Karen STAMBROVSKIS - Virtual Assistant

Home - Find A VA - Register with VA4U - Members Area - Link to Us - Contact Us

Karen STAMBROVSKIS

Short Description:

I have 22 years experience in secretarial and administrative roles. I have a good educational background and an excellent command of written and spoken English. I enjoy travel, music, photography, reading, playing sport and using my home computer.

Long Description:

Up-to-Date CV and Education Details

Quantum Shipping Services/Datatrac Limited (London E1) – 16 May 2005 to date
Office Manager for two small commercial shipping companies (7 employees in total); Quantum Shipping Services Limited, an Expert Witness/Consultancy company formed by Jean Richards after leaving Fairwind/Denholm Coates (see websites) in autumn 2004, and Datatrac Limited (www.datatrac.co.uk), whose founder, Jennefer Tobin, develops data-capture equipment for use on board ship.

Duties include Secretarial/PA work (mainly for Jean, occasionally for Jennefer) copy-typing and assistance with drafting of legal reports, minutes, correspondence; database input, interrogation and sending out of correspondence via Lotus Notes; completing back-up (and occasional restoring) of our computer files using data tapes; ordering stationery, office, IT and postage supplies; maintain petty cash account; collate directors’ expenses; set-up and upkeep of filing system and a library of books and magazines; compile/maintain holiday and attendance records; book meetings and lunches; arrange travel and accommodation for overseas trips; phone calls, message taking; run occasional errands out of the office (collecting/delivering files, banking cheques, etc); post-opening and distribution; help to input and amend Powerpoint presentations (for lectures and conferences); help with completion of spreadsheets, internet research (either for specific shipping data or general information on shipping companies). On a typical day, I use Word, Powerpoint, Publisher, Excel, Adobe, Lotus Notes and Mozilla Firefox/Google internet, running off an IBM Small Business Server/Domino Server (for Lotus Notes).

H W Fisher & Company (Chartered Accountants, London NW1) - March 2000 to May 2005
Secretary to Director and large team (accountancy, audit, taxation): Word, Outlook, internet, intranet, occasional Excel, basic Powerpoint, audio and copy typing (and occasional mail merges), diary management, meeting and travel arrangements, electronic timesheet input, Practice Engine database/accounting/billing system, and collating of stationery orders, maintaining attendance records, helping with post-opening/distribution and general administrative tasks for the department.

Previous roles included a year of secretarial assistance to the main company tax department, 18 months working for the Head of the Trust Department, and 2.5 years working (alongside the two roles indicated above) for a senior manager in the audit and media groups. I then spent 13 months working for one of the senior (audit) partners and his team before acquiring my current position. Also assisted other partners and managers as absentee cover.

South Bank Centre (Concert Venue, London SE1) – Sept 1998 to April 2004 (ran concurrently with day-job)
Part-time Steward (evenings and weekends): customer services (directing/escorting Patrons to seats, answering queries and solving problems) with elements of Health & Safety, security and disability awareness and training to assist with venue evacuation should the need arise Promoted in September 1999 to Team Leader, supervising 2 or 3 others on position. 2 or 3 duties per 7-day week.

Haywards (Surveyors/Property Managers, London NW8) - July 1993 to February 2000
Secretary to two management surveyors, with float cover for other surveyors, Directors, Associates and in other departments (building surveying, accounts, lettings), as required. Audio and copy typing, Excel, Trace Property Management database/accounting/billing system, e-mail and internet. Reception cover as necessary, assisted with opening and distribution of post, delivery and collection of DX documents and occasional stationery ordering.

Temporary work during 1987/88 and 1992/93
Banks and offices - two months’ audio for Bank of Ireland in Kilburn, some weeks at Readers’ Digest HQ in Blackfriars adding up batches of postal orders, some weeks’ data input for a heath authority in Paddington, and picking and packing orders at Entertainment UK, Hayes. Manpower, Opus and Extraman agencies.

City Link (UK Parcel Couriers, London NW1) - January to November 1992
Sales Administrator/Secretary for two telesales staff, four outdoor sales representatives and two sales managers. Secretarial assistance given to branch manager and in other departments, as required. WP5.1, Lotus 123 and CLAN (City Link’s own database).
Sterling Security, Earl’s Court and Olympia - January 1990 to November 1991
Exhibition security guard, promoted to Controller after one year. 12-15 hour shifts, comprising (in the first year) access control, general patrols, pass issue, set-up and operation of storerooms and cloakrooms, hiring out portable alarms and goods trolleys, general security advisers to exhibitors, contractors and visitors, occasional front of house duties. During the second year, in addition to the above, provided induction, instruction and supervision of guards and allocation of their duties, keeping logs of (and responsibility for) all company equipment and uniform assigned to each show, monitoring goods into and out of halls, completing all necessary show logs, incident reports, time and wage sheets, general liaison with senior security managers, other hall contractors and exhibition organisers. Number of guards per exhibition 6 to 70 approx.

Kibbutz Ein Gev, Nr Tiberias, Israel - June 1985 to November 1989
Kibbutz Volunteer: worked at tourist holiday village, tourist restaurant, dining-hall and supermarket, and in kibbutz fruit fields (bananas, dates, avocados, mangos, watermelons), kitchens, dining-room, laundry, gardens, volunteers office, cleaning OAPs houses.

Two junior positions in Ludlow, Shropshire - September 1983 to June 1985
18-month secretarial and administrative role for McCartneys Auctioneers & Surveyors; 4-month accounts assistant role for Farmore Farmers, feed manufacturers and hauliers.

Education/Qualifications

King’s High School for Girls, Warwick – 1975 to 1982
6 O-levels: English Language(A) French(B) Spanish(B) Scripture(B) Maths(C) Biology(C)
1 A-level: French(E)

Ludlow College – 1982 to 1983
Pitman Diploma, Office Studies: audio/copy typing, commerce, arithmetic, office administration

Ludlow & District Training Organisation – July to December 1986
Cambridge Certificate in IT (modular): word-processing (Wordstar), databases, spreadsheets, graphics, BASIC programming, written project

Henrietta Barnet School/Spiro Institute, London NW11 1990-91
Learnt Hebrew for two years

Kingsway College, Clerkenwell – Spring 1993
Introductory DTP course using Aldus Pagemaker

Brunel University College, Isleworth – 1993 to 1995
BTEC Continuing Education (modular computer studies course): certificates in Computers for Business (using DOS, Word for Windows, Harvard Graphics, databases + written project), COBOL programming, database design (SQL on Oracle V7), advanced spreadsheets/financial planning (Quattro Pro), systems analysis (CASE design software)

Regent College, London W1 – 1996
Home-study book-keeping course (covering both ledger and computerised book-keeping methods) – Diploma awarded.

Key Languages, London SW1 – 2003-2005.
Learnt Latvian for 2.5 years. My father is from Latvia.

Academy of Radio, Film & TV, London NW1 – Nov 2005 - Jan 2006
Introduction to Radio: Production and Presenting – once-weekly course (9 weeks) – how stations are run and programmes; recording music and speech using sound effects and fade-ins/outs to present a spoken intro, a station ID jingle, a spoken link between pieces of music, a “feature” (such as an interview, phone-in or competition) and a programme conclusion; learning how to cut and paste, edit, mix and compile all of these onto a CD using Adobe Audition software, mixing-desk and professional recording booth. Also practised interviewing techniques and recording these onto mini-disk, and learning how to conduct a phone-in programme. I received a certificate and demo CD of my work at the end of the course.

Make Contact with