From Retail to Risk Oversight!
I started out in retail (Supermarket, so never stopping!) - The big reason I wanted to move was work-life balance. I didn't want to be working until 11pm, and giving up my weekends any more.
I moved into a call centre role with one of the group's subsidiaries, and in the space of two and a half years had three different roles - starting as a rep, moving to what was then the Customer Fulfilment Team, and finally Senior Rep. Each of these moves was based on a desire to do something different, once I'd felt I'd gotten everything I could from my previous role.
I then moved to a Quality Coach role, which was wildly different. A lot of coaching and quality checking!
Once I had decided that I wanted to explore a different area of the business, I moved into my current role in Risk!
It's a mixed bag in Risk!
I do a variety of different things in my current role - The exciting thing is it's still a relatively new team, so it's workload is so vast. One day I can be doing reviews on the work another team has completed to ensure compliance with our risk controls, the next day I can be mapping out a process from beginning to end, and the next I can be chasing down updates on work ranging from Loss to Breaches!
Pursuing Variety and Broadening my horizons.
I never even considered working in risk as being a career for myself. I have always been in customer facing roles, and thought that my career pathway was limited to this. It was only through challenging myself to try other areas, and pushing for the opportunities to learn about different things, that I have landed in a position that isn't in any way customer facing, yet is one of the most vital roles for customer outcomes! Honestly, learning never stops, you're always exposed to new areas of the business, new processes and procedures, new people. Widen your network, allow your curiosity to lead you, and you can find yourself in places you weren't aware existed.
If you think something might be up your alley, give it a go!
Keep an eye out for any opportunities to do different things - I threw my hat in for every project going just so I could explore the different things that I could potentially be doing. You may find that your current role just isn't working for you, or you want a new challenge, and honestly the opportunities are there, you just have to be willing to go for it. Keep an ear to the ground for anything that crops up and, if something takes your fancy, put your name forward. If you have doubts about whether or not you're 'qualified', then reach out! I've found that having some time with a project lead or a hiring manager before committing can really help you determine whether or not you go all in!
I lead a project around improving outcomes for vulnerable customers
One thing I was passionate about during my time within the contact centre, was the difficulties faced by customers with vulnerabilities. It's a broad term, but rightfully so - You would not believe the amount of varying struggles that people are going through, that you can actually make a difference to! To cut a long story short, we were able to implement a 'Vulnerable Customer Champions' team within the contact centre - People with additional, specialist training to make accommodations for those customers who needed extra support, or needed a less 'process-based' journey. These Champions were empowered to make risk-based decisions to step outside of usual process to ensure the outcomes we were giving were not only good, but considerate of the specific vulnerabilities faced by our customers. This training was incorporated into the core training for all new starters going forward. You can make a real impact, if you have the desire to!
