Work experience: Catharine Riseborough, corporate responsibility officer

Stuart Watson, Regeneration & Renewal, 5 September 2008

The awards recognise firms in Greater London that have run exceptional community involvement programmes. Winners are revealed at a banquet held in October. She is also responsible for monitoring the corporation's community activities.

What has been your most beneficial career experience to date? When I worked for the British Stammering Association, we competed for money against much larger charities that worked on issues such as cancer and child abuse. My writing style had to become a lot more persuasive. I also had to strike the right balance between tugging at the heartstrings and not pitying people.

What's the best advice you've been given? An old colleague used to say: "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." If you get overwhelmed with work and feel it's all out of control, break it down into small parts and make a "to do" list. Ticking off the items can be very satisfying.

What's the best training you've had? I recently did a course in assertion skills for the workplace. I deal with a lot of high-level people and it has helped me to come across better. In the past, I have been to some meetings and wished I had been able to get my point across more clearly and assertively.

What book would you recommend? No Logo by Naomi Klein. It looks at the power of companies and brands. It's pretty negative, but it shows how they can bring about change: a lot of them are doing great things now.

What do you wish you'd known when you started out? That people won't look down on you if you ask for help. I used to do everything myself, but now I bounce ideas off colleagues and that helps me to come up with better solutions than I would on my own.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2004: Graduates from the University of Warwick with an MA in history.

2005: Starts work as a fundraising officer for two charities: the National Council for One Parent Families and the British Stammering Association.

2006: Appointed development officer for the Prison Reform Trust.

2007: Joins the City of London Corporation in her present role.