CURRICULUM VITAE


Name:			Mr Carl Benjamin

Address:		11 Newhall St
			Swindon
			Wiltshire
			SN1 5QS

Telephone:		07765538309 - Mobile

Email:			intotheaether@hotmail.co.uk

Date of Birth:		02 September 1979

Nationality:		British

KEY SKILLS

•	Expanded knowledge of HTML and good experience with CSS,  PHP, MySQL, Photoshop and various other internet-based applications, website design and maintenance
•	Expert PC diagnosis, repair and configuration; hardware and software inclusive
•	Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Network configuration, and good experience with network protocols
•	Comprehensive knowledge of MS Office
•	Good Experience with Visual Basic, Visual Studio 2008 and web development
•	Excellent customer service skills, in person and via telephone

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

May 2007 – Present 	Web Developer/Publisher
			Science and Technology Facilities Council
			Polaris House
North Star Avenue
Swindon
SN2 1SZ

This position was an amalgamation of several website duties and various other technical responsibilities.

•	A member of the four-person Web Team, responsible for administration and development of the main STFC website (http://www.stfc.ac.uk/) as well as the British National Space Centre (BNSC) website (http://www.bnsc.gov.uk/), internal intranet and the myriad of semi-independent websites required by the installations the STFC is involved in.
•	Performed the user testing, as well as the creation of a wiki, blogs and a community. In addition, wrote the user manuals for each one, which are now issued to new users as standard practice.



The position required good knowledge of the following:

•	HTML/XHTML
•	Javascript
•	CSS
•	PHP and MySQL and ADO/Access databases
•	Visual Studio 2008
•	Photoshop CS2
•	Ability to use Contensis and in-house CMS’s
•	Validation and accessibility web standards

I was responsible for creating new content for the entire About Us section of the STFC website (the largest section).  I was also heavily involved in the architectural restructuring of the website and the redesign of the display view of the site.

Excellent communications skills were required for this role, as most work was received by email but would require extended instruction as the initial request would rarely encompass all aspects required of the work.

These requests were mostly from managers or directors and referred to the general layout or look of the STFC website.

Ref: Zahra Mogul (Zahra.mogul@stfc.ac.uk)

Feb 2007 – May 2007 	Laptop Technician
			Mikrolive LTD
			Shrivenham 100 Business Park
			Swindon

The duties of this position were purely laptop and desktop diagnosis and repair. A full working knowledge of how to remove all components and reassemble with replacement parts in full working order was required.

Aug 2006 – Feb 2007 	Customer Advisor
			Book Club Associates
			Greenbridge Industrial Estate
			Swindon

This position is mainly a customer service role, dealing with a heavy volume of calls per day.  The position requires you to resolve any number of customer-focused issues to the satisfaction of the customer.

Other duties included making outgoing calls to customers when needed or appropriate.

May 2006 – July 2006	Data Processor
			ATM Services
			Nationwide House
			Pipers Way
			Swindon

This position was a temporary position within the ATM maintenance and scheduling department within Nationwide House.

The position’s duties included:

•	Take incorrect incoming data pertaining to the levels of cash within ATM machines across the country and compile them onto the in-house database system for archiving.
•	Keep records of what machines had been administered, and when.

The job itself is very difficult to master, due to the age and complexity of the systems used. Despite the simplicity of the principal, this was a very subtle position that required and excellent eye for detail; a single zero or decimal point out of place could cause an entire afternoon’s worth of work.

Jan 2006- May 2006	Web Developer/Intranet Administrator
			Channel Support
			Nationwide House
			Pipers Way
			Swindon

This position was primarily dedicated to the creation and maintenance of the Building Our Future Together (BOFT) website, which was used to support the multi-million pound BOFT initiative.   The site was viewed by all Nationwide Employees throughout the country, so accuracy was essential.

Duties included:

•	Fluent knowledge of HTML, XHTML, CSS and an ability to code any requirements for the intranet site.
•	Good knowledge of Macromedia Homesite, Adobe Dreamweaver and Photoshop CS2.
•	Use of Javascript and PHP to create on-line questionnaires.
•	Create websites for other departments, such as the online NSSP training manual intranet site, and many others.
•	Consulted on request when any colleagues required help with HTML coding.
•	Assist with various Word and Excel duties – for example, producing 550 graphs in two days for a meeting to determine the efficiency of the BOFT project.

Deadline efficacy was paramount for this role, as the BOFT project was company-wide and extremely important.

