We are NCC Group: From Manchester to Atlanta

"When I joined the business 7 years ago as a Graduate, I never would have predicted it would have led me to where I am now." Rachel Erskine, Sales Manager in Escrow, tells us about her journey so far at NCC Group, in the latest of our 'We are NCC Group' series.

Hey Rachel, tell us about your journey at NCC Group.

I started as a Graduate Account Manager within the Escrow division in the Manchester office and I am currently a Sales Manager for Escrow, North America; living in Atlanta!

My journey has been crazy, with lots of ups and downs but Escrow tends to be exactly that! When I joined the business 7 years ago as a Graduate, I never would have predicted it would have led me to where I am now. NCC Group does a great job of growing talent organically and I’ve learned so much about business, the tech industry and my own personality along the way.

Yeah, I saw the photo you had taken with the burger to your hotdog, Becky Wagster. So you’ve made great friends here?

Yeah! It’s really easy to make great friends here – people tend to socialize a lot outside of work and I think that really helps with maintaining a positive office environment. I’ve definitely made friends for life! As for moving to America, I think it helped that I wasn’t the only “Brit Abroad” as they say; I moved to America with 2 others from the UK sales team, and then Becky followed to lead our recruitment function. Having a group of people here going through similar things really helps and I don’t think I’d have settled in as well if I’d have moved here alone.

What would your friends say is the most interesting thing about you?

It depends who you ask – now I am living in America (Georgia) with an English accent, they’d say EVERYTHING. It’s really helped me settle into US life that’s for sure! Although when they find out I don’t personally know the Queen, the novelty tends to wear off!

Talking of reigning supreme, if you could be #1 employee but have all your co-workers dislike you or you could be #15 employee and have all your co-workers like you, which would you choose?

Neither. I am the most competitive person I know, so neither would be good enough! I’d want to be #1 employee at the company AND be liked by all my co-workers. Some question whether this is even possible, but it always seems impossible until it’s done! 

Yes true! What a positive outlook, I love these little nuggets of wisdom. So what would your family/friends say was your funniest characteristic? I'm not sure how funny they really find it to be honest: probably more annoying for them now, but they've always joked about how I can talk for hours without taking a breath. They're absolutely right - I do love to chat! And it definitely comes in handy with my job!

So you love to talk, but if you were a Microsoft Office program and you couldn’t talk, which one would you be?

PowerPoint! I love presenting to groups. When I was a final year student at the University of Manchester, I was an ambassador for the Psychology program and would speak in lectures to prospective students and their parents about the course and life at University.

Awesome! So what’s the most useless talent you have?

Since moving to America, it has to be playing netball! I have played netball in teams across Greater Manchester from the age of 8 to leaving for the States. Unfortunately, nobody I know in America has even heard of the sport before, let alone play it, so unfortunately I can’t join a team! My sales team joke that I may be the best netball player in America, but I’m not sure about that. Challenge accepted?