Ever worked in call center?

cubicle city….get a stress ball to deal with dill wads. Be patient, charming and listen.
It’s alright. I’ve done it over a decade.

It depends on the industry you are in. credit cards….tons of repetitive patience. problem solving. Listening is the big key.

Go for it!!

I have. I went along to the interview just for a bit of practise. Aced it, got offered a job on the spot, and ended up actually enjoying the job and staying for 5 years. I’ve since been promoted to administration within the same company, but I’d do it again, if I could have a more managerial position.

I think it takes a certan type of personality to be able to cope with call-centre work. And it helps if the company doesn’t suck. Mine is a good company to work for. But you have to be able to deal with stress, targets, and pressure.

@jazmina88 The company makes things like scantron tests for school. Shouldn’t be too bad right?

no, that should be easy, breezy. Just be polite. “absolutely” and smile in your voice.
and fake it with confidence til you know what you are doing.

Good luck, Liz! you got this!

I did. There was a robo-dial system, so I couldn’t even rest between calls.

Just stick to the script and roll with the punches. If you’re friendly, you’re going to get a lot farther than if you sound disinterested and loathing.

I was a part-time telemarketer for a company I already worked for in an administrative capacity. I hated it, because I was selling something I didn’t consider necessary to a quality life. Other than that, it was easy (if repetitive) if you genuinely like people or you can fake it. I think you’ll be just fine. :) Congrats on the job!

Kind of. I once worked as a telemarketer setting appts. for salespeople and it paid well because there were bonuses for the amount of appts. set and confirmed as well as for when a customer bought the product. More often then not, salespeople would “tip” me on the side to give them instead of other salespeople the appts. I’d made because my introductions were very good.

I worked for a company that sold and serviced office equipment, mainly copy machines. Our call center took repair calls from the entire Northeast. We also took calls from the service technicians out in the field when they had questions or needed more information about a customer. At first, it was very challenging because there was so much information to memorize. Then, it got very repetitive. The other people on my team were a lot of fun (my boyfriend at the time, who is now my husband, got me the job and was on my team). They kept it from being too monotonous. The worst part of the job was the simple fact that people only called us when their machine was broken. They were often angry and frustrated. I found that if I could make them laugh, they’d be nicer to me. One guy called and was screaming that he was going to throw his POS copy machine out the window if we didn’t have it repaired within the hour. I let him go on for a while, then asked what floor of the building he was one. He was on the 5th floor. I said, “Well, make sure no one is down there when you chuck the machine or you’ll have bigger problems to deal with.” He laughed and was much more rational after that.

I don’t know if you’ll ever have to deal with irate people, but not taking any of it personally is essential. We were told, “These people don’t know who you are, and you’ll probably never talk to them again. Solve their problem, be polite, and then forget about them.” I also noticed that a very angry customer became much nicer if he or she had a supervisor on the line. One day, a girl on my team was being chewed out by this very rude guy. He wanted a supervisor, but all of the supervisors were in a meeting. I had her transfer the call to me I was Employee of the Month at the time, which has to count for something and the customer instantly became polite.

Congrats on the job!

It depends on what kind of a call center. I worked as a telemarketer for a week, and it was the worst job I ever had.

I worked at an inbound call center taking orders from a Western Wear catalog. I loved that job. The people that I talked to wanted to be calling me, so it was alright.

I worked for 2 years as a supervisor at an answering service. We answered for a lot of cleaning companies that did disaster cleanup, floods, fires, etc. We also answered for a few dentists, electricians, etc. I loved that job. It was the only job I had where we didn’t have to do anything when the phones weren’t ringing. We watched tv, read books, talked, knitted or cooked there was a full kitchen. It was a small, family run business. They paid crap. It was interesting and often hilarious. We dealt with irate or upset people a lot. If someone’s house burned they called us in a panic trying to reach the cleaning company and we had to get a hold of the people on call and relay the information, etc. It was detailed work, as far as taking information, and then calling, paging, texting, or emailing the correct people. I would probably still be there, but the place was sick with nepotism and I couldn’t take it anymore. They were only in business so the owner’s 3 kids could have good high paying jobs

According to Nitin Walia, “India is no longer known as land of Elephants and Snakes but the
land of High Talent professionals and cost effective corporate BPO
solutions. India is becoming the leader in outsourcing with no close
competitors. The BPO industry in India has been mushrooming right since the
decade begun. Indian BPO industry, as per NASSCOM estimates, is bound to
cross the $100 Billion mark by 2015.”
Nitin strongly believes that small or big – BPOs are here to stay

@Facade What ever happened with the job? Did you take it? If so, are you enjoying it?

@Pied_Pfeffer Yea I took it. I wouldn’t say i “enjoy” it, but it’s giving me an income. The work itself is fine, depending on what mood I’m in that day. The atmosphere is very similar to high school– gossip, attitudes, style of dress even. Some of the people are cool, most aren’t. My bosses like me, so that’s good. I’ll keep it until something better comes along.

I’ve never worked in a call center or been close, but I do have a question.

What happens if someone asks you to solve a problem you’re not trained to handle? Do you just pass on the call to someone else? I’ve always wondered this because most of the time when I contact call centers, most of the employees are unhelpful or rude. I have to repeat my information and story to each person I’m transferred to. It’s very frustrating.

@AshlynM Yes if we’re asked a question we’re not trained to handle we have to transfer it on. Unfortunately that will normally entail you having to repeat your story, as it may not pe possible for the first caller to relay it accurately, and it may not be apparent until after you have finished, whether they are able to deal with it or not.

The alternative is to submit your problem/question by email or snail-mail, although the response time would be slower at least you could get on with other things while you wait.

I’m actually in a similar environment at work and hear insane things come form people! What’s the most outrageous thing anyone has ever said to you in these places?