This position ended on 5th May, when the BOFT project was concluded.

Ref: Marguerite Sackey (marguerite.sackey@nationwide.co.uk)

Nov 2005- Jan 2006 	Telephone Operator
			Dairy Crest LTD
			Manor Road
			Westcott Place
			Swindon
			SN1 4SY

The responsibilities for this position were to answer incoming calls from customers, take any special requests or amendments to future orders, and call wholesale customers to take large orders for them. The position also included light office duties.

This position was a temporary position to cover the Christmas / New Year period.


Sept 2005- Oct 2005 	Scheduling Coordinator
Johnson Controls LTD
			Hillmeades Industrial Estate
			Swindon

The Scheduling Coordinator was responsible for ensuring that air conditioner engineers were sent to the correct destinations at the correct times, whenever a customer reported a fault, and creating a record of the query.

This position was temporary; Johnson Controls are a subsidiary of an American company, and the position was to cover until the end of the American financial year (October).

May 2004–May 2005	Escalation Team Member
Medion UK
120 Faraday Park
Faraday Rd
Swindon
SN3 5JF

This was a supervisory position within Medion.  The team structure meant that I answered directly to my team leader, and supervised 6-8 second-line technical support agents, and 4-6 first-line data entry agents.

The escalation agents were all chosen from the 2nd-line agents for their technical expertise and excellent customer service skills.

Duties and responsibilities included:

•	Providing 3rd-line support to the technical support agents.
•	Perform a significant amount of research, as most problems were outside the scope of standard solutions
•	Provide managerial support to customers, and handling customers who were not satisfied with the service that had been provided.
•	The escalation team also took incoming calls from stores (Toy’s ‘R Us, Staples, PC World, Aldi) in which Medion products were sold, and were expected to liaise successfully with them, solving any problems presented quickly and professionally.
•	Opening up and closing down of the main office building, ensuring all security features were active and the building was secure.
•	Every second weekend would require an escalation team member to work a Saturday or Sunday shift, which entailed the regular duties in addition to the sole maintenance of the support hotline and all problems that occurred during that time period.

The members of the Escalation team all had to be extremely self-motivated, as there was no structure or references within Medion for the job – We literally had to take each case as it came, and very rarely were there two cases with the same problem.

Aug 2003–May 2004	Technical Support Agent
Medion UK
120 Faraday Park
Faraday Rd
Swindon
SN3 5JF

This position involved receiving incoming technical support queries, solving end user problems over the phone and diagnosing hardware failures on a wide variety of products.

Products supported include:

•	Desktop and laptop PCs.
•	PDAs and GPS navigation systems using specialised Navtec software.
•	Providing full software support to Medion customers in a variety of top-name programs.  It also involved research into problems and finding solutions, however unlikely.

Other duties:

•	Provide intranet support to other support agents via articles available company-wide, most notably I contributed a full walk-through on how to use and soft-repair the GPS units.
•	Performing research into the technical aspects of latest Medion product releases and pre-empting any foreseeable problems.

Apr 2003–June 2003	Kitchen Porter
Hendra Holiday Park
			Newquay

In this position I was responsible for maintaining a safe and clean kitchen, ensuring everything ran smoothly and serving customers if needed.

June 2002–Dec 2002	Data Entry Clerk
Barclays Bank
			Coventry

Responsible for inputting data concerning fraudulent transactions against Barclays Bank. This position also included some general office duties.

May 2001–Oct 2001	VDU Operator
Target Express Worldwide Parcels
			Swindon

Responsible for handling any worldwide deliveries.   This position required particularly good attention to detail.

Duties included:

•	Entering data onto an in-house system
•	Preparing the packages for delivery, ensuring that they match the paperwork assigned to them and sent to the correct destination.

If a mistake was made, it would have potentially cost the company thousands in delivery charges, as a package could weigh over a ton.   As a result of this, accuracy was paramount.

This position also included general office duties, such as filing the consignment notes after all of the consignments had been completed.


EDUCATION

Sep 1997 – Jun 1999	St Austell College
			St Austell, Cornwall

			A Level Computer Science	- B
			A Level Biology			- E
			A Level General Studies 	- E

Sep 1993 – Jul 1997	Windsor School
			BFPO 40, Germany

			8 GCSE’s grade B - D


GENERAL INFORMATION

An avid fan of badminton, rock music, world and military history, world religions and socialising, not necessarily in that order!

REFERENCES

Available on request