Some join for fun, some are just on the run
Some join for money, some join and just say honey
Gradually, all fun and the run seems to be hopeless and done
All the hoop and the hype seems to be just phony
and then people realize that there is lot more to it than the money!
The above lines just sum up my views on call centers.With booming indian economy and also the pressure on the US firms
to deliver more cost effective solutions(just another word for'cheap solutions'), the obvious choice was to outsource
and the outsourcing destination turned out be india quite obviously.
What is life like in call centers, or what to expect and what not to?. For this lets get a good grasp of the variants
of the call centers.
Call center variants can be classified broadly as
Inbound and Outbound call centers which can be voice based or web based or e-response as is called.
Within this there can be Technical Call centers which involve providing Desktop and Networking support
and Non technical call centers which involve providing transaction assistance and processing business data.
Now lets come to ground zero.to be or not to be in a call center?
First, the plus points
1) You will earn money that too a good amount when you are just out of college.
2) The environment in call centers can be very friendly with all the young people making the environment refreshing and cool.
3) Work in nights seems cool with the cabs to pick up and drop all the time and when you work in a day shift nothing beats it.
4) You can buy all that you dreamt of buying in your college days, gadgets, PCs, iPods, PalmTops, bike of your choice and the list goes on!
Well, all the plus points seem to be derived from just one thing, thats the perk given by the BPO companies.
Well, enough of talk about the moolah, lets get to the actual moolah you pay to get the moolah of money.
1)Hectic schedules.
All you got to do is work, work and more work.for the complete 8 hours.whatz the deal you ask?
Working in an environment where a direct customer interaction happens is completely different from working for client.In call centers you need to handle
around 18-24 customers a day!
And for all the customers you have to give the best shot.is it possible to give your best for all the 8 hours continuously for the so called 5 day week? I doubt so.
To better understand why it is not that easy, lets get to the performance metrics used in call centers
a)The CSAT or the Customer SATisfaction ratings.
Lets say you feel sleepy at work because some of your relatives just popped up in the day time and your sleep was ruined in day time?
Lets say even the customers were understanding and did not abuse( which is quite rare!).
The call centers send chat and call reviews for the customers asking for CSAT-Customer SATisfaction ratings.Now your performance is measured in the CSAT percentage which you get.Less CSAT means more grilling by the Team Leader and more work .other way round more CSAT means more work too and more concentration .
Obvious choice in such a situation would be to take less number of calls and give more time for each interaction but hey wait! There is another metric!
b) The AHT or the Average Handling Time!
This metric measures the average time taken to handle one call.which is usually around the range 15-25 minutes.
Not only there is pressure to give 100% to each customers and solve the issues, cases satisfactorily but also with speed!
Any takers?
Now that you think you are quite smart and manage to do both and wish to idle around a bit because you have already handled a good number for the day!
but hey, there is another metric!
C) The RT or the response time.
This is the time taken for you to take up the reciever and say hello to the God err the customer or the time taken to respond on the chat or e-mail in case of a non voice call center.
I guess these three metrics gives the better idea of the hectic nature of work.
Sometimes you can say that a Call Center job is a very challenging job because you need to cope up and come up with optimal figures in all these metrics!
2) What time is it dude?
The second point is regarding the timings.if there is only one shift for the entire call center career its okay.but you will have to change the shifts every month and taking leaves is a no-no in most cases!
This affects the social life if there is already one .freinds, relatives and family people need to ask you the shift timings to call or to make a visit.
In case one is away from family then there is little time for family interaction.
Life becomes almost lonely .because even the call center friends will be having a different shift and different weekly off and hence going for ride or watching a movie with a bunch of friends happens quite rarely.
3)Whats the future in the Long run?
Talking of future, lets divide it into personal and professional
a) Personal
One is not going to stay bachelor for the whole life.after marriage comes the real issue of timing.one of the couple has to sacrifice a lot and adjust to the others timings and this may lead to some issues.
Health becomes a major issue in the long run.initially everything may seem okay but as time goes by.health issues arise more because of less exposure to sunlight, sitting long hours on a chair leading to bodily pains, voice may get thick over the time making one vulnerable to losing the job one has chosen.
b)Professional
First things first.call center experience is not really counted anywhere.
It may improve communication and interpersonal skills, ability to handle people and the likes.but these are considered the basic requirements and not the Core ones for any other job which require specialised knowledge other than just gift of the gab.
And how long is the call center industry is going to stay static in India?
With emerging countries like phillipines and china too entering the competition lot of job loss and lay offs can happen in India too.ofcourse it may take around 4-5 years for such thing to happen.
The point is.after earning 25-35K and leading a hip hop lifestyle, if one loses the job means it is very difficult to live without money and without the lifestyle chosen earlier.this may lead to depression.
Finally one sincere advice is to go for call centers only in case you are financially not stable or parents cannot support for a higher education or cannot afford for sending the money in your career hunt.
Once joined, always be on the lookout of specialized jobs which require some core skill sets other than just the gift of the gab even if the salary is less, it is better to join and gain experience in a specific field.
PS: These are just my views based on experience and may not necessarily seem right for all.
Cheers,
Amaresh
