Celebrating International Women’s Day – Meet Tempo’s Paula Fisher
Did you know Tempo Time Credits can support individuals to gain extra qualifications and work experience for their dream jobs?
For this year’s International Women’s Day, we thought we’d share the experience of our Finance Assistant Paula Fisher and how she did just that to land her dream job of working at Tempo!
Paula was sadly made redundant twice, the second time a matter of weeks before the pandemic as the charities she was working for chose to restructure their operations. Retaining the determination to get back into the workplace quickly she identified that she needed to learn new skills.
She approached Working Wales during lockdown which offers free advice, guidance, and access to training to help people to get into work or further their careers. Here she gained extra qualifications in SAGE Accounts and excel spreadsheets through the Welsh Government’s ReAct programme, which helped to secure her appointment with Tempo.
Many of our volunteers use their volunteering experience and their Tempo Time Credits to improve their skills for the work place. Paula’s example is proof that it not only works but that there are some amazing charities and organisations out there helping people change their lives.
Paula’s success in reskilling and gaining re-employment so quickly was featured on Wales Online last year, you can read the full article here, and you can read more about Paula herself below.
Where are you based?
Working from home in Porthcawl, South Wales
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
I’m highly self motivated and lucky that I love my job so it’s easy for me to give it my all! There is also a bonus that I have a fantastic work/life balance. Work days I look forward to completing my daily tasks I’ve already decided on at least the day before and play days I try and make each day count.
What does a typical day at work look like?
I thrive on variety and no two days are the same which is perfect for me! Though a typical day would be to look at all my emails first to see what needs to be actioned. I have a continuous list that I keep of “Things to do” – that comes next in order of importance. Accounts are a monthly cycle so it could be Bank Reconciliation, Data Entry, Accounts and Payroll on any given day.
What’s the biggest challenge of your role?
Making sure that with the Finance Director we have a clean Audit. I have a new challenge coming up shortly when we bring Xero Payroll in-house.
What are you most excited about within the business – both now and in the future?
I love the passion and commitment of my colleagues and the positive attitude that everyone shares. The Future is looking bright especially with our new CEO steering the ship.
Within your role, what are you most proud of?
Getting a job well done and that I learn from my mistakes and put things in place so that they don’t happen again! I’m also part of a Wellbeing Group – I love connecting with my colleagues.
Do you have time to volunteer, if so where and why?
Not at the moment, but I did a lot of supermarket shopping during the COVID lockdowns for people who couldn’t leave their homes for one reason or another. Hopefully, I will sort some volunteering out in the near future.
Share something your colleagues won’t know about you?
For over 2 years I used to organise and take part in doing a Sunday lunchtime quiz in a local pub (before the pub shut) raising money for local children. We raised quite a lot of money.
