KindWork Customer Support and Experience Bootcamp — Week 6
This week marks my last week in the KindWork Customer Experience & Support Bootcamp. Tomorrow I’ll graduate from training and officially become a job seeker!
Over the last six weeks, I’ve grown immensely as a professional. I’ve spent my time mastering the skills needed to become a Customer Experience or Customer Support specialist at a startup tech company. And I’m ready to hit the ground running.
I’m excited to share a recap of the many new digital, professional, and CX skills we’ve covered over the course of this 250+ hour course.
My top five highlights include:
- Tech Office Visits
Throughout the KindWork Bootcamp, I was engaged in customer experience and support hands-on projects and activities. I was working with tools that support specialist use every day. There no better way to validate this than by going to those tech companies and seeing these experts in action. I loved visiting the Zola, Uber, and Facebook offices. These visits were eye-opening for me because I was able to witness the energy, culture, and pace of a thriving tech company firsthand. There’s nothing like learning from real-life experiences. The panel of professionals from each company shared their stories of success, failure, determination, and redemption. I was enlightened by their best strategies to navigate my future career in tech. These were riveting experiences for me. Definitely, unforgettable learning events that I will treasure now and in the future. Thank you, Zola, Uber, and Facebook for having us! And Thank you, Kate and Jeanine, for making all of this happen!
2. Group Activities, Projects, and Presentations
Throughout the KindWork Bootcamp, the class was encouraged to work together as a team in multiple activities, projects, and presentations. During these team collaborations, I was able to master digital skills like Zendesk, Intercom, Slack, and Google Suite. I used Slack every day to send and receive files, my classmates and coaches. I am proficient at Zendesk and was one of the top ticket crushers during our timed competitions. I’m an expert at using Intercom. I was efficient and effective at live chat, during our Role Play activities. I’m a newly minted Google Suite master as well! I created multiple professional spreadsheets, docs, and presentations during the KindWork Bootcamp. I’m proud of having led my team to victory several times in high pressure and timed projects. Like the competitive Capstone Project and KindWork “Olympics” activity, where we used everything we learned in class to accomplish the main objective. I had an amazing experience at Kindwork’s Bootcamp and I know have developed the skills to be successful in my incoming career as a Customer Experience and Support Specialist.
3. Giving and Receiving Feedback
Throughout KindWorks Bootcamp, I learned how valuable giving and receiving feedback is. I learned that it is a key trait for career mobility and a quick way to make important improvements for success. This is a soft skill that our instructors emphasized. I frequently received feedback from my coaches and classmates. I had to work to integrate and implement the feedback into my work products. I witnessed first hand how powerful great feedback is with Jeanine’s writing assessment and our detailed Mock Interview recommendations from classmates and hiring managers. I studied Jeanine’s detailed report and implemented the suggested solutions. I immediately saw improvements in my writing output. After each practice interview, I absorbed the information and instantly showed progress. It definitely showed as I was fully prepared to meet Tech leaders at our KindWorkNetworking Event. All in all, feedback is vital for growth and now I can harness this skill because of Kindwork’s Bootcamp.
4. KindWork Networking Event
The Kindwork Networking Event was easily the best professional event I’ve ever been too. Our goal in this event was to meet leaders in the innovation economy. These leaders volunteered their time to help us practice and conducted mock interviews. As a class, we went above and beyond expectations. At the start, I met Fernando Orozco. I learned that we had a lot in common personally and professionally. He is a wealth of knowledge and experience. I learned a ton from him. It’s funny because our interviewers were chosen at random and Fernando was matched up to interview me. He gave me really great feedback. My next interviewer was Zach Tomlinson, Head of Marketing for TradeLens at IBM. I shared with him my passion for social media marketing and he shared his marketing insights. He gave me exceptional feedback, nice complements, and great career advice. To conclude this exciting event I had an engaging conversation with four prominent professionals; Max Crowley, Matthew Powers, Matthew Hearns, and Chad Dobbs. We had an amazing conversation about how they started out in tech and are now leaders in their field. I could write all day about this special night. This was truly an unforgettable experience. Thank you, Kate and Jeanine, for making this night possible!
5. Job Application Prep
Sometimes it seems like there’s a secret code to getting hired in tech. I’m so grateful for all the time we’ve spent in class decoding the process. Together we’ve worked on resumes, cover letters, phone screens, and in-person interview skills. I learned that the majority of big companies are using the applicant tracking system. This software scans your resume and determines how relevant you are for the position. I also learned that the best resumes and cover letters are tailored according to the job description. Now I’m setting up and sending out custom resumes and cover letters every day to tech companies all over NYC. During the last two weeks of the Bootcamp we completed well over 20 practice interviews. I trained with my classmates, my coaches, hiring managers and over the phone with a Talk Hiring bot. I received great feedback and implemented it to vastly improve. Now I’m absolutely crushing mock interviews. I’m feeling ready to tackle the job search.
This experience has been a career game-changer for me. I’ve gained a new set of professional skills and I’m ready to apply them to a fast-paced customer support role.
I hope my story can serve as an inspiration for others thinking about launching their careers in tech.
Thanks for following along on my journey through the Customer Experience & Support Bootcamp. I’m looking forward to reporting back when I am in my new role!
Eli Over and Out.
