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Ygolonac
Nov 26, 2007

pre:
*************
CLUTCH  NIXON
*************

The Hero We Need

Pugzilla posted:

I have a client that sends sales calls to a call center via TV, radio, print ads and web. The call center seems to do a much better job closing the deal (getting paid orders for products) from calls from the web - 70% conversion rate. TV generated calls are about 40%. Is that common? If so, why do you all think web generated calls convert better?

Assumptions inbound - your other ads are all catching a casual, impulse customer. "Hey, that looks kinda neat... might call and ask about it." There's still that online, but there's also those who are online *searching* for whatever McGuffin you've got, or a reasonable facsimile thereof, and have a predisposition towards buying it if it suits their purpose/desires.

Also, if they're online when they call, they might well be doing bullshit-checks to see how much they're being lied to. :v:

When I worked inbound CS for ShopNBC (shopping channel), and we got a sales call (overflow from the sales centers/customers not calling the right number or buying while calling for customer service issues), you could tell which ones were just impulse-buying because of whatever was on the TV at the time or just recently.

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Dead Cow
Nov 4, 2009

Passion makes the world go round.
Love just makes it a safer place.
Personally, if I'm actively searching for a product, and I just have a few unanswered questions, I will call to ask those questions. If those questions are answered, there's no point for me to hang up and complete my purchase online if I can do it right there on the phone.

I'm guessing that's probably why.

Kitsch!
Jul 27, 2006

God made Adam and Eve, not Fluffy and Eve.
I have an interview for a CSR job tomorrow morning with a Groupon-style website (Coincidentally, just saw a banner ad for it at the top of the forums. Maybe that's a sign.). The pay is meh, but full benefits after a month. Pretty much looking for any full time job at this point though, plus discounts on merchandise is always a perk I suppose.

Am I going to hate myself if I get the job?

Loving Life Partner
Apr 17, 2003

Kitsch! posted:

I have an interview for a CSR job tomorrow morning with a Groupon-style website (Coincidentally, just saw a banner ad for it at the top of the forums. Maybe that's a sign.). The pay is meh, but full benefits after a month. Pretty much looking for any full time job at this point though, plus discounts on merchandise is always a perk I suppose.

Am I going to hate myself if I get the job?

Depends on your ability to depersonalize what's going on within the calls. People are going to say "You", "You people" and etc. and blame you very angrily for things at times. As long as you remember that "you" are a multimillion dollar company and be a conduit for the guidelines and regulations and let it go as soon as you hang up, you'll be fine.

Sometimes there are people who can just, I dunno how to explain it, make you loving red line as soon as they start talking. These spectacular douches are few and far between though, some kind of weirdo loner who has an aura of anti-social angst that can probably make a baby deer cry out at 50 yards.

I had a guy the other day who made me take a ten minute when I was on a good roll. He was whining about a problem or other, and I explained to him what was going on and why, and that it was just a system thing, and he kept saying "I know what you're saying about what the system is doing, but it shouldn't do that", and he just kept saying that it shouldn't do that, until I finally got him off the line. I was ready to explode by the end, just the way he said it and what he was saying, rargh.

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

Loving Life Partner posted:

Depends on your ability to depersonalize what's going on within the calls. People are going to say "You", "You people" and etc. and blame you very angrily for things at times. As long as you remember that "you" are a multimillion dollar company and be a conduit for the guidelines and regulations and let it go as soon as you hang up, you'll be fine.

Sometimes there are people who can just, I dunno how to explain it, make you loving red line as soon as they start talking. These spectacular douches are few and far between though, some kind of weirdo loner who has an aura of anti-social angst that can probably make a baby deer cry out at 50 yards.

I had a guy the other day who made me take a ten minute when I was on a good roll. He was whining about a problem or other, and I explained to him what was going on and why, and that it was just a system thing, and he kept saying "I know what you're saying about what the system is doing, but it shouldn't do that", and he just kept saying that it shouldn't do that, until I finally got him off the line. I was ready to explode by the end, just the way he said it and what he was saying, rargh.

Ha, I did exactly that when I phoned British Gas about my boiler insurance a few months back. Now I feel bad.

Lord Windy
Mar 26, 2010
I did my final interview today for a place at IBM. I think they were trying to scare me off by saying how repetitive the work is.

