Rommel Literal – Customer Service Representative

Back in college, my parents were hesitant in sending me to a private university due to low income pay checks. So I decided to work in the school’s library while studying – I was a working scholar then. Soon after, my mum was diagnosed with cancer and we were struggling to meet our daily needs, which left me no choice but to stop studying and start working full time. I moved away from my little hometown to a modernised city to work as a Call Center Associate at the age of 18 – the youngest in my batch. Fragile, insecure and longing for a parent’s physical attention, I even thought of resigning and going home but thanks to my batch mates, who encouraged me not to give up, I managed to stick it out for 8 years and 6 months wearing different hats in the corporate world.

Two years after leaving home, my mother’s body stopped responding to chemotherapy and eventually succumbed to cancer and joined our creator. I was devastated, upset and discouraged. Still thanks to my friends and my extended family for providing emotional support and I was able to return to my normal life.

After my Call Center journey, I resigned due to personal reasons. Four months later, I joined an Australian Insurance Company where I was profiled in the Claims section specific to “Contents and Property”. After 9 months of working with my Australian counterparts, I joined the same department under Claims but this time in the European region where I handled Motor Vehicle Accident claims, not to mention it was pure non-voice where I communicate with brokers, hire car specialist, adjusters and our onshore partners purely via email and I’m only tasked to do outbound calls if necessary e.g. updates, expediting process and whatnot.

After almost 4 years of staying in the company, the global pandemic began. Luckily, I was still able to keep my job, although I had to move to a work-from-home setting. However, in November 2020, we were told that all of our jobs will be repatriated back to United Kingdom due to automation. Depression and anxiety kicked in but after 1 week of agony, I looked to the sky and asked myself, is it the end of the world? No. I don’t think so. There’s always a huge opportunity after this. Everything happened for a reason.

In between 2019 and 2020, I continued my bachelor’s studies in Business Administration. I was supposed to graduate in 2020, but since the pandemic happened, we have yet to receive advice from our school for the final date of our graduation.

I enjoyed a month of vacation with my family and friends in our province and while at the same time, honed my skills by joining freelancing Facebook groups, enrolled in free courses on content, SEO, Shopify, and lots of others. I started applying for a job, but the competition was tough. Luckily an outsourced VA hired me and I worked with her for a month and a half providing transcription services.

To summarise my potentials or skills including my years of experience, I’ve worked with 2 companies for 12 years with Customer Service doing inbound and outbound calls, email management and administrative tasks.

Now, if you were curious about my other personal background, back when I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to be an actor. Funny thing was I would always face a mirror, memorise my lines and mimic the actor that I look up to, which led me to be an extra in an American TV series that was set in my country. It was an overwhelming experience but in a good way, because you have to be on par with the main actors and crew members schedule.

When I am stressed, I would normally hug my 5-year old cat. Cosmetics and fashion are also something I am very passionate about.

Now you’ve read my story, I’m excited to hear yours.

For a copy of Rommel’s resume please click here.