03.11.06 Sat
8:10am
Great
I even plugged ABS-CBN's news and current affairs show, The Correpsondents, about a feature on the call center industry in our support site. It was unfortunate that I fell asleep that night. A more unfortunate one on how the topic someone who, I want to believe, also works in an industry as mine.
Read on.
"Call center"
Mataas na sweldo, magaan na trabaho, no age limit at hindi rin kailangang college graduate. Ang tanging requirement, ganda ng boses at galing sa pagsasalita. 'Ika nga ng iba, "in" ka kapag nasa call center ka. Pero paano kung ang kapalit ng magadnang sweldo at iba't ibang benepisyo, ay ang kanilang kalusugan at kaligtasan?
That is the article at abs-cbsnews.com about their feature in The Correspondents about call centers and their employees.
Sad to say, Gigi Grande and the producers who conceptualized the said episode was not able to capture the truth behind call centers and their employees.
magaan na trabaho -- this is a misconception that a lot of people have about call centers. this is work, serious work and not playtime. as call center agents we are the front liners of some of the biggest companies around the world. we handle their first line of defense for their business, Customer Service. we Filipinos who work in call centers represent these companies to their consumers and we Filipinos can spell the success or downfall of these businesses just on how we deal with their consumers 24/7 and that is not an easy task. the reason why call centers thrive in the Philippines is because Filipinos have good customer service skills. we are professional workers and we give everything a 100%. i salute all the call center employees who make this feat possible. it means jobs and job security to the Filipinos who wanted to work in their own country.
no age limit -- because call centers are equal opportunity employers. they do not set limitations to people's ability to work. it is only here in the Philippines where we put an age limit to applications. it really does not matter what age the applicant is as long as they can still deliver quality performance. it is called diversity.
hindi rin kailangang college graduate - for cheap call centers maybe, not for the big ones. we encourage our applicants to finish college first before applying. they may also be assisted through schedule requests if they want to continue studying while still employed.
Ang tanging requirement, ganda ng boses at galing sa pagsasalita -- for radio stations yes. not for call center. we are not DJs. we also require high IQ and intelligence in call centers. For example, Wil Ison, the 24 year manager who was featured in The Correspondents. You did not even applaud him for reaching that position in such a young age. if he was employed in a bank, he will only become a manager if he kissed enough boss' ass or because he is already 50 years old. People like Wil were promoted because they are good employees. Most of the call centers have internal application processes that enables the employees to apply for higher position highlighting their performance and capabilities and not who their friends are and whose ass they just wiped.
'Ika nga ng iba, "in" ka kapag nasa call center ka. - this is not a fad. we are working, we pay our taxes, we are productive citizens of this country. we chose to stay and earn here in our own country rather than go abroad and contribute to the brain drain. we earn a lot because we work hard. we are thankful for the good education we were provided by our parents that gave us the competencies we have now. we are working for multinational companies and we get promoted. most of us 21-30 years old and we are managers, supervisors and senior managers.
we may not be doctors or lawyers but at least we are not corrupt. we are productive and we make sure that our families and our future families will not be included with the uneducated, paid rallyists in EDSA, who do not even understand why they are there. we are not a burden to the government, they should even be thankful because it is our tax, the middle class tax, which makes it possible for the Philippines to stay alive.
instead of portraying us as obese, smoking insomniacs....why not thank us? applaud our achievements, be proud that we are very good with what we do that's why investors come in to the Philippines. ask the government to provide security to the employees who have different schedules from the normal 9-5 workers? ask them to take care of us and in return we will work harder, show the companies that it is worth investing in the Philippines, we will continue to pay our taxes and slowly but surely help our country progress.
Menice Yap
Call Center Supervisor
Pasig City
ding! ding!
They should've tried to be in the industry to say as such. They should've asked Gigi Grande to try the job, the shift, the account and the culture for at least a week or two.
It's not how the reporter does her report. It's how she experiences it.
(Call center industry was a boom a couple of years ago. It was even shown in various tv shows already for the past years. So, why make another feature? Lack of ideas, I guess.)