Is it really as repetitive as he is saying? I mean, I like talking to customers anyway so I don't think it would be that bad.

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

Lord Windy posted:

I did my final interview today for a place at IBM. I think they were trying to scare me off by saying how repetitive the work is.

Is it really as repetitive as he is saying? I mean, I like talking to customers anyway so I don't think it would be that bad.

That was certainly a standard thing to say when I was conducting interviews for call centre jobs. It IS repetitive - I don't know what your job will specifically involve, but here's a few examples:

Technical support:

1. "Hello customer!"
2. "Let's try power cycling it"
3. "It works? Ok, have a great day!"

Collections:

1. "Hello customer."
2. "Full repayment now please."
3. "Ok, when CAN you pay?"
4. "Ok, thanks, bye!"

This is not to demean either of those, but the vast majority of calls will be along exactly the same lines. Then again, if you work in a shop the vast majority of your days will be the same as well.

Basically they're asking you now so you can back out if you're wanting something more creative - and also so that if you start goofing off and daydreaming they've got the interview question to point at and say "We TOLD you."

Kate Hate
Aug 26, 2006

relaxing after a hard day's rape
Working at a call center for a bank has its moments, but it's mostly this:

"Why do I have an overdraft fee?!"
"Because you spent more money than you had in your account."

Which leads to either "Oh just wondering thanks" or "THIS BANK IS THE SPAWN OF SATAN I DEMAND TO SPEAK TO THE CEO!!!"

At least bank customers are more tolerable than Verizon Wireless customers!

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

A New Name posted:

Working at a call center for a bank has its moments, but it's mostly this:

"Why do I have an overdraft fee?!"
"Because you spent more money than you had in your account."

Which leads to either "Oh just wondering thanks" or "THIS BANK IS THE SPAWN OF SATAN I DEMAND TO SPEAK TO THE CEO!!!"

At least bank customers are more tolerable than Verizon Wireless customers!

I used to enjoy the follow up being

"But why did you let me spend more than I had?"

Which, on the face of it, is a fair question. So then you have to explain about stores having floor limits for credit and debit cards that everything just gets approved if you're under, about direct debits (which some people simply cannot understand) about guaranteed cheques, etc.

I swear, some people were massively better off in the UK when they got a pay packet in their hands and when that ran out, they knew they had no money. Give the same people a bank account and they'll set up direct debits all over it and then take all the money out and not understand when they get unpaid direct debit fees.

Kate Hate
Aug 26, 2006

relaxing after a hard day's rape

Fil5000 posted:

I used to enjoy the follow up being

"But why did you let me spend more than I had?"

Which, on the face of it, is a fair question. So then you have to explain about stores having floor limits for credit and debit cards that everything just gets approved if you're under, about direct debits (which some people simply cannot understand) about guaranteed cheques, etc.

I swear, some people were massively better off in the UK when they got a pay packet in their hands and when that ran out, they knew they had no money. Give the same people a bank account and they'll set up direct debits all over it and then take all the money out and not understand when they get unpaid direct debit fees.

Everyone thinks it's the company's job to babysit them and hold their hand through everything and then they get upset when we suggest spending 2 minutes of their incredibly busy lives to check their online banking. If people checked their online banking then maybe you wouldn't have to wait in 40 minute long queues for legitimate issues because Joe Schmoe wants you to read off every check that has cleared in the past year!

Loving Life Partner
Apr 17, 2003
We have an automatic withdrawal dealie at my job (with a discount!), which gets people into all kinds of poo poo, which bugs the gently caress out of me.

We send various notifications that a withdrawal is going to happen, they agree to the terms and conditions that if there aren't enough funds, it's their fault, etc. And still I get people abloobloobloo'ing about NSF fees.

I had a guy complain once because the money was withdrawn a day LATER than he expected. This just boggles my loving mind, do you think because we didn't take it out right away (because the withdrawal day was a Sunday), that somehow you dodged your insurance payment and you're free to go buy a few six packs at Walmart and or whatever dumb thing you did?

It's literally always our fault if they get overdrafted.

On top of that, nobody ever reads their mail, nobody ever received the voicemail, nobody ever checks their e-mail, they never knew, nobody told them etc. It's this magic barrier that customers can put up and it's such a pain in the rear end when they do, because you can't refute them on it, so you have to get around it the best you can.

