Liam crosses borders to pursue his career with Specsavers Canada
Liam Venables started his journey with Specsavers six years ago, working in-store as an Optical Assistant for 18 months. He then helped to rollout a new Practice Management System to our New Zealand stores. While working on this project, Liam applied for a Service Desk Analyst position and transitioned into this role shortly after.
“I helped stores, support office and supply chain users resolve their day-to-day issues. I then joined the new Major Incident and Problem team to help restore service interruptions quickly and fix the root cause of recurring issues,” says Liam.
Liam felt the need to challenge himself again and transitioned into the role of IT Business Analyst (BA) where he currently delivers IT projects enabling Specsavers stores to provide better services to customers.
Liam knew that when moving into the BA role, he wouldn’t have all the solutions upfront, but over time, he would be confident to make an impact in the role.
“Initially, I felt like I was out of my depth but there was so much support to help me grow and perform the job well, I was also able to rely on my experience and existing knowledge,” says Liam.
To help Liam become confident in his role, he took up as much training and development as possible.
“I look for any opportunities to grow my communication and business engagement skills by volunteering to assist with projects.
“I also work on my documentation skills by always jumping at the chance to write knowledge base articles and how-to guides,” adds Liam.
With his expertise translating across borders, Liam will soon relocate to Specsavers Canada to help with various IT projects rolling out across the country. This opportunity will fulfil his dream of making an impact across North America and give him the challenge he has been seeking.
“I felt I could add value with the experience I gained from store and service desk and use that experience to deliver projects to our Canadian stores and help them provide better eye and ear care,” says Liam.
We asked Liam what advice he would give to others looking to make a career transition but unsure where to start.
“I recommend always keeping a lookout and trying different opportunities even if you feel like you’re under qualified or don’t have the experience.
“Specsavers provide support to help people grow in their roles. Look at any positions that interest you and speak to the Talent Acquisition team to find out what skills you need to take that next step,” adds Liam.