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Working in a Call Center
Angelo works in a call center in downtown Manila. He has been in this job for the past three months. Before he joined this company, he used to be in a Sales team promoting credit cards in shopping malls. We caught up to ask him about how it was like to work in his present job.
JS: Hi, Angelo, how long have you been working in this Call Center?
Angelo: It's not too long. I started only about three months ago but it's my first full-time job since leaving University.
JS: What did you study at the university?
Angelo: I was in Mass Communication, majoring in Public Relations. So you can say that there is some relevance to what I'm doing now. I like to talk to people and that's what I do most of my time here, talking to people in my role as a Customer Services Professional.
JS: How would you describe your typical day?
Angelo: Firstly, I had to get myself accustomed to the idea of shift work, because I am working in a line that offers 24x7 support to customers from around the world. My office not only supports calls from the United States but also from elsewhere. As for me, I'm usually ready for work 20 minutes before my shift. I'll read all my work-related emails, then when it's time to start my shift, I put the head-set on and start receiving calls. It's not all talking and we get regular breaks every two hours or so. Sometimes, you have to handle calls one after another but normally, while you wait for calls to come through, you can talk to your work buddies too.
JS: What's the best part about your job?
Angelo: I'm trained in Public Relations so the best thing is to relate to people and help them out of their problems.
JS: And the worst thing about the job?
Angelo: Inconsiderate people, people who are too demanding, people who wants solutions right now. You come across them but luckily there are not too many of them. These are the occasional phone calls that make you think why you ever want this job. There are some people who just forget they are talking to a real person and they treat you like dirt. But you must realise it's not you they are angry with. You only have to handle them right and if you can't just escalate to your supervisor.
JS: Isn't this stressful?
Angelo: It can be but when you do get stressed out you only need to let your supervisor know you are stressing and you'll be allowed to vent a little and then get on with it. It's comes with the turf.
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