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

Loving Life Partner posted:

We have an automatic withdrawal dealie at my job (with a discount!), which gets people into all kinds of poo poo, which bugs the gently caress out of me.

We send various notifications that a withdrawal is going to happen, they agree to the terms and conditions that if there aren't enough funds, it's their fault, etc. And still I get people abloobloobloo'ing about NSF fees.

I had a guy complain once because the money was withdrawn a day LATER than he expected. This just boggles my loving mind, do you think because we didn't take it out right away (because the withdrawal day was a Sunday), that somehow you dodged your insurance payment and you're free to go buy a few six packs at Walmart and or whatever dumb thing you did?

It's literally always our fault if they get overdrafted.

On top of that, nobody ever reads their mail, nobody ever received the voicemail, nobody ever checks their e-mail, they never knew, nobody told them etc. It's this magic barrier that customers can put up and it's such a pain in the rear end when they do, because you can't refute them on it, so you have to get around it the best you can.

Again, always a winner that argument.

"You took it out a day late so I'd already spent the money!"

Oh, you're right - our bad, you don't have to pay your loan this month. This goes hand in hand with people that didn't understand that the start and end of the month are different by just a single day. The number of times I'd get this exchange was absurd:

"I get paid the last day of the month."
"Ok, well I'll set your loan payment up for the first of the month then, that'll give you a day's gra-"
"NO I CANT AFFORD TO HAVE IT GO OUT ON THE FIRST, I DONT GET PAID UNTIL THE LAST DAY OF THE MONTH."

Also, people that get paid weekly and can't understand monthly budgeting. No, we don't offer loans with weekly payments. I can help you figure out a way to deal with it using standing orders and a savings account, but if you're being a huge dick the chances are I'll tell you to sort it out by yourself.

Kitsch!
Jul 27, 2006

God made Adam and Eve, not Fluffy and Eve.

Kitsch! posted:

I have an interview for a CSR job tomorrow morning with a Groupon-style website (Coincidentally, just saw a banner ad for it at the top of the forums. Maybe that's a sign.). The pay is meh, but full benefits after a month. Pretty much looking for any full time job at this point though, plus discounts on merchandise is always a perk I suppose.

Am I going to hate myself if I get the job?

Looking like I'll be joining all of you in the world of customer service. The interviewer said the majority of inquiries are via e-mail (~70%) and thankfully I won't be working for banking/insurance/utilities. It's a temp to hire job, so we'll see how it goes.

sbaldrick
Jul 19, 2006
Driven by Hate
I have a job interview tomorrow to run a cs/order desk for a company. The job will be great because I would never have to talk to the public as the company is a manufacture that doesn't sell to the public

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS
Dec 21, 2010

A New Name posted:

Everyone thinks it's the company's job to babysit them and hold their hand through everything and then they get upset when we suggest spending 2 minutes of their incredibly busy lives to check their online banking. If people checked their online banking then maybe you wouldn't have to wait in 40 minute long queues for legitimate issues because Joe Schmoe wants you to read off every check that has cleared in the past year!

On the other hand, you also might not be employed. These annoying dolts keep you at your job in a way.

blackmet
Aug 5, 2006

I believe there is a universal Truth to the process of doing things right (Not that I have any idea what that actually means).

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:

Yes, but I imagine the thread here is that kids with better grades are more responsible, therefore less likely to take risks, therefore less likely to get into an accident.

I don't know this for sure, but I think what happens is that an "A" student is kind of like a 30 year old who gets their license for the first time. A 30 year old who just starts driving isn't any better than a 16 year old that does. The A-B level student and the 30 year old are probably both too timid when they first start, and they both get into a lot of accidents because of this. The D student is probably too aggressive and takes risks and gets into accidents because of that.

In other news...some massive auto accident happened on the way to work this morning. It made me, and everyone who starts at the same time I do that takes I-70 in, 15 minutes late. This, along with my "relaibility bonus" for last march rolling off (yes, they actually TAKE AWAY POINTS THEY GIVE YOU FOR PERFECT ATTENDANCE A YEAR LATER, which makes zero sense whatsoever), will cause me to develop negative "reliability points" as of April 1st. Meaning, once my manager notices, I will be written up for it, even though I get a big whack of them back in Mid-April.

Screw this company. It's the most persnickety place I've ever seen in my life. I don't mind insurance, but I'm so burned out on this job and this company that I'd gladly clean porta-potties if it paid enough.

