|
Resume Pre 1989 Hairdresser and then a housewife and mother with some hairdressing in between. Australia Post 19th May 1989 I was looking for a part time job that wasn't hairdressing and my neighbor heard her manager asking if anyone knew anyone who wanted a part time job. I was thirty five years old and had to go to an interview for a job I knew absolutely nothing about. I was terrified but took a deep breath, assured the interviewers I would work very hard and was successful! I began as a part time mail officer sorting all the afternoon mail brought back by the courier drivers. 1991 I was still part time but my hours changed. I operated the switchboard for five hours a day and also managed the private letter box office data for all the post offices from Gordonvale to Palm Cove. My manager at the time suggested it was time I decided whether I wanted to continue what I was doing or get serious about a career with Australia Post. I was worried about the electronic point of sale system. My real fear was that I would not be smart enough to succeed as my previous occupation involved being creative. In spite of my fears I began training as a Postal Services Officer at the Cairns Post Office. Surprise surprise – I loved it and I was good at it! Cairns was a busy office and I quickly learned the many tasks involved in being a counter officer. 1993 - 1994 Thirteen of the smaller post offices in the Cairns region were converted to Licensed Post Offices and I assisted with the conversion of these offices. My main job was to organize the stock that was owned by Australia Post and had to be purchased by the new Licensee. Cairns Post Office became the Distribution Office for the Licensed Post Offices. I looked after the distribution, billing and payments and in those days it was all done manually with client cards. During this time the Cairns Post Office was converted to a retail shop. This was done in two stages over two weekends. It was a huge job with dedicated staff working through the night to be open on time and I was proud to be part of it. 1994 - 1995 Applied for and was appointed Postal Services Officer Grade 2 at the Cairns Post Office. This position entailed managing the staff on the counter at the Cairns Post Office including the staff in Post Restante. The duties included handling customer inquiries, staff rosters, ensuring the shop was well stocked and professionally presented, ordering stock, counter cash management and banking. I also had to organize the roster for Departure Tax. As part of an Agency Agreement, Australia Post collected departure tax from the Cairns International Airport at approximately 4.00am – 8.00am every morning. I was part of this roster as well. It made for some long days and lots of overtime. 1995 - 1996 Acting Postal Manager Grade 1 at Cairns Orchid Plaza. This was an exciting opportunity for me and I enjoyed the challenge. At this time Cairns Orchid Plaza was one of the busiest offices in Queensland with over 1000 customers per day. One particular day I received a memo to say I had to submit next years budget for the office by the end of the week. I honestly had no idea what to do. My idea of running a successful Post Office was to have the shop looking good, the staff were happy, the customers were given friendly professional service and the tills balanced. If that happened everything else would take of itself! I spent a long time on the phone with a colleague and managed to submit something that looked like I knew what I was doing. 1996 - 1998 Acting Postal Grade 1 Manunda. Not long after I arrived at Manunda we relocated to another shop in the complex and had a total refit. Another big weekend and the Merchandiser who had come up from Brisbane to oversee the job had to leave so my staff and myself did the job ourselves. The new shop looked wonderful and was well received by our customers. Manunda also had 900 boxes and the boxes and the mail in them had to be relocated as well. Manunda was and still is a busy office. Banking and bill pay made up the bulk of our counter duties. 1997 Acting Postal Manager Mossman. I was asked to go to Mossman for one month. There was a difficult situation up there and I was asked to ensure the office ran smoothly during this period. Proof of my success in handling the situation was being asked to be a referee by one of the staff members. 1998 I was appointed Postal Manager Grade 1 Gordonvale. I was only there for three months but learned a lot about traditional post offices. We had two postmen and a parcel contractor as well as 1000 post office boxes. There were no retail products at Gordonvale when I arrived so my first task was to order some and find somewhere to put them. Everything I put out sold and we had very successful Christmas sales. Then I was off to a new area of Australia Post. 1999 The Sales and Merchandising position became vacant at short notice and I was asked to take up the position for a period of time. I was confident with the merchandising side of this position but had no idea what the sales side entailed. This was made more difficult as there was no-one to train me. I was required to take care of the customers in the NQ region who had charge accounts and mail contracts with us. I needed to understand how customers qualified for a contract, how to set up and prepare a contract and how to renew or cancel the contracts as they came due. I learned about our business products to be better able to assist our current and new customers. It was a huge learning curve for me. I had invaluable assistance with our Sales team in Brisbane. I made sure I was very well prepared before I visited my customers. I was also able to travel to Airlie Beach to assist with the relocation and refit of the Airlie Beach Post Office. There were three merchandisers from Rockhampton North for this job. It was a big job and it took us five days to complete while still keeping the post office running in a shed! 1999 In 1999 my position as Postal Manager Grade 1 Gordonvale was transferred to Postal Manager Grade 1 Earlville Business Centre although I did not take up the position straight away. 2000 In 2000 I was still in the Sales and Merchandising role with a few weeks here and there relieving in other offices as a postal manager. In July 2000 I was asked to organize a lunch in Cairns for our business customers. Our General Manager and the State Manager for Retail were speaking at this luncheon. This task was a little outside my area of expertise to say the least. Choosing the venue, and the menu, co-ordinating the guest list, checking RSVPs and checking all details with the venue was an experience. I took advantage of some of the more experienced people within Australia Post to seek advice and was happy and relieved to have the luncheon deemed a success by our General Manager. The Thursday Island Post Office was being converted to a retail shop and in my Sales and Merchandiser role I was required to assist. The challenge for me was to order the slat wall, shop fittings and stock and get them to Thursday Island in one piece. Everything needed to be there before I arrived and then I had two days to complete the fit out. It was very satisfying to see how the staff and customers enjoyed their new shop. February 2001 to the present time Postal Manager Grade 1 Earlville Business Centre. The Earlville Business Centre is my shop but I have done relief work at Cairns Orchid Plaza, Cairns Central, Cairns, Mossman, Manunda and Earlville Post Shops and Merchandising for the NQ area. My focus now is growing the business at Earlville BC. I work in very close contact with our Sales Consultant and together we have a very good understanding of the customers in our region. The Sales consultant has to trust that my staff can deliver for her customers. I have to work very closely with Managers and staff at the Mail Centre and the Delivery Centre. to ensure we are are able to deliver the services required and our customers, both old and new are 100% satisfied. |