Staff Spotlight: Laura Simmonds

As I came across the ComputerTalk booth, I was immediately impressed by their desire to hire fresh graduates with the motivation to find where their best fit is at the company. I had a couple of interviews, met with the team, toured the office, and then off I went to work full-time as a training and documentation specialist. What I didn’t know then is that this would only be the beginning of my career path at ComputerTalk.  

I had the pleasure of working alongside Andrea in the training and documentation function for a year. However, during that year, I began to realize that I didn’t find as much joy and motivation in getting to know our external clients as much as I was interested in getting to know the internal staff at ComputerTalk.  

I am a naturally curious person, and I love to be “in the know,” so I really found people function interesting. Every day presents new challenges as the people function lead. Responsibilities range from recruiting, onboarding new hires, organizing company events, profile reviews, and coordinating strategic initiatives. Because of this, I found ways to collaborate with people function so that I could be more exposed to the internal projects at ComputerTalk.  

For instance, I figured if I was equipped to train our external clients on how to use our product, ice Contact Center, I would be capable of training our new hires. And if I could train our new hires on ice, I could probably also provide the company with onboarding training. I actively participated in the Social Committee, and Health and Safety Committee, and the dominos kept falling in line. I was feeling happier, enjoying the projects I was working on, and motivated to try new things.  

That’s when one of the previous people function members resigned. Our Chief of Staff, Blair Ferguson, came over to my desk and asked since I was involved in some of the projects that she was working on if I would be able to help her with the transition period. I said yes, but also said I wanted to be considered for working full-time in people function.  

Which leads me to where I am today. I’ve been in people function now for 5 years, and it’s never a dull moment! The work continues to be challenging, and as my knowledge grows, so does my ability to handle more challenging situations. I am proud to have been a part of the growth of ComputerTalk, going from 70 people when I joined to now 105, helping to navigate the transition to a hybrid work environment throughout Covid, and watching the staff I recruited and onboarded flourish and make an impact. No two days are the same, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of being part of the ComputerTalk team.  

This leads me to my last point: we’re hiring! If you’re someone like me who has a natural curiosity and desire to get into the weeds and learn about people, then you may be a great fit within our people function team! You can look up our job description on our website or reach out to either myself or Blair Ferguson directly on LinkedIn; we’d love to connect!