“Being a finalist validates the work that I've done over the years”
Kwaku Kyei-Manu is a Risk and Compliance Application Manager at Computershare. He previously worked at Computershare from 2017 to 2019 in our Technology Services team before returning in 2021 to start in his new role.
“I decided to do what I could to give back to the people who had also done so much for me.”
Alongside his career in technology, Kwaku has spent time giving back and supporting young people from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds who are looking to find their way into the world of work:
“Early in my career I worked for a bank, and I was very fortunate to be able to join them on a school leavers programme, which for me at the time was a bit of an eye-opening experience. I had such a great framework around me, with great mentoring and support that I decided to do what I could to give back to the people who had also done so much for me. I worked with a lot of younger people providing mentoring services, tools, and career advice and this progressed into working with graduate students as well.
Further down the line, during my first stint at Computershare, I worked in Edinburgh to recruit technology apprentices and build out our apprentice footprint with the government apprenticeship scheme.
Working with disadvantaged individuals and working with people who are looking to find their way into work has always been very high on my list of priorities which is what attracted me to The Livery, the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists. Their aims are focused on education, charity, fellowship, and promoting the industry. My membership of The Livery has put me in a position where I can work with organisations that prioritise the support of people looking to get into the world of work but also looking to do a lot of good in general and leveraging the experience and knowledge of the members of The Livery company to do a lot of social work and social good.”
Kwaku’s work supporting young people led to his selection as a finalist in the Social Good category at the Black Tech Achievement Awards 2023:
“Being a finalist is a bit of a surprise to me, to be forwarded the e-mail and to see my name up there validates a lot of the work that I've done over the years and I've been trying to do. I think it puts me in a great position to reach out to other individuals looking to do the same thing because I'm not in the business of reinventing the wheel, I'm all for supporting people who are doing the very things that I want to do with either my technology know how or introducing them to someone and forming a new relationship that allows them to do what they're doing on a larger, more impressive scale.
So, I'm proud to have been nominated and I think longer term it puts me in a great position to leverage my knowledge, experience, and skills to help even more people either get into the world of work or just raise awareness that there are people out there doing great things that need support.”
What would be your advice to anyone looking to work in the technology industry?
“It's all about going out there asking the right questions and hopefully reaching out to individuals you see doing the things that you want to do because I can guarantee there'll be more pleased you reached out to them than if you didn't.
I do think it's very easy to get overwhelmed, especially since we're surrounded by technology and the thought of technology kind of brings forward visions of coding 24/7, creating an AI, developing video games but it goes a lot further than that, there's a lot of varied career paths within technology so I think the key part of all this, and a crucial aspect is understanding what you're best at, because I can guarantee that there's a career path for you.
Is there anything that stands out for you working at Computershare?
“I like the variety and the pace at which I can work and one interesting description someone gave me when I first joined the company was that Computershare to an extent was very entrepreneurial, in that you had the ability to almost dictate the fate of your career. So whichever areas took your fancy, if you worked and built enough relationships and connections in that area, you could most likely get an opportunity to shadow or at least get a taste of the work being done in those areas. And if it was up your street, then you'd have the opportunity to work with teams and your management to actually make your way into that area.
Over the last few years, I've met lots of people who've done just that, who've been able to work across multiple different departments, across technology and into the business areas as well. So, the freedom of movement, the ability to work a very varied work life and additionally the work life balance is also great, I have the ability to work remotely and go into the office if it suits.”
What do you look for when hiring into your team?
I think the key for me is being an open-minded person, there's a lot of variety in what we do, there's a lot of different stakeholders that you will come across, some people who are very technically minded, some people who are technologically minded so the ability to work between understanding the technical requirements but also being able to explain that in layman's terms is very important.
The ability to just be relaxed and have a good time because there's a saying in my team where it's we're doing the right thing for the right reasons and we're just trying to do our best to keep the lights on.
If you’re laid back but hard working at the same time, which is a bit of an oxymoron, I suppose it puts you in a good place to be a great addition to my team.
Interested in starting a career in technology? At Computershare, we can take you anywhere.