Explain your role at CVCheck
I’m the Client Services Team Leader. That means anything client related, my team looks after it. From client demos, initial client account set-up, training and ongoing support that our clients and their staff may need.
We’re the voice of our clients within the company. We talk to our clients regularly, help them choose the right products for the role they’re hiring for, assist them with anything they may need, and get insights into how they’re using our products. With our clients’ feedback, we work with our product and engineering teams to develop our platform and product offering, to make them even better for our clients.
Tell us about your life before CVCheck
I grew up in a regional area outside of Christchurch, New Zealand. After high school I thought I wanted to be a teacher. I enrolled at Christchurch Teachers College. I moved to the city for the first time and picked up a summer job before the school term started. I worked at KFC and really enjoyed city life. I ended up not going to Teachers College but building my career with Restaurant Brands Ltd.
I progressed into various management roles and lived in Hamilton and Wellington, where I worked as a Regional Trainer, then as a Compliance Officer. The company put me through a lot of great management courses and I was led by some great leaders.
I was at Restaurant Brands for 17 years and had three children during that time. It was a very family orientated organisation.
How did the idea come to move to Australia?
My husband was offered a job in Perth, so we moved here. Our kids were still very young when we arrived, and I decided to take a year off to make sure they settled into school. After a year at home, it was time for me to start working.
I was in a new country and I was ready to try a new industry, but still wanted something in training, that was customer and people focused.
I saw the role at CVCheck advertised and started on 1 December 2014. I was out of my comfort zone, in a new industry for me to learn, but the role is very customer and people focused, which has always been my passion.
Describe the culture at CVCheck
We have a lot of fun! We’re always getting together to celebrate hitting goals and milestones, and no birthday goes by without cake. We’ve had a lot of good times, and many company karaoke nights. The team is diverse in age and interests, so we’re always trying new things like quizzes and mini golf. You can head out with the executives and CEO and still have a really good time, there’s no hierarchy, everyone is very approachable. The team is very caring too.
How has CVCheck changed since you started at the company?
It’s been a complete 360 in the four years since I started. When I started I was employee number 15, there was just myself and three other Call Centre Operators. We were in a tiny little office and doing much of the work manually online. Now the system is all automated, and check results are back within seconds.
The office was a lot quieter then. We were cautious not to make too much noise when it was a smaller office. Now we’re in a much larger space and there’s a lot of laughter within colleagues. People from different departments walk up to each other to discuss ideas and ask questions.
What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
Seeing my team grow and become confident in what they do. It’s also knowing that the work we do makes our clients’ lives easier. The way we care for our team members is also how we care for our clients. We want them to know we hear their questions and ideas, and that they’re getting the best service possible.
One of my favorite things is getting feedback from clients about ways we could make the platform more useful to them, and then being able to go back to that client and let them know that our engineering team has made their suggested changes.
When did you realise that you were good at your job and passionate about it?
With CVCheck, I realised I was good at my job when the management team awarded me the CEO Award for Employee of The Year last Christmas. I realised I was passionate about my job prior to that when I went into bat for a client to alter our product to make the client’s life easier. I have a lot of passion for our clients.
What career advice would you give your younger self?
Don’t sweat the small stuff!
What does innovation mean to you?
Being able to listen to what our clients need and also sometimes knowing what they need without them even realising. Then having a culture at CVCheck where we constantly look into these ideas, and see if they will make our product better, and then creating it for them when appropriate.
How do you relax?
I value time with my family. My husband is a FIFO worker, so time spent all together is my top priority when he’s home. Music is a big part of our family life, which involves a lot of instruments, and mini-concerts going on at home. I make a lot of video calls to my family in NZ to stay in touch. I do a lot of volunteer work, and I also really enjoy gardening, though I wouldn’t say I’m particularly good at it!