Also: I really love how if I happen to send a single text message while in between calls, I get a passive-aggressive E-mail about company policy while I'm doing it. So does the coworker behind me. But the girl who sits facing me can make personal phone calls on her cell phone at her desk for 15 minutes out of every hour, and nothing EVER gets said to her. Also, she spends the entire day doing her makeup and spraying this cheap-rear end-headache-inducing-fake-designer-Family-Dollar-knockoff-perfume all over herself. It's really freaking irritating. Nobody cares how you look, honey. It's a call center. And you don't want any of the guys who work here anyway, TRUST ME.

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS
Dec 21, 2010

blackmet posted:

I don't know this for sure, but I think what happens is that an "A" student is kind of like a 30 year old who gets their license for the first time. A 30 year old who just starts driving isn't any better than a 16 year old that does. The A-B level student and the 30 year old are probably both too timid when they first start, and they both get into a lot of accidents because of this. The D student is probably too aggressive and takes risks and gets into accidents because of that.

The kind of accidents you get into being too timid are not as bad, usually, as the kind you get into for being too agressive. Isn't that the whole reason men pay more than women for insurance?

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:

On the other hand, you also might not be employed. These annoying dolts keep you at your job in a way.

Meh, not entirely true - there's plenty of people that fall behind on loans and get overdrafts because of reasons other than their own ignorance and refusal to understand things. I'd always bend over backwards to help someone who life had screwed over (got made redundant, got sick, that sort of thing) and probably made less effort for people who just plain wouldn't change anything about their lifestyle in the face of overwhelming evidence.

I can remember talking to one guy who was on disability living allowance as well as a couple of other benefits - he was two payments down on his £50 a month loan and was paying £75 a month to Sky TV, about £30 a month on magazine subscriptions and was a heavy smoker. I mean poo poo, cut down the sky, lose some of the magazines and cut down on the cigarettes and you can clear that right up - but no, each of these were "The only pleasure [he] gets", so I was forced into the absurd position of having to default the guy. Bear in mind I was offering to give him 6 months to clear up the outstanding £100, but he was adamant he couldn't find less than £20 per month somewhere in his finances. Nuts.

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS
Dec 21, 2010
Yeah, but if everyone who called was polite, calm, and well prepared for the call, do you think they would keep staff levels the way they are now and run at less than full capacity for much of the day, or cut as many folks as they can so it would be just as crowded as it is now?

My instinct from reading this thread is the latter. This thread does have, after all, stories of bosses refusing to compensate workers for 5-minute piss breaks in violation of labor laws.

man thats gross
Sep 4, 2004

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:

Yeah, but if everyone who called was polite, calm, and well prepared for the call, do you think they would keep staff levels the way they are now and run at less than full capacity for much of the day, or cut as many folks as they can so it would be just as crowded as it is now?

My instinct from reading this thread is the latter. This thread does have, after all, stories of bosses refusing to compensate workers for 5-minute piss breaks in violation of labor laws.

Yeah they would absolutely cut staff if call volume went down and stayed down. Particularly if you work in a zero-revenue department like tech support. Like, on some level they all understand that without tech support other telecoms will leave you in the dust because your service sucks, but on the other hand, when push comes to shove they still see you as nothing but a big red number.

Honestly though, I would have loved to see about half the staff at my old centre cut. One woman in particular really drove this point home for me. She calls tier two early in the morning, tells me a customer is getting no service in one particular location, other customers have the same issue, their devices work elsewhere, and we've already replaced her phone and SIM card to no avail. I tell her that sounds like a problem with the network in that area and to escalate a ticket. Three hours later she calls back for another customer in a different location with THE EXACT SAME loving SYMPTOMS and I tell her to do the exact same loving thing.

poo poo like this happened all the time. We hire people and if they can make it past 90 days we won't ever fire them unless they do something like get caught looking at porn on their computer.

Hell, even though I'm out, I still hear about this poo poo. I was on a conference call and one of the managers said a bunch of his agents were complaining about the lack of documentation on some Nokia device. I look at our documentation and there's EVERYTHING there. Programming the voicemail number, the SMSC, master reset, hard reset, a diagram to insert SIM and MicroSD, a bunch of common troubleshooting scenarios, a link to a device simulator, and a PDF of the manual. They just don't know what the gently caress they're doing...

