I was employed as the office manager and executive assistant at Connor Development Services Ltd. (CDSL) in June of 1983, took a two-year mid-life retirement in 1987-88 to travel, returning to the job in January 1989. In 1991, I was temporarily laid off for eight months (January to August) due to lack of work. I was laid off again in June 1999 when Desmond and Etta Connor became semi-retired. As this was a one-person office, I was not only responsible for its day-to-day operation, I performed all the work required to keep it operating, e.g. bookkeeping, desktop publishing, website design, database design and management, secretarial, invoicing, etc. CDSL acquired their first computer in 1985 and are now operating three Power Macintoshes. A detailed job description is available at www.crunchers.bc.ca/vicky/connor.html. Currently, CDSL is one of my clients. I spend a day or two pre month at their office, doing their monthly bookkeeping and any computer maintenance which is required. I also maintain their website and do the occasional desktop publishing job for them out of my home office. In 1983, I started my own part-time freelance business, Girl Thursday Office Services, specializing in typing and accounting. Upon acquiring a computer in 1986, I changed the name to Word Crunchers, Etc. (www.crunchers.bc.ca/vicky) and changed the focus to desktop publishing and computer training. When the World Wide Web was developed in 1994, I added website design and training to my business services. I have approximately 10 years pre-computer and 16 years computerized office experience. I have been a member of the Victoria Macintosh Users Group (VMUG) since November 1985, served as its president for two and a half years from May 1994 to December 1996, as its webmaster from 1995 to 1998 and was elected as vice-president in December 2000. In January 1996, I started a group for website designers, the Web Enthusiasts Association of Victoria (WEAV) and served one year as its first president. I have also planned and coordinated booths at the annual computer show for VMUG (three times) and WEAV (once). Currently my volunteer activities consist of my position on the board of directors of VMUG and writing a monthly column on Internet related subjects for VMUG's monthly newsletter, MACtalk (see my website library at www.crunchers.bc.ca/vicky/library). I also assist at VMUG's annual garage sale and volunteer to work in both VMUG's and WEAV's booths at the annual computer show every fall. A variety of past employment and education lead to my current skills and experience. I was born in Victoria and graduated from Victoria High School. After graduation, I attended a local business school to improve my typing speed and acquire accounting skills. My first job was in the Finance Ministry of the Provincial Government, where I worked in the bond section of the Provincial Treasury. Later, I also worked in the Purchasing and Sales Tax sections. I took a few years off when my two daughters were born before starting a new career in retail sales. I worked for Sears and rose to assistant manager of a department in less than a year. I stayed until my position was cut due to the economy. Then, I worked for Zellers, working my way up from being head of a small department to a supervisor of several departments. As I wanted to spend time with my family and do the office work for my husband's electrical business, I decided to work part-time for a few years. During this time, I also attended night school at Camosun College for four years, and earned a diploma in Business Management. After my children were in school full-time I returned to Zellers as head of a large department. When I became a single parent I decided to return to office work so I would be working when my children were in school. I attended Camosun College full-time, improving my typing skills and completing a six-month Accounting Clerk diploma in three months. I worked for the next four years as an office assistant and sales representative for Encyclopaedia Britannica. For a few months, when the manager left, I was in charge of the office. After a short retirement, I started working at Connor Development Services. Currently, I am working part-time servicing my clients in website design and management, desktop publishing and data-base design. January 18, 2000
Please e-mail me with your questions and comments
Vicky Vickers
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