Call Center Career : Any Advise?

[Carlitos]

Hi peeps,

Pasensya na sa inquiry ko medyo wala kasi akong alam sa industry na ito eh. Grad ako ng Comp. Eng'g, and I have more than 8 years of working experience. Medyo 'techie' ako ng konti pero ZERO ang experience ko sa call centers. I heard na maganda ang pay dito at plano kong sumubok sa industriyang ito.

I have some questions which I hope you can clarify in your own little way ...

1. Do I need to be very proficient in English (I'm an average)?
2. Can my technical background and experience compensate for that lack of proficiency in English language?
3. Do they really need techie people or they would prefer people who's not into IT but very good in English and is very trainable?
4. How's work ?

Thanks for those who will reply and to those who at least took their time reading my inquiries. Hope I can get some response. :)

BTW, I got a call from Unisys but I failed to reply simply because I was hesitant. Hope you can help me.

Thanks.

[angelica0707]

Here's just some points based on experience:

1. Yes you have to be proficient in the English Language. You have to be alert with your lapses during the interview and correct yourself immediately, coz this will definitely be a plus factor. Example: instead of using she you used he, you used was instead of were.
These are the basics. You should know how to express yourself in writing too.
Each company has their own definition of average, so never assume that your english skill is Average.

2. There are a very few centers who considers an applicant's technical background to compensate for his/her weakness in the english language. Majority would often prefer a solid technical experience and excellent communication skills.

3. Depends on the type of account you will be working in. If the job calls for tech support, then you need to excel in both. If its a customer service account, then english communication skill is first followed by a persons basic computer knowledge.

4. If you're used to an "active" work, meaning your always busy with your tech work or often not on your table to attend to the needs of your internal customer, then, you might get bored with the work. It also depends on your priority in life. If your priority is money, then it may be the work that you are looking for. If its career growth, then this depends on you...

Why dont you go and apply first. Dont hesitate to ask the interviewer on the kind of work that you will be doing. Expect that they will ask you as well on why would you like a shift in your career.
You have to think hard about the shift in your career coz if you'll get bored and decided to go back to your old job, it might be difficult for you knowing that competition for IT people is very tough.

Advise: try applying for an IT position in a call center industry din :)

Hope this helps

[angelica0707]

Here's just some points based on experience:

1. Yes you have to be proficient in the English Language. You have to be alert with your lapses during the interview and correct yourself immediately, coz this will definitely be a plus factor. Example: instead of using she you used he, you used was instead of were.
These are the basics. You should know how to express yourself in writing too.
Each company has their own definition of average, so never assume that your english skill is Average.

2. There are a very few centers who considers an applicant's technical background to compensate for his/her weakness in the english language. Majority would often prefer a solid technical experience and excellent communication skills.

3. Depends on the type of account you will be working in. If the job calls for tech support, then you need to excel in both. If its a customer service account, then english communication skill is first followed by a persons basic computer knowledge.

4. If you're used to an "active" work, meaning your always busy with your tech work or often not on your table to attend to the needs of your internal customer, then, you might get bored with the work. It also depends on your priority in life. If your priority is money, then it may be the work that you are looking for. If its career growth, then this depends on you...

Why dont you go and apply first. Dont hesitate to ask the interviewer on the kind of work that you will be doing. Expect that they will ask you as well on why would you like a shift in your career.
You have to think hard about the shift in your career coz if you'll get bored and decided to go back to your old job, it might be difficult for you knowing that competition for IT people is very tough.

Advise: try applying for an IT position in a call center industry din :)

Hope this helps

[lh3n]

Hi peeps,

Pasensya na sa inquiry ko medyo wala kasi akong alam sa industry na ito eh. Grad ako ng Comp. Eng'g, and I have more than 8 years of working experience. Medyo 'techie' ako ng konti pero ZERO ang experience ko sa call centers. I heard na maganda ang pay dito at plano kong sumubok sa industriyang ito.

I have some questions which I hope you can clarify in your own little way ...

