Rob Collie
Sky, Group Director of Procurement. After Stirling High I went to Glasgow Uni to do Economics & Accounting. I then trained as a Chartered Accountant, spending 10 years in the profession. The next 20 years have been in industry, at Cadbury Schweppes and at Sky, across a number of finance, procurement & strategy roles.
Left School
June 1988
Senior Phase
In S5/6 I achieved Highers (SCQF level 6) in Maths, English, Physics, Chemistry and Economics. The rest is a bit of a blur!
Choosing your destination
Friends and family could give me a good view of University and early career opportunities in Scotland, but not beyond.
Extra Curricular & Work Experience
Young Enterprise: helped to get a taste of business and the various roles that need to come together as a team.
Skills I've developed
To thrive in business you need soft skills as much as your education. You need communication to be able to successfully engage with people of diverse backgrounds; you need critical thinking and logic to solve problems (from the every day to the biggest strategic problems that any company faces); you need creativity to identify and sell solutions; and you need curiosity about your fellow colleagues, about your customers, your competitors and the future.
My Advice
Give everything a go: you learn most when you are new at something or it's not going as expected.
The wider world is a fun and exciting place, and not as big as you think.
Keep your options open. Develop core skills that can be used in multiple careers, and don't worry too much - most careers go in zig zags, not perfectly planned straight lines!
