It’s all in the plan. How Ankit Bishnoi has shaped his Specsavers career

From the UK to Australia, Ankit Bishnoi knows a thing or two about
Specsavers’ IT systems and data. He first joined our UK business in 2015 as a data migration
consultant working on the Genesys project, before relocating to Australia to continue its roll
out down under. At the end of 2016, he joined the Australian business on a permanent basis,
which then led to roles including Senior Analyst Programmer, Lead Analyst Programmer and
most recently Lead Data Engineer.

Ankit attributes his upward trajectory to always challenging himself and setting new career
goals with each new role.

“I’ve always put my hand up for stretching assignments and broadened my skills and ability to
add value across multiple projects outside of my expertise,” he says.
“Setting clear goals every year and a plan to achieve those goals with the help of a mentor
has helped me to grow my profile outside my current work responsibilities. I have always
owned my career path by clearly defining my goals and ambitions and being vocal about
them with my mentors.”

And it is his mentors that he turns to when the going gets tough.

“It has happened on multiple occasions that, for whatever reason, I haven’t been able to
achieve my goals as per my plans and I’ve felt stuck,” he says. “But you must believe in
yourself to overcome the challenges. Having a mentor in my professional life has always
helped me to look at the problems from a different perspective and find positive solutions.”
And he says the genuine care and encouragement he has received from his peers and
mentors at Specsavers have contributed to his career success.

“Specsavers provides a good environment to learn and ultimately help you achieve your
career ambitions,” he says.

“It would not have been possible for me to have such a long and varied career within the
company without the pathways for progression that are provided to Specsavers employees.
The culture in this organisation is focused on setting people up for success and helping them
to grow. Specsavers always provides opportunities for career development and gives you
high quality training to support that development. If you are looking for a long-term career
pathway, you just have to have the courage to put your hand up!”