People! It always comes down to People – building relationships with them, communicating clearly to them, and assisting them. I started my career as a PBX Operator and Customer Service Representative at Service Merchandise. It was an interesting experience to juggle the phone calls, look up items on the CRM, and have people come to me for help. I found that the manner in which I communicated and the effectiveness of my assistance was very important. No “bad” days were allowed. One day, I assisted a recruiter from a certain staffing company who offered to help me gain technical knowledge and move upward on my career path. Of course, I accepted.
This wonderful lady placed me in a position with a sales company. Honestly, I was just to answer the phones and file, but the Manager decided I knew WordPerfect and Lotus and began assigning new duties to me. I kept my mouth shut, bought books and learned! Suddenly, I was no longer a Receptionist, but an Inside Sales Representative as well. Wonderful!
When my husband was offered a great position we moved from the area. With the knowledge I gained, it was fairly easy to land my next assignment. Interestingly enough, the world of Word, Excel, and e-mails instead of faxes became more commonplace. More books were read and practice implemented. Due to a series of circumstances, soon my title was Office Manager of this company. Payroll, invoicing, shipping and receiving were added to my repertoire.
So, through the years, it went this way. With every new positon, I gained more knowledge not only about working, but about attitude, communication, dedication, and faith in myself.
Guess what? I found my second love…website management and digital marketing. The possibilities are endless and the knowledge base ever expanding.
I have the best of both worlds working four days a week as a Receptionist, Executive Administrative Assistant, Logistics Coordinator, Socal Media Marketer, and Database and Website Administrator for one company. In my spare time, I get paid (!) to build things on the web and play with graphics and words. I also get to help the Sales Manager of a company with logistic coordination, keep his database up to date, and meet new people by following up on his quotations. I’m told that we will soon move towards marketing as well.
Honestly, it boils down to the fact that I love learning, aesthetics, words, being of service, and wearing many hats. As the job market has changed and continues to evolve, I’m very grateful for all of the opportunities that have been awarded to me and will always strive to grow even more.
