Fatima De Los Santos – Administrative Assistant, Customer Service

Hi, I am Fatima, but just call me Tim.

I am an Information Technology graduate but did not pursue it because I felt like I was not ready for it. Instead, I worked in a BPO company and stayed there for 2 years. I am definitely grateful to these companies that hired me, especially the first BPO company I worked with. Not just because it was my first job after I graduated, but it also opened a lot of opportunities for me. My time with them might be short, but I am grateful that these companies taught me everything I need to know about customer service.

The reason why I left the BPO industry is I actually wanted to try doing online jobs or freelancing. I thought I had all the necessary equipment for me to start my endeavour. However, after a few days of trying, my only Laptop computer broke and left me heartbroken. I decided to put this endeavour on hold and tried looking for corporate jobs.

I was lucky to be given an opportunity to work at a hardware store as a Marketing Assistant where my job also included sharing ideas on how to increase our sales and also working as a Personal Assistant to our manager. I helped him with plotting and reminding him of his schedule. I also helped prepare important documents, booking his tickets and other things. Aside from being a personal assistant, I also prepare payroll, update staff, bookkeeping, and also manage inventory. This job definitely helped me to become flexible and be open to new learning opportunities.

After that stint, I was hired as an Officer-in-charge or Operations Manager in a lending company for 3 years and 8 months. My job includes administrative tasks, processing of loans, and customer service. As an OIC, I handle and solve my client’s financial problems by offering them the best loan deal. I also handle some branch problems which is most of the time hard to overcome, but thanks to the people around me which helped me to overcome them. This job definitely stirs up a lot of emotions. Sometimes I was afraid, especially if there are clients who try to threaten us. But most of the time, I was happy because I was able to help our clients with their financial issues. This job indeed helped me develop my problem solving and analytical skills. I was actually sad to leave this job, but I had to since I really wanted to pursue a freelancing job.

So now, I am trying my luck into this industry again and enrolled in a Virtual Assistant skills training. I also watched some video tutorials on YouTube to help me become more proficient in this field. I always believe that hard work and determination are the recipes for success. I know someday I will be successful in this industry too.

For a copy of Fatima’s resume please click here.