Pros
Coworkers are great in the call center: nice, helpful, have each other’s backs Easy to coast with super low effort, if you’re into that sort of thing Managers will listen to/help with any problems you’re having, as long as those problems are simple and easy to solve Lots of internal job openings you can apply for after working in the call center for 1 year Depending on where you’re at, you have some space to work hard and contribute, which you can leverage into a better job somewhere else. Good first or second job to have because you can put the long list of responsibilities on your plate onto a resume. Pretty good benefits and pay for a call center Values (we win as a team, etc) Transparency, and Sustainability are great in theory Lots of women in leadership, although many form insular cliques and promote unqualified people to do work they have no expertise in
Cons
Managers are routinely dishonest and/or disingenuous (claiming they don’t share conversations with others when they do, purposely obscuring what they mean and dropping cryptic hints, keeping secrets in an obvious way, saying something is OK and then randomly changing their minds, saying they will follow up on something and never doing so). Usually managers have no time to talk basic issues, let alone your professional development, because they’re saddled with handling a huge range of issues on top of managing 15+ people without any of the tools they need to do so properly (think outlook and excel, and that’s it). Anything not getting visibility from upper management (e.g. new product launches) is unimportant and ignored. Most people in charge of you have no idea what you actually do on a daily basis. Because of this, when there are issues, their strategy is to let things sort themselves out on their own, which means the fallout lands on you. There is blatant favoritism and senior reps can do whatever they want and get away with it. Senior people will try to railroad and bully you into doing what they want even if it’s bad for customers. If you say anything about it managers will insist it’s just their “communication style.” You will talk to 85 year old confused great grandmothers and not be able to help them because a senior person decided the issue is the customer’s fault and not worth our precious time. These same people change their mind on a dime so they can feel like they’re making important decisions and are relevant. Today it’s “YOU have to call the customer and tell them this now!” and the next day it’s “THEY are responsible for this, let’s do nothing.” They argue with each other constantly and can’t agree on basic procedures. All procedures are word of mouth, no one follows the written ones because they’re hopelessly incomplete, but expect to be blamed for it if it’s perceived you didn’t follow these imaginary procedures. Tribal knowledge is rampant. If you are in the call center, expect subpar resources. You will be given huge responsibility with little training, and simultaneously treated like you’re too unreliable to do work rather than scroll Facebook. You will get calls from customers on subjects that were never mentioned to you once in training. There is no accountability because almost everything is assigned and tracked through email and manual excel spreadsheets. QA numbers are meaningless; I’m not exaggerating, most of your call quality score comes from saying the opening and (ridiculous) closing script. Processing goals are either too easy or absurdly hard to reach. Managers make decisions about your performance based on these unrepresentative numbers and their own faulty intuition. There is no actual analysis involved. If you do hard and thorough work for customers, managers won’t notice or care. If you’re a competent person who wants to do great work and solve problems, this is probably not the place for you. “We win as a team” only applies if you go along quietly with dysfunction. “Dedicated to excellence” only applies if it doesn’t threaten any favored employees’ ability to inhibit progress as they please. If you’re prepared for the willful ignorance, absurdity, and favoritism you’ll find here, then you can probably get by for a year, build your resume, and find a place where work ethic and skill is appreciated.
