Welcome to our CAREER SPOTLIGHT February Feature.
This month we have interviewed the lovely Charissa Lim, who has been a coaching client who was successful in gaining a job that she loves as a Training & Onboarding Consultant.
Learn more about Charissa’s career in our mini interview:
1. Can you tell me a bit about yourself and what you do for work?
Hi! I’m Charissa and I have been working in customer service and project coordination roles within the vocational education industry. I’m currently working in a software company that creates top-notch student management system solutions for training organisations.
2. What is a typical day like?
My current role is called an Onboarding Consultant, I am responsible for training new clients on using the cloud software. I’m still learning this vast system but a typical day would see me plugged into a headset and conducting a live training session with the client using Zoom.
3. What made you choose this as a career path?
I’ve always loved people interaction and come from a learning and development background. Coupled with my experience in the education sector, I had been yearning for a role that combines training with client interaction. Training gives me an immense sense of fulfilment and satisfaction, along with a day that looks different every day. After a short stint in an HR administrative role, I was very much convinced what sort of role I do not see myself doing. This role ticks all my boxes – it allows me to use my creativity and I am energised by the knowledge that each day is not going to be the same.
4. What do you love most about your job?
The founding directors are the warmest, sincerest people, who make a genuine effort to get to know how and find out how you are doing. They’re also the most fun-loving, loudest people I know! I also have a very supportive manager and am surrounded by cheerful, fun-loving team mates. What’s so great about my workplace is the management truly supports professional development and organises PD events to help us grow and become better.
5. Do you need any qualifications to do what you do?
Qualifications aren’t important at all but experience does count a lot. Being with this company, I know first-hand how much more relevant having vocational education industry experience is, as you can identify and relate with clients so much better, and the learning curve is not as steep. It’s steep enough for me having to learn such a comprehensive system.
6. What advice would you give to someone looking to get into this profession?
Be very independent and proactive in your learning, and keep abreast of vocational education trends and developments. This is quite a unique industry as legislations change all the time and it is very much left up to you to know what’s going on around you so you can keep up with clients’ questions. Also, truly wanting to delight clients and being solutions-focused is very important as well as clients can sometimes throw curveballs at you and you need to come up with solutions to their problems.
Thank you Charissa, for this very insightful learning into the world of training and onboarding, we wish you all the best in your career.
If you would love to gain clarity and direction in your career, like Charissa – check out our Career Coaching Services here
