What do people have to look forward to working for a contact center?

One basic thing you should consider when working for a contact center is to determine what kind of skill they cater to (I would rather focus on the contact center terminology since we need to consider the skills per center).

That’s right, you must know what your strengths are. Is it voice (talking directly to a customer and assisting them)? Is it deciphering bad handwriting then entering it to the client system? Do you like to chat? Book flights and prepare hotel reservations? Update personal accounts and other capabilities? Are you a techie?

Don’t invest on your strengths and you will end up regretting working for a contact center.

I worked for a couple of companies that focused on the voice skill and I cannot deny that it was really fun. I agree that fun is relative, client escalations can’t be fun all the time. But the voice skill has an overall appeal, it’s the fulfillment of having to assist your customer via real human interaction. You get to deal with a LOT of personalities and surprisingly, you learn more from the regular joes.

The booming back office BPO services also has its advantages. I work for a company that invests a lot on health and life sciences. This is when I have seen how big this business is since we must all recognize the fact that not all Filipinos can speak fluent English. Understand, yes but carry a full conversation without any mistakes is another story.

A lot more Filipinos can write than speak English fluently, and that’s where the BPO industry enters the scene. Imagine a typical associate having the skills to decipher accurately and learn to enter the information in the client system accurately to enroll the customer is enough to guarantee you a sure win job.

So what makes working in a contact center a sure win? Below are some basic things you can look forward to:

• The management in general are more educated and more humane than the traditional type of management you usually encounter in the other industries.
• Expect an open door policy even on the upper management level.
• Your supervisor will help you work on your weaknesses and further develop your strengths.
• Contact centers run the best morale-boosting events! It starts with employee recognition then it can range from community service, major concerts, singing contests, just you name it!
• Contact centers do pay relatively better than your typical day job.
• Contact centers focus on metrics so you have real targets to aim for on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly basis.
• You have bonuses based on your Performance Appraisal (your score card which is also based on the metrics).
• The night shift job ain’t half bad at all. You get to avoid traffic, more parking space, the heat and a lot of unnecessary weirdos lurking the streets during daytime. Oh and did I mention no traffic?

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