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I began working in the mobile phone industry in 1997.   A friend recommended that I apply for the job because mobile phones were going to be the next big “thing” I have to say I was very sceptical but look at it now its going from strength to strength and things have improve we have more than 3 tariffs to offer our customers and the added bonus that the handsets actually fit in your pocket now!!!Things have changed a lot since then and life at O2 is fun and fresh, you will get the opportunity to make a career for yourself with lots of chance for development.  It won’t be an easy ride there lots of information to digest but if you put in the work you get to reap all benefits, I know it sound corny but it true.  

I work in Business Customer Service it’s a challenging environment that’s always evolving to meet the needs of our customer but this means your days are never the same and you are actively encouraged to make a difference by providing insight that can help us turn our customer in FANS.  Were a friendly and social bunch in business and I have made some great friends and had great days in work with fun days celebrating launches and successes and it doesn’t stop there the celebrations have been know to turn it fab nights out too!!

Before I sign off I best tell you about some perks. We get an excellent staff tariff, family discount for your friends and family, opportunities to enter competitions to win the latest phone or tickets to the corporate box at M.E.N arena.   Also we benefit from a great pension scheme and O2 Deals and you can save money on a wide range of products and services.

Nicola

I started my career in the telecoms industry with BT back in 1999, as an Assistant Branch Manager at the Northumberland Street store in Newcastle upon Tyne. In 2001 I was given the opportunity as Acting Manager of the store due to the Manager taking maternity leave.In 2003, after O2 brought BT Cellnet, I gained a promotion to Branch Manager of the Stockton-on-Tees store. From there I moved to the Hartlepool store in early 2004 and then onto the Gateshead Galleria store in the Metro Centre in late 2004. In late 2005 I became the Branch Manager of O2’s flagship 300^th store in Eldon Square, Newcastle upon Tyne. In the first Quarter of the store opening we finished top of the company sales league and also won a Customer Experience incentive, resulting in a fantastic team day out ‘power-kiting’ and surfing! And what an experience it was! Soon after the store opening I also successfully gained promotion to ‘Senior Branch Manager’ level within the business.

In 2007, I was looking for new challenges, having been in the Senior Branch Manager position for nearly 2 years and having acquired a lot of new skillsets. I took on a 6 month secondment as a Project Manager. I thoroughly enjoyed the secondment and it whetted my appetite to try different things within the business. After that secondment I took over as Manager of the Gateshead Team Valley store. 6 months later, in the latter half of 2008, I took on another Project Manager secondment, putting the extensive knowledge and experience that I had built up in my previous secondment to good use. This secondment involved training and leading the activities of a team of 24 Retail  Champions. After this secondment ended, in January 2009, I became the Manager of the North Shields store.

So, I’ve had quite a journey with the company over the past 10 years! I’ve managed a total of 7 Retail stores and have had 2 x 6 month secondment periods. When the opportunity for Retail Area Manager position came up I jumped at the chance as it was something that I had wanted to do for some time. With my experience as a Senior Branch Manager, and with two separate secondment periods, I had a lot of work-based examples of leadership and people management to take into the assessment centre.

The assessment day took place in early March 2009 and it was rigorous to say the least! It involved a full day consisting of 5 activities: an interview, a 1:1 meeting with a ‘store manager’ (played by an actor!), a presentation, a written exercise and a group exercise - we were certainly put through our paces on the day!

Thankfully I was successful at the assessment centre and I was notified of my success by Retail’s Head of Sales, Jay, in late March 2009. I believe that my work history within the business is testament to the succession planning that goes on within O2 and of the company’s fantastic internal training programmes and development of its people. The training courses I attended in preparation for becoming an Area Manager were fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I learned a lot and have taken these newly acquired skills and knowledge into the Area Manager role, which I started in July 2009. I’m now getting used to the new role and the demands of the job and, I have to say, I’m loving every minute of it!

Paul

Area Manager

Wow I can’t believe I’ve now been working at O2 for 6 years, I joined O2 as an Area Manager and as a result of the great training and on the job career development 2 years ago I was promoted to Divisional Manager.Every day with O2 brings  new challenges I could be out on store visits meeting customers and chatting with the store teams or I could be helping shape the Company Strategy for Retail.

At O2 you are person not a number and your ideas and suggestions really can make a difference to how we do things! The even better bit is that when you do a great job O2 recognises this, I’ve just won 2 nights in Paris on a VIP Gala trip and I get to take my other half too!

If fast pace, variety and working with a great team is what you want from your next job move then O2 should be your next stop….O2 is looking to create fans of its customer but I’m a big fan of O2 and wouldn’t change a thing!

Nic

Divisional Manager