Life in a call center
83Speed Typing
My first callcenter experience (Eperformax)
Before I graduate from college in 2007, I have started applying for jobs. I have friends who work in a call center and they are encouraging me to apply in the same industry they are working with. I've heard that salary and benefits in a call center is higher compared to any other jobs. I created my Jobstreet account and started applying. Luckily, I received an interview invitation from Eperformax-Makati via phone just few days after I applied online. My parents don't want me to go there and apply because they want me to work in the province but because of my goals in life, I never let them stop me even if they didn't give me money for my fare and allowance. I went to Makati with two of my batchmates who were also invited for an interview in the same company.
There were a lot of tests that we took during that time. We finished everything up almost night time already. We were there for 11 hours. Two of us got hired. I started training few days after graduation. I felt lucky because I already have work just few days after graduation. My typing speed got me into this job. I can type 55-60wpm (words per minute). The account where I was assigned is with Verizon as an IP relay operator. The salary after you passed the training is really high. It's more than 25,000php. Unfortunately, I didn't pass the training.
Eperformax Contact Center
What is an IP relay operator?
An IP relay operator is an operator service that allows people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, speech-disabled, or DeafBlind to place calls to standard telephone users via a keyboard or assistive device. Originally, relay services were designed to be connected through a device called TTY.
Telephilippines Inc. (Teleperformance)
2nd call center experience (Teleperformance)
I started working with Teleperformance in May 2007. I worked as a customer service representative for Sprint, a US-based telecommunications company. We cater to the needs of our consumers who wants to activate their phones, add services for their postpaid accounts, billing inquiries, and the like. A lot of agents say that when you are working with Sprint, you are great! Because of the fact that the account is really challenging and dynamic. More often than not, there are a lot of irate customers who knows nothing but complain and wants free service. It was really a challenging job because it will test your multi-tasking skills, your communication skills, your patience and your dedication for work.
After a year and 7 months with the company, I got promoted as an Escalation Desk Officer. We take supervisor calls for 8 hours. Calls are being transferred by agents who can no longer resolved the issue due to some restrictions, or things that are already beyond their control and capabilities. Everyday, we receive customers who will shout at you and complain. It was really challenging for me. Nevertheless, I was able to handle calls very well and I was still nice talking with customers even if they are shouting at me due to inconvenience they had experience and frustrations they had experienced because of bad service, and the like. At the end of the day, there will still be customers who will say sorry to you and appreciate what you've done; and it feels really good to receive commendations from them.
I resigned in December 2008 due to some reasons. Nevertheless, my training and experience working with the company was very helpful in improving my skills. I miss my teammates specially our lovely supervisor when i was still an agent.
Citigroup (Cards-Australia)
3rd call center experience (Citigroup)
In January 2009, I started working with Citigroup. It's an in-house contact center for credit cards, retail banking, and the like. We cater to the needs of our customers from Australia. There are a lot of things I like about this job. I work in a dayshift, I love Aussie accent and I love Australians. Australians are really nice, I rarely receive calls from customers who would shout at you and discriminate you for being a Filipino. They are very friendly and easy to deal with. I was initially with the credit card department, assisting customers in activating their card, card application status, billing, etc... After few months, I was trained for Rewards, assisting customers with their points redemption and also assisting Diners Club International Members with their points redemption. I also had a chance to work with the Risk Management Team, answering queries as to why customers' credit limit got reduced. Just like my experience with Teleperformance, this job was also very challenging to me because I am now dealing with Australians and at first, it was difficult understanding their accent but eventually I get to understand them and I even acquired their accent; everytime I received a call Aussies thought I'm from Sydney or somewhere in Australia. It was fun! I resigned in September 2009 due to personal reasons.
Currently working with Aegis Peoplesupport
I started working with Aegis Peoplesupport in September 2009.
Overall experience
I've been working with the call center industry for almost 3 years now. I can say that my experiences in this industry really helped me a lot in many aspects in life. I am just at this point where I want to widen my horizon, experience new things not related to call center anymore. I'm wishing success for myself in my upcoming endeavor.
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I watched your video.. I love your Aussie-American accent.
ePerformax was the first company I've tried my luck in the industry.. What a nice experience it had been for you.. Nice narration as well.
