To Work Or Not To Work... In A Call Center

That's a question I asked myself a few years back when I was still pretty darned ambitious and all these call centers were popping up. There are even more now mind you! It seems like they're growing by the minute and they're all hiring like crazy!

In Cebu there are Convergys, eTelecare and People Support as the big three I think, but there's also ePerformax and Teletech and probably a bunch more that I'm just not familiar with.

I have met a lot of people who vowed that they would never work in a call center. Some of them call it the "last resort" and many think that it's actually a no-brainer job.

I actually respect people who work in the customer support industry. Believe me it's not easy. I have not tried myself, but I've seen how it's done and I've seen how agents are trained and I've seen how they are managed.

It's pretty rigorous and agents should get more credit for that. I for one, can never hold my patience down when somebody annoyingly stupid is on the other line.

I haven't tried being a call center agent and although there are prejudices about being one, I think it's a pretty good industry to be in nowadays. Even with the economic crisis, it doesn't seem like any of them is slowing down in terms of hiring. So that's a positive indication that the industry is still strong.

I work in marketing, where I'll probably be for the next few years of my life - God willing. But for sure, I won't turn down an opportunity to work in a call center for the right opportunity.

Keep an open mind. Call centers may have high turn-over rates but based on experience, this also accelerates growth and corporate ascendancy in the business if you just stick to it. Like all things, it's a job that somebody's got to do. If you do your job with extra effort and just shine. People will notice you in whatever industry in whatever position. You can succeed.

The BPO Industry Set To Grow To Need 1 Billion Employees - So Who Are They Looking For?

With BPO growing at a break-neck pace particularly here in the Philippines, there has been a projection that the industry will provide more than 1 billion jobs in relation to BPO - otherwise known as business process outsourcing.

To correct some misconceptions, which is that BPO only relates to call centers and contact centers, which is a majority but not the entire truth, BPO is in fact composed of many different industries:

• We already know of the call centers and/or customer service centers that are now everywhere. They employ hundreds of people and also, exit a lot of them considering that many workers have to come in during the night and try to sleep during the day. That is a difficult job, but since the clients are on a different time zone then that will have to be a work-related adjustment many of us have to make if we indeed need and/or want the job
• There are also numerous back-offices that include finance or accounting offices that are outsourced, this employs numerous accountants, analysts and finance executives
• Design is also a skill that is often outsourced. More often supplied by freelancers that actual companies - website design and graphic design in general is very common as a service that can even be done within the convenience of home. Designers are quite lucky.
• There is also the medical-related back office which is mostly now medical transcription. These companies are paid a lot of money I hear and that is why I think they are investing in ways to train people before they hire them

There are many kinds of people that the BPO industry is looking for, I may have missed some of them but rest assured that there are a lot of job opportunities for different types of graduates available if only you work hard and not get picky at the job you want to do.

Studies Show Link Between Night Shift Work And Cancer

WebMD, a great source for medical articles, just published something interesting about night shift jobs. Apparently working the night shift may cause cancer, according to a report published in The Lancet. The article continues to explain the study which is composed of a team of 44 scientists in 10 countries commissioned by the World Health Organization's International Agency on Cancer Research.

They report "limited" evidence of a connection between cancer and night shift work in people. That evidence included a higher rate of breast cancer in female nurses who work night shifts.

But those studies, which were observational, don't prove cause and effect. Many genetic and environmental factors affect cancer risk.

So the scientists also reviewed studies in which animals were exposed to light at night, disrupting the animals' so-called body clocks (circadian rhythm).

Those studies provided "sufficient evidence" of a connection between circadian rhythm disruption and cancer, states the report.

The scientists concluded that "shift work that involves circadian rhythm disruption is probably carcinogenic to humans," write Kurt Straif, MD, and colleagues.

They note that shift work may raise cancer risk by suppressing production of melatonin, a chemical involved in the circadian rhythm. Straif works in Lyon, France, for IARC.

I've heard of other rumors with regards to Customer service representatives falling ill and even dying on account of no sleep. This ought to be something call centers should take into consideration and provide proper care and rest for their employees.

Customer Service Job Openings In Cebu 11-25-2007

Company: Call Center Learning Institute Corp.

• Position:Call Center Agents / Free Training ~
• Location: Makati, Ortigas, QC, Alabang, Marikina, Mandaluyong, Cebu
• Salary:PHP15000-PHP20000, Education Industry

Company: John Clements Consultants, Inc.

• Position:CALL CENTER AGENTS (Start-up Call Center - Cebu City) code: CA... ~
• Location: Cebu City
• Available: 50 vacancies
• Requirements:Call Center / BPO Industry
• Skills: good communication skills, active listening skills, sound analysis/problem assessment

Company: Convergys Corporation

• Position:Customer Care Representative (Voice / email & chat) - IT Park,... ~
• Location: Cebu City
• Requirements: Call Center / BPO Industry

Company: ExcelAsia Training and Development Inc. - CEBU

• Position:Customer Service Representative (Email and Chat) - CEBU ~
• Location: Cebu City
• Available: 99 vacancies
• Salary:PHP10000-PHP15000,
• Requirements:Call Center / BPO Industry
  
• Skills: Excellent Written Communication skills, Mastery of English grammar, Internet savvy.