Pros and Cons of Being a Call Center Agent

If you are new to this job, there would be instances that you will want to grab a blade and slit your arm and squeeze a lemon on your wound, just to keep yourself from sleeping on your calls. This is very common, and without exaggeration, If you are not used to working at night, under pressure, then, this job will definitely kill you. People thought that they have insomnia or they are nocturnal, and it would be easy for them to be on this kind of job. But, they all end up quitting after a couple of months. Since, most of us are used to sleeping at night, and waking up in the morning, this can easily destroy your body clock. You will need a couple of months, of discipline, preparation and time management before you can say that you can stay in this kind of job. I have seen people quit, so, before you toot your own horn. Let me tell you that working under pressure at night, is different from staying awaking at night till dawn while watching movies or surfing the net. This is a good test of dedication. Just imagine, waking up at night, when most of your family members or loved ones are going to bed. Then, you still have to go to work, and once you go home, they already left the house. It is a constant, day to day torture. You have to be strong and endure the emotional and mental stress that you have to face each day.
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Yes, even on Christmas, New Year, Holidays or Weekends, it depends on our scheduled shift, we have to work, even if we don't want to. They always say that it is in our contract. The company doesn't care about your social life or love life. So, we can't really plan ahead of time, because, aside from we have to work on Holidays and Weekends, our schedule is changing almost weekly. Their reason is staffing. The usual work days would be 5 days in a week, but, once the schedule rotates, our schedule usually becomes, 6 days instead. As much as we want to be with our family on those days, we can't, since, it is part of our job.
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On Labor code, there are certain rules regarding this controversial issue. Companies are not allowed to require agents to work on their scheduled Rest Days, unless, during fire, earthquake, emergencies, or they just simple do not have any other options. But, most Managers don't seem to be bothered at all. Their goal is to get as many income as possible, because, the more calls they get, the more money they make. And, because of money, we are often being forced to do overtime, or go to work even our Rest days.
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Once you start working in a Call Center, you really have to adapt with constant change not just in the environment of your workplace, career growth, but, also in your Tools and Software. I am referring to the programs that you will use on your computer. We all know that Call Centers are using VOIP or Voice over Internet Protocol phones. In short, the technology is, you speak with your callers using an Internet Line. And, at the same time, you are required certain tools or software on your computer, that do not just delay your job, but, can also affect your metrics. Call Center agents know what I am referring to. We are being graded to the quality of the call, the time we spent on the phone and etc. If our tools are running slow, then, we have to either place the customers on hold or pro-long the call, those results into unsatisfied callers. And, unsatisfied callers bring negative feedback or survey, which can result into failing metrics or scorecards, or, could just simply kick us out of the program.

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The everyday stress; curse and yell from irate callers already put tons of stress and give us more tendencies of getting sick. Since, management gets their income from the calls being taken by agents, they hate seeing people being absent. Who doesn't? Which, I also agree. However, even if your reason is valid, believe me, they are always SUSPICIOUS. Even, if you show them a medical record. So, expect this to happen. Aside from that, since, we have to attend our work in graveyard shift, security is another concern. You could get robbed or if you are a woman, you can get raped. These things can happen, without warning. These are the things that we risk every time that we go to work.

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I guess, working in a Call Center is not that bad. One of the great benefits would be the HMO or Health Insurance Card. We often get sick because, of the stress and constant change of our schedule. With this Health Insurance, gives us a little peace of mind. I know that there might be some people who do not want to talk about this. But, the reality is, we will all die. So, if we are not that lucky, if we had an accident or we departed this world earlier than what we expect, there would still be something left for our family with the LIFE Insurance.

If you look around here in the Philippines. Other, Industries can't really match the salary that Call Center Industry can offer. Just imagine this, if you work let's say in an office, with a regular basic pay with allowances, you won't even reach 8-9,000PHP a month. Unlike, the regular salary in most Call Centers, even if you don't have a Call Center experience is around 13-15,000PHP, plus the benefits and allowances.

We have different kinds of Program Incentives and Bonuses, it depends on the account. Although, we are often disappointed with our 28% TAX on our Salary. We just ignore it, because, of the money we get from the Incentives and Bonuses, which is sometimes much bigger than our regular paycheck. Other Accounts, like Financial Accounts even have a Car Loan Incentive.

It is very easy to climb up the ladder if you are doing great consistently in your metrics and if the Account Line of Business is ramping up. Promotions from supervisor to Team Leader, even to the Managerial level are easy. When the opportunity knocks, grab it!

I am pretty sure that you have never heard of it. But, if we do not have lots of calls, and agents across all centers are on high avail time. Then, we are being allowed to go home. Of course, the time you spent on the phone will be paid, but, not from the time you logged out of the phone. We are being paid by the minutes, so, it's easy for them to track it all down for deductions. I know that this sounds weird, and some of you might tell us that we are just lazy, since, there are less calls, we don't have much things to do. But, believe me, if you have been doing this job for quite a long time, you will understand the feeling of being FREE from calls. It's just like getting the thorns out of your throat. No exaggeration.