Career options in call centres and retail outlets
Call centres
People who work behind a counter or in a call centre are expected to have an outgoing personality and to be warm and friendly to complete strangers. They are expected to deal with complaints in a similar manner. I'm not an outgoing person although I'm certainly not a recluse either, contrary to what a banner newspaper headline once proclaimed.
I'm definitely not suited to call centre work. Of course I talk to people via telephones but I don't have the temperament to deal with endless complaints from faceless people sounding off about whatever, nor do I like the idea of getting through a minimum number of calls per hour. How can you deal with customers effectively if you are time limited? Everything I've heard about these places suggests that I wouldn't last long in one. And my experience of call centres at the other end of the telephone isn't great. I've sometimes been kept waiting for more than half an hour to get through to a call centre, so even if I was in a good mood when I dialled the number, I may not be by the time I get a response. I can't expect other customers to be different. No, I won't man the telephones in a call centre.
Retail outlets
Similarly, retail outlets would seem to be unsuitable for me as they also expect people with outgoing personalities. However, it occurred to me during The nineties job quest that the lack of an outgoing personality might not matter so much if the retail outlet specialised in a product about which I have plenty of knowledge and enthusiasm. So, as my favourite sport is horse racing and I also have a general interest in other spectator sports, I looked at what bookmakers had to offer. I'm good with numbers; mathematics was my best subject at school. I thought that might also help my chances.
A lot of customers are regulars with whom I'd hopefully be able to build a rapport based on common interests, which would hopefully help to defuse arguments about payouts. Of course, there are days, particularly when the Aintree Grand National is run, that attract a lot of people who know next to nothing about betting. I can be very understanding with such people and my skills in explaining Amazon's quirky software to others shows that I can explain things patiently to the uninitiated. Well, I tried for a job with a bookmaker in the nineties but although I passed all the written tests easily and I made clear my enthusiasm at my brief meeting with one of their representatives, I wasn't offered a full interview. I think they were filtering for an outgoing personality.
Of course, it's possible that I could try again. I was hampered in such efforts during the three and a third years that I didn't have a home internet connection. I could not look for bookmakers' jobs on the net because Leicester public library, internet cafés and the placement agency all block access to bookmakers' websites (because they are gambling sites). My only way of finding out about such jobs was through newspapers or if I saw a notice outside (or inside) one of their shops. Mostly, by the time I saw one of their jobs advertised in a newspaper, it was no longer fresh and therefore too late to attend one of their recruitment sessions. Other employers have different recruitment strategies that allow a slower response. Since restoring my home internet connection, I discovered a betting and gaming jobs website that bypasses the filters. I'm glad that the industry set up a separate website for job vacancies, but the average jobseeker isn't likely to come across this website.
At least I can now explore the possibility of a betting shop job again if I choose to, although if an outgoing personality is paramount, it would be a waste of my time and theirs to try. But let's be clear that such a career is not well paid and has limited prospects. It wouldn't be my first choice by any means, but it's certainly preferable to factory, warehouse or security work, or being unemployed.
Looking at other retail outlets, I don't see any obvious possibilities. Quite apart from the fact that CD retail outlets are a declining business as the demise of Zavvi illustrates, the music they sell is mostly aimed at a younger generation. Older people have been driven on to the internet (to websites like Amazon) to find what they want. These websites do not deal with customers face to face so their entire job structure is different. Amazon is a special case because of my contributions to their websites, as I discussed in Career options in offices.
4 comments:
You have obviously never worked in a call centre. There is nothing stopping you getting a job. You can stack shelves in a supermarket and train for another job in the evening. You could clean offices. You could be a postman, no qualifications for that. You could drive the post van if you are physically unable to cycle.
There are too many people who make excuses because it's easier than doing actual work.
I've worked 12 hours straight in a pub before, I've worked in call centres and now I work in an international business where I've been to the United States, Czech Republic, Germany and Amsterdam with work. You just have to put in the effort and start at the bottom. If you have the attitude that something's too low for you, you'll never get anywhere in life.
Maybe you thought that I wouldn't allow your comment to be published. Well, I did, because your attitude is all too typical.
As I've explained in Career options in factories and warehouses, I doubt that any employer would take me on to do a manual labouring job. Even where the actual tasks are within my capability, it's unlikely that I can do them fast enough. Other people can do these tasks quicker and employers are likely to prefer them.
Stacking shelves may be unskilled but it is hard physical work. I'd soon get tired and unable to perform such duties to the standard required. The likely result is that I'd be sacked within a fairly short space of time.
Similarly, postmen have to carry heavy weights. I actually have a cousin who is a postman, as his father was until he retired. You obviously didn't read everything in this blog otherwise you'd know that I can't drive a car although I attempted to learn that skill more than three decades ago.
Working in a pub might be relatively easy on a good day (although even then, the barrels have to be moved and lifted), but as you'll know, difficult customers can test your personality and temperament to the limits. So I don't really see that as an option for me either.
I'm glad that you have been so successful. You clearly have a wider range of skills than I do.
I also note that you are anonymous. Clearly, you are afraid to identify yourself. I'm not. Indeed, part of my purpose in publishing this and my other related blogs is to generate some interest in my situation. If it results in my finding gainful employment that is within my capabilities, even if it is menial, then that's great.
I don't object to starting at the bottom, but my best chance of doing so is via a menial desk job. But maybe I don't have to go that low. We'll see what the future brings.
...Difficult customers can test your personality and temperament to the limits. So I don't really see that as an option for me either.
I'm not trying to be unsympathetic, but has it occured to you that pretty much no one finds it all that easy to cope with difficult people they encounter at work? Yes, they might test you to your limits, but you need to suck it up and get on with it. I see your point more about the difficulties of physically demanding jobs, but really, it sounds here like you're ruling things out just because you've decided you don't have the personality for it or whatever. Virtually everybody has to put on a "face" some of the time at work - so what?
I don't have an outgoing or bubbly personality either but that doesn't mean I've decided I can't apply for any jobs that need one. It's not like you're talking about a job where you need to earn mega tips to make it worth doing, is it...
Rose, I can see where you're coming from. Even in my computer programming days, people could be difficult so I'm under no illusions about that. In every job, there will be difficult people to deal with. However, employers looking for front-line customer service staff are particularly sensitive these days about personality. Customers (except of public services) can easily take their business elsewhere. That’s why employers use a range of psychometric tests as part of the screening process, although whether those tests are truly effective is open to question.
I’m not looking for excuses to avoid work. If I were, I wouldn’t have set up all this stuff on the internet using my full name, which is probably unique in the world. Even if it isn’t, all the other information I’ve posted would allow any bureaucrats to quickly identify me. If I only applied for jobs that I think I am qualified for, I’d hardly apply for any jobs now because my skills are so outdated. So I frequently apply for jobs that ask for all sorts of things that I don’t have, including an outgoing personality. You may have noticed that employers often ask for an outgoing personality when there is no obvious reason for them to do so, just as some employers ask for degrees or other qualifications when there is no real need to. But if it is obvious that an outgoing personality is an essential part of a job, then no employer is going to offer me such a job unless they’re really desperate. With unemployment so high, that seems most unlikely.
As I’ve said elsewhere, I’d love to have some decent career advice, but that’s not available. I’d love to go back to work, but I have my doubts about doing so by conventional means. That’s why it is important for me to get word round about my situation. I receive a mix of responses covering a whole spectrum of opinions. I accept that by being so open, some people are going to be critical to varying degrees, but I live in hope that I will eventually receive a response that leads to a job, or that my blog and other people’s blogs cause politicians and/or employers to change their attitudes. Meanwhile, thanks for your opinion.