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

man thats gross posted:

Yeah they would absolutely cut staff if call volume went down and stayed down. Particularly if you work in a zero-revenue department like tech support. Like, on some level they all understand that without tech support other telecoms will leave you in the dust because your service sucks, but on the other hand, when push comes to shove they still see you as nothing but a big red number.

Honestly though, I would have loved to see about half the staff at my old centre cut. One woman in particular really drove this point home for me. She calls tier two early in the morning, tells me a customer is getting no service in one particular location, other customers have the same issue, their devices work elsewhere, and we've already replaced her phone and SIM card to no avail. I tell her that sounds like a problem with the network in that area and to escalate a ticket. Three hours later she calls back for another customer in a different location with THE EXACT SAME loving SYMPTOMS and I tell her to do the exact same loving thing.

poo poo like this happened all the time. We hire people and if they can make it past 90 days we won't ever fire them unless they do something like get caught looking at porn on their computer.

Hell, even though I'm out, I still hear about this poo poo. I was on a conference call and one of the managers said a bunch of his agents were complaining about the lack of documentation on some Nokia device. I look at our documentation and there's EVERYTHING there. Programming the voicemail number, the SMSC, master reset, hard reset, a diagram to insert SIM and MicroSD, a bunch of common troubleshooting scenarios, a link to a device simulator, and a PDF of the manual. They just don't know what the gently caress they're doing...

Yeah, management likes to point fingers wildly elsewhere in the event of a problem. I do call forecasting now and have seen my colleagues get the brunt of this occasionally.

"We abandoned too many calls, it's your fault!"
"Actually, we don't forecast based on abandon rate but on speed of answer and..."
"Raaaa, it's your fault we didn't have enough staff raaa!"
"You didn't even deploy as many as I said you needed though. And your handle time was 30% higher than it normally is..."
"Raaaaaa!"

I'm fortunate not to get this sort of crap - in fact my favourite manager comment recently was:

"Well, it wouldn't have mattered if you HAD forecast that many calls - we didn't have enough staff for what you'd predicted in the first place so we were screwed anyway."

Loving Life Partner
Apr 17, 2003
Had my first hardcore curse out today, was pretty amusing. Essentially, this guy's policy cancelled after about 4 weeks of non-payment, we let him reinstate the policy with the past due balance, since he did this so late in the game, we sent him an invoice for February and March rolled into one payment (policy was a few days from cancellation again by this point).

So he calls wondering about the HUGE amount due, I explain that since he recently reinstated, and we didn't have enough time to send out an invoice for February, we AS A COURTESY, extended the February payment a full month into March and gave him until his March due date to pay both.

He starts yelling about the reinstatement process, indicating that because he was cancelled for a few weeks, that his payment should have paid for 30 days of coverage going forward, rather than reinstating the policy without a lapse for payment owed backward.

I explained reinstatement without a lapse, why we offer it, the benefits, etc, but he came up with some flimsy analogy to cable television, and how he essentially paid for something he didn't "need" or "use", and it was a ripoff, etc (I guess we should start refunding premiums at the end of terms when they don't have a claim!? :confused: ), anyway, by the end he was just lobbing 4 letter words at me, and just to be a dick, cause the language doesn't really bother me, being born and bred in Philadelphia, I reiterated the cancellation process going on, and disconnected him, :lol:

So fun.

605-475-6968
Apr 10, 2010

So, I was on the phone with Netflix support tonight and I asked the guy on the other end the question 'Do you all get free Netflix?'

Turns out that the Netflix call center staff get free Netflix. Reading through this thread I would think free movies would nerf the hell part of the job out a decent bit for me.

Ghostnuke
Sep 21, 2005

Throw this in a pot, add some broth, a potato? Baby you got a stew going!


The Downfall posted:

So, I was on the phone with Netflix support tonight and I asked the guy on the other end the question 'Do you all get free Netflix?'

Turns out that the Netflix call center staff get free Netflix. Reading through this thread I would think free movies would nerf the hell part of the job out a decent bit for me.

It doesn't. I worked for a cable provider and got all of my internet/phone/cable tv for free and had all the premium channels and on demand/pay per view for free too. I still hated the gently caress out of every day.

less than three
Aug 9, 2007



Fallen Rib

Ghostnuke posted:

It doesn't. I worked for a cable provider and got all of my internet/phone/cable tv for free and had all the premium channels and on demand/pay per view for free too. I still hated the gently caress out of every day.

