Ayman Ali

Team Leader RACQ

Take us back to the beginning of your career.

It wasn’t a linear path! If we go right back to the beginning, I actually studied and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture while working part-time as a receptionist at a gym in New Zealand. After finishing my degree, I went on to work in a kitchen, quickly working my way up from Kitchenhand to Prep Chef. Ready to apply my learnings from my study, I then completed 6 months of work experience in the landscape field for a council in New Zealand. Although the experience was fun, an opportunity came up to help my dad with his business where I managed the admin side of things.

I made the move from New Zealand to Australia and started driving trucks for an energy drink company. Surprisingly, this role was classified as an essential service during the pandemic, and I continued to work up until our fourth or fifth wave of COVID-19 in 2021, but by that point, I was ready for a career change. I reached out to Talentpath to see what opportunities were out there and shortly after I started at RACQ in their contact centre insurance team. I had zero insurance background but had an eagerness to learn and do well. Starting in a Claims Management Officer role, I worked my way up into a Claims Assistant role, which then led to an opportunity to lead a team.

My managers recognised my ability to connect with people and I had made a good impression to the point that they saw leadership potential in me. They approached me to take on a management position, and to be perfectly honest I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I enjoyed what I was doing. But as soon as I was asked the question, ‘Would you like to lead a team of people?’ – a switch was flicked. I knew I could have more impact on people in my team by being their manager and leading them.

In less than 18 months I had gone from knowing nothing about the industry to then training new starters in a management position. I had incredible mentors from the get-go who provided me with the tools I needed to succeed. It was just up to me to be proactive and push myself to get to that next level, so I took the opportunity and haven’t looked back since.

What hurdles have you faced so far in your career?

The knowledge gap when I started my career in insurance. There were a couple of instances where people who had an insurance background were hired and moved up the ranks faster than I did because they had that background knowledge. It’s a given that would happen, and whilst it was a setback for me, I turned it into a challenge. I pushed myself to see where else I could show value to make myself stand out. Even though it was something I identified as a hurdle, I was still able to move quite quickly to a management role. I made it known to management that I wanted to help people in a leadership position and had incredible mentors that were truly invested in my growth, so I do think that really fast-tracked my journey and gave me the confidence I needed to do that.

Tips for anyone wanting to move into a management position in the customer experience field?

I swear by the AAA method (in the context of a contact centre environment) – it’s being adaptable, approachable, and available. I believe embodying all those things helped me get to where I am now. Being adaptable by showing the ability to learn new information quickly and take on a new industry such as insurance, having an approachable attitude so my managers knew that I was always looking to progress, and being available for my peers and managers to show I’m there for them at all times.

In the context of leading teams, being available is so important. I show up for my team to show them that they can progress the same way that I did. I wouldn't have been able to work my way up if my managers weren't making time for me, and now I want to do the same for my team.