Case studies: Service specialist: Nick

Despite earning an undergraduate music degree, Nick has found job satisfaction at an innovative organic delivery company

I studied for a degree in music at Cardiff University. Currently, I work as a service specialist within the customer service department at Abel & Cole, a fruit and vegetable home delivery company.

I joined as a regular member of the customer service team, handling customer calls and emails, before I was promoted to this current role.

As a service specialist, complicated or ongoing customer problems are referred to me from other members of the customer service team. It is also my role to examine what lessons can be learnt for the future, and give to relevant departments. A number of customers entrust keys to the company to aid deliveries, and I am responsible for managing and administrating all aspects of handling these keys, including queries relating to them. I also contact customers if any of their order becomes unavailable at the last minute and can't be delivered. I also undertake a number of other advanced administration tasks, such as card verification checks and checking for fraudulent accounts.

I need to have excellent communication and diplomacy skills, as I am often dealing with customers who are frustrated or annoyed. I must also communicate and liaise effectively with other departments within the company, both to resolve queries and ensure similar problems can be avoided in the future. As the number of queries that come to me can be unpredictable, I need excellent organisational skills and the ability to prioritise tasks. In resolving queries fully, I must be precise and pay attention to detail, ensuring all loose ends are tied up.

I like the variety of the role, as no two days are the same. My work does involve a number of routine tasks, but the detail within that routine is always different. I also find the work worthwhile, and I get satisfaction from successfully helping customers and the company.

There are some aspects of the work that I don't enjoy, like that it can be quite mentally fatiguing, and working a variety of shift patterns (for example 8am-5pm, 10.45am-7.45pm, with an early shift sometimes immediately following an late one) can make it more so.

Although my degree did not relate directly to this area of work, I feel that some of the skills I learnt at university have been useful in my current role. In particular, the collaborative and teamworking aspects of creating music have been highly relevant to working with people.