Shannon McMurry

Shannon McMurry worked her way up the career ladder in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, starting as a customer service representative (CSR) to her current role as a production planner on the Strategic Workforce Planning team.

What is your history with the project?

I started with the project in January of 2014 and as a temporary customer service representative. I was nervous. I had never worked in a call center before. I had customer service experience, but not like this. That first phone call was nerve-wracking, but I stuck with it and found my groove after about a month. My temporary/seasonal position was scheduled to end later that May. My supervisor at the time encouraged me to apply for a regular full-time CSR position because my scores were good, and the company needed quality people. I was nervous about not getting it if I applied and worried about what my next steps would be if I was unemployed again. But I took my supervisor’s advice, applied, and got it!

I was so grateful for the chance to remain with the company. About a month later, dual positions were first introduced and I was in the first round of CSRs to become dual-trained. Since I was excelling in my CSR role, my supervisor again encouraged me to apply for an Internal Support Group (ISG) role. I applied and was hired for that position by August of 2014. I loved being a ISG CSR. Helping newly hired CSRs navigate and problem-solve was rewarding. It felt good knowing I was helping them help the callers.

I advanced to supervisor in August 2015 and served in that role until April 2019 when I accepted by my current position as one of the planners with the Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) team.

How did you advance your career at Maximus?

I sought out these progressive roles within the company to try out everything that I could, learn from each level, and understand the inner workings of each part of the business. Throughout my career journey, I’ve had so much encouragement from my supervisors, and managers to keep learning, keep striving, and keep applying to further my career path.

The best part about moving up through the ranks in the company was gaining knowledge in every step. I gained hands-on experience really helping people as a CSR, and truly getting to mold and influence my CSRs to be great at their job as a supervisor. I miss being a supervisor at times. Physically seeing improvements in your CSRs because of your efforts and helping them to feel good about their own career goals is rewarding.

What do you most enjoy in your job?

I love my current role as a planner with SWP. I get to be the one in the background who puts the puzzle pieces together. From importing new CSRs into the system to creating their profiles and schedules, and getting the right trainings deployed, it’s all fascinating to me. I’ve never been a behind-the-scenes person before this position. I’ve always been seen and heard on the production floor, but to be a part of the support staff is like being a silent creator in the background and it’s really an interesting and fulfilling change of pace.