Thoughts on training so far
Jul. 21st, 2010 06:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
robotech_masterMy training at the call center proceeds apace. I'm reasonably happy about it so far, because based on the corporate cultures of both the client and the call center, my experience should be about the opposite as it was when the place used to be MCI.
Under MCI, speed was king. You had to get those customers off the phone as fast as possible, like they had a contagious disease. You had to stick to the scripts. You couldn't show any signs of personality, such as engage the customer in a conversation, because any time you spent conversing was time you could better be spending on another call.
But with this tech support company, run by a certain big box retail store, we're expected to build rapport with our clients, and to have conversations with them (especially if we need to consult with a supervisor and he's busy—we can't use the hold button at all unless we're actually speaking to that person, so we have to converse until they get over there. "Kill the robot" is an oft-heard slogan.
And unlike with MCI, where the predominant reason the customers were calling in was to yell at you because their phone service wasn't working, here they're going to be calling to ask for our help—not out of any sense of entitlement, as with MCI, but because we're the friendly people with a reputation for being able to give them the help they need.
And the supervisors said outright that they wanted us for our technical knowledge—which I have to admit, I have in spades. So I'm actually going to be using what I know for a change, as opposed to what I can look up in a corporate database, or what text I can enter off of some sheet in front of me. I like that idea.
Had a presentation on benefits yesterday. Benefits are quite good. I'm thinking of going for their full health care plan from UHC, which will be $65 per paycheck. Definitely also going with dental. I may even go with vision care, which I haven't at other places. It only comes to about $75 per year, and a single pair of glasses can cost more than that. (And due to being hired late in the year, enrollment for the next year comes only two months after my benefits start on 9/1, which means I could enroll in the vision plan for two months, get another eye exam and glasses, then drop it for the next year.)
I was interested to see that, in addition to legally-married spouses, employees can claim a common-law spouse or even a same-sex partner as a dependent for the purposes of insurance. That's certainly more cosmopolitan than most employers in Missouri will offer! I suspect it's because of the global nature of this call center company, which has branches around the world (our payrolls and attendance are processed in the Phillipines!).
Had a presentation from payroll today. I start out being able to earn a total of 80 hours (10 days or 2 work weeks—that's double what I had with Mihlfeld!) worth of paid vacation per year, which can be taken as full days, half days, or even individual hours at need, as long as I give 72 hours advance notice. (Of course, they'll be pro-rated for the first year.) I haven't had that kind of flexibility with other employers. Could be useful if I do some more BioKinetic medical studies. It goes up the longer I'm with the company, and I can roll over up to 160 total hours of paid vacation. (I suspect that's also due to the global nature of the company—they offer great terms because they have to offer them in places where employees have more choices, and it's easiest just to offer them company-wide. But that's just a guess and I could be wrong.)
My class is part of the second wave of trainees for this particular branch of the call center. The first wave was two weeks ahead of ours, which means they were in their third week of training—the "nesting" half-week where they do some call-taking with coaching taking place between calls. Tomorrow they do their very first full day on the phones. Very exciting for them.
I think that the second wave is probably the best place to be, given that the first wave will catch a lot of the bugs and they'll be worked out by the time my group gets onto the phones. Anyway, I'm looking forward to learning more, and to getting on the phones myself.
I imagine that it won't actually be as interesting as it seems right now. There will probably be restrictions I'll chafe under, and there will be bad days and I'll probably make the odd mistake or two during the learning process. But all in all it seems like it will be about a thousand times better than MCI, and I'm really excited about getting to work again.
Even if I do have to get up at 4:30 a.m. for two and a half more weeks.
Under MCI, speed was king. You had to get those customers off the phone as fast as possible, like they had a contagious disease. You had to stick to the scripts. You couldn't show any signs of personality, such as engage the customer in a conversation, because any time you spent conversing was time you could better be spending on another call.
But with this tech support company, run by a certain big box retail store, we're expected to build rapport with our clients, and to have conversations with them (especially if we need to consult with a supervisor and he's busy—we can't use the hold button at all unless we're actually speaking to that person, so we have to converse until they get over there. "Kill the robot" is an oft-heard slogan.
And unlike with MCI, where the predominant reason the customers were calling in was to yell at you because their phone service wasn't working, here they're going to be calling to ask for our help—not out of any sense of entitlement, as with MCI, but because we're the friendly people with a reputation for being able to give them the help they need.
And the supervisors said outright that they wanted us for our technical knowledge—which I have to admit, I have in spades. So I'm actually going to be using what I know for a change, as opposed to what I can look up in a corporate database, or what text I can enter off of some sheet in front of me. I like that idea.
Had a presentation on benefits yesterday. Benefits are quite good. I'm thinking of going for their full health care plan from UHC, which will be $65 per paycheck. Definitely also going with dental. I may even go with vision care, which I haven't at other places. It only comes to about $75 per year, and a single pair of glasses can cost more than that. (And due to being hired late in the year, enrollment for the next year comes only two months after my benefits start on 9/1, which means I could enroll in the vision plan for two months, get another eye exam and glasses, then drop it for the next year.)
I was interested to see that, in addition to legally-married spouses, employees can claim a common-law spouse or even a same-sex partner as a dependent for the purposes of insurance. That's certainly more cosmopolitan than most employers in Missouri will offer! I suspect it's because of the global nature of this call center company, which has branches around the world (our payrolls and attendance are processed in the Phillipines!).
Had a presentation from payroll today. I start out being able to earn a total of 80 hours (10 days or 2 work weeks—that's double what I had with Mihlfeld!) worth of paid vacation per year, which can be taken as full days, half days, or even individual hours at need, as long as I give 72 hours advance notice. (Of course, they'll be pro-rated for the first year.) I haven't had that kind of flexibility with other employers. Could be useful if I do some more BioKinetic medical studies. It goes up the longer I'm with the company, and I can roll over up to 160 total hours of paid vacation. (I suspect that's also due to the global nature of the company—they offer great terms because they have to offer them in places where employees have more choices, and it's easiest just to offer them company-wide. But that's just a guess and I could be wrong.)
My class is part of the second wave of trainees for this particular branch of the call center. The first wave was two weeks ahead of ours, which means they were in their third week of training—the "nesting" half-week where they do some call-taking with coaching taking place between calls. Tomorrow they do their very first full day on the phones. Very exciting for them.
I think that the second wave is probably the best place to be, given that the first wave will catch a lot of the bugs and they'll be worked out by the time my group gets onto the phones. Anyway, I'm looking forward to learning more, and to getting on the phones myself.
I imagine that it won't actually be as interesting as it seems right now. There will probably be restrictions I'll chafe under, and there will be bad days and I'll probably make the odd mistake or two during the learning process. But all in all it seems like it will be about a thousand times better than MCI, and I'm really excited about getting to work again.
Even if I do have to get up at 4:30 a.m. for two and a half more weeks.
