Samit had been working as a security officer at Heathrow Airport for 14 years when a new workplace initiative gave him the opportunity to embrace digital, grow his skills and supercharge his career.
When rolling out Microsoft Office 365 across the workforce, Heathrow embraced the potential of the platform and invited all staff to explore what it could offer, including the, ‘Power Apps’ programme, which allows for the rapid development of custom business apps.
Samit explained: “As soon as my Business Manager introduced ‘Power Apps’, I was intrigued – as soon as I finished my shift, I went home to learn more.”
“I started reading through blogs and found out that I could create an app in five minutes and that’s exactly what I did. I built an app that could help us to communicate with customers in different languages. For the first time in my life I felt really, really smart.”
“Developing my skills… has given me the self-belief I needed and has proven that you don’t need a background in IT to be techy.”
“I showed the app to my manager and we now use this app widely across the teams at Heathrow.”
“I was introduced to the Business Teams Manager who asked if I would like to present this to other departments and share information on what other ‘Power Apps’ I could create. Through building my experience and profile, I secured a role in IT.”
“I left school when I was 16 and failed my English and Maths. I didn’t have any IT background. Developing my skills, as well as this app, has given me the self-belief I needed and has proven that you don’t need a background in IT to be techy.”