The Customer Operations stream gives you real responsibility and your work and ideas will benefit the customer!

Since I've been posting insights into some of the other summer placement schemes, I thought it was about time I told you about my experience in Customer Operations!

What have I been working on this summer?

This summer I have been put in charge of developing a self serve microsite for renewal customers. When a customer renews their services contract with British gas they are put through to the retention team where it’s their job to keep the customer with British Gas. Nowadays, more customers are going through this process via web chat or instant messenger as opposed to calling in. In order to help with this increased volume of web chat customers, I’m developing a self serve tool that will give the customer more options and allow them to navigate through their own retention journey kind of like a self checkout at the supermarket. This will allow agents to handle other customer queries simultaneously and therefore helping with the increased customer volume. The project is in the very early stages so it was really exciting to be part of something new and to be given a lot of opportunities to contribute my own ideas. You’re given a lot of responsibility early on and although this is a challenge to start with, it’s exciting to know that the work you do will benefit the customer in the future!

What would be my biggest tip for the application process?

Research Centrica’s leadership behaviours. When you’re filling out the application form with some examples of your past experiences, always link them back to the leadership behaviours. This shows that you understand the company, your personal development and how the skills that you’ve learnt in the past can be used in a job at Centrica.

Did I get any help or guidance during the application process?

I took my filled out Centrica application form to the Career Zone at my University where I went through it with an advisor. She gave me lots of help about how to tackle application forms so I would strongly advise taking advantage of any career services available at your Uni or local area. One of the most important things she taught me was to focus on my own contribution to the team when using a team work example by saying ‘I did this’ and then go on to explain what the team result was.