Any other call centre agents here? *shudders*

Well I have recently started to work in a call centre doing cold calling and man it has to be one of the worst jobs in the world!

Getting told to f off , pople just hanging up being rude, plus a lot of pressure from the managers to sell sell sell.

The money is good, better than a lot of little low skilled jobs which is why I do it but God I hate it!

Thankfully I only have to do it for 6 months until I go to university but six months in this job seems like a very long time!

Have already got a few interviews for other jobs which Im hoping I will get but until then... *shudders*

Anyone else ever done the dreaded cold calling?

Yeah I can imagine it being a difficult job. At least you have your university sorted in six months time, so it is not like this job is for ever. I would keep looking in the meantime for something else, even if it is a little lower paid. goodluck

I tried it. For about 4 days until I said NO WAY and found something else. It is the worst job I've ever had. Not only are call-center ethics of business less than honest, but the management will always push you around, your sales will not end up 'going through', and it's usually a horrible working environment (eg. you are expected to NEVER put the phone down, breaks are for 30 minutes throughout an 8-hour work day). I hated it.

I have to be honest with you here, I dislike getting called by telemarketers. Despite having been one at one time, I will still simply hang up on them now, or tell them I am simply not interested and be really short. Most of them don't 'take a hint', and by that I mean that you give them all kinds of excuses as to why you don't want to buy whatever piece of useless crap that they're selling (no offence), and they'll STILL persist. This is why you probably get hung up on or told to 'f off'. Most people don't have the time or energy and will want to get off the phone with you as quickly as possible. The people who have been called by too many telemarketers will be the worst, and you will probably get several of those in one single day. It's not worth the stress just because you're making more than average money. Money is not as important as keeping your sanity and actually wanting to get out of bed in the morning.

My best advice? Keep this job until you find another one that is not going to stress you out and make you feel like crap every day. Do you really need the added stress while you're in university? When you wake up in the morning to go to work, do you absolutely DREAD it? It shouldn't be that way. Yes, most of us don't 'love' our jobs, but you shouldn't actually hate or be scared to go (and I can understand why you would). Find something else. I waitress for extra cash while studying; the money is not great, but it pays the bills and I actually enjoy it most of the time.

Never done it, just based on fact I knew many people who had and could not stand it. My brother worked in a call centre ONE day before walking.

There is a call centre in the building I work at and to hear them talking at the doors when I come in in the morning makes me grateful I don't have to do their job.

If you hate it, I would really advise looking elsewhere, there are many retail jobs or restaurant jobs for example that are a lot more fun to work at and a lot less stressful as well! Not always glamorous no, but you get to bond more with other staff and the customers WANT to be there!

And like Ocean Eyes, even though I understand how unpleasant it is, I HATE telemarketers. It is the entire reason I got rid of my landline in fact and rely purely on a cellphone. When they called I would either tell them "I" was not home or honestly hang up if they would not listen to me say I was not interested.

I think that its necessary to have thick skin when you work on a call center job. There's a certain amount of annonymity when a client is behine a phone and that allows them to dish out all kinds of guilt free abuse on the call center rep. I recommend trying to go to work with a detached attitude. What happens on the phone is in no way a relfection of your personal worth and you have to find a way to let the bad calls go. That's the only way I got through it. Also, if you can find a coworker that you can associate with, it helps to have someone to swap bad customer stories with and get them off your chest.

I totally agree with the above, don't take things personally with your job. I guess it is just part and parcel of what is involved.

Happy job hunting in the meantime

Yeah, I worked in one for two weeks as an undergrad before I walked out. I hated it more and more every day I worked. The money was pretty good but I switched to retail to save my sanity. I made less money but it was worth it to not have to go back to cold calls!

I just wanted to add: in the past year or so I've worked as a waitress in two different establishments (the first one was summer seasonal last year). Both times have been great experiences, and although you will have to deal with the occasional jerk customer or crabby owner/ manager, most of it is pretty fun and the time will fly. However, you have to possess a pretty high level of energy and be in pretty good shape physically (for all the running around you will do).

If you like working with people, waitressing is probably the best job that a university student can have; the hours are usually flexible, tips are pretty good in most places on weekends, you will meet endless amounts of interesting people, and develop new friendships with co-workers. Plus, the best thing is that you won't dread going to work in the mornings, and you won't feel like garbage when you leave.

thanks guys-don`t worry I have already started looking for another job!

Apparently I may be able to get a job in local bar but the work won`t begin for a few more weeks so I guess I`m stuck here for a while yet.

Another thing Ive noticed about call centres is that the management have a serious attitude problem. They are really rude to the staff, they just bark orders at us rather than treating us with any form of respect, which is just so unnecessary.

Apparently the longest anyone has lasted here is about 6 months, which isn`t a surprise.

Oh and a guy I work with caught an ear infection from one of the headsets! s

So a happy working environment all round!