I worked on reception for a glamping company during the Summers whilst I was at University, this involved prepping tents (blow up mattress etc) before customers arrived, checking all customers in and showing them to their tents upon arrival, remaining on the reception desk during the festival to supervise ‘crew’ whilst they partake in activities such as litter pick or pumping up airbeds, checking out customers at the end of the festival and assisting with ‘take down’ of tents. The job gave me the opportunity to enhance my customer service skills and revealled my ability to work in a challenging environment; due to weather, the ‘set up’ of tents would often be delayed and require us to set up tents whilst also checking in unhappy customers. I learnt to work under pressure and meet demanding deadlines; often due to bad weather I had to help with setting up tents whilst also checking in unhappy customers; having to run between the reception desk and tents, whilst maintaining a pleasant and professional attitude. I proved my ability to manage challenging workloads when checking in a high volume of customers on one day with minimum numbers of staff supporting the process.

I have been involved in the ESRC social science festival by checking data submitted on details, materials, forms and requesting further information and also checking event websites for festival logos and other tasks to help with the lay out of their own websites. I have also helped with schools resources for teachers of 6th form; proofreading careers resources and career profiles, also checking the layout and design of above. Whilst working in the Communications team I also worked an Investments Contacts sheet which involved phoning numerous Directors and other Communication teams to ensure contact details were correct.I was the Evaluation Administrator in the Evaluation team, my role involved maintaining and monitoring the peer review system, of the evaluation process (collating and sending documentation, inputting records and grades onto SharePoint and dealing with queries). I also processed Impact reports for acceptance (checking on the resaerch outcomes system) and addressing any problems. I also worked in the Band B Pool, providing administrative support for the Directorate (assisting with travel arrangements, meeting bookings, dealing with expenses claims and monitoring T&S budgets). During my employment at ESRC I learnt to use systems and tools e.g. SharePoint, and carry out processes and procedures, e.g. overlooking their rapporteuring process.

I worked as a part time sales assistant for Saltrock, I enjoyed the role because it allowed me to interact with customers whilst working on the till and on the shop floor. The job has improved my customer service and people skills and has made me more confident as a person. I also greatly enjoyed working as a team with other staff members. I was made a key-holder during my employment which involves regularly closing and opening the shop alone and handling the day’s takings and till float. My time working in retail (Saltrock) taught me effective customer service skills, but also to supervise others and activities, e.g. I was made a key-holder at Saltrock and also taught other employees how to cash up and close up the store.