1. Do I need to be very proficient in English (I'm an average)?
2. Can my technical background and experience compensate for that lack of proficiency in English language?
3. Do they really need techie people or they would prefer people who's not into IT but very good in English and is very trainable?
4. How's work ?

Thanks for those who will reply and to those who at least took their time reading my inquiries. Hope I can get some response. :)

BTW, I got a call from Unisys but I failed to reply simply because I was hesitant. Hope you can help me.

Thanks.

I've been in the call center industry for 4 years now. Based on experience, and experiences of people I handled and peers, here's my 2 cents to your questions.

1. Proficiency comes with practice. Besides, your training will include accent neutralization, grammar proficiency and core skills improvement, among others. All you have to be concerned about is getting in, it's common practice for call centers to pre-screen applicants. And the first qualification they look for is english communication skills. Wow them during the interview process, you need not be speaking with a twang however avoid grammar lapses and neutralize your accent.

2. Your technical background will surely help you a lot. The trick is to find a program that suits your skills. The call center industry is not anymore limited to technical support and customer service. The technical support program is now branching out on its own. There are technical support representatives taking calls from TSRs of smaller companies. More like, MIS for the MIS. Can you imagine how technically proficient you have to be?

3. I'd have to say both. What's good about this industry is (i know there will be raised eyebrows here ;) ) opportunities are abound for those who are willing to learn (disclaimer: opportunity is a relative term).

4. Hmmm...I assume you'd be getting different answers. Mine would be, it can be fun and it can be boring, it can be difficult, it can be easy. I like what I do though. Methinks, it will have to depend on you. No amount of opinion will justify it unless you experience it yourself.

Good luck!

[narcissus494]

nobody can really claim that he or she has excellent communication skills especially in English..even Accent trainers have lapses in their grammar too...just answer the interview questions direct to the point...trying to be profound or elaborating your answers unnecessarily would make you more prone to grammar lapses :)..apply for an account that is related to your work experience or know something about the industry in which the account belongs...it would help during product training...Overall,to survive call center, irate clients or pa-bibo team mates, all you need (apart from your product know-how and comm skills) is a good set of friends/co-workers/teamm8s and a TL you can talk to and feel comfortable with coz at the end of the day, these are the people you can vent your frustrations to regarding work

[baby_michelle21]

am actually a newbie in dis industry,(goin 1 yr dis feb) duh.. am a fresh grad with no background with callcenters,
till i f*ckin get bored with myself bumming around.. so i decided to go online and look for a job..holla! was called for an initial interview (hayop 11pm.. sabe ko.. ganun pala un.. inosotto pa to nun eh..heheh)

am too nervous dat tym.. da hell, i even mispronounced my boss name.. (d@mmit foreigner pa boss ko, xia p ng interview sken) how lucky could i get huh? hehehe

fortunately,he said im in na...
swerte ko talaga.

for me, you dont have to be super fluent with english,
coz hey.. we hab 2 admit dat we'r not americans.. xempre we'll hab lapses din, one way or another,
but we jaz hab 2 make sure dat wer able 2 communicate *** we hab in our minds...

kc f we try too hard...
we'll b prone 2 lapses..
checkin' ourselves(tama bang grammar ko?)

xempre it doent hurt dat we practice p rin..

da pay is gud... d@mn gud. gudlack hope m regular k din...

[Xpialidocious]

Does anyone here knows a part-time call center job?

I tried applying for a call center agent position a couple of times. The 1st one was for JobsDB Prestige... I attended the interview, I even had to be absent for my class, and took an exam. We were asked to wait for the results for a few minutes. Some were denied, and when my name was called I was asked to fill out an online form for JobsDB Prestige...There was a field on the form where I wasn't sure what to enter (it's about the educational attainment). I asked the staff what if I'm still going to college and I only need a part-time job. Then her eyes went big...She said that they're only looking for full time CSR. So, they had to cancel my application. I know it was my fault, coz I was so excited and didn't bother to ask earlier. The rest was history... Hehe...