Call Centre Representative
Call Centre Representative at Thames Water, May to October 2012. Six months where communication wasn't part of the job — it was the job.
Thames Water
May 2012 – October 2012 · Reading
After working at sea as a photographer, my next chapter was considerably more landlocked.
I joined Thames Water as a Call Centre Representative, working directly with customers and helping resolve everything from everyday enquiries to complaints and ongoing service issues.
Learning to Really Listen
This was one of my first roles where communication wasn't just part of the job. It was the job.
When someone called because something had gone wrong, they didn't care about internal systems, departments or processes. They wanted somebody to understand the problem and help get it sorted.
I learned how to listen properly, ask the right questions and turn a sometimes messy conversation into something actionable.
Keeping Things Moving
Behind the phone calls was another challenge: organisation.
I managed service tickets, monitored voicemail queues and prioritised outstanding issues to stop work disappearing into a growing backlog.
It taught me an important distinction that has stuck with me ever since:
Six Months, Lasting Lessons
My time at Thames Water was relatively short, but the skills followed me into almost every role that came afterwards.
Customer service, problem solving, prioritisation, handling difficult conversations and taking ownership all became part of the toolkit.
Today I spend much more of my time diagnosing machines, fixing equipment and thinking about how technology can improve field service.
But underneath all of that is something I started learning properly here:
Listen. Understand the problem. Then make things better.