Mrs. Caroline Jayne Matthews 5 Malkin Close, Ipswich, IP1 6BF

kittycaz85@hotmail.com Date Of Birth: 19th March 1985

07851 431153

I am currently studying a HNC Business and Management Level 4 with Havering College. From 1996 to 1999 I attended Colbayns High School in Clacton, in 1999 to 2001 I attended St Benedict’s college in Colchester where I attained my GCSEs (grades listed below)

English Language B French B

English literature C Religious studies C

Science (double) C Textiles Technology C

Mathematics B Drama C

In 2001 till 2003 I attended Colchester 6th Form college, in my first year I studied AS level Law, AS level Sociology, AS level Psychology and GCSE in Business studies (grades listed below)

GCSE Business studies A* AS level Sociology C

AS level Law C AS level Psychology C

I also attained a level 2 ICT key skills. I continued studying A2 Law, A2 Sociology and A2 Psychology, and successfully passed my A levels. In my January A2 exams I achieved the following grades

A2 Sociology A

A2 Law B

A2 Psychology C

In September 2003 I attended the University of Kent at Canterbury. Here I studied Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management combined with Law at degree level but unfortunately was unable to continue my studies due to financial reasons and left in January 2005.

I also possess a current full driving license.

I am a friendly and confident person, I believe myself to be a good listener and a good communicator,

especially when working in a team. I am outgoing, very well organized and possess a very good telephone manner. I am a very professional and hardworking individual who welcomes a new challenge.

For my work experience I went to Bowens international In Clacton, from the 12 th- 21st of July 2000. I

worked as a purchasing assistant and attained various communication skills and computer skills. My tasks involved filing, answering the telephone, progress chasing, using micross to create order forms and update the system and also various other tasks. I enjoyed my work at Bowens and a few weeks later I

was offered a temporary job as their purchasing clerk for one month. The written comment given about me was as follows: ‘Caroline joined us towards the end of the first week of her trident period, but she quickly fitted into the

role and showed a very mature approach to working in the purchasing department. She is a very confident young lady with a pleasing personality and everyone here enjoyed having her working

alongside the permanent members of the team. We were very impressed with her and wish Caroline every success in the future’

In April 2002 I worked as a telephone operator at Call Assist Ltd. This is a call centre that mostly deals

with breakdowns, but also legal helplines, crisis helplines and various other calls, they also sell their own breakdown cover and I would regularly make sales or upgrades to new or existing customers. My main tasks were to answer the telephone and log the calls into the computer, i f it was a breakdown, I would

map the caller and arrange for a local garage to go out to them. I also carried out various admin tasks during quiet periods. At Call Assist I attained very good communication skills when dealing with customers, for example how to stay professional i f a customer was complaining very rudely and how to

calm the situation and see what is the best for the company and the customer to do to resolve the situation. I also realized the importance of listening to every detail the caller explained as it was often very difficult to find exactly where in the U.K (or even abroad) the caller was and the smallest detail could

make a large difference. I left Call Assist in April 2003 for various reaso ns, mainly to gain experience in other areas of work. In March 2004 I started working as a pay box and retail assistant at Colchester Zoo. My tasks were varied

and include greeting customers, and dealing with queries. I was the first point of contact for anyone entering the zoo and so it was essential I give the best impression I could and deal with visitors as efficiently as possible. My main role was paybox, and so I would greet and sell various tickets to

customers, so dealing with money and computers was a large part of my job. I would also serve customers in the shop, deal with customers at visitors’ reception, which hires out lockers, wheelchairs and deals with customer queries and complaints. I also assisted with re-stocking the shop, re-arranging the

products on sale, and also running any of the smaller retail outlets around the zoo. Towards the end of my time at Colchester Zoo I also took on some extra responsibilities such as setting up and cashing up all the pay-desks, and doing till readings on all the shop tills and the smaller retail outlets tills. I left

Colchester Zoo in Dec 2007 as I re-located to Scotland. In January 2009 I started working for Equity Insurance Group. My tasks within Equity varied on a day to day basis however as a customer service advisor my main task was to answer customer queries and complaints to the best of my ability with an outcome suitable for both the company and the customer.

Customer queries can range from in-depth questions relating to their policy or making changes to their policy, to complete this to the best of my ability I worked with various other teams within EDBL, I communicate with the referrals team (underwriters) or to the admin team. Communication to other teams

is vital however I have learnt a great deal from my time in the company and will contact other teams when necessary or work within a team with my colleagues and in turn will help my colleagues if I can answer their query. A large part of my role at present deals with customer complaints, this can also be varied, the

complaints may sometimes not be aimed at the customer services, sometimes at admin or even referrals yet it is part of my role to listen to the customer, explain the situation, calm the situation and then see what can be done to resolve the situation. I would be the first point of call for complaints before registering

them with the service recovery team. The main systems I used were RTM Boncaster Motor, I used Plasma (PCL) to check customers direct debits, I regularly used our symposium call monitor to check if other departments are available before

calling through so as not to affect our service level and also to check our service level as a team and as a call centre. I also have a great deal of general IT knowledge and can use e-mail, spreadsheets, Microsoft word and carry out a variety of computer related tasks. I am very quick to learn and would be able to use

a new system in a short space of time. The callers in customer service vary greatly, one call could be a very angry customer and the next could be a heard of hearing long term customer and so it is essential to treat every customer appropriately but

fairly at all times and take each call individually, you never know what the next call is going to be but have to be professional, friendly and offer sound advice regardless of the customer. I stayed at Equity until August 2014. I had recently reduced my hours due to a relocation to Ipswich and a second job and so

stepped down from my senior role to a standard customer service agent.

In August 2013 I began working as a manager for The Stomping Ground Centre Ltd. A not for profit Centre designed to support parents as well as have a safe space for children to bond, play and enjoy a

nice lunch. It housed a café, gardens, a shop, and office and 3 different child orientated support or play groups running at the same time. The centre was ran by volunteers, the only ‘staff’ were myself and the other managing director. I covered the entire admin side of the centre from safety training, food and

hygiene training to ensuring volunteer expenses were paid as well as hands on training around the centre. I completed the vast majority of paperwork including finance, human resources, and marketing. I ran different parts of the centre alone at times as well as supervising the running of the centre as a whole.

After closing I would have to cash up the till, ensure the kitchen and cafe had been closed and cleaned to a 4 star service (and if not complete it myself before leaving) I attended regulatory meetings such as with the environmental health officer, midwives, health professionals and with the centre's funders and

owners. I left the Stomping Ground in May 2014 due to staffing issues and unfortunately shortly after my departure the company folded.

My Hobbies are varied, I have 3 children and most spare time I have is dedicated to family activities.

Including Swimming, Bowling and walks in the woods. I am a qualified babywearing consultant so I also travel around Ipswich and Colchester teaching parents how to safety use a baby carrier (this varies from the high street tomy's to a traditional African "kanga" or an Asian styled "meitai") It is a very enjoyable

experience where I meet many different people in different circumstances. Alongside this I founded and co-run the Colchester Sling Library which hires out many different slings to families. I also founded and co-run a charity online fundraising group where people donate money for a chance to win an exquisite

baby sling and everything over cost is donated to charity. We have raised over £7500 this year alone. Despite my hobbies I am a very focused and career driven person. I thrive on having a good work/life balance and being part of an excellent team.