Well for starters I really lucked out on getting the Reception job at CLBC!
I was on leave for a while and not working at the time; I was with a job group called Polaris. One day the Director of Polaris mentioned the BOE Program to me. It was a course at Douglas College in New Westminster called Basic Occupation Education. You can take Retail, Electronics or Food Safety.
I was interested in trying something new so I started doing the retail program, it was challenging for me, but I did manage to overcome a lot of it. My career goal was really to be able to get some type of office work. I was at the BOE program for 4-5 months and it was really helping me. One afternoon the Director of Polaris came into the school and told me about a position that had just come up at CLBC’s Head Office in Vancouver for reception work.
I was so excited as I had done some relief receptionist work at another job before. I applied for the job at CLBC and got an interview and the job! This June 26th I will have been at CLBC 10 years!
The jobs that I do as a receptionist are:
- Answering phone calls
- Greet people at the front
- Book meeting rooms and check for double bookings
- Organize file room, also do photocopying, scanning and faxing and do other projects for staff when needed
- Make coffee and set up meeting rooms if they need a coffee set up too
- Organizes the incoming mail and out going mail
- Call for couriers to arrange pick ups
- Unload supplies and distribute to staff or put in file room
- Do all other related jobs as need
- Some typing documents on Word as well
- Filing paperwork
- Call for cabs for guests when they attend meetings at the head office
I also keep the reception information table and the reception area tidy too. All the work I do at CLBC has meaning to it and I am always happy to clean up something or make coffee when asked as that is all part of the receptionist job duties.
It’s nice to know that people with disabilities can get jobs like mine. I forget sometimes that I have a disability because I get treated with so much respect at work. When I first joined CLBC I pinched myself to see if I was dreaming because I never had a job like this before.
Cheryl Fryfield
Self Advocate of Vancouver.