@dyesebel10: That's true. I really feel lucky that I get a job right away after resigning from a previous job. That's what I call "luck". How can I not know Vivo! hahaha.. there he is! I joined hubpages because I saw his hubs and now I'm following him.
Thank you for watching the video. I don't wanna show up my face coz I just woke up that time. I easily acquired the Aussie accent and now I'm still struggling to speak with a neutral or American accent.
@veevoh: it was really a nice experience after all.. thanks for reading my hubs and appreciating it.. see you around..
Thank you for your in depth information on this industry. It something I know next to nothing about. I would never shout at you on the phone ;-)
Thank you for reading my hub Peter. I appreciate it. Have a great day =)
Hello GenRP,
Thank you for writing about your experiences in the call center industry. I am posting a link from my blog to yours. Hope you don't mind.
CallAssPinas
thank you so much..happy weekend..
Hi GenRP. It brings back memories, working in contact centres, what a buzz. And there are some great ones as well as bad ones. Excellent hub. Thanks
Thank you so much for dropping by. I really appreciate it. That's true there are great ones as well as bad ones. It's really fun working with contact centers though. Happy hubbing!
--gen--
what a nice experiece.. i used to work in eperformax too(PayPal)!!!
my friend used to work there too.. with PayPal too ^_^
i heard there's a 100k bond at citigrp makti, is it true? but i guess, that shouldn't be an issue if you plan to stay there forever
Hi marb, yes there is.. 1 year bond.. thanks for reading my hub..
I'm sure you are very good in whatever you do. Keep it up and God Bless
it's very useful blog.. but there's a lot of "UHM!" haha.. but nice accent.. keep it UP! ;)
thanks jam.. and thanks for taking time to read my hub and watching/listening to my video..have a great week..
Reads like a resume, complete with video! Great way to advertise for a job! You should put a link to this on your resume or job CV! Heh! Lot's of people do this , it's quite okay! Very informative. Lots of call centers in the Philippines. Everyone speaks great English!
Hi..thanks for taking time to read my hub. Wow! I didn't know you can do like that in your CV. Thanks for the info.
Hi gen, i was wondering if you could recommend citigroup as a good place to start a callcenter career. also, ive been getting calls for interview schedules from two of your previous companies; teleperformance and citigroup. theyre offering different accounts but both are dayshift. but heres the thing, TP is offering 16.5k + incentives + signing bonus for a TSR position. Acquire asia on the other hand is offering 17k + incentives + commission for an outbound sales post. lastly citigroup is offering a CSR position. i dont know how much they offer though. please help.!! which do you think i should choose? im really tired of applying and getting sucky offers
thanks :)
Hi Sep,
Thanks for reading my hub. I would recommend TP, that was my first call center experience, it's where I stayed for almost 2 years, people are great. Incentives, salary are really great! Citigroup has training bond, I can't remember how much. Peoplesupport is also ok, but not really for me hehehe.. I would say that it really depends on the account where you will be assigned. Because different accounts offer different/various incentives, salary and the like. It's your decision though. Good luck to you.
Thanks,
Gen
It's good to read about your experience in the Philippines call center industry, I too have worked in a few call centers after my graduation. But I noticed that the work environment of call centers is far better in Philippines compared to the ones in India. Good luck with your career, Hope to see a hub about you being promoted to a Team lead soon :D
Hi Reggie,
Thanks for dropping by and reading my hub. I no longer work in a call center. But it was very fun working with the call center industry and I definitely believe that is a very good training ground for future undertakings. I now work with a huge real estate company. Good luck to your career too. Have a great day!
Thanks,
Gen
Hi nice hub! I'm with eperformax too.. From an agent I was promoted to a Senior agent for PAYPAL (currently)... Good pay.. Enough to raise my wife and kid.. (Oh btw I also met my wife at eper-paypal through consult call..ahaha)
So eper is really memorable for me...
wow! that's great to hear Ed. Thanks for dropping by and reading my hub. Have a good day!
