*** Call Center Work ***

Since Sunday, I have been helping the recruitment department in doing the phone screening for prospective applicants. Yeah, well, they have this incentive program at work in where if you volunteer at least 2 - 4 hours / day, you get paid. Of course, I have to take advantage of this as I will not be getting my monthly bonus for September because of that f@#$@$# store manager (that's a completely different story), Well anyway, since Sunday, I have been extending 4 hours on top of my regular shift to call applicants, and schedule them for an exam. It's easier to talk to them, than to talk to customers who dont know how to listen, and each of them has their own story and why they need to work.

Some of them are downright awful, (Im sorry, but I guess that's the best word to describe) some of them are brainy. Some of them are confident, the others are not. Some do not know what their saying, others are exaggerating, and some are really trying so hard. I average at around 70++ calls per day, and honestly, out of the 70 calls (including the no contact's and the bad numbers), I qualify 4 - 5 at the most. There was a day that I wasn't able to qualify a single person.

Not that my standards are high. It's just I'm following the standards that were set by the recruitment department. For me, if you can speak in English and has confidence, I will qualify you, no questions asked. But then again, if you cant even understand what I am saying, better that you find another job.

That's why I'm thinking, why is it that there are some people that look down on the people that are working in a call center? I know of some who degrades people working in this industry. I just ask them, why?

People who work in a call center sacrifice good sleep and normal body clocks and family time just to have food on their table. I was doing this screening, and it made me realize that it is really, really hard to get a job in a call center. (not just our call center, but other call centers as well) It takes more than speaking English. You have to have good grammar, good pronunciation and brains to pass. I'm not saying that I am a perfect English speaker, soplak din ako paminsan - minsan. But then again, I have been working in a call center for 3 years already, so I know I'm not that bad either.

I just dont understand it. Bakit kaya ang baba ng tingin nila sa mga call center agents? Hubby and I are both working in a call center, and because of this, we can pay the house rent, the yaya, the bills. We can buy what we need, and we still have a little extra to actually take the kids to Jollibee or Mc Donalds every once in a while. In short, we're comfortable. Although, not really that well off, we're alright I guess.

But I have to admit. May iba talaga na sobra ren naman kase. Iong tipong kahit wala na sa trabaho eh sobrang yabang ng magsalita.... ion bang tipong sa jeep or sa tricyle eh hala, sige English lang ng English! Kahit mali - mali na at wala ng sense iong sinasabe eh salita pa ren ng salita! May mga taong ganon. Mayayabang, mahahangin... pero hindi naman lahat eh.

Ion nga ang sinasabe ko. Lahat naman kase tayo pinaghihirapan ang work naten. So sana, wag naman mag maliit ng mga tao na nagtratrabaho sa call center. Each person working in a call center has his own story, own struggle to overcome, and own goals to acheive. Eh come to think of it, (I'm not bragging), minsan mas mataas pa nga ang sweldo namen sa iba eh. Pero pare-pareho naman tayong naghihirap para sa mga sweldo naten. Others may find it easy to just sit in front of the computer and to talk all night long. Uyyy... hindi madali ion ah! Hindi madali na may suot kang headset buong gabe (Masakit ion sa tenga) at mas lalong hindi madali iong maligo ka sa mura at sigaw ng mga customers noh. Siguro nga, we really dont use our brains that much, (but I guess that depends on what you are doing ren...) but then again, pinaghihirapan ren naman namen lahat ng meron kame eh.