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Originally Posted by OKCMallen
Gawd what a negative thread for something that is ONLY good news.
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I suppose this would depend on your perspective. What if they were putting in a new federal prison? Those would be new jobs too? Would you want that? Would that also ONLY be good news? How about a garbage processing plant? A job is a job. Someone will be happy to have it, after all.
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Originally Posted by bretthexum
So you're implying that only fat lazy slobs work at call centers. You're hilarious. Many people start at call centers part time during college, etc. Many times they are hired onto a more professional role after graduation. As for the rest... at least they have jobs and aren't living off welfare. I am not going to knock ANYONE who is at least trying to better themselves or their families. Maybe that's the best they can get at this point in their life? Do you think they actually want to work there the rest of their life? Probably not... but at least they are doing SOMETHING.
If you don't like call centers, then don't work there.
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Originally Posted by kevinpate
Having never seen the insides of one, what's the pros and cons of call center employment beyond mundane work with limited advancement possibilities
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I think I'm going to address these two together. They actually seem to go together.
Pros: part-time work to supplement the full-time sub-standard paycheck or school schedule
schedule is easy to work around the full-time schedule
Lots of time (sometimes) between calls (or on hold) to read, balance the checkbook, work on stuff from the other job, etc.
You learn a lot from the people who call, and not just about the business at hand or about human nature. Sometimes you learn about horses. Or property taxes. Or neighborhoods with inappropriate names (Morningwood? Who came up with that?)
Cons: When you're tethered to a computer/phone, you can't get up and run to the printer or run down the hall to talk to a co-worker or get up just because. The regular office activity is non-existent. Thus, the call-center-"fatty"
You probably have to work on holidays
You probably never get two days off in a row (just like retail, yay!)
It's very stressful when the calls suddenly start coming in on top of each other and you're understaffed. For months.
Part-time=no benefits and no time off
Full-time=even more boredom on the job and even less exercise during the day
Low pay - not minimum wage, but nothing to write home about
Other employees of call centers - have you worked with these people? Geez!
Very few call centers treat their employees as people. Most treat them as commodities which are easily replaced. And indeed, they are. I have seen one notable exception, and with positive results. They get good employees who stick around and do good work. The others often hire anyone who walks in the door because they need a voice on the phone, and know they will be able to replace them as soon as the next voice walks in the door. A few of the "voices" they hire turn out to be good employees who care about the job and work hard to do well. And way too many of them don't care, are on drugs, show up drunk, make inappropriate comments and jokes, violate policies that are in place for very good reason, etc.
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Originally Posted by Karried
I agree it's not the best job in the world, but for college kids, or people needing a second income, it's better than some of the alternatives out there.
I guess we could just tell AAA not to come and start passing out cardboard signs so people can stand on the corner and beg for change.
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I suppose. But I'm not sure the actual phone answering jobs are being taken by very many college kids or second jobbers. I suppose even the druggies and alcomoholics are better off working than standing on a corner begging for my money (yeah, I guess I'd rather they earn their own money). But I wouldn't characterize this news as ONLY good news. And if they would do this right (and odds are, they won't), they'd turn out a good call center and a pretty nice place to work.