As most of you know, I have been assimilated as a borg in the call center collective for the last 6 years. It’s funny how during the first month of my job as an agent doing abuse website reviews, it was rather difficult trying to explain to people the nature of my job. I use the terms “contact industry”, “call center” and at times even the self-explanatory “technical support” and still none of that makes sense to people who ask me what do I do for a living. So just to avoid confusion I tell people that part of my job is I get paid browsing and banning adult websites 8 hours a day. And almost instantly, men’s eyes light up in awe, while women would suddenly let go of my hand as I shake theirs while introducing myself.
Presently the call center business has definitely become a recognizable and booming industry in the Philippines. Statistics say that the industry employs an estimated 96 thousand employees nationwide. Senator Manuel Roxas even passed a senate bill amending provisions in the Labor Code to protect the welfare of call center employees in the country. Similar businesses have mushroomed across the country and are now starting to get serious in their marketing campaigns to entice more clients as well as the able workforce.
Unlike before, call center employees are now easy to single out and of course stereotype, especially the customer service front liners. They have snotty fake American accents they use to talk with even when outside the office, they are often seen wearing jackets in the malls even during the hot summers, they sport techie gadgets like trendy mobile phones and PDAs, their beverage of choice are concoctions at Starbucks and majority of call center employees are cigarette smoking nocturnal bats.
Over the last two years alone, job markets have just been pumping out aspiring call center applicants faster than companies have time to process them. And that’s totally understandable, after all the pay is good, the fundamental skills acquired and developed at work are the essential requirements of any business, you get to meet a lot of interesting people, and it’s fast paced and constantly challenging.
So that brings us now to the question, what does it take to be a call center agent? What are the requirements one must posses to be a qualified applicant? How can an applicant put his or her best foot forward during that crucial job interview with the bosses?
Well look no further, here’s Haring Ulan’s contribution to the able and willing unemployed aspiring to be part of this growing industry. Normally I would discourage people to pursue this kind of job. I mean unless applicant’s studied an entire four-year course on how to be a successful call center agent and are truly qualified I would really rather that they pursue the career path they had intended when they took up majors like molecular biology or quantum physics. But of course who am I to hinder other people’s choices or their need to satisfy the requirements of the present.
Different companies look for different requirements. That is of course depending on the client they support. But here are a few basic competencies that are required across the board you should keep in mind during that critical job interview:
BE A NIGHT OWL. Because most of the supported clients are in the US, insomniacs have a strong advantage. Chances are you would have to get used to not seeing that big orange ball of fire in the sky normal day employees refer to as the “sun”. People suffering from Lycanthropy and Vampirism may also have a good shot, but don’t be too quick to type that in your resume, it might be frowned upon. Some companies do have shifting schedules though, so as long as your body clock can take the physical abuse of constantly readjusting, say it’s no big deal to the interviewer.
DEVELOP EXTRA TOLERANCE FOR ICE. Most of the call center companies cater to the IT industry, which means to be able to support this you need a lot of computer hardware that requires to be kept and maintained preferably in low temperatures. I didn’t own a lot of thick clothes or jackets and had small threshold for cold weather, which is why during the first few weeks on the job I was frequently sick. So unless you are a Universal Soldier, an Eskimo, or Jack Frost, you may want to invest in a nice warm jacket or a lot of vitamin Cs. They won’t tell you that during the interview or job offer that you’ll be working in an area that has the room temperature of a meat locker.
GO “BAH HUMBUG” DURING THE HOLIDAYS. Yep, there will be instances when you will be required to come to work at the exact same time eggnogs are being washed down people’s throats and stockings by the chimneys are being stuffed. You may catch yourself looking outside your window humming Auld Lang Syne to yourself as you watch the fireworks in the sky during New Year’s Eve. If you want to be a call center agent, you have to be willing to forego the Hohoho. That’s the reality of it; most call centers are contractually obligated to provide 24x7 operation 365 days a year, and that definitely includes holidays and weekends. Now you know how Santa Claus feels.
LEAVE THE TAGALOG IN YOUR OTHER PANTS. A few years ago I received a totally hilarious forwarded email listing English idioms that were grammatically screwed up. Some of my favorite entries in the list are “Can’t you just cut me some slacks”, “You’re barking at the wrong dog”, “Are you joking my leg”, “If worse comes to shove”, and (this last one nearly killed me) “Well, well, well... look do we have here”. Just for fun and to further assess the English skills of my applicants, I turned this forwarded email into a written test and asked candidates to re-write the idioms if they think it needs to be corrected. If they feel that the idiom is fine indicate on the provided line that the sentence is correct. I swear, you will be shocked at the results and curious to know how some universities actually teach English. It’s not being discriminatory. It’s a requirement. I know English is our second language and I’ve already discussed in a previous post how learning how to correctly express ourselves in English doesn’t make us less of a Filipino. But if you really want to work in a call center company that caters to clients abroad, you have to really have above average written and verbal English communication skills. Some areas in some call centers actually have English Only Zones where you deposit your Tagalog words at the door. Furthermore, support skills can be trained; grammar is not something you can learn overnight. You can have all the savvy technical skills in the world, but if you have trouble knitting together your words into coherent sentences you might as well be a fax tone at the end of the line when the customer dials in.
Of course we all know that having a confident composure, coming from a recognized top university, getting impressive awards and recognitions, and even wearing a slightly slutty dress are supplementary tools to stand out from the stack of application papers. But if you really want to have your foot in the door, these things might do you well during your application. Just remember if you get the job, you owe me a green tea latte.
