Ivy tried to resign from Avanade. She couldn’t believe what happened next.
- Posted on July 5, 2022
- Estimated reading time 3 minutes
As 2019 drew to a close, Ivy Boomer and her husband were in a sweet spot. Living in Australia with their 3-year-old son, both of them pursuing dream jobs and getting ready for the birth of their second child. Then the pandemic hit.
For two migrants, whose families were in the Philippines and the U.S., working from home with a toddler was beyond challenging. From the relative safety of Australia, Ivy felt helpless as the virus spread through her homeland. They lost family members to COVID-19. Unable to say goodbye, attend funerals or comfort their loved ones, their grief was both unreal and overwhelming.
On top of this, another tragedy. Ivy suffered a miscarriage – and something inside her broke. She tried her best to keep going but carrying on in full-time corporate work became almost impossible. With a heavy heart, Ivy went to resign from the job she loved.
It was a terrible moment in the career of someone who had to leave her homeland to be able to support and provide for her family back home in the Philippines.
With a degree in electronics and communications engineering, Ivy had worked in IT support before being hired by Avanade Singapore in 2012. “I was the first woman in the infrastructure service line,” she remembered. “As a senior analyst, I was quite junior and didn’t come from a consulting background. It was an amazing opportunity to meet and work with talented and smart people. My first thought was: ‘I want to be like them!’”
Ivy pushed herself hard, took every opportunity to learn and surrounded herself with people who helped her grow. After three years, in 2015, when her husband was offered a job in Australia, she was astonished when Avanade not only found her a role in Sydney, but helped with the transfer: “It was really easy and seamless.”
“I told them: ‘I love working for Avanade, I’m not looking for a new job, but I need a career break.’ I couldn’t believe it when Avanade told me that I didn’t need to resign. I could take as much extended leave as I needed – even a couple of years – and they’d always be happy to have me back.”
In the end, it took Ivy six months before she felt ready to return to work – and then only part time starting with three days a week. “I felt anxious and guilty – and really bad about not working full time. There was a little voice in my head that said I wasn’t contributing enough. My confidence and my positive mindset just crumbled.”
Anticipating that returning to part-time work could become a challenge for her, Avanade asked Ivy to register for a mentoring program. “Avanade paid for me to work with a life coach once a week for six months. It really helped me get over that hurdle. Today, I know I’m contributing and I’ve got my confidence back. I understand my strengths and capabilities, and learned about boundaries. It’s motivated me to start the journey to go back to full time work” because that is what works for Ivy.
From this month, Ivy is working four days a week and loving what she does, helping organizations to protect their people, data, systems, and applications from cyber-attacks. She is now a career adviser herself and paying it forward by helping junior consultants in their career development.
“I feel very proud of my work,” she said. “It’s important, exciting and challenging as we are solving significant problems. Most importantly, I have the flexibility I need to be a working parent – and a company that I know believes in me and will stand by me no matter what.”
For two migrants, whose families were in the Philippines and the U.S., working from home with a toddler was beyond challenging. From the relative safety of Australia, Ivy felt helpless as the virus spread through her homeland. They lost family members to COVID-19. Unable to say goodbye, attend funerals or comfort their loved ones, their grief was both unreal and overwhelming.
On top of this, another tragedy. Ivy suffered a miscarriage – and something inside her broke. She tried her best to keep going but carrying on in full-time corporate work became almost impossible. With a heavy heart, Ivy went to resign from the job she loved.
It was a terrible moment in the career of someone who had to leave her homeland to be able to support and provide for her family back home in the Philippines.
With a degree in electronics and communications engineering, Ivy had worked in IT support before being hired by Avanade Singapore in 2012. “I was the first woman in the infrastructure service line,” she remembered. “As a senior analyst, I was quite junior and didn’t come from a consulting background. It was an amazing opportunity to meet and work with talented and smart people. My first thought was: ‘I want to be like them!’”
Ivy pushed herself hard, took every opportunity to learn and surrounded herself with people who helped her grow. After three years, in 2015, when her husband was offered a job in Australia, she was astonished when Avanade not only found her a role in Sydney, but helped with the transfer: “It was really easy and seamless.”
After seven years of hard work, she had been super-proud when Avanade promoted her to manager in December 2019. Now, here she was eight months later, telling her career adviser she needed to resign.
“I told them: ‘I love working for Avanade, I’m not looking for a new job, but I need a career break.’ I couldn’t believe it when Avanade told me that I didn’t need to resign. I could take as much extended leave as I needed – even a couple of years – and they’d always be happy to have me back.”
In the end, it took Ivy six months before she felt ready to return to work – and then only part time starting with three days a week. “I felt anxious and guilty – and really bad about not working full time. There was a little voice in my head that said I wasn’t contributing enough. My confidence and my positive mindset just crumbled.”
Anticipating that returning to part-time work could become a challenge for her, Avanade asked Ivy to register for a mentoring program. “Avanade paid for me to work with a life coach once a week for six months. It really helped me get over that hurdle. Today, I know I’m contributing and I’ve got my confidence back. I understand my strengths and capabilities, and learned about boundaries. It’s motivated me to start the journey to go back to full time work” because that is what works for Ivy.
From this month, Ivy is working four days a week and loving what she does, helping organizations to protect their people, data, systems, and applications from cyber-attacks. She is now a career adviser herself and paying it forward by helping junior consultants in their career development.
“I feel very proud of my work,” she said. “It’s important, exciting and challenging as we are solving significant problems. Most importantly, I have the flexibility I need to be a working parent – and a company that I know believes in me and will stand by me no matter what.”
Category Avanade Spotlight
Atul Purohit
What an amazing life story Ivy. You showed by example that we grow because we struggle, we learn and we overcome challenges in our path. Well done!!! Thank you for inspiring people around you. Thank you Avanade for being a wonderful organization that support people on various levels.
July 28, 2022
Nishi Srivastav
That's a great story Ivy, I appreciate your courage and power. I love working in Avanade too. Avanade has supported me during Covid-19 pandemic when I was left all alone managing my months baby and Full time job during lockdowns.
July 12, 2022
Lenka Stambulich
Thanks you so much for sharing your story Ivy! You are such a strong and inspiring woman and I love working with you. I’am so sorry to hear about the tough time you went through. It’s great that the time out offered some solace. Like you I am proud to work with Avanade who enabled me to be on a three months extended leave. We are so lucky to work with such a forward thinking company that values their people. Hello from the Czech Republic and see you in September!
July 11, 2022
Glenn Gutmacher
Great story. I’m ex-Avanade but had a great 5-year run & still recommend it as a place for those interested in enterprise tech consulting (particularly on the Microsoft platform) to work. Your story is yet another reason why.
July 8, 2022
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