I got my first call center job simply because I needed a job. I really had no idea what I was getting into or that fourteen years later I'd still be working the phones.
It started in 1999 after a job working in a card store for a wacko-boss who was totally horrible to her kids in front of everyone. There was this place in the town where I lived called Brylane. Again, I had no idea what they did but they were hiring so I went and filled out an application, took a typing test, got interviewed then hired. The job would be for me to take orders over the phone. Simple, right?
For the most part, yes. Except for the people who'd go ballistic when orders didn't arrive, or weren't like what the catalog had pictured, or when stuff went on backorder (which was all the freaking time). The only real benefit to this job was getting 30% off stuff with no additional shipping.
The place was in what was a K-Mart store and they only gutted the building and put in rows of desks, some training rooms and offices. The heating and air-conditioning was never fixed. In fact, there was no real heat in the building at all as the temperature always seemed to be set to meat-locker. I mean, it was so cold that people were wrapped up in blankets and I was glad I got to wear sweats when I worked Saturday mornings. More than once I wanted to ask where they were hanging the meat. The thing was, we were the meat. We were nothing but bodies in desks expected to move merchandise that wasn't in stock.
It was my first taste of how people could be on the phone because some were cool- especially the cross-dressing guys because they had excellent taste, knew their sizes, and to coordinate. And how did I know they were cross-dressers? Size 14 shoes and way too much knowledge for a guy about womens' clothing. To tell you the truth, I could have talked to these guys all day and been very happy. It was the cheapskates that really ticked me off. Oh, and the pervert who used to call and harass the crap out of us (though I put a stop to that when I heard kids in the background as he was being extremely ugly to me- I marched up to the control desk and filled out a form and made sure it got to the powers-that-be. I was told I had steam coming out of my ears that day.) Then there was a bonkers lady by the name of Joyce Scaggs- if I ever write a screaming crazy lady character I'm going to name her after this nutso. She used to call and cuss out whoever was lucky enough to get her. I heard the company eventually tracked her down and turned her in to law enforcement.
The most fun I ever remember having was tossing around these rubber stress balls across the rows on Saturday morning when none of the managers were around. Why anyone would call on a Saturday morning has always been beyond me but hey, I got paid to toss rubber balls around and/or sit on my ass.
But it all went downhill when the company began to squeeze out the full-timers in hopes of getting an all part-time workforce. They should have said no more full time and offered us the option of part-time or the door. Now I was also watching my mother die of cancer and trying to help take care of my grandmother so towards the end I just stopped caring and my performance suffered and yes, I was shown the door.
I got close to two years of call center experience which in turn got me my next call center gig. I also still have a pair of boots and a couple of dresses I bought way back then (though the dresses aren't going to fit much longer). Also, I heard the place closed down a few years ago when call volume slacked off due to people shopping on the Internet (my preferred method of shopping when I don't want to go out).
So what were my lessons from this job: don't take it personally, use a wrist pad for your keyboard to save your wrists, always keep something to drink on your desk, have a pencil to take written notes with (because pens will always run out of ink when you need them the most), and make sure your ass doesn't expand too much (meaning, get up and move even if it's just to the bathroom and back).
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