Hi, I’m Beth and I’ve been part of AO since August 2018, when I started my AO journey as a Customer Experience Specialist within the Customer Services department.
This was my first job since dropping out of university and I was very anxious – but excited – for a new challenge and something completely new. I’d dropped out of university after struggling with my mental health and my self confidence was still extremely low.
I completed my training and despite having no previous contact centre experience, I had hit all of my targets and KPIs with flying colours. I loved Academy as I had never had such a warm and welcome experience when starting a business and it meant so much to me.
At the end of our Academy journey, but ahead of joining a core team within the contact centre, we had to do an end-of-probation presentation to the managers and that’s where my anxiety started to kick in again.
I had to stand in front of all the managers and ATMs and talk about who I was, what I had achieved through Academy and why I was looking forward to going on to my core team.
It only lasted for 10 minutes tops… but it felt like a lifetime. My anxiety was through the roof and as soon as I started talking, my hands began to shake, my face turned a darker shade of red and I couldn’t hold it back any longer: I burst into tears.
One of the managers gave me a hug and asked if I wanted to take five minutes but I knew if I left the room, I would not come back in. I stuttered and sobbed my way through the rest of my presentation and practically ran out of the room once I’d finished.
I promised myself that after that experience I would never allow myself to be in that position again. I didn’t want to let my fear and anxiety of public speaking stop me from growing within a business that I loved. I continued to hit my KPIs and when the opportunity arose to become an Associate Trainer, I leapt at the chance to take a step in my career and work on overcoming my fears.
My Academy journey was so much fun and I wanted to be a part of giving that same experience to our new starters and watch them grow into a role that they love. I also moved internally within the CEx department to work in the Correspondence And Social Media team (CASM) and I worked closely with the Learning & Development (L&D) team for nearly two years, supporting them with both delivery and design across the Customer Experience department.
I started off doing short 30-minute sessions and as my confidence grew, so did my sessions. Over my time as an Associate, I was involved with delivering some of the largest induction groups the business has ever had whilst navigating a worldwide pandemic and I also designed the first ‘Inbound to CASM’ induction.
Being able to help the business grow the way we did through Covid was an amazing opportunity and it felt so good to be able to give something back to a business that had given so much to me.
After working as an Associate for a few years, I was able to progress and become a full-time Learning Specialist. Since becoming part of the People Team, I have been involved with training for numerous departments and it has really shaped me into the person I am today.
My confidence and knowledge has continued to grow in an area that I am passionate about and it makes me proud to see how far I have come since I joined the business.
I truly believe that if you want something you will work hard to achieve it, and AO is a company that really provides those development opportunities.