Employee

As we celebrate International Womens Day on Friday the 8th March 2024 JDR take the time to celebrate one of our longest serving females.
Showcasing her inspiring achievements Vilma Janusauskiene, ERP Data Lead talks us through her career journey overcoming hurdles where she can honestly say she has inspired inclusion!

My journey at JDR started whilst I was studying Bookkeeping and Accounting at a local college. When I had accomplished my Level 3 Diploma, the teacher recommended that I register at a local recruitment agency. A woman at the agency recommended a day shift as a machine operative at JDR Cable Systems to gain some work experience.
I remember my first day at JDR well; a lovely team greeted me, and my Line Manager was our current Maintenance and Process Engineering Team Leader who are still with JDR now! They told me that the recruitment agency made excellent recommendations about my studies which was told to the agency owner through my teacher at the time.

They pushed me to start my career journey at JDR Cable Systems which is where I have been for the last 18 years! My teacher taught me a valuable lesson: how to help other people rise; greatness comes not from a position but from helping build the future.

When I started at JDR there was only one female working on the shop floor and that was me! After a short while, a few more women joined the JDR shop floor in various positions due to me encouraging them within my local community to apply for positions. I have always worked hard, but I knew that as a female if I did not try three times harder than anybody else, my opportunity would be gone like the first IWOC umbilical I saw loaded on a truck and leaving the JDR site. There are so many people that have inspired me at JDR. I have always admired people that are growing, those exciting people that I have tried to follow and push myself further; my ultimate question was and still is what else can I do to add value to the company I work for and myself? I used every opportunity to gain knowledge from the most experienced people in JDR and add my own values to top it up. To support this drive, I was given the opportunity study for a Business Management Level 3 course with a tutor on site where a combination of work and study was required. This qualification helped me grow into my further career away from the dizzy heights of production at JDR.

I knew I was going in the right direction when people approached me to join their teams around the business and become a valuable member of them. I am very proud of what I have achieved today, but I also know I would have never been where I am without the people who mentored me along my journey. This led me to an ERP Co-ordinator position from a Production Operative, followed by a Manufacturing Planner role. After another five years of significant progress, I was mentored into a Design Engineer role, where my Line Manager at that time took a risk and knew they had to prove to others I was worth it because I did not have an engineering degree. I then knew I would have to continue working hard and going the extra mile to prove to everyone that they were not mistaken in giving the position to me. I had the most amazing experience; we were a tiny but supportive team. Committed to my goals and providing the maximum level of work allowed me to achieve my current leading position. I have never been happier in what I do; it is rewarding, an honour to have the most experienced woman in the company leading me into my current position. In my current team there are many strong women that surround me, inspiring and adding a smile to my face daily. One recently told me “If anyone ever throws any “stones” at you or the work you do, don’t worry woman, this is how all the castles are built”!

I knew I had to progress faster than others, not just because I am female but also because of where I come from. Everyone, especially those who come as migrants who don’t speak fluent English or are from a significantly different culture, have to focus extra hard on figuring out what our proposition and value is to the company. Moreover, that proposition has to be clear and differentiated.

As I steered through my career journey, I was aware that my biological clock and career clock were in total conflict. When you have a young family, you still have to give yourself the ability to build your career; just as I am rising in my career my young family are turning in to teenagers who also need me at a pivotal stage in their lives, including my husband they all need me…so as a woman you grow even more. In addition, your parents need you because they are ageing, therefore, for a woman to have it all just seems impossible. I somehow have discovered a coping mechanism, I know I can have it all, just not all at once……

This article explains how JDR encourages and promotes female individuals, as I am a pure example. I am grateful for every opportunity to develop my career in the last 18 years at JDR, for all the company support when I had my children and for allowing me to grow continuously. I am thankful for the opportunity to have some work flexibility during my rising career to spend time with my mum, who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and that this time has been the best we ever had. I want to be a role model for my daughter and other women around me who need inspiration. There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish. The sky is the limit, and the only way is up.

Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.