Gen
hi gen i haven't work in call center but am really looking forward to work there soon, but my problem is that i don't know if am qualified for the position of a call center agent... am kinda afraid to try because of some certain reasons, like i didn't finish college and some of call center companies were looking for applicants that has an experience in call center industry...
please give me an advice to get over this problem that am going through
wishing you all the best.... promise to be one of your followers
Hi Dab,
Thanks for reading my hub. Good thing about working in a call center is that, there is no age limit, you don't have to be a college grad. (depending on the account where you will be assigned to), anybody can work in a call center; that's one thing I love about call center.
You really don't have to feel afraid, take it as a challenge. Believe me, working in a call center makes you ready for future endeavors outside the call center industry. I'm talking based on my experience. It serves as a training ground for your future endeavors. Give it a try, if you don't make it through the first company where you will apply, there are still a lot of call centers. Keep on trying. Give it a try, it won't make any harm to you ^_^
No guts, no glory!
Thanks,
Gen
xxx
@ed: sa 7th ka ba?
life in a call center is terrible in morocco . many complain about monotony and abuse but here in canada its nice and much more supervised . your article was great really
hi i just want to ask is there a bond in people support?...
Hi Medkh9, thank you for reading my hub. Have a great day.
Hi Ria, there's no training bond in Aegis PeopleSupport. Thank you for reading my hub.
genrp..... than you very much...... I all watched the videos, and I was so really great..... I just want to ask if u dont mind, what is the first thing Im going to do prior applying for this job? I dont know where to start and still confusing about the life of a call center.... thanks you
hi gen just want to ask what college education required for you to be able to work in citigroup?
@jaysteel: hi.. sorry for the late reply.. I really didn't prepare for it. I applied in the call center few weeks before my graduation and had my interview few weeks before my graduation as well. I really didn't know much about call center. All I knew was you gotta take calls and assist clients from overseas. No preparation really. But now, I would encourage you to always use the English language in communicating. Try watching CNN or read any literature, read it out loud.
@raf: if you're asking about the course, I don't think there is.. so long as you are a college graduate, it doesn't matter.. good luck Raf.. give your best :)
YOURE job was great,,i always wanted to work in a call center but im so really afraid i cant make it.but i really loved too.not just because of the salary but the develop my skills and talent and hopefully stayed in the the company for the rest of my life.funny me
hi, I'm so proud of you for being so talented!!! I love the way you speak and the way you think. You are surely a nice person.I love your accent.It's really awesome! Actually, I've been dreaming to work in a call center industry though I am aware how much pressures and challenges accompany with it but what matters with me the most is the new things that I'm going to learn. thank you!! I've learned a lot from your stories and inspired watching your video.
Thank you Rhea for your wonderful comment. It's always fun to try new things. Don't be afraid to face challenges :)
hello gen! very good share you have there! i read all of what you have shared and watched your video and you're cool. Great experience you have and i'm sure one has to understand now about what it is as to how it is to be a call center agent. currently i worked as an IT teacher here in Davao City. i worked in a BPO industry before and was really a great challenge. when i read out your article i feel like i experience the same. Now, the task as a teacher is you have to work even at home and a lot of paperworx and recordings, students to discipline and paid just enough to buy milk for my kid (worked in private school). i have in mind now to quit teaching in this school and perhaps get back to a call center environment. :D
It is a fun experience working in a call center. thank you so much for posting. Have a great day ahead of you.
i love your aussie accent...thanks for sharing your call center experiences...i wish i could be just like you someday...right now, i am seeking to have a career to the same industry you are working ..i really like finding myself leveling up to the said field.. : )
Thank you so much guys for appreciatin and reading my hub. I just saw this today because I have not been checking my hubpage for quite sometime now. Goodluck to all of you in whatever endeavor that you choose to take.
Is Telephilippines and Teleperformance one and the same?
Hi sugar! Yes, one and the same.
dyesebel10 2 years ago
genrp, you're lucky to easily get a job after graduation and not only one job.. you easily transferred to other companies.. that just means you have the talent and skills for the jobs.. plus the pleasing personality.. you'll go a long way.. I also have a relative working in a Call Center.. actually, he's now connected with your company Aegis Peoplesupport.. I think he's handling Cathay Pacific account, am not very sure.. maybe you know him.. he's Vivo.. thanks for sharing your hub.