficulties as you have to bring everyone up to speed on a
day’s work in around an hour and a half.
|
 |
What is the best piece of advice you could give someone considering a career in IT? Or more specifically, someone who wants to end up in a similar role to you?
Stay on top all of new
technologies and methodologies whether the Company you are at is using them or
not. Make yourself invaluable with your
knowledge of the ‘outside world’. Seek
out management roles as early as possible.
If you forge good relationships with the business stakeholders, and
prove your worth early on, not only in IT but in the business side as well,
then you will be in a great position later on.
I began with toptable when it was just a small start-up and was able to
carve my own job out as the business grew.
I had the great opportunity to work with some very influential people
who I learnt a lot from, and I’m now in the position that a lot of people
wouldn’t reach within a large Company so soon in my career. I believe in starting from the bottom and
working your way up, which is what I did - I didn’t get a degree and have no
technical qualifications but I worked hard for years and worked my way up in
Toptable to become the Head of IT in a now Global Company. I’m certainly not saying that having a degree
would harm your chances, I just want to make sure people know there are so many
ways into the business, a lot of the time it’s about being in the right place at
the right time - there’s a lot of luck involved!
|
 |
How did you get into your current role?As I mentioned before, I was
programming at the age of sixteen and then left to be in a sales type account
management role in a conveyancing firm - it was a great chance for me to
broaden my horizons, but the business sector for me was quite dry, and I knew I
wanted something else that I could really get in to. I wanted to get back into the IT sector, so
got a temp job at toptable as a Project Manager, which turned into a permanent role
and then over time I became Programme Manager where I would oversee all the
projects going on at the Company. I was
in that role for about three years, when the restructuring happened and I
became Head of IT where I have been now for just under a year. It certainly helped me to learn the business
from the ground up, as I’m now in a position where I understand all aspects of the business clearly
and understand the various positions that we have here. Perseverance is key!
|
 |
What is your best memory throughout your IT Career?
There was a project we were
working on quite a while ago, in the end it ran over budget, over time and ran
all of us in to the ground - a completely thankless task that was very
difficult to produce. It took about two
years to complete, along with blood, sweat and tears - but in the end it was
totally worth it as not only were the business stakeholders phenomenally happy,
but the project was actually one of the main reasons toptable ended up going
international. Knowing that both my team
and I made a huge difference is pretty great, all our hard work paid off and we
actually got to make a huge alteration within the business.
|
 |
What personal characteristics do you think you need to be in your job? It sounds like a no-brainer, but being personal and approachable is so important. Also, being cool-headed and not panicking in a situation where everyone else is, is definitely a good trait. There are always going to be dramas in IT, servers going down, websites crashing...so remaining calm is necessary for someone in authority. Personally, I don’t like people who gripe a lot with no solutions, so gripe constructively! I like my team to feel as though they can come to me with suggestions and solutions, I like to get everyone involved in making decisions as you often find that within a team our size (at the moment we are around twenty people) there are several varying opinions and someone may have thought of something you haven’t. For example, business analysts and developers have two very different jobs, but under the umbrella of one Company, both their sets of ideas become valid and one may be able to offer something that could assist the other.
|
 |
How do you think we could encourage more Graduates into IT?
There isn’t very much out there
about the assortment of roles available within IT. It’s not just straight development for
example...there are so many angles; plus with technology ever increasing, there
are always going to be new and different openings to explore. Not all IT roles are dry and old-fashioned,
there are great opportunities if, for example, you are a creative person who is
good with technology as well - there are tonnes of front-end type roles that
would suit both traits really well.
|
Testing Circle would like to thank Chris Watson and the Toptable team for allowing us to conduct this interview. Interviewed by Ashleigh Ace, Testing Circle Marketing Manager.
|
 |
 |
|
