Ferivie Kate Torres – CSR and Technical Support Specialist

Please allow me to share a brief story of who I am…

“Both tears and sweat are salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy; sweat will get you change.” Jesse Jackson

I am the eldest of the two daughters of my mother. Since childhood, my grandparents were the ones who raised me when my mother married her second husband. But after a decade, my mother became a widow when her husband died of a heart attack. Then she decided to work abroad in order to sustain the needs and wants of us, her daughters.
Even though our set up, way back, was not a regular family situation, I did not allow that to discourage me. Instead, I made it my foundation to break down the walls that hinder me from getting through to my goals.

At the very young age, I already had this mind-set that I have to work really hard in order to help my single mother. I studied hard and became an academic scholar during high school, from a Catholic School, and graduated with honours. In order to make sure that I can continue my studies in college, I went to different universities to apply for academic scholarships. Unfortunately, the scholarships offered at that time were not full paid tuition fees which was what I aimed for.

I found a school that gave me the opportunity to apply as a working student. I would probably say that God has always been there, graciously giving me the opportunities so I can pursue my studies. I passed the recruitment process and became one of the working scholars.

During college, I discovered my working capacity in terms of dealing with different types of people and accomplishing multiple tasks.

My tasks back then involved:

• tracking and inventory of computer resources
• gathering supplier pricing for purchasing computer resources
• processing data entry for enrolees
• designing templates for student seminars
• organising events or programs for the school and for the scholars
• managing social media accounts of the school for important updates
• plotting class and duty schedules of my co-working students
• evaluating every semester the existing working students
• recruiting new working students

My time there was a battle of tears, sweat and guts in order to earn my Bachelor of Information Technology degree.

As the weeks and months flew past and my college graduation day was fast approaching, I received unexpected news from my mother who was still working abroad. She told me that she was able to get in touch with my birth father. I could not really explain how I felt during that time. It was a total shock to me as it had never crossed my mind that one day I would be able to meet my father. It was most likely because I had lived my whole life without a father – and the love I received from my grandparents, my uncles, my aunties and my mother had been enough to fill my heart as I was growing up.

I did not hold any grudges against my father because I knew I still grew up well. It took me some time to think about the situation, and then I whole heartedly accepted my father into my life. My mother and father were reunited after 21 years which was one of the greatest thing that happened in our lives. My mother went back home and lived as a housewife which I knew was her dream.

Without being distracted, I still continued my goal for our family. I never wasted time after graduation since I immediately applied for a job in order to make sure that my sister could finish her studies too. It’s a good thing that my father accepted my sister like his own child and he also helped us in financing her studies.

I was blessed to be hired immediately in a BPO company as a Technical Support Representative. My main responsibility was to assist my customers in using our payroll software application. This allowed me to gain new knowledge during the period and learn how to communicate effectively with people from other countries. The software allows our users to calculate wages and taxes of their employees.

I wanted to pursue a career in education so I decided to resign from my first job in order to work a day-shift schedule since previously I had been working the graveyard shift.

My second company hired me as a Customer Service Representative. My primary tasks were to help our customers with their bill inquiries, as well as change of their service plans and retention. I gained a lot of experience working with different personalities – both my superiors and teammates, as we had to achieve certain score cards every month.

It just took a little over 2 years to finish my second course, because I only needed to study education subjects. My sister also graduated from college and is now working in one of the hotels in our city.

I decided to resign from my work because I want to stay at home with my mother who is living alone as my father is working overseas. I also wanted to do my review at home as I am planning to take the Professional Licensure Examination for Teachers this year. While staying at home I want to still earn a living and be able to continue my working routine which I am accustomed to.

To sum it up, I have 5 years of professional work experience which gives me the skills to perform and accomplish the tasks given to me in the future. I have been able to succeed through continued courage, hard work and being goal oriented, as well as with my faith and trust to God.

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