Heidi Zealey has had an impressive 28 year career in Forensic Science, becoming Head of Profession within a police force. She has taken a family career break and is now looking to return to a flexibly position which will enable her to use her considerable expertise and skills.
It was while studying for the Open University T160 course, designed for women wishing to return to work in Science, Engineering and Technology, that Heidi heard about MentorSET. Realising that she needed some support with confidence surrounding returning to work and wanting to review her CV, Heidi applied to be a MentorSET mentee.
MentorSET found Heidi a mentor who set up her own Forensic Science Company with a long and prestigious career in forensic science. The pair initially met in a pub. They had a very good meeting, outlined Heidi's goals and discussed recent advances in Forensic Science.
"Having a mentor, that I hold in great respect, look at what I had achieved in my career so far, has increased my confidence. I have fine tuned my CV and followed my mentor's advice in taking note of its content to support me in finding a role suited to my experience and skills," says Heidi.
The pair mostly communicate by email or phone because they both have very busy schedules. As well as reviewing Heidi's CV, they have considered possible roles at senior levels within Forensic Science and talked about people to contact.
Heidi has a busy life caring for her young family and managing a large renovation project on a Victorian house. She realises the need to keep in touch while on a career break and has been refreshing old networks and getting up to speed with a few updates in forensic science. MentorSET enables the mentee to control the pace of partnership and this has enabled Heidi to fit the partnership around her other commitments.
Heidi says, "I would recommend Mentorset to others. Life is always about learning and it's great to learn from others more experienced or with different view points".
Heidi has now volunteered to be a mentor because she was a mentor before in her career and enjoyed supporting others and helping them to achieve their full potential.