Pros
I was at arts college when I started working here, and most others were also students. The people at the same level as you are very nice; everyone hates working there so there's always someone on your level to talk to. I can't think of any more pros of working there.
Cons
To make this very clear - this is nothing more than a sweatshop call centre operation. They'll tart up the job and the company but at the core, that's all it is. As a result - that's how you'll be treated working there. You are paid at the minimum wage (and that won't increase), given the bare minimum of breaks and you are monitored so much that if you dare need two toilet breaks during four hours, be expected to be pulled up on it. Shifts involve answering webchats en masse; but their rock bottom cost means that you have to do three (sometimes four) webchats simultaneously, in addition to other methods of contact (i.e. emails) so essentially, you have six things on the go at once. There's very little support whilst you're doing these - the supervisors are already so busy and being hounded by management to make everybody work faster, so you're on your own. Conversations with angry customers can take anything from 10-20 minutes (sometimes 30+ in extreme situations) to complete but you're expected to do 18 of them per hour - or you face disciplinary action. Furthermore, you don't actually get your legal break entitlement and you end up working more time than your shift (with the extra unpaid) because you're expected to start these conversations upto 5 minutes before you're due to finish / have your break. And naturally, since the Web Chats take so long to complete, you're almost guaranteed to never finish on time. Say goodbye to any bank holidays too. You're not entitled to have them as holiday (and can't book them as holiday) and you're not told you have to work them, it's just expected. Naturally management are nowhere to be seen on those days. I have heard of numerous staff broken down by the pressure you're put under - several people(including a good friend) were signed off with work related stress, and others having breakdowns on shift and being disciplined as a result. It's not a happy atmosphere. I understand work involves pressure however it's massively disproportional considering the wage you're on. Changes of progression are extremely slim. The majority of the people who get promoted are either related to senior management, or in a relationship with them (yes, really) and everyone else doesn't have much of a change - largely because they resign or are let go after less than a year. It's one massive revolving door. Finally - the management. The supervisors are generally nice but they're under equal amounts of pressure. Anyone higher up does not really care - their main and only focus is to work out how to make people work harder to increase their profit margin which is then used to give themselves a pay rise or take holidays (which they then post pictures of to the work engagement system, how thoughtful...). The entire "FM Family" mantra that's repeated constantly is shallow and not followed through. Sure, you might get a few custard creams in the office but if you've got any concerns they're just ignored. If you're thinking of working here - my advice - particularly to College and University students who they target: find somewhere else where you've got a chance of progressing and can actually balance your work with everything else in your life. I've worked for twelve years and have never hated working somewhere more.
