You've heard of working in finance in Guernsey. Ever wondered what it’s like to work in finance at Guernsey Electricity? Charlie gives an insight into her role as our Accounts Payable Invoice Officer.
What is your role at Guernsey Electricity?
I’m an “Accounts Payable Invoice Officer” within the finance team but, it’s more like a finance administrator.
I make sure that we pay suppliers the correct amount for work or supplies before passing the payment on for processing. Another part of my role is keeping on top of other department orders, ensuring they’re up to date and paid on time - which means a large part of my role is communication.
Although my role does include a lot of numbers and emails, which I enjoy, I do also love communicating with the rest of the business.
I also manage details about our suppliers and keep up regular communication with them, plus other titbits here and there around the office that may come up.
How does your job help keep the island running?
If supplier invoices weren’t managed, we wouldn’t receive any supplies - no supplies means no business, and no electricity.
We need our 'external suppliers' to stock the store for example, as well as other sectors in the company which need supplies from beyond the island. Think of our electricity generators inside the power station as another example which need parts and servicing that are typically off island. I manage payments and supplier relationships to make sure we have timely receipt of products, engine parts, retail items, and more, making sure services to the island continue smoothly.
If one of these payments are delayed, or there are issues with the work our suppliers may of provided, I'll communicate this with the supplier too to ensure it gets solved in a timely manner.
What other industries have you worked in?
Ever since I finished college, I’ve mainly worked within retail and customer service – you’ve probably seen my face if you’ve shopped around the island!
I was often moved around different stores to cover missing staff and was a trainee supervisor for a short while before deciding to explore a new career path.
Before that the only other experience I gained was through my high school work experience where I dipped my toe into the world of radio for a week. Here, I was part of the news team and found it so interesting, spending my time writing quick snappy news stories and interviewing individuals for audio clips.
What does a typical day (or week) look like for you?
For me, a typical day starts at 8:30am. My morning always starts with a brief email check where colleagues will provide me with invoices that need registering/paying or statements that need a check over to make sure we are up to date.
Next on my list is to either go through open transactions to see what can be processed for payment or checking that colleagues have received their supplies. I work closely with all different sections amongst the company as different departments all make their own individual purchases.
Some days I'm asked to help with setting up a new supplier; this involves involve calling up the supplier and verifying their details, but each day is quite varied! Something new always seems to pop up.
What is your proudest achievement so far?
Learning how to travel alone; especially travelling to meet one of my best buds.
Travelling is something I’ve always aspired to do and I’ve only recently learned how to travel on my own and get a grip on how to do my own bookings and get around new places. So far, I’m starting fairly close to home by exploring the UK, but plan to travel further soon!
I really love Manchester and will be visiting there again this summer. I'm still pretty young and have lots of big achievements ahead, but I'm proud of the little things I've done so far. One of the best moments was that week I spent with my best friend - it made me so happy. I can't wait for our next trip together!
When you were younger, what did you want to do when you grew up?
As most of us do, I’ve had different phases of dream jobs throughout my life! When I was very little, I wanted to be a popstar like Katy Perry, she was my biggest idol as a kid. I wanted to be just like her!
This then turned into a desire to be a content creator on social media, think of the popular gaming channels on YouTube. If you’re familiar with this space, think ‘Markiplier’ for example. Playing video games for a living sounded like a dream… not very likely now I look back on it!
Eventually, I settled on wanting to be an actor for a long time, I joined drama clubs in primary school, took drama GCSE (and participated in the drama club there), went to the College of FE for Performing Arts (twice!), and participated in online spaces where I could use those skills.
Oh! And there was also that period where I wanted to be a streamer. Once again- Not very likely!
Ultimately, I ended up preferring the simpler quieter jobs but still take up acting as a fun hobby. At GEL, I’ve recently had the opportunity to dive into being In front of the camera again to assist with some social media content! Keep your eyes peeled.
What is the most unusual thing about your job and how would you describe it to someone who knows nothing about it?
In terms of my role, I’m not sure there is much that is unusual, but the office certainly gets up to some interesting acts, there’s always something going on in this building!
Outside of my day to day, I have been chosen to participate in a social media series for the company, which is certainly a more unusual but very delightful aspect to my job. You know, it’s actually kind of funny - it feels a bit like I’m living a version of my dream job! Getting to do a bit of acting and keeping things lively and engaging while on camera. It’s a lot of fun.
Watch Charlie's International Women in Engineering Day video feature here.
If you could swap jobs with anyone for a day- who would it be and why?
That’s a tough choice! Do I take a day at a game development studio? A day as a professional actor? A content creator? A singer? There’s a lot of things I’d want to do really, but if I had to pick just one, I think I’d settle on swapping with a TV host. Like for a gameshow of sorts! Or, you know those really over the top commercials with one person in them that advertises something simple like a cleaning product? I wouldn’t mind being one of those people, it sounds like great fun to me.
Who inspires you the most?
I’d say my partner and closest friends.
We’re all one big group and have been together through it thick and thin, some of them I’ve known for almost 9 years now! They’re all incredibly talented and wonderful people who certainly inspire me to be the best version of myself.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Just to chill out! I always worried way too much about the future, and whilst I am only in my early 20’s, I’m starting to realise things aren’t as scary as I perceived them to be when I was back in high school. I used to over think way too much about the simplest things, I’d also tell myself to get glasses at a younger age, it would have saved me from a lot of trouble in school. (Not kidding, I kind of thought everyone just saw the world blurry.)
What are the best benefits offered by GEL in your opinion?
The nine-day fortnight seems incredibly rewarding, can’t go wrong with a bit of extra work to get a long weekend once every 2 weeks! Other benefits I would highlight is the free eyecare checks. Since I need glasses, it’s a great help to be able to get a free check-up as they can get pretty pricey. Career progression is also encouraged which I’ve found great as an individual who wants to grow and move up within the company, after going on a bookkeeping course recently, I feel quite inspired to keep moving up.
Although it may sound cliché , I must say the company has an amazing work environment. As a neurodivergent individual I can’t be more thankful for the support given by the team, I genuinely can’t recommend GEL enough.
