Future TalentEd Summer Term 2020 Summer 2020 | Page 7

EMPLOYEE PROFILES
STUDENT RESOURCE
Gatsby Benchmarks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Watch Gillian’s video
PLAY VIDEO
FROM
HISTORY
TO...
GOVERNMENT
AFFAIRS ANALYST
Gillian Lawrie explains how studying history at
school led to her role as a government
affairs analyst in BP’s government and
political affairs team.
So, what do you do all day?
Our day-to-day job is finding out as much as we possibly can
about countries where BP wants to start a business or already
has a business. We’re almost like explorers or investigators trying
to join up all the clues – about their governments and the way
people live – to create a picture. Our job involves flagging up the
risks and challenges; what could be tricky about doing business
in this country?
What key skills are invaluable to your role?
Listening is an important skill. For example, if we know that there’s
an election coming up in a country and we’re speaking to a
government minister, but they haven’t mentioned it, that might
strike us as interesting. Have they left it out because they’re very
confident they’re going to win the election or because they’re
worried they’re not going to and don’t even want to think about it?
Why did you choose to study history?
History is all about looking at relationships between people and
countries in the past. I’m a very curious person and like to know
things about people and the way that they lived. My grandfather
and great grandfather both fought in the Second World War; they
were prisoners of war in modern-day Poland, so I find that period
of history particularly interesting. My great grandfather wrote
some bagpipe music while he was a prisoner of war and a few
years ago I found somebody to record the music for the very first
time, so that we could hear it.
“History is all about looking at
relationships between people and
countries in the past”
How is history GCSE useful in your work?
I learned a lot about how to handle sources from studying history.
Knowing and understanding where information is coming from
is really important. Primary sources (for example, former prime
minister Winston Churchill’s war diaries) are generally first-hand
data or information; secondary sources are one step removed
(such as an historian writing about Churchill).
What further qualifications would you need for
your role?
I think going to university and studying something like politics or
international relations, or even English, would be an excellent
start to having a job like ours. it’s also a fantastic idea to speak
another language. I’m learning Arabic at evening classes.
What qualities help you thrive?
Being curious about the world. Keep asking questions and never
assume that you know the answer. Keep investigating.