Ma Russell Bullecer Chavez – Underwriter, Quality Analyst

ma-russell-chaves-officeI prefer to be called Russell although I’ve had a lot of nicknames generated by my former colleagues. I’m Russell at home, I’m called Russ at one call center company, and I’m also called Bullie in another call center. That’s short for my Middle name. I was even called Batel during my employment at a paging industry!

Anyway, I started working at the age of 17 as a service crew in a fast-food chain. I felt compelled to work at an early age to help out my husband with our daily financial needs. Yes, you read it right. I already had a husband at an early age. I bore my firstborn at the age of 16 and everything conventional to everyone became a new cycle for me.

After finishing my contract with the first fast-food chain, I switched to another fast-food chain to keep up with the daily finances. Here, I met a colleague who asked me to accompany her to another CBD so she could apply as a Message Handling Officer in a Paging Company. My friend brought her resume with her and asked me if I brought mine. I told her that I didn’t bring any since I don’t have any idea what job she’s planning to apply for and I didn’t have any plan of applying since the job requires applicants who are at least reached college level. I didn’t even finish high school since I got pregnant at an early age.

As we walked inside the book store to buy an extra pen, she told me to buy a bio data copy for me to use so I could also apply. I hesitated but I bought one anyway. So, we went together to the building where we submitted our applications and was told to take our seats and wait for the application process to commence. I honestly wanted to go home because I knew that I wouldn’t make any success at any rate as I didn’t even know how to use a computer.

When we all took our seats, all applicants were told to take a spelling test. My heart was pounding because the words to spell were all medical terms. I didn’t know how I survived the test and all who passed were told to step in another room. In the room, we were all given a chance to give a brief introduction and later realised that we were all involved in a Q&A type of test. The test administrator was gauging our communication skills. The application day ended where I got employed in the paging industry and my colleague who asked me to accompany her went home unemployed!

Well, the paging industry turned my world upside down because I secured a regular job there. I started working in shifts and got close to working students. These people motivated me to get a college degree so I could have a better edge when it comes to finding work.

I first took an acceleration exam since I didn’t finish high school and passed the exam with flying colours. Then, I decided to get myself enrolled in college since I’m earning enough to pay for my tuition. I finished college as a dean’s lister and walked my way into the corporate world.

I first became a recruitment specialist after graduation and looked for potential applicants for call centers. I felt envious of these applicants that I was endorsing because they were earning more than I did. Then I realised why can’t I try applying in the call centers instead? I guess you know what happened next.

I started as a telemarketer at my first BPO company and after 4 months, I got promoted as Quality Analyst.

I was a Quality Analyst for more than 10 years, got exposed to a lot of training for process improvement and project management before I decided to step out of my comfort zone and took the risk of getting certified as an underwriter.

I have been employed in different companies and even learned a lot of new skills. From the paging industry where I was someone who didn’t know any kind of skill but to type and transcribe, now, I can say that I’m using all these trainings and skills in the freelance environment. I’ve learned Finance Management like collections, credit underwriting, and loan processing.

I also upskilled my Office and Administration skills since I stayed in the Quality Assurance department for so long. My writing skills were the first skill I showcased in the freelance environment. I rendered article writing for blogs, web content writing, editing, and proofreading.

Most importantly, I must say that the most improved skill I was able to polish is Customer service since I was exposed to various lines of business. Be it the financial line, sales, inbound acquisition, retail banking, and insurance.

All of these life events brought me a lot of self-discovery and I’m not stopping yet. My core values are integrity, respect, and patience. I learned how to involve myself in teamwork and commitment in all aspects of any work I rendered.

ma-russell-chaves-profileAs Walt Disney would always say, “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Thus, I keep on watching various tutorial videos to keep me updated with new skills that I find to be convenient and useful, especially now that I’m looking forward to working with new people along the way.

I’m confident to say that my strengths are adaptability and being open to change. I can’t help myself but utilise my QA traits in everything I do. If I see something that can be improved, my mind won’t stop until I come up with an idea.

Whenever I have spare time, I watch an anime series online while eating ice cream.

I look forward to assisting your business to scale.

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