Friday, August 25, 2006

Call Center Experience

Last Tuesday, August 22, I didn’t show up for work. I guess I made up my mind…I didn’t want to go back there anymore. It didn’t feel right. Making an ad for cigarettes and liquors just isn’t right. It’s one of those things that I don’t want of be a part of. Not to mention the super old imac they want me to use. It still runs on classic environment. So not right.

Instead of hanging around the house, I went and applied in a call center company, hahaha!!! I bet you didn’t see it coming, right? Me, of all people, applying for a job in a call center…so out of character. For as long as I can remember I’ve been wanting to beat the daylight out of those call center people I see everyday. Being stuck with them in an elevator is so painful. Mental note to self: bring epidural just in case I ran into them next time.
I’m not really sure why I went there, I was probably desperate to look for a new job or maybe I was bored.

So, here’s how the application went:

I arrived at around 2 p.m., I immediately saw lots of faces inside the lobby and reception area, they all looked young at first glance, I panicked, “What am I doing here? What have I gotten myself into, agin?” I wanted to turn back and go home but the guard was already frisking me and directed me to the reception area. I was asked for my resume and then she gave me a piece of paper to be filled up. After 30 minutes, I gave the paper back, I wanted to tell her that I’d come back another day but before I could talked the girl asked me to sit for a while and wait for my name to be called. While waiting, I scanned the whole area looking for applicants close to my age or perhaps older, I probably saw around twenty. Some are really old.

After twenty minutes, five of us were called in a room for the free speech interview, the interviewer was pretty and so young, she looked like a college student. I don’t quite remember how the conversation went but I was surprised that I passed the first interview. I didn't realize that I could converse in English for more than 10 minutes, and I didn't faint!

The second part was the computer exam. It was divided into 4 parts typing skills, logic, grammar, customer service and sales exam. After the computer exam, two things were sure, my typings skills were 36 wpm with 97% accuracy, I think anyone who types really slow like I do will get 97% accuracy and I am not a logical thinker!!! Let me get this straight... I don't think logically... I am not reasonable... Did I get it right? How the hell do I think?

A good friend of mine told me, "Of course you don't think logically, you think outside of the box, you are an artist! You don't think the way other people think!" It made me feel a little better, a good friend she really is.

But in all honesty, I never gave the exams a lot of thought, we were given 40 minutes to finish the whole exam, I finished in 15 minutes. I wish I took it more seriously. I think I will comeback and apply again after 3 months only to prove to myself that I can pass all four exams. This time, I will take it to heart.

The good news is that I made friends with lots of call center people, some of them are really kind and helpful, upon learning that I didn't pass for the call simulation exam someone came up to me and said, "Why don't you try and apply at eTelecare or ePerformax, we will go there tomorrow, we'll meet you there, okay?"

"Sure, thanks." I said, just to cut short another long conversation, it was quite late, I was tired and I have work the following day.

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