The tourism industry has taken up a substantial part of Fiji’s workforce due to its beautiful beaches and fantastic weather. While this is good for the country, positions in the industry generally have very little growth and small wages. In comparison, over the last few decades, the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry has been able to open up new opportunities across the islands.
Courtney Robinson has taken advantage of these new opportunities by joining our team. When interviewed by MDF for their 2021 Annual Report, she shared her experiences moving from the Tourism Industry to joining Our Pacific Office. Discover the interview here.
My name is Courtney Robinson. I am pretty sure it’s rude to ask a lady for her age, but alas, I shall oblige – I am 28 years young (turning 29, but we can keep that between us for now), and I am from Labasa, Vanua Levu, vasu i Kocoma Qamea.
Giving you an exact number of members in my family is proving to be slightly tricky, as I have seen many brothers and sisters pass through my home. However, if we’re being technical, my parents, two brothers, myself, and my soon to be five-year-old daughter make up my little family.
My responsibilities within this campaign have evolved drastically over the last few months, and I expect them to continue changing with time. As I write this, I am currently managing three separate portfolios:
How Outsourcing Can Help Your Businesses and Team Grow
Before joining Our Pacific Office, I was employed by Marriott International as a Reservation Sales Agent. I was based at the Westin Denarau Island Resort & Spa. I was part of a 15 member team that looked after room reservations for Westin Resort, Sheraton Fiji Resort, Sheraton Denarau Villas and Sheraton Tokoriki Island Resort.
I began my tenure here at Our Pacific Office in October 2020. I like to think that finding this job was the universe miraculously working in my favour, as it happened when I was in desperate need of a job. Due to the global pandemic that shook the world in 2020, international travel ceased, borders were closed, and the tourism industry in Fiji crumbled.
Marriott International tried to cater to its employees for as long as possible, but eventually, they had to let people go. I was made redundant in February 2020, and instead of looking for work right away, I decided that I would stay home for a few months and take care of my daughter. I was not too concerned about finances at the time, as I was receiving assistance through FNPF.
By September 2020, however, the assistance ceased, and I was placed in a position where I needed to find some form of employment – I needed to work again to look after my little girl. I poured over the classifieds section of both The Fiji Times and Fiji Sun newspapers but could not find a vacancy for a job that stood out to me.
Two weeks passed, and I was still yet to find work. It just so happened that a close friend of mine was also looking for a job at the time, and she suggested that I look on a website called MyJobs Fiji. I remember quite clearly that the first advertisement I came across on the website happened to be one that Our Pacific Office posted. They were advertising a position for an Administration role for a medical practice, which instantly piqued my interest. In particular, the role was for a psychology/psychiatry practice; having studied psychology at University, it was a perfect fit for me.
It was unlike anything that I had ever applied for in the past, and judging by the brief job description provided, I knew that it would be challenging – I just had to try. I submitted my application for the position, was called in for an interview two days later, and the rest was history.
I am now nearly 18 months in, with three portfolios under my belt, and I have acquired a great deal of organisational and business management knowledge.
I’m going to be completely honest and admit that the first time I learned anything about Our Pacific Office was when I found the job advertisement. I worked at Mindpearl in Suva for a short time, and I initially thought that OPO was something like it; I learnt very quickly that I was very wrong. When I had my first interview with the OPO Directors, Brad and Tracy Russell, I was given more information on what the company was all about, and I found myself drawn in by the vision they had for the company and the services they provided.
At the beginning of it all, I made the switch because I needed a job. Still, as I progressed through the selection process and learned more about the company, I became even more determined to secure the job because I wanted to be part of everything Brad and Tracy stood for.
Listening to how passionate the couple were about creating job opportunities for the locals and their determination to continuously expand motivated me to do everything I could to get the job.
Equally excited and scared. I was excited because this was an excellent opportunity to learn something entirely new and push myself to take on challenges. I was scared because I was not sure if I could deliver the expected quality of work. Nevertheless, I was determined to do my absolute best every single day and succeed.
I work 9-hour shifts with a 1-hour lunch break, from Mondays to Fridays with weekends off. I do work full-time, yes.
Both my parents are now retired, and I have become the family’s sole breadwinner. I am proud to say that I can comfortably provide for my family financially because of this role and our Pacific Office’s job security. I have also applied several skills that I’ve learnt on the job to my personal life, such as organising my plans and finances.
To say that this role has been challenging is an understatement. Learning an entirely different culture, medical system, and company procedures based in another country has been some of the most challenging things I have ever had to do.
I rose to the challenge and have grown in leaps and bounds professionally and intellectually because I chose to learn as much as possible to benefit myself and the client. Not only have I experienced an exceptional amount of personal development, but I have also been able to witness my team grow as well. I have the privilege of imparting the knowledge that I have to the young women on my team and actively contributing to their professional development and growth.
What started as a team of two has grown to a team of nine members in a matter of months. With that, I believe there are many more to come. Watching these young women take on roles that are unlike anything that can be offered locally and seeing them succeed while doing so is the most rewarding thing about this job.
I have yet to begin officially, but I have decided to take a Business Management course at FNU. I can confidently say that my role here at Our Pacific Office has dramatically influenced my choice!
It is a massive change from what I had set out to pursue when I was younger, but after being in this role for the past year, I am sure now that this is the field that I want to be in for the long run. Thanks to this job, I like to think that I am exceptional at what I do, and I have the practical knowledge to suit. Now I just need to work on my qualifications to match that. I am sure it will allow me to grow to higher senior positions with my client.
I guess that brings us to the end of my little story. I immensely enjoyed answering these questions, and I hope you have enjoyed reading. Thank you!