At least you got that. I worked for a quad-service telco and only got my cell phone plan free. 35% off TV/Phone/Internet.

Even with the discount it wasn't worth switching to them for anything else.

edit: Pay and benefits were excellent for call centre CS though, so despite the bullshit the job threw at you sometimes it was doable.

less than three fucked around with this message at 22:11 on Mar 17, 2011

greazeball
Feb 4, 2003



The Downfall posted:

So, I was on the phone with Netflix support tonight and I asked the guy on the other end the question 'Do you all get free Netflix?'

Turns out that the Netflix call center staff get free Netflix. Reading through this thread I would think free movies would nerf the hell part of the job out a decent bit for me.

it's $8 a month

Ghostnuke
Sep 21, 2005

Throw this in a pot, add some broth, a potato? Baby you got a stew going!


greazeball posted:

it's $8 a month

haha seriously. It's practically free anyway.

Just so I'm not completely making GBS threads on the thread:

I think there are some people built for call centers and others aren't. If you aren't, no amount of perks are going to make it better. It just makes you loving dread waking up in the morning.

froglet
Nov 12, 2009

You see, the best way to Stop the Boats is a massive swarm of autonomous armed dogs. Strafing a few boats will stop the rest and save many lives in the long term.

You can't make an Omelet without breaking a few eggs. Vote Greens.
Helpdesk is getting trained in sales. :suicide:

Also, sometimes I get these billing calls and I want go all BFC on the caller. I like how customers think "I need to buy alcohol for my birthday party that 400+ people are attending" is a reasonable excuse as to why they can't pay a $30 internet bill on time.

TacticalHoodie
May 7, 2007

For anyone who is or did work for a big telecom for customer service; when in the hell did canceling your services become a massive challenge?

I was on the phone with Rogers for 45 minutess, 25 minutes with a tech support/billing agent who didn't understand I was cancelling my services and kept on trying to get me into another promo with them, then going to his manager to see what he can do. The rest of this time was spend with a Retention agent who just tried to poke holes in my logic and attempted to make me feel bad for dropping Rogers. When she told me that "No one in Canada has unlimited caps for internet, it's a lie" and began to spout this PR garbage, I just wanted cancel even more and move to Bell Aliant. I was glad I did because everyone I talked at Aliant knew what the hell they were talking about and was pleasant on every call I made.

I just kept on thinking how in my call center, when you wanted to cancel, you got shot straight to Retenetion where the best and brightest of Tech got sent to. Retention would just see why you wanted to cancel, try to solve any issues and if not, either give a discount on the service or process the cancellation.

froglet posted:

Helpdesk is getting trained in sales. :suicide:


My old call center's goal was to have everyone trained in tech support and be able to take those calls on their down time. This included IT, Billing, Sales, and Finance. It got killed pretty quick when the accountants and payroll in the company just left and no one got paid for 3 weeks.

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS
Dec 21, 2010
So I have an interview at a call center next week. Pay is decent (or for a call center anyway) as it actually requires you to speak Japanese.

Anyway, I've read this thread now and again but I have no idea. What should I expect? The application was an hours-long affair involving a Flash simulation of calls so I guess I have some idea what the work entails but I have no idea how the interview will be.

Also, should I just wear a shirt and tie? I have a sense a full suit might be too formal, but what do I know?

So far the extent of my ideas for preparation (besides the usual reading a bit about the company) is just to brush up on Japanese vocabulary related to this field.

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS fucked around with this message at 05:13 on Mar 20, 2011

VanishXZone
Apr 1, 2010

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:

So I have an interview at a call center next week. Pay is decent (or for a call center anyway) as it actually requires you to speak Japanese.

Anyway, I've read this thread now and again but I have no idea. What should I expect? The application was an hours-long affair involving a Flash simulation of calls so I guess I have some idea what the work entails but I have no idea how the interview will be.

Also, should I just wear a shirt and tie? I have a sense a full suit might be too formal, but what do I know?

So far the extent of my ideas for preparation (besides the usual reading a bit about the company) is just to brush up on Japanese vocabulary related to this field.

Better to risk overdressing than underdressing. If you get there and the suit is entirely too much (not likely), take off the jacket.

