Customer Service

After not having a job for 9 months during freshman year, I was very excited to return to my favorite job from high school: working at the Issaquah REI! Even better, while I was at school, some of my best friends started working at REI, and it was so fun to work alongside them. I decided I wanted a job for the school year and applied to several jobs in U-District. I successfully got a job offer from the Suzzallo Starbucks. They wanted to train me before the start of the school year, so for about a month after my summer class ended, I was balancing two jobs. This was a challenge, but I loved learning to become a barista and ended up leaving REI before fall quarter started. One of my coworkers at REI believed that it took working a job in both food and retail to make someone a good person who appreciates customer service. After working both food and retail, I would say I agree. Working two different styles of customer service jobs greatly improved my interpersonal skills, problem-solving, time management, and leadership. One example I have leaned on in interviews is a problem-solving story from when I worked in footwear at REI. I had a customer come in, needing hiking shoes for her trip that she was leaving for the next day. She was a women’s size 5.5. Unfortunately, the lowest most of our hiking shoes went was a women's size 6. I told her we did not have her size, but suggested she try a kid’s shoe in size 4. She decided to try it, and it fit perfectly! Not only did my suggestion get her the shoes she needed, but she also had a much cheaper solution going forward. Many people say that healthcare is an extreme version of customer service. With my background in two different styles of customer service, I feel equipped to listen and problem-solve while helping my future patients.

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Working two different styles of customer service jobs greatly improved my interpersonal skills, problem-solving, time management, and leadership.