At school, Lorenza’s favourite subjects were foreign languages, so when it came to deciding what to do at university it was a fairly straightforward choice. She studied French and Italian at Cambridge University and loved every minute of it. In my year abroad Lorenza worked as an interpreter at the European Parliament which was a wonderful experience, but incredibly demanding. She graduated in 2000 during the dot com boom, and joined an IT start-up as a Project Manager. She was responsible for delivering IT projects to a pan-European pharmaceutical client, putting her languages to good use.  She hadn’t ever imagined herself as going into the IT industry (especially as her computer skills are practically non-existent). However, this first job gave her a fantastic foundation in consulting and project management skills on which she has built her career.
 
In 2005, Lorenza moved to a different IT company which was later bought by BAE Systems. Since then, she has fulfilled a wide spectrum of roles. For the past five years Lorenza has been running strategic bids within the part of BAE that specialises in IT security solutions. Her job is to manage teams of people who deliver IT products and solutions to their clients. She plans, coordinates, problem-solves, and leads bids, working with very talented and technical individuals, and acting as the “bridge” between the technical and business community.
 
Overall it is a challenging, but very rewarding job. Moreover, after having had two children in quite quick succession, the company was very accommodating and supportive in terms of welcoming her back to work.
 
When Lorenza was at LEH, she didn’t visualise herself working in the IT sector and certainly not for length of time that that she has. When she did a career questionnaire aged 15, the results said she should be a librarian! She feels that LEH gave her the confidence to do a degree in subjects that she really loved without worrying about what job it would lead her to. Her advice to those people who are looking for jobs: be open-minded as you might surprise yourself and find you love working in a sector that you least imagined.