headset talks

Lemme start by saying that I had such a hard time writing this piece! Picture this: the call center industry has been my bread and butter for god knows when and my good friend Rio gave me this horrendous task of pointing out the not so fascinating things about the job. It felt like Atlas bearing the sky on his shoulders! Tough one, ayt?

Call Centers – a new wave of job opportunity that has proliferated the job market and has attracted numerous job seekers. They are not just the regular unemployed, but unfortunately fresh graduates of reputable universities who are more eager to earn than practice the valuable education they gained from their alma mater. And why would not they take on such offer? Lucrative starting pay, guaranteed employment for a year or so, service-oriented work for foreign clients, and it seems to be the fad these days. But I call this modern day "DH" work. It is abusive, opportunistic, and downright pathetic. Why?

We are sleep - deprived people. We work while the rest of the Philippines is dozing off. To put it bluntly we comparable to vampires, nocturnal creatures that prowl by night and slumber when the sun rises. It can be a vicious cycle to live by day in and day out. For the unfortunate many, they don't have the stamina to live this kind of lifestyle. We see people come and go all the time. Death is interminably a gaping part of the loom. Suffice it to say, resignations are not a shocker at all.

STRESS! You are on a HOT seat day in and day out. That is the nature of the job. They say it is just a matter of good call-handling skills. Hell, you can say that to my butthole for all I care. In a split second, callers morphed into vicious diablos that spit scorching hot fire from the other end. This is where the saga of an irate caller begins. I do have my moments that I strike back at the customer. To hell with the obnoxious know-it-all idiots. I may just be a call center freak but I don't tolerate profanity and being treated like a fuckin dog. Of course, I have my mouth, my tongue and my teeth are still intact, so basically I also have the ability to yell. Who says that only customers have the right to yell. I also have mine. I can be as cynical as I can be. It can even be at my advantage. I have good knowledge of the technical aspect of the account so I know how to cheat my way around without the customer knowing it. I just need to get myself out of the situation. I know this is sleazy, but for some, they deserve to get the dose of their own medicine. I am not here to be bossed around by imbiciles who insist on being treated like royalty when in reality, they are just plain dumb. Just to make things clear, I am not in any way ripping off the customers. I just want the call to end, plain and simple.

I have been in this job for 3 years now and if it wasnt really where I get my dough, I would have given up eons ago. There are a lot of dignifying and stress free jobs out there. The lucrative pay cannot suffice to the millions of hair you lose everyday trying to figure out why the hell you're in the job which stops you from living life.

I may be over-reacting, but I say call centers indeed stagnates the country’s intellectual potential. If most of our brilliant graduates or still students for that matter will succumb to this craze, then maybe these reputable universities are educating the wrong people. It is reflective of our times, our values, but what isn’t obvious is that it greatly affects our future. We are talking of possibly the next president here.

So what I am saying? Basically, I just really need to start gathering my thoughts now and start preparing myself for a whole lot of pencil - pushing this June!