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-   -   Anybody had an experience working in a call center? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/working-abroad-profession-73/anybody-had-experience-working-call-center-826822/)

Gozit Feb 26th 2014 2:04 am

Anybody had an experience working in a call center?
 
Hi all, was just wondering, does anybody have experience working in a call center, either in the UK or abroad as a native english speaker? Were your native english skills in high demand or was it a hard job to find with decent pay? I'm looking at possible jobs to do when I get back to Malta, but since the economy is dim there, there isn't many options. Call center is one of the better-paying ones, so i'm told.

Is it a moderately enjoyable job to do? I do think i'd enjoy shiftwork so I wouldn't have a problem with that

Thanks

christmasoompa Mar 17th 2014 10:09 am

Re: Anybody had an experience working in a call center?
 

Originally Posted by gozitanguygoinghome99xx (Post 11148646)
Hi all, was just wondering, does anybody have experience working in a call center, either in the UK or abroad as a native english speaker? Were your native english skills in high demand or was it a hard job to find with decent pay? I'm looking at possible jobs to do when I get back to Malta, but since the economy is dim there, there isn't many options. Call center is one of the better-paying ones, so i'm told.

Is it a moderately enjoyable job to do? I do think i'd enjoy shiftwork so I wouldn't have a problem with that

Thanks

I did it once and it was soul destroying. Probably 80% of phone calls resulted in abuse, piss taking or hang ups, and you need to have a very resilient personality to not take it personally.

As for the 'one of the better paying ones', that's certainly not true of the UK where it's a very low paying job (most are outsourced to India or similar countries for that very reason). Everybody I was doing it with viewed the job as a 'stop gap' until something better came along, or often they were uni students just doing it in their holidays. Maybe Malta is different though?

This article may be useful reading, to see how call centres are viewed in the UK - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...e-8654571.html

HTH.

Gozit Mar 17th 2014 11:27 pm

Re: Anybody had an experience working in a call center?
 

Originally Posted by christmasoompa (Post 11176388)
I did it once and it was soul destroying. Probably 80% of phone calls resulted in abuse, piss taking or hang ups, and you need to have a very resilient personality to not take it personally.

As for the 'one of the better paying ones', that's certainly not true of the UK where it's a very low paying job (most are outsourced to India or similar countries for that very reason). Everybody I was doing it with viewed the job as a 'stop gap' until something better came along, or often they were uni students just doing it in their holidays. Maybe Malta is different though?

This article may be useful reading, to see how call centres are viewed in the UK - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...e-8654571.html

HTH.

Thanks :)

And in Malta, everything is low pay, it doesn't matter what you do. Fully qualified English teachers make €20,000 a year ! :eek: People "working up the ladder" without a degree make a better salary (though not by much - €25,000 or at max €30,000 a year) but it takes much longer to get such salary.

RICH Mar 18th 2014 12:02 am

Re: Anybody had an experience working in a call center?
 
Not quite what you mean, but I worked for a photocopier firm, and my job was to call customers to get the meter reading for billing (they were not automated in 2005). 9 times out of 10 the person i got wanted to complain about the machine . I quit after 3.5 days.

Gozit Mar 18th 2014 1:30 am

Re: Anybody had an experience working in a call center?
 

Originally Posted by RICH (Post 11177626)
Not quite what you mean, but I worked for a photocopier firm, and my job was to call customers to get the meter reading for billing (they were not automated in 2005). 9 times out of 10 the person i got wanted to complain about the machine . I quit after 3.5 days.

Ah. Doesn't sound too nice then. I'll cross this one off the list :)

old.sparkles Mar 22nd 2014 9:46 am

Re: Anybody had an experience working in a call center?
 

Originally Posted by gozitanguygoinghome99xx (Post 11177582)
Thanks :)

And in Malta, everything is low pay, it doesn't matter what you do. Fully qualified English teachers make €20,000 a year ! :eek: People "working up the ladder" without a degree make a better salary (though not by much - €25,000 or at max €30,000 a year) but it takes much longer to get such salary.

What's the cost of living like in Malta do you know?

Gozit Mar 22nd 2014 8:44 pm

Re: Anybody had an experience working in a call center?
 

Originally Posted by old.sparkles (Post 11185301)
What's the cost of living like in Malta do you know?

Cheaper than Canada, but not low enough to warrant qualified professionals making €25-30,000 a year. :eek: Petrol and electric are expensive.


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