whatever people. go get a life. what’s wrong with working in a call center? it’s a decent job.
i admit, i too despised the call center job.. BEFORE. i mean duh.. what’s the purpose in studying hard in a university to earn an IT degree if you’ll end up in a position that even highschool grads can enter? sorry. i was a bit harsh before.
why do people look down on you when you say you’re working in a call center? more so if you graduated a degree in college. more especially if your degree is IT or Computer Science.
when you have a degree in nursing, everybody expects you to take the board exam, pass it, and work abroad. when you graduate with a degree in engineering, everybody expects you to be in the industries months later. when you graduate with a degree in education, you are expected to take the board, then be a teacher. when you graduate with a degree in IT, not everybody will agree to a common expectation from you. some will expect you to be in the industries and/or work for software companies while a reasonable percentage will expect you to be in a call center. but of course, only those who don’t have a background of what an IT student works hard for in college agrees with the percentage of the latter.
your mentors, you classmates, your schoolmates, will never expect you to be working in a call center after college.
so why do people end up in call centers?
- in this industry, it’s so easy to find jobs. businesses from developed countries are so focused in designating their manpower to production therefore outsourcing is the fad. and where else would they outsource? of course from the underdeveloped countries where the cost of labor is close to T.Y.
- have you checked our inflation rate? did you check that cash register tape from your groceries? do you watch the news? it’s crisis everywhere. and it’s so felt especially in a third-world country like ours. that’s why even doctors opted to become nurses years ago right?
- take a look at our country’s employment and unemployment rate dear. when you get a job in the Philippines today, you are really lucky.
- the salary is really enticing. why the hell would someone say no to 20,000 Php a month? especially if you did not graduate college, if you are in dire need of money, if you don’t want to be a pain in your parents’ ass anymore for being unemployed though you finished college..
not all people who work in a call center just receive calls. there are also other departments (like programming dept) you know. and even the people who actually receive calls should not be underestimated because they might know more about networks than someone who studied a subject of it in college. yes. people in this position, which even highschool graduates can apply for, receive training not just in english speaking but also in the fields of the product where in they are assigned as support representatives.
i came to write about this topic because i got a little pissed by people who shoved to my face that working in a call center is such a pity situation for an IT student. they ask, “what? in a call center? what will you do there? ” at isa pa, “kung mangarap na man lang gani, dako dako-a pud(if you’ll dream, dream bigger)..” and what’s worse than someone who’ll doubt if you need those IT books you have for your OJT?
i am not saying that IT grads should never take a call center job nor should they look down on those positions. what i’m trying to point out here is that, one should not be judged by the difference of his/her educational attainment and the job he/she ends up with or wants to take in the future.
the reality:
- it’s global recession
- we are in a third world country
- there is inflation, unemployment, and job mismatch
- outsourcing is in; and
- people have different tastes [malay mo feel jud niya mag call center]
these are based on my own observations and listed as my own opinions. your opinions are also very much welcome. this is a free country ‘ayt? 
mao to. bow.
- darksphere
I like the whole “analyis”.. [:)] …it’s not what you do, but how you do it that counts…what say
Hi Mai! I think it’s inevitable. I’d go for a call center rather than being bum too. Call centers pay really good. I’ve heard from my classmate that she was like getting around 25,000 – 50,000.
okay, why do i feel you were really angry when writing this entry?hehe just a feeling..
anyway, i don’t know what happened to this world but there really has been a plethora of people that look down on those working in call center companies. especially those people who achieve a SUPER/MAJOR DEGREE in college and have been working as a professional on their field. grrr, reminds me of someone… hmph! why don’t THEY try working as a call center agent? let’s see if they can reach their quotas on time…
its not fair for them (agents), because most of them (i think!) did not plan on getting a job in call center companies but they actually applied because they needed money! hell, we all need money! and living in this 3rd world country, call center companies are the ONLY companies who are hiring almost every month despite the major economic crisis. following the logic, people would really end up working as agents. its simple as that.
so, what’s so bad about being a call center agent?
answer: nothing’s bad about it. its the OTHER people who are bad, because they are the ones trying to make the agents look bad.
haha hi rosa. well i was a bit angry at the time i wrote this post.. see it was dated april 11.. a few days before i started my ojt at a call center. hmmmm.. hehe
i couldn’t agree more with the points you cited. especially now that i’ve been in the said environment for about a month i can say that people “on the floor” – the agents, should never be underestimated. i learned a lot in my OJT, not only technically but also with regard to the environment of a call center and the nature of the work of agents. even as an observer (i’m assigned in the training dept so i dont really interact with agents but with the soon-to-be-deployed agents or trainees), i know that it doesn’t only take good english speaking skills to be there. patience and hardwork are the essentials of ANY work.
you are right. those people who look down on them should really try be agents so they’ll know how it’s like and stand corrected.
Why do people look down at call center workers? Perception.
I used to work in a local industry (read: regular dayjob) before I decided to work in the call center. After a couple of years I met up with my old officemates and when I told them I was working in the call center industry, they were amused. These were their perceptions of the industry:
1) Made of very young people. Immature and frequently complaining employees. (HR staffers in the call center industry are overworked compared to the HR staffers in the local industries/day work).
2) High maintenance. Inability of the employees to be self-supervised. Most call center agents demand and needs to be “coached” on a weekly basis, if not daily. (Heck! Me and old officemates made it through work with a one-on-one with our bosses around two or three times in a year.)
3) Dress down culture. Young people in the call center industry enjoy being on dress down at work almost everyday. It’s viewed as cool. But most people who come from the regular day work sees this as, unbelievably, jo-logs! That’s why for people who work in local banks, whenever they see call center agents coming in to the branch in their dress down clothes, just sigh in amusement (Here comes the jologs!) It’s hard for them to take unprofessional looking people seriously.
4) Call center hopping, high attrition rates, low employee satisfaction. These are the terms frequently heard about the call center industry. These are signs of employees not happy with work. Until these things drop to levels similar to regular daytime work, the call center industry will always be viewed as a unhappy place to work in (regardless of the high pay).