Jess Gunner Claims Management Officer RACQ

Take us back to the beginning. How did your career start?

The hustle began as soon as I was legally able to work. If I wasn’t at school, I was working! I had a job at an outlet department store at the age of 14, working part-time whilst in high school on the Sunshine Coast. Everything was going well, until my last year of high school when my mother passed away. It was a tough and overwhelming time for me. To add to my stress, my manager at the outlet department store lacked the empathy and understanding I needed whilst going through such a difficult period. I was just 17 years old experiencing what would be one of the hardest moments in my life, and I desperately needed that bare minimum of support from my manager to allow me to grieve. I had an opportunity to become a receptionist at a local hairdresser which wasn’t far from where I lived at the time, so I quickly quit my role at the outlet department store and started working a couple of days a week at the hairdresser whilst studying a diploma of beauty therapy.

I had a lot of fun in this workplace and I love working in beauty, but I wanted more. From here I used my receptionist experience to land a Personal Assistant role at an accounting firm in Woodford and worked there for about a year. At the same time, I fell pregnant with my first son, Caden, and became quite ill to the point that I couldn’t work full-time anymore.

I found a part-time hospitality job that was easier to juggle whilst pregnant and struggling with sickness, then once I had Caden I took a three-year break from working. I had another child in that time as well! I wanted to be there for my babies in those formative years, but towards the end of the third year I started thinking ‘I need to get back into work for my own sanity’.

I was a single mum at the time, so I needed financial stability to support my two children and myself. At the end of the day my kids come first, so working for a company that was going to be flexible and understanding of the fact that I was a single mum was so important.

I’ve always had managers who have had children themselves and have been flexible and understanding of what parenthood is like and how unpredictable having children is, so that’s been really nice.

Have you always wanted to pursue a career in Customer Experience?

Before working at RACQ, I saw work as a means to pay bills and nothing more. My main focus in life was being a mum, and to an extent it still is, but my job at RACQ sparked a fire in me. It had me thinking, “Actually, I want to climb the ladder here. I want to have a career and I want to excel.” I wanted to become the manager I needed when I was 17. I wanted to be compassionate and empathetic towards life hiccups whilst leading a team to success, so I began working towards that goal. I started off on the phones, managing claims then moving into a support role assisting a large team whilst taking opportunities to fill in for team leader roles when people were on leave.

What tips can you pass on to those wanting a career in Customer Experience?

What I’ve learned so far in my career is that putting in the work to achieve your goals doesn’t go unnoticed. Doing the work, being knowledgeable in your position, expressing your goals with your direct managers, and having the confidence to back yourself is what helped me progress to where I am today.

I lived on the Sunshine Coast for most of my life, and as much as I love the beaches and laid-back lifestyle, I was ready for a change after having Caden, so I made the move to Brisbane and happened to meet my partner at the same time as well! It was almost like I was meant to move. I found a Claims Consultant role with RACQ through Talentpath and haven’t looked back since. I’ve been lucky throughout my time at RACQ.