Youth with a Vision is youth network, which supports young people of all backgrounds. It places abused children in foster homes and then continues to support these families, whilst also educating the children and their communities in a number of many subjects, from academia to life skills. It is one of several projects partner and supported by the Uganda Marathon.During my time there I mentored students aged 18-20 in business, providing guidance, advice & encouragement to help them reach their career aspirations. For some this was to increase their employability to find their desired career, where with others it was to help them set up there own business.Alongside my fellow volunteers, we recognised the need for the students to gain practical experience in the industries they were interested in. Therefore during my extended trip in Uganda (after the other volunteers returned home), I coordinated the set up of an internship program for 15 students. This project required me to advise and work with the charity's leader, ensure student expenses could be covered within budget, meet & encourage various Uganda business leaders to participate, and write up materials about the scheme (including a proposal, student learning objectives, evaluations, designing a journal to help the students record and learn from the experience and review contracts.The scheme has been very successful, with several students being offered employment from their placements or now being in the implementation stage of setting up their own businesses.(I was based on in Uganda over the summer & then continued to support YWAV via email from the UK in the latter months.)

I volunteered to write a training blog for their charity's website, documenting my preparation for the first ever 'Uganda International Marathon' as someone relatively new to running.The blogs received positive feedback from the other runners and staff, and subsequently I agreed to write a blog series after the event too, documenting the six-day adventure itself.

Within five months of working for Alcura on a temporary contract, I was offered a permanent position. Primarily the role required me to:- Be the main point of contact for all customer interactions, over phone and email- Build strong relationships with both internal and external stakeholders- Coordinate deliveries of medication, from dispatch to receipt by patient- Take ownership of problems, manage corrective issues to conclusion and implement steps to avoid repeat problems- Work in team to meet weekly targets/objectives- Lead investigations into complaints, working with other departments & parties to reach resolution- Use strong administration skills to tackle a large workload, including incoming queries and set duties- Be proficient in Microsoft Office & Alcura's CRM system Additionally I also gained a number of extra responsibilities and got to work on additional projects:- The first project I worked on was dividing the duties of my former role amongst my new team. This involved planning how the duties would split, when they would be carried out during a month (by designing a rota), and then carrying out training to individuals to implement the handover- I was made the primary contact for two large business accounts, being made the sole company contact and building a long-term relationship with the clients, addressing any problems, carrying out service reviews, supporting KPI’s, and overseeing an relevant operational changes or projects- I worked with the team leader to developing various procedural changes during a period of strategic and operational change, saving the department time and money, reducing staff errors, improving communication and overall service delivery- Covered the team leader’s key business accounts in her absence I left the position in December 2014 to go travelling, and was offered the option to return on a short-term contract (March to May ‘15) between trips, which I accepted.

In addition to my role as a ‘Patient Services Coordinator’, I volunteered as the ‘Communication Champion’ for the Alton Site.I was responsible for promoting the business’s corporate social responsibility campaigns internally, and independently planning, organising and implementing company charity events. During my time there I ran a number of fundraising events, dress ups, games and activities to boost staff morale and raise money for good causes.

Assigned as a temporary contract through the recruitment agency, ‘Portfolio Recruitment’, I worked in this position for the homecare company ‘Alcura’. Essentially a ‘large pharmacy’ that works in partnership with the NHS, it delivers prescribed medication to patients all over the United Kingdom.My role involved working in a team of three, requesting prescriptions from hospitals and GP in a timely manner, so the organisation could deliver patients’ medication on time.Specifically I was required to:- Run reports to identify which prescriptions needed requesting- Request prescriptions via phone, email, fax or letter- Use highly accurate inputting skills to enter medical information- Investigate errors and find solutions- Ensure all paperwork and prescriptions were filed correctly- Practice confidentiality as dealing with private informationAfter three months, I was made the team lead, training staff and delegating work to ensuring prescriptions were requested on time for thousands of patients. During this time I also led a project to review and overhaul the system the department used for requesting prescriptions, to reduce the number of errors. This involved investigating the process, redesigning the processes, reallocation of work amongst team members and briefing the team leaders on changes made. Afterwards, this resulted in less errors being made, and improved the service for both hospitals and patients.

Travelling through Vietnam from the north to south, I volunteered at various orphanages, schools and charities, representing CCI with a member of the organisation. I wrote a blog documenting the trip and institutions we visited, which was published on the charity's website.

After working as a 'Catering Assistant' in the university's department, I was promoted to the role of Supervisor.The responsibilities of the role included:- Leading a team of student staff, getting them to work together and provide high quality customer service, in a busy retail environment - On the weekend I was responsible for three catering outlets simultaneously, including a restaurant, sports bar & café- Training staff from entry level- Using problem solving skills to solve operational issues- Using creative IT skills to produce to menus- manage costs & reduce wastage- Responsible for handling & resolving customer complaints- managing the staff rota & performance, in partnership with assistant managerIn this role I was especially successful in building positive relations with a large number of customers, to create a positive experience for them, support sales, and encourage repeat custom

A DJ on the university's newly set up radio station called 'Sound Radio', which was in partnership with the Students' Union.Each week I hosted a weekly radio show discussing the latest Student Union news, events and campaigns. Content was planned in advance, but I also needed to improvise with listener emails and calls during the show.During the first year of operation, I held the record for the highest number of listeners.

In my final year as a student at the University of Winchester, I became one of the Student Trustees in the Student Unions new organisational set up.Representing the student body, I was responsible for overseeing the Student Union's strategic direction, alongside the other board members.

