Empowering the next generation is one of our top priorities, and that doesn’t only mean for young entrepreneurs. It’s also the people that make PayFast what it is – the awesome individuals who we are lucky enough to call our fellow PayFastians. As we reflect on Youth Month and what it represents, Farieda Martin, one of our Account Managers writes about her experience of joining PayFast as a young Customer Services Agent during the height of lockdown and her journey of growing and being promoted to the Business Development department.
Why I chose to work at PayFast
Like many, I was retrenched just before COVID-19 took hold, and once lockdown was done, I was back to job hunting. I wanted to work for a company that had a similar culture to the company I worked at previously, but what I got at PayFast was something way better!
I started in the Customer Services team, but I made it known that customer service was not my end goal; I wanted to grow within the online payments space. The Management team in the Customer Service department were very supportive and gave me the relevant guidance I needed to upskill myself and make the most of my time there to learn about what PayFast does inside and out, the complexities of the online payments industry and, arguably most importantly, how to provide a valuable solution to help our merchants grow their online business with secure online payments.
Moving from Customer Services to Business Development
Once I felt confident that I had learnt everything that I could as a Customer Service agent, I looked at various departments to see what would be the best fit for me. The Business Development Department sparked my interest because they get to problem solve for some of PayFast’s bigger merchants, taking their suggestions to the various departments to make our service better and one of the best in the payments industry.
When a Key Account Manager role became available I applied and, to my surprise, the Department Head felt that I would be a perfect addition to their team. I was promoted from Customer Services within a year, which shows that my eagerness for growth did not go unnoticed, and that’s what I love about PayFast – we are all given the opportunity to grow.
How I upskilled myself
I always want to be the best at what I do, so I decided to do an online Business Development course through UCT and Get Smarter. After a lot of hard work and studying after-hours, I’m proud to say that I received my certificate of completion in June 2022.
So, for our youth, I’d like to say that you don’t have to know right now what you want to do after you matriculate. I only figured out what career path I wanted to follow once I started working; I didn’t have a plan after high school and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
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