During the second semester of my sophomore year, I had the opportunity to work for Senator Shirley K. Turner's office. She is the New Jersey Senator for the 15th district, of which my school is a part. I worked for 120 hours over the course of the semester in tandem with my studies of Women in the Legislative process. I was responsible for taking phone calls and messages throughout my day, as well as additional duties that were assigned as necessary. I spearheaded the organizational methods for inputting and maintaining the database of constituents who submitted their opinion New Jersey's vehicle law that was discussed at the time. I also was responsible for completing legal research on taser legislation and the effects of tasers, farmland assessment and the loopholes that wealthy people and organizations were exploiting, medical marijuana and the effect of it on California and more. I attended a meeting of the New Jersey Senate's Womens' Caucus, which was newly formed that semester. Towards the end of the semester, I represented Senator Turner at an awards ceremony in Elizabeth, NJ to accept her award in her stead.
Throughout my collegiate experience, I have worked at TCNJ's Kendall Hall as well.
I have been there since my Freshman year as a Theatre Technician. I have designed and subsequently provided the lighting, sound and stage setup for countless presentations, talks, theatrical performances and other uses of the theatre buildings. I have supervised many groups' use of the theatre, from building to rehearsing and staging. I maintain the building, which includes organizing the rooms for props, costumes and scene pieces, keeping the workroom cleaned repairing equipment and reporting building issues to the appropriate College staff. Finally, as a senior staff member, I take part in training the new members of the Kendall Hall Staff. I have worked at Kendall alongside my school responsibilities since I arrived at TCNJ.
Besides my experiences as an intern and theatre technician, I have a lot of viable experiences in Customer Relations. I worked in various retail positions for 6 years, including Knollcrest Furnishings, L'eggs Hanes Bali Playtex, Sunglass Hut, Victoria's Secret and more.
My responsibilities at Knollcrest, a local furniture store, were broad. I was responsible for the entire front room, payroll and time sheets, business cards, presentation cards, creating the brochure for the company, maintaining the mailing list, cash register, technological health, advertising and opening and closing procedures.
At L'eggs Hanes Bali Playtex, my responsibilities were a lot more customer centered and I learned my service skills there. I was, of course, still responsible for organizing the store, opening and closing, cash register and maintaining the store's appearance, but I was also responsible for the customer experience from the moment they walked in to the moment they left. I grew to recognize over 200 individual products with poor descriptions or small pieces of information provided by the customer. I was a Fitting Specialist, with over three years of fitting and consultation experience under my belt. Even the managers would recommend customers come to me with difficult questions and wardrobe issues to solve. I left for college, and there was no store nearby my school, so I had to leave the store as well.
My other retail experiences were unique and helpful in each their own way. I've learned about the psychology of buying, providing excellent customer service and how to deal with people of different personalities, whether I have to work with them as a team or merely alongside them. I learn quickly and efficiently what I need to know for new positions and adapt to my environment as necessary. My "people skills" are strong due to these experiences as well. From customers to co-workers and managers, people vary in the retail environment and I have learned to work well with all of them.