Elected Executive Office at Winchester Students' Union for the academic year 2010-2011. Along with the other Executive Office's, I was responsible for overseeing the ethical and environmental practices of the SU, and working alongside the other student officers to provide the best possible student experience at the university for the academic year.The role included:- Attending regular 'exec' meetings and voting on key strategic decisions, acting in the best interest of the student body- Working independently to benefit the student body, but supporting fellow team members in their projects- encourage student participation in the SU- promote SU events through social mediaDuring my time in the role, I was considered to especially approachable by the student body and willing to listen to student's views. I also helped student's run environment events, produced publication materials to promote green practice amongst the student body, coordinated a successful campaign to extend library opening hours alongside the sabbatical officers, and laid the foundations for an environmental society.

Working for Aim Higher, an organization set up in a partnership between Hampshire County Council & The University of Winchester, I was placed in a mentorship role in a Basingstoke secondary school. The primarily focus of the role was to promote Higher Education & University, but we also to help the pupils consider other paths such as Further Education and apprenticeships.Specific duties would include:- Draft engaging lesson plans and prepare support materials in advance- Using excellent communication skills, to engage students both individually, and as groups- Work with students to help them prepare for their GCSE’s- Motivate pupils- Be a source of advice and support for the students- Provide insights to Higher Education & University Experience- Conduct campus visits when associated school visited the universityIn the role I was given one of the more ‘difficult’ groups of students and successful at building a good mentor-relationship with them and running successful sessions.

As part of my MSc course, I completed a placement module where I worked as a marketing consultant for a recruitment company. The objective of the placement was to produce a marketing report for the business, which recommended potential marketing strategies for the business. Specifically, the organisation required me to investigate opportunities associated with social media marketing strategies, as they had not had time to investigate these avenues themselves.I was responsible for independently managing the project. On a weekly basis I would meet with the CEO to discuss the project and provide updates. I would also arrange meeting with various members of staff to draw on their experience to benefit the project, and conduct additional research myself to meet the project objectives.From the module/placement, I successfully passed and provided the company with a full marketing report, comprising of research and analyses, and listing potential marketing strategies that covered using Search Engine Optimisation, email marketing, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.

A part-time role to support myself financially whilst studying at university. It involved face-to-face customer service and working in a busy catering and hospitality environment. I would work in a variety of catering situations including: a restaurant, coffee bar, fast-food sports bar, and more formal functions such as weddings and conferences. As I developed in the department, I gradually became a key member of the team, training others and supervising small teams. I also developed a good relationships with internal stakeholders and customers.

A student warden role, where I lived in halls with first year students (during my 2nd year), supporting the students in welfare and housing issues. Responsibilities of the role included welcoming new students to the university, helping them settle into HE smoothly, monitoring welfare throughout the year, arranging social events, be a source of advice and guidance, addressing complaints, liaise with relevant university of departments and helping to mediate disagreements. A key achievement in the role was, after building a number good relationships with the majority of students in my section, I was given the responsibility of monitor a full block of halls, the most of any other senior student at the university.

Ran shifts on a part-time basis on the mangers day off whilst studying at university. I was offered this promotion after training with the manager as a sales assistant at the company, who felt I could take on more responsibility and was an asset to the business. I was responsibly for preparing and cooking food, leading a team of staff, meeting sales targets, cashing up, locking up the premises and working with the team to provide a high level of customer service, whilst obeying hygiene regulations.

A face-to-face customer service role where I also gained experience store operations and became a key member of the staff- assisting the manager in running the catering outlet. In addition to my standard duties of serving customer (where I drew on the skills & experience of my previous customer service roles), I responsible for completing prep work daily prior to store opening, responsible for carrying out the weekly stock check and collaborated with the manger in the weekly ordering, helped complete the staff rota and built good relationships with suppliers and business owner. On occasions I was even left to run shifts, cooking the food and leading a team of staff.

Elected by my student peers in my first year of university, I acted as the class’s representative in issues relating to the course Duties included:Be approachable and easy to contact, to encourage students get in touch with their courses opinionsListen to fellow students’ feedback, and seek out feedback when appropriateBring these views to monthly course department meetings with university staff, discuss them, and represent the best interests of the student bodyMonitor and report on outcomes to my fellow students

After achieving an ‘A’ grade in ‘Art & Design: Photography A’level, I was offered the position of Teaching Assistant in Year 12 & 13 Photography lessons, assisting the teacher and students.- Assisting and communicating with students, both on a one to one basis and to groups- Assisting students to developing their creative ideas & helping them to achieve the best possible grades- Assisting students with their practical photography skills and developing photos- Tutoring students in using Photoshop- Leading the class in lessons (under teacher supervision)- Administration assistance to the teacher- photocopying, printing etc.

Sales assistant role in busy catering environment, which involved being welcoming and polite to customers, as well as memorising orders and working in a timely manner. I was well known in the business for being willing to work additional shifts when cover was required, being polite to customers and reliable. Gradually during my time there I worked towards becoming a key member of staff.

Working part-time in film rental retail outlet whilst studying at college, I was left in sole responsibility of running the store and made a key holder.- Used a friendly attitude and customer service skills to maintain and grow customer base- Used my knowledge of film to make recommendations, and build a good rapport with customers- Organised my time to carry out additional duties such as cleaning, putting together promotion material and inventory checks, between busy customer spells.