Melanie Simmonds Email & Phone Number

I ventured into the world of social housing approximately 32 years ago... I know, "you don't look that old" I hear you say. It was my second job leaving school and I was employed as a Clerical Assistant in the Finance Department. I enjoyed my time in Finance... working with figures, data inputting, balancing accounts, etc. I still 'dabble' even now. In those days, IT was very limited... we were using 'dumb terminals'; the secretaries were still using NCR; weekly reports were ran overnight on dot-matrix printers... life was certainly a lot slower then (and noisier), we didn't even have an IT Department!After upgrading the housing system to a UNIX-based platform, the decision was made to formally introduce an IT Department which consisted of a manager and me, the IT Support Assistant. IT was simple then... setting up users, removing users, printer problems... you get the picture.Look at me now... ICT Systems & Support Officer... in its simplest form, I look after our Housing and Workflow systems (both SQL based) as well as work alongside a number of other support personnel, working with customers, whether they be internal or external, and assisting them in their everyday working life with regards to IT... that could be something as simple as advising them how to program a speed dial on their desk phone to something as complex as creating a new workflow. Two days are never the same... you never know what the next phone call is going to bring.Outside of my working life, I'm part of the UK's only open-air live show called 'Kynren' (www.kynren.com), which takes place in Bishop Auckland between June/July - September each year. It takes you on a journey through 2,000 years of British history, myth and legend. In 2018 the organisation became the recipient of the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, the equivalent of an MBE for voluntary groups and a fantastic recognition. "Home is where you hang your @." ~Author Unknown

Listed skills include Itil V3 Foundations Certified, Active Directory, Citrix, Sql, and 16 others.