Helen Cretten
People Manager
After graduating with a degree in Theatre and Performance, I decided to take some time out before I pursued my career as a drama teacher. It was during this “time out” that I discovered I have a passion for all people- not just the little ones- and so the teaching career was frozen, whilst I pursued a career in HR and recruitment.
I then made a decision to travel and broaden my work experience, so I spent the next year and a half working in Australia and New Zealand. Whilst in Australia I worked as a Graduate Recruitment Manager for Westpac bank (c/o Hudson) which was a fantastic experience and cemented my passion for people and recruitment. It was only the longing for a proper hot dog (not one on a stick) and a good duvet that pulled me back to England to work permanently for Hudson as their Internal Recruitment Manager. After nearly four years with Hudson I moved on to a role at Alexander Mann Solutions as a consultant. During my time at AMS I worked for Deloitte and then most recently Credit Suisse.
I was initially attracted to Berkeley by the breadth of the role of “People Manager” but as soon as I came in to meet the partners and consultants at interview, I was completely sold on the company as a whole. Everyone I met was very friendly and approachable with an obvious passion and a good sense of ownership and responsibility for the success of the partnership. I am glad to report that now I am here, it was all true! The whole company is made up of lots of different personalities and skills, but with a Berkeley quality thread running through each person.
Outside of work, I split my year into two halves; spring and summer being all about outdoor swimming and triathlon, and winter being all about rewarding myself for a good season by eating lots and keeping the strenuous activity to a minimum.