Experiences at general services administration

Must be willing to take on tasks outside normal duties to help the team.

Typing using: MS-Word 98, Excel, and Power Point. Provided administrative and secretarial support to the Director, Deputy Director and Branch Chiefs. Maintain calendar, schedule appointments, organize meeting and make travel arrangements. Answer phone, determine needs, direct calls and resolve issues. Respond quickly to indivdual projects and complete them in a timely manner. Review and distribute incoming mail, manage correspondence as needed. Composed letters, memo and reports of a routine or recurring nature, greet clients. Maintain a variety of office files(including suspense files)....

A large project that I worked on at GSA was a major program overhaul in July of 2004. Through internal analysis we determined that our then current credit card program was costly and not as secure as it could have been. After performing a large amount of market research, we settled on a new card platform. This change would save upwards of $1 million dollars; a savings that we were able to pass on to our customers, and ultimately, a savings to taxpayers everywhere.

The next challenge was how to get the word out? Our policies and procedures, already very detailed, would have to be ammended, field staff trained, and over 200,000 cardholders would have to be educated. The first thing I focused on were internal meetings with my colleagues in Central Office. As the body providing guidance to the field, it was essential for all of us to speak with one voice. Once dates were agreed upon, the next step was educating our nationwide staff. A tool I found useful was a Q&A style newsletter formulated from the questions and comments I received via email. The newsletters, coupled with weekly conference calls, helped to disseminate the information and once again get us all on the same playing field.

Finally, after all of this education, we were ready to address our customers. At this point, no matter whom the customer was speaking with within GSA, the information was clear and crisp. Our field staff were not only essential in speaking with their local customers, but crucial to our vendors (the ones accepting the new card), as they also paid them visits. As a final measure I presented all of this information in two speeches, to an audience of our customers and vendors. One talk took place prior to the implementation, and the other just after we began the new program.

Overall this endeavor was a great success, and it only reinforced to me how very important teamwork and communication at all levels is....

I networked with a fellow graduate student at GWU. He worked at GSA and need help with the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Program. I needed a job, and it sounded like an excellent opportunity to make a difference and be creative.