Organisation: Fairfeld City Council
Job Title: Administration Support Officer
Location: Fairfield
Strong customer services skills, particularly in the area of complaint resolution
Throughout my career I have demonstrated excellent customer service skills. In my current position as a Club Attendant at Club Marconi I provide service to patrons throughout the day. My customers come from a diverse range of social and cultural backgrounds, and I always strive to provide a professional, courteous and respectful service. I also try to be proactive in meeting patron needs and requirements. I recognise that the service I provide and the level of customer satisfaction I achieve reflects on the reputation of the club. Part of my role is also to deal with and resolve customer complaints. I always remain calm and polite when dealing with any issues that arise, and do my utmost to find a solution that the customer is satisfied with.
While employed as the Accounts and Administration Officer at the R&F Catering Company, I undertook a range of Accounts Receivable and Payable duties. This entailed liaising extensively with clients in relation to payments and billing. On occasion I would have to contact clients who were late in paying bills. I always remained professional and polite in these circumstances. I found that being courteous but firm allowed me to often resolve these issues quickly and effectively.
While working as a Loan Manager at the ANZ Bank in Cambodia, I dealt with a wide range of clients on a daily basis. I initially met with applicants, explained the loan and credit options available to them and then obtained a range of financial information required for loan applications. In some situations these clients would have difficulty in meeting their repayment schedule. I would contact them and discuss a range of options such as a reduced payment plan, or deferral of some payments. Often these clients were experiencing financial hardship and were anxious and distressed. Once again, I would always remain calm and polite and focus on finding a solution that worked for the client as well as the bank.
High level of communication skills including written and verbal skills;
I have strong communication skills, both in writing and verbally. In my current position I greet patrons and welcome them to the club. I then provide them with the service they require in a friendly, helpful and professional manner. I take pride in ensuring that patrons enjoy their interactions with me. I also liaise constantly with my work colleagues, ensuring that we provide an integrated service to our customers. In addition to these duties, I provide a range of information to patrons concerning the club’s facilities, and have assisted several customers who wished to discuss holding celebrations or functions at the club and who wanted to know what facilities and services would be available for these events. I always use appropriate language and present the information required clearly and succinctly.
While working for R&F Catering I communicated daily with staff, customers and suppliers. Once again, I focused on communicating clearly and ensuring I covered all key points. While working as the Assistant Treasurer at the Cambodian-Australian Welfare Council (CWAC) I provided all administration and accounting services, including preparing a monthly written report for the Board of Management to explain budget and funding (incoming grants and expenditure). This report needed to be clear, concise and structured in such a way that allowed Board Members, with various levels of financial knowledge, to easily understand it.
I also developed excellent written communication skills as part of my recently completed Masters of Business Administration. I had to prepare a wide range of assignments (reports and essays) and received predominately distinctions for these. I was also required to deliver oral presentations as part of my assessment, and found this improved my public speaking skills.
Finally, while employed at the ANZ Royal Bank I had to have excellent communication skills, firstly to explain the range of bank products to clients, and secondly to extract the information needed from them for loan applications. I also dealt with clients who were having difficulty meeting loan repayments. In these circumstances I used my communication skills to provide these customers (who were often upset) with options and solutions, ensuring they understood the information I was providing them with. I was also required to prepare monthly written reports in English for the Financial Manager. These reports provided a range of information regarding team performance, sales data and details on any customer issues/complaints and their resolution.
Experience in all MS Office applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), including email and internet as well as databases
I have used MS Office applications throughout my career. While working at R&F Catering I used Excel regularly, as well as MYOB to manage revenue, expenditure and payroll. At CAWC I also used MYOB and Excel as part of my role as Assistant Treasurer. This also included preparation of monthly budget reports. I also used Word to prepare a range of general correspondence and an accounting software package called QuickBooks. During my university studies I was also required to utilise a number of MS Office applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint (to prepare and deliver oral presentations) and the database management system Access. I also undertook extensive research using the internet, as well gaining excellent skills in utilising the university library’s resource database. The ANZ Royal Bank had its own client management system that I utilised extensively to access client information and to keep their records updated in relation to loan applications. I have used Outlook extensively throughout my career.
Demonstrated ability to work unsupervised, handling competing priorities to adapt to fluctuating workloads and changing priorities
I have a proven record in working independently and being able to adapt to changing workloads and priorities. As a Club Attendant at Club Marconi I predominately work unsupervised, being responsible for certain patrons and particular duties during a shift. I determine the service priorities and structure my work to meet these. In a hospitality environment workload fluctuates constantly. I remain calm and focused when it is extremely busy, and when it is quiet I either help others or find alternative duties until the work load increases again.
During my administrative and financial support roles at R&F catering and CWAC I worked autonomously, once again being responsible for determining work priorities and juggling several tasks at once. It is also relevant that while employed by these two organisations I had to manage a number of tasks with set deadlines that influenced the priority of other duties. For example, I had to issue payments by set dates, run pays, submit Board of Management reports on a monthly basis, complete the tax report for the end of financial year and complete financial statements and performance reports for the end of the calendar year. Similarly, while employed by the ANZ Bank I had to handle several competing priorities, including phone enquiries, scheduling and attending customer meetings, administrative duties, verification checks and staff supervision. I also worked autonomously in this role with complete responsibility for approving loans up to $200,000.
It is desirable to have experience in working with internal systems and processes specific to the requirements of the business unit (i.e. Peoplesoft, EAM, Authority, Objective)
I understand that PeopleSoft is the financial management system utilised by the council, while EAM (Enterprise Assets Management) is the program used to manage the physical assets of the organisation. I also have determined that Authority is a client management system designed specifically to meet the requirements of local government that manages the life cycle of a customer, while Objective is an information management system used to manage documents and records. I have extensive experience using a range of systems that have similar functionality to these packages. For example, at the ANZ Bank I used a client management system on a daily basis to access information and update data. With regard to financial management, I have used MYOB for many years, and am fully conversant with its functionality across a range of modules. Similarly I have extensive experience using database systems such as Access, which would in turn allow me to easily understand information management packages.
Also desirable is the ability to apply initiative and problem solve on issues encountered in day-to-day activities and in the coordination of service delivery to determine and implement an appropriate course of action
As mentioned previously, while working with R&F Catering, I undertook a range of duties, including liaising with clients who were late in paying bills. I always took the initiative to follow up on several occasions with these clients (both verbally and in writing), at all times remaining polite and professional. While working as a Loan Manager at the ANZ Bank I had to apply initiative when dealing with clients having difficulty in meeting their repayment schedule. There were several options that I could explain to them that would help them to get back on track. These included changing the payment schedule, deferring payments and refinancing loans. I worked with the client to find which option best suited their current circumstances. Once again, I would always remain calm and polite and focused on implementing an appropriate course of action for both the customer and the bank.
It is desirable that the candidate has a Class 1A NSW current Drivers Licence
I hold a current Class C NSW Driver’s Licence