Let us just all be happy because we have a job. And also the people behind the "call Center" episode have a job. (Both groups are doing their job.)
Next time.
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I want this Saturday be like of last week's.But it ain't. Okay, I'll hope on the next. And the next. And all the succeeding Saturdays of the year. I indeed love Saturdays.
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An additional note on my nohari thing:
Accdg to my college professor's analyzation of my signature (Yes, he interpets signature.), all my opportunities are there but I let them pass by because of fear and other hindrances. (The other point of my signature : friendliness)
Up to now, I am still going around circles to crash those hindrances. Gladly, I am squashing them one at a time. They're not a huge number but they still infect me with heartbreaks and headaches.
Also, some of my college friends/classmates ask me to do things, which they know I love or capable of, that they couldn't do. Sort of they back me up or trigger me or inspire me to be there. They know how I play around my comfort zone with a little try to exceed/overpower my limits. When I succeed, it was heaven. You know the feeling of doing something for the first time or being victorious over fear. That. Not only would I be happy but my friends.
Funny how I like self evaluations. (Not the one done in the office cos it consumes a lot of time and squeezes my brain just to fit six months into those 6 rectangles.) I am still waiting for my other friends to pick theirs in my johari and nohari accounts. If they don't, which I know some wouldn't really, it's okay. They have letters and friendster testimonials already with me :)
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I got a forwarded email from my college friend, Jason, about the meaning of the desserts you pick as per psychiatists' interpretation.
There choices were a carrot cake, vanilla cake with chocolate icing, angelfood cake, lemon merengue, brownies, chocolate on chocolate ice creama and strawberry short cake.
My pick was the chocolate on chocolate. And here's what it meant:
CHOCOLATE ON CHOCOLATE... Sexy; always ready to give and receive. Very creative, adventurous, ambitious, and passionate. You can appear to have a cold exterior but are warm on the inside.Not afraid to take chances. Will not settle for anything average in life. Love to laugh.
Hmm...
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It is my brother's birthday to day. I think Pot is already 20? Or is it 19? [But I think I look younger. Hehe. sometimes, my mom and my aunt would say, "Bigay mo nga 'to sa kuya mo." ("Please give this to your big bro.") And sometimes on my younger sister, ("Bigay mo nga 'to sa ate mo.") Anyway...]
I've quite decided that I am giving him something. It's either food or an item he coudl use. So, I came up with a shirt. Hang Ten is not a bad pick, is it? They actuall have a promo that 2 shirts would cost around 600 bucks. If I only buy 1, it would be more than 300, I think. I plan to take 2 for my youngest brother who's also celebrating his birthday next month.
But today, I am thinking of not buying them any. I am about to pay our water and electric bill by the middle of the month. I am paying one of my brother's last installment tuition fee which would be around 8,000 bucks. I would be enrolling one of them for the coming school year. So, I would needing at least hefty 20,000 by June. Plus my all day expenses (personals) going to work, groceries every week and apartment dues. Great.
Now, I try to save at least 200 bucks from my weekly allowance. Whatever I save, I sometimes use for my self. Sometimes, to pay excess dues. Great.
By the way, did I mention that I weigh 47 lbs. Ting. Ting. That is my lightest record so far. I've lost 2 lbs from my last's year check. Great.
Hmm, what did I do last year to make myself look bulkier and leaner? (Odd, huh?) I always do exercise. I briskwalk. I took appetite-inducing Chinise drug. Then, I ate heavy breakfast. I got small skin breaks. Then, I stopped. I got thinner. Now, I am 47 lbs. Great.
Oh. I am having a "conscience attack". For sure, I'll end up carrying a shopping bag for my brothers. As much as I want to think about myself and the things I need to settle, I couldn't. I hate the guilt of not sharing what I have. Some already goes out of hand. But I couldn't just think of myself more just like that. Great, this conscience is killing me.
Happy, happy birthday to my brothers. (May you, two, be able to help the country accordingly when you graduate.)
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American Idol already has its 12 finalists. No, I am not naming them here. Just check their website. I hope their commemorative album would be nice to hear. (That one I am more up to.)
posted by Arn 
at 11:55 AM
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