Member Support Specialist 

(Female, Age 32) from Austin, TX

This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 32 who works as a Member Support Specialist in Austin, TX. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.

At a Glance

Current Job

Basic data on your current job

Job Title Member Support Specialist
Salary $17,000
Other Compensation None Set
Hours/Week 20
Company Size (not answered)
Location Austin, TX
Years Experience 3 months

Career Ratings

Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)

Years in Career 0
Education (not answered)
Income Rating 0 / 10
Interest Rating 0 / 10
Work-Life Rating 0 / 10
Fulfilment Rating 0 / 10

Current job Q&A

Describe the type of organization you work for.
ucp texas is a local non-profit focusing on the issues facing people with disabilities especially in the area of accessible and affordable housing.

Describe your job role and responsibilities.
i am the member support specialist for our new americorps program. i oversee 20+ volunteers and offer program supprt for them.

Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
vacation and sick time

Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
under compensated

Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
yes, i work with people in my office as well as our satellite offices via phone and email. i love working with people, that’s why i’m in this line of work. it feels good to have common goal wike like-minded people.

Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes

Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes

Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
we collaborate with everyone in our office because we all have different skill sets.

Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 3
Benefits: 7
Hours: 4
Co-Workers: 2
Supervisors: 6
Job Title: 8
Level of Responsibility: 5
The Actual Work: 1

A day in the life of…

Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:

5am to 6am
6am to 7am
7am to 8am sleeping
8am to 9am wake up
9am to 10am get ready for work
10am to 11am eat lunch
11am to 12pm arrive at work, start out checking my phone messages and then my email.
12pm to 1pm this is when i return messages and emails. most days this takes two hours.
1pm to 2pm still returning emails. i get about 50 emails a day, and they vary from a simple reply of a couple of sentences to a very detailed message. a lot of my emails take a few back and forth exchanges before they are resolved.
2pm to 3pm meet with the project coordinator and project director to make sure we are all on the same page. this is where i discuss where i’m at on things, and this is where i’m given new assignments/projects.
3pm to 4pm this is when i do research for current projects and traings. my research generally takes place online or by meeting with co-workers.
4pm to 5pm work on projects and trainings, follow up with email and phone messages.
5pm to 6pm wrap things up and go home.
6pm to 7pm off
7pm to 8pm off
8pm to 9pm off
9pm to 10pm off
10pm to 11pm off
11pm to 12am off

Table of Contents

How you got your job

How did you get your current job?
friend sent me an online posting on a listserve

What was the application process?
resume, cover letter, writing samples, and salary cap

Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
yes, i had to interview with my current program director. she had a list of questions she asked me. not only did i answer them, i tried to ellaborate.

If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
why i wanted this job? example of something i saw through completion? what was my skill sets that related to the position? was i ok with the salary?

Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
no, there wasn’t even a job description and there is still a lot of ambiguity involved.

Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
no, but people/communication skills were a must.

Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
yes, my degree is in psycology and it really helps me relate to people and see things from different perspectives.

If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
no internship

If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
get involved in volunteering… it creates an opportunity for networking. i started out with americorps, and it opens so many doors.

What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
you need to be a people person and truly like helping people. you need to be a self starter and be able to work without lots of supervision. you need to be organized and motivated. also, you should be prepared to wear many “hats”.

Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
no, i learned everything on the job by just doing what was needed.

What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
be open minded and be ready to not have all the answers right away. the contacts you meet are invaulable, so do not burn bridges. and don’t go into this type of work for the money, or you’ll be disappointed.

Long-term career plans

Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
yes and no… i would like to own my own non-profit one day, but i want to be the executive director and not the member support.

What are your current career goals?
i want to own my own non-profit one day focusing on people with disabilities.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
the non-profit sector is a great way to make a diference in the world.

Prior work history

Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:

Title Length Salary Description
Prior Job 1 VMSU Technician 1 year 25000 americorps VISTA program assistant for the pacific coast. preformed administration duties as well as answer an 800# for 6000+ volunteers.
Prior Job 2 americorps VISTA 4 years 10000 worked at a disability non-profit as a grant writer.

Educational background

Please list your educational background:

High School GPA:4

GPA School Degree
College (Undergraduate)
or Technical/Vocational
2.9 Southwest Texas State/Texas State BA Psychology
Graduate or Professional
(Masters or Doctorate)
n/a

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