I first started looking for jobs when I realised that I’d reached my ‘best by’ date in my flying career. I was Cabin Crew for almost 5 years, having joined at the early age of 18. As glamorous as the job can be – jetting to the Caribbean one week and being in the Far East the next – it gets extremely tiring, and sometimes rather lonely.
So I’d heard along the crew grapevine about this receptionist agency that finds ex-Cabin crew jobs. That was important because I never went to University, so I only had some A-Levels and nothing business specific. One thing I knew I was great at was being in a customer-facing role.
I was put forward for some fab roles, one included Front of House Manager for a very successful, very prestigious interior design company. I had a great first few interviews with them and their team, but just before the final interview with the CEO, I was told that he had chosen another candidate. To be honest I just saw that as a sign that I was never meant to work there in the first place.
So off I went to the next interview; receptionist for a massive oil corporation! I went on holiday after my second interview with them and then they invited me to have a third interview with their CEO. I was away for 10 days so what we ended up doing was a Skype interview.
Good thing I packed a smart shirt with me or I would’ve been sat at my iPad video calling in my best bikini! (I actually only wore a nice shirt and just my bikini bottoms, not that they would have known, haha!).
Well, after all that I ended up being offered the job!
However, that kind of company didn’t really sit right when it came to my moral compass (when you say oil company I think of the environment etc). So after thinking about actually working there I decided it wasn’t the position for me, not only that but they offered me £3k less than my asking salary, and I thought I could get a better offer elsewhere.
I ended up bagging an interview for a Front of House/ Receptionist role at a Leading Private Medical Clinic in London. After two interviews I was offered the position at my asking salary.
I started at my new job feeling super nervous having never worked as a receptionist before. I didn’t know if I’d be any good at the admin side of things, and especially at the finance side (maths has never been my strong suit). But after my first couple of days I already knew it was a great position for me.
I work alongside three other great receptionists, and a fantastic team of nurses, doctors, professors and professionals. All my colleagues were so welcoming and friendly when I started, and they still are. They made sure I knew I could ask them about anything, even if I thought what I was asking was stupid.
I’m still in a customer facing role so it’s not too far out of my comfort zone, it’s just about 30,000ft lower than where I was working before!
It feels so much better for me being able to sleep in my own bed every night, and being able to attend all the events that I was missing before with my friends and family because I wasn’t in the country. On top of all that, my salary has significantly increased compared to what I was making as Cabin Crew.
So overall. A great career-changing decision supported by a hard-working Receptionist recruitment Agency. I know that it will just keep getting better from here.
Contributed by Olivia
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