Kate Stephen, 36, Superintendent (Operations) Aberdeenshire and Moray Division for Police Scotland describes her career path.
What did you want to be when you were young?
I was quite sporty as a youngster, a keen runner and swimmer so I always wanted to compete doing something like that. Unfortunately, my love for these two sports waned when I went off to university so my ambition to secure a gold medal never materialised.
What are the main career stepping stones you have taken?
I would say there are three which have helped me get to where I am today, the first and probably most significant, which has opened many doors and created lots of opportunities for me was being successful and accepted on to the Accelerated Career Development Programme, a nationally recognised talent management scheme.
The second would be transferring from one police force to another prior to Police Scotland and experiencing the differences and challenges that brought with it and finally securing a national role, leading on prevention for Police Scotland from the very beginning of the new merged organisation.
