Finals for 180.1 is over and this sem has almost come to an end (although I still have 2 papers and 4 exams coming up). I think I can fairly say that I learned a lot from this course. Taking 180.1 and 186 at the same time was also good in some ways because sometimes our topic in class is something we have already tackled in 186 or the other way around.
Anyway, I just want to share something somehow related to Sir's last lecture. I have already worked in a call center before in Teleperformance as a Technical Support Representative. This happened last summer. The sem before that, I was also a Student Assistant for the CAL library and a co-SA referred me to TP. One morning, I just went to their recruitment office with a one-page resume and after a round of tests and interviews, I was hired. I did not expect it to be that quick and easy. Actually, what sir said that in about a hundred applicants only 5 will be accepted is fairly accurate. I just happen to like reading novels and watching American shows so my English was a little better than some and it also helped that I was a UP student. After 2 weeks, I signed a one year contract.
My account was Cricket, a telecomm network in the US that offers similar services as Sun Cellular here. The training was for a month and it was actually fun. It also helped that I had a crush on my trainor. Haha. Being a TSR is harder than being a CSR especially for someone like me who couldn't care less about technical stuff. We had to learn everything about the company especially the product itself because that is what our customers would be asking about. We had ready-made spiels for greeting and inquiring and we were taught how to put the proper emotion while talking to a customer.
After training, we moved on to the "Learning Lab" although that was just a name because we were already talking to real customers. During my first calls, I was very nervous. I did not know how the conversation would really go like. I would be holding a script so I would know what to say. It was difficult at first because sometimes I could not understand what they were saying on the other line. The US population is actually composed of different ethnicities and nationalities and my customers had different accents; some would be really undecipherable.
I was also shocked by the change in the restriction on my time. Training was actually very leisurely as compared to when I was really talking calls. We had to arrive 30 minutes before our shift to log-in to our accounts and all. Once we start for the night, the calls will just keep on coming. We had 15 minute breaks every 4 hours and a lunch break in between.
Some of my calls were fun and we were actually encouraged to spend a few moments chatting with our customers to build rapport. I think this is in connection to what sir said today that the customers' experience while dealing with the company is becoming more important than the product itself. However, this is certainly not the case with most of the calls I took.
A lot of these customers were really irate and understandably because the services of Cricket is far from perfect. As I mentioned, it is like Sun which offers unlimited calls and texts for a relatively cheaper price and that had to have some payoff and it is on the quality. It is very problematic and if the services were not working, there was nothing we could do. The problem is, these customers blame it on us. They really say some hurtful things. Once they learn that I was from the Philippines, they would question my ability to respond to their request or query. I swear it was really damaging to a person's self-esteem. This was one of the major reasons why I did not work there for long. I think this also contributes to why the turn-over rate for call center agents is very high.
It was just supposed to be a summer job but when school started I decided to see if I can do both at the same time. Apparently, I can't. My shift at work was 11pm - 8 am and my class would be 11:30-4 for WF and 1-5:30 for TTH. We had sleeping quarters at work and I would sleep for about 2 hours before taking a taxi to school. Once, in my Eng12 11:30 class I slept first because our prof wasn't there yet. When I awoke, it was 12:30 and I was so embarrased to be sleeping there the whole time. A lot of times I just couldn't carry on and I would go home after my first class because I know I would not be listening to the lecture. Two weeks into the sem, I decided to resign. Although I was earning a lot, my studies is just my priority. What happened was I did not really resign. I just did not come to work one Monday.
I think this is really bad for the company. In fact, I think they were not able to retain any of my batchmates during training. I learned in 151: Organizational Behavior that it is important to make your employees feel an organizational citizenship with the company and they were just not able to do that. Their investment was really wasted. I am a good example. I trained for a month and I was paid for that. My actual work was only for two weeks.
The co-SA I mentioned earlier actually filed an LOA for that sem and I believe she also did not enroll this sem. She was also working for TP although for a different account which was Verizon. There were a lot of UP students there who stopped studying to work. Even though I might be in need in for more money from time to time, I just can't imagine quitting school.
Anyway, this summer, I'm planning to apply in IBM in Technohub if I will not be able to get an internship position somewhere. In the future when I graduate, i don't think I will pursue this as a career. I just don't see how I can grow. It might be true that for the first few years, my salary would be smaller but I'm planning on moving up the corporate ladder. Haha. Or if I actually gradute from BAA, I think I will go and be an accountant for a BPO in a mutinational company. At least, I hope so.
But for now, I have to pass all these exams especially the accounting finals. FIGHTING!!!
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