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

VanishXZone posted:

Better to risk overdressing than underdressing. If you get there and the suit is entirely too much (not likely), take off the jacket.

Agreed - I can't think of any situation where turning up for an interview in a suit will get you points knocked off - all it should do is let the interviewer know you're taking it seriously.

Kitsch!
Jul 27, 2006

God made Adam and Eve, not Fluffy and Eve.

Kitsch! posted:

Looking like I'll be joining all of you in the world of customer service. The interviewer said the majority of inquiries are via e-mail (~70%) and thankfully I won't be working for banking/insurance/utilities. It's a temp to hire job, so we'll see how it goes.

I'm starting to doubt if it was wise talking a temp call center job that takes 2+ hours on public transit and requires me to wake up at 3.30 am Monday-Thursday. I really don't want to be one of those quit-in-the-first-week type people, but I guess I'm just going to take it day-by-day. Too bad I can't really have any sort of social life.

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS
Dec 21, 2010

Fil5000 posted:

Agreed - I can't think of any situation where turning up for an interview in a suit will get you points knocked off - all it should do is let the interviewer know you're taking it seriously.

OK, I'll wear a suit, but I still wonder if anyone could share their experiences.

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:

OK, I'll wear a suit, but I still wonder if anyone could share their experiences.

Of the interview process? I think there's a separate interviewing thread around somewhere, but essentially expect to get asked for examples of when you've demonstrated particular behaviours. Take your time, give the example and answer any follow ups in as much detail as possible. You haven't said what country you're in, but I'm going to hazard a guess that Japanese proficiency isnt that commonplace, so hopefully as long as you can demonstrate that you'll be fine.

ZeroDays
Feb 11, 2007

the fuck you know about what i need on my mind mother fucker

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:

OK, I'll wear a suit, but I still wonder if anyone could share their experiences.

Just google "competency based interview" and familiarise yourself with the types of questions they'll ask in a customer-focused environment, and have examples ready that can be slightly tailored to accomodate variations of the questions they might ask.

Kitsch! posted:

I'm starting to doubt if it was wise talking a temp call center job that takes 2+ hours on public transit and requires me to wake up at 3.30 am Monday-Thursday. I really don't want to be one of those quit-in-the-first-week type people, but I guess I'm just going to take it day-by-day. Too bad I can't really have any sort of social life.
What kind of hours are you working where you need to get up at 3:30am? When do you get home? gently caress that.

Kitsch!
Jul 27, 2006

God made Adam and Eve, not Fluffy and Eve.

ZeroDays posted:

What kind of hours are you working where you need to get up at 3:30am? When do you get home? gently caress that.

6am - 2:30 pm, Monday - Thursday and 9:30am - 6pm, Saturday. I take public transit (because gas + parking would be ridiculous) that takes an hour each way so wake up, wash up, drive to transit center, take 4:35am bus to get to stop at 5:37 and walk to work. Same thing going back home. Adjust times accordingly for traffic (usually coming back).

Thankfully Saturdays are emails only, so no phones.

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS
Dec 21, 2010
OK, I think those answers give me an idea of what I should be thinking about. Thanks.

greazeball
Feb 4, 2003



Kitsch! posted:

6am - 2:30 pm, Monday - Thursday and 9:30am - 6pm, Saturday. I take public transit (because gas + parking would be ridiculous) that takes an hour each way so wake up, wash up, drive to transit center, take 4:35am bus to get to stop at 5:37 and walk to work. Same thing going back home. Adjust times accordingly for traffic (usually coming back).

Thankfully Saturdays are emails only, so no phones.

Is there any kind of work from home available when it's email only? gently caress having non-consecutive days off. What kind of rear end in a top hat makes a schedule like that?

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blackmet
Aug 5, 2006

I believe there is a universal Truth to the process of doing things right (Not that I have any idea what that actually means).

greazeball posted:

Is there any kind of work from home available when it's email only? gently caress having non-consecutive days off. What kind of rear end in a top hat makes a schedule like that?

Very, very common. Actually pretty much every schedule I've had in my life has been kind of like that, at any job.

Right now, I get Sunday/Monday off. It's kind of nice, having the two days in a row, but I wouldn't mind going back to split days off. 5 days in a row doing really repetitive work can kind of grate on you, sometimes it's nice to do 3, have a day off, then do 2 more.

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