Liam’s journey to success in Technology

Ambition, willingness to learn and passion for technology were the things Liam Venables needed to take the leap from store to Support Office.

Liam has spent almost five years at Specsavers and now as a Business Analyst, he has a holistic understanding of the business and a breadth of skills in Technology.

He joined the Specsavers Pakenham store in 2015 as a Dispensing Assistant and after twelve months in this role, he had the opportunity to come into Support Office for three days a week to support the Technology Team with the Genesys Integration in New Zealand.

He thrived on this project learning new things, but mainly enjoyed the culture and support he received from his team to develop his skills.

When the project was finished, there was an opportunity to join the Technology team as the Service Desk Analyst.

“I was interested in exploring opportunities outside the retail environment, but still with a connection to customer service, so I thought I would take a chance and luckily I was successful,” he said.

He said when he started on the Service Desk, he was confident with the business and systems in store, but knew he had to learn the technical side of things. “I knew this would be a challenge, but I was halfway there with my prior experience and just needed to learn the programs and technical side of the role.”

When supporting stores, he utilised many of the key customer service skills he learnt in stores and applied them in Support Office.

“When a customer is choosing glasses in store, you need to talk to them and understand what they need, sometimes you need to ask the right question, to get the right answer – similarly to guiding someone through a technical issue in store.”

Liam said throughout his role, he spent a lot of time learning from other people in his team. “I had a lot of support and everyone was always willing to help.”

After nearly two years in the Service Desk, he had the opportunity to continue learning by taking on some projects with more responsibilities, leading him to a putting his hand up for a role in Incident Management and then onto his current role, as Business Analyst.

“I’d always recommend stretching your skills and pushing yourself for more opportunities. The more you’re willing to learn, the more opportunities will come to you,” he said.

“My favourite part about working in Technology is that you have a touchpoint across everything in the business, including, Supply Chain, Retail, Optometry, Audiology and other corporate lines of the business,” he said.

He said he enjoys the environment and culture in Support Office too. “The people are great, really flexible and everyone wants to help each other and reach common goals.”

Interested in taking a similar path to Liam? Apply today to the Service Desk Analyst role available in the Port Melbourne Support Office.