Ben Park

Hello. I’m Ben – and I’m looking for a job.
Doing what? Well I’m not sure.
We’re in a recession and there’s less opportunity than there once was, so I’m open to suggestions.

I’ve got a full driving licence and assuming I can find work in the near future, I still have my own car.

Experience? I’ve got lots.

IT Support – 4+ years.

I’m not Microsoft-certified, but have supported up to Microsoft 2003 SBS Server, complete with the usual software such as Veritas Backup Exec. As far as desktops go, my experience is Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and a little tiny bit of Windows 7.
As far as laptops go, I can replace a keyboard or hard drive, easy.
I’ve done all this in both small offices, and field-based.
My friends regularly turn to me for IT-based problems.

Retail – 9 months.

This was in a petrol station, in a group of two, with no supervision from management. Including cash handling, and (mostly) night work. It wasn’t so bad as a job, but it doesn’t pay well, involves working at night, the company wouldn’t pay for security, and I used to get people come in at 2am and shout abuse at me, from the other side of an MDF counter. All that made for a change of career, really.

Call Centres – 2 years.

Why not? Speaking to people all day isn’t so bad.
I’ve worked on an IT Helpdesk for AOL, and also for an overflow centre for the National Tax Credits Helpline, for people complaining. Essentially both involve people phoning you to complain, but with the IT Helpdesk, I could sometimes fix their problems. A government outsourced overflow department has no power to fix anything.

Administration – 1 year of temporary contracts.

As far as administration goes, I was the first point of contact for new students wishing to learn with Learndirect for 6 months, and I worked on reception for Bristol City Council for another 3-4 months.

My spelling is good, and I can type at 80+ wpm. See:

What would I like to do?

Something creative.
I’ve worked in community radio, and I like editing podcasts.
I’ve got a good ear (well two, actually), and I hate it when the sound quality isn’t to my exacting standards.
I’ve got a showreel of some of my more recent stuff, which you can listen to, here.

I enjoy traveling about all over the place. I don’t suffer road rage, and don’t have problems parking. Delivery-something? Parcels? Postman? Fine.

I’m good at fixing things (problem solving is a big skill), and obviously I’ve got a lot of IT experience, which I’m not just going to throw away. I like helping people, and I like resolving problems, so IT support seems like an obvious choice.

Marketing interests me. Both the advertising side, and the analytical side of it.
Google Analytics interests me a lot.
While I don’t have any direct commercial experience of marketing, I’ve somehow managed to get you to this page, and convince you to read it. That must count for something, right?

I’m pretty open minded, and an atheist, so if your company sells books at erotica fairs written by the transgender community – that’s fine with me.

What shouldn’t I do?

Sitting in one place all day doing the same repetitive thing. I will get bored, and you won’t get the best out of me.

I am too ugly to work in television, but I love radio. I’ve worked in hospital and community radio, and I’d love to get paid to work in production, or even just answering the phones.

I don’t have the confidence for selling either door-to-door or cold-calling.

The only thing I’m totally ruling out (at this point) is charity collecting. I don’t want to be the people fleecing OAPs out of their pensions, or pestering people in the street. I’ve been offered an agency placement for a company that phones people at home to try and get them to sign up to direct debits, for charities. I’ve been offered it once through an agency, and the company in question has both phoned and emailed me. I’m not interested in this sort of work.

Why did I leave my last job?

I wasn’t enjoying it, and wanted to leave.
Opportunity for progression isn’t important if you like your job.
If you don’t like your job, and there isn’t any opportunity for progression, then it’s time to leave.
I’d rather leave a job knowing I’ve put in the effort for 11 months, than be one of those people who has been there 10 years, complains to everyone about how they don’t like it, and does a job they don’t like every day, to afford 2 weeks in a villa in Cyprus every year.
I’m glad to say I left at a point where I was still working hard, on good terms, and they will provide a reference.

If you think I might be right for your company, please contact me at Twitter.com/BenPark or via email to hello@ben-park.co.uk.

N.B. If you tell me you’re a multinational company with a million vacancies I’d be perfect for, but you’ve got a Yahoo email address – then I reserve the right not to reply.