I got fired after 1 month of training

I applied for this job at a call center as a customer service agent , got training for 1 month and then I failed the last simulation test call and my trainer terminated me . I failed a previous simulation call but passed when I retook the test , and that's the reason why I got terminated because I failed again and she said I only have one chance to retest throughout the whole training . I kinda feel this isn't totally fair. When we went on a nesting period on the floor where we took real calls from real frustrated customers I was able to push myself through with an acceptable performance for a novice and I even passed the calls that where overheard by the quality assurance team . How come after all this time and after performing well on the floor I get to be terminated because of a simulation test call . I've been told by some I should speak with someone from the HR department , but even the then the best case scenario is that I will have to rejoin the training with another wave from the very beginning . I feel really disappointed in myself and can't handle the idea of going for that option , as I've already prepared myself to join the operations team and to officially become an agent next Monday , and now that's all gone and I've never felt worse in my life .

Well, there were probably other factors that were impinging on your performance - if it is unusual for agents to fail twice throughout training then you should seriously consider what part you have played in not performing to their standards. Are you a slow learner, or were you not fully switched on during training? Were you lacking motivation? These things become very, very obvious as you progress during training. You may think that you are performing to standard, but if you're not highly motivated and applying yourself enthusiastically, when it comes time to assess you they would be unable to say anything remarkable about you. Call centres are high turnover jobs so why should they employ you if you're either not cut out for it, or not giving it your best? There is ALWAYS someone waiting to replace you. So you probably have let this job slip through your fingers by not showing initiative and motivation.

I have a lot of experience in call centre environments, having spent the first 5 years of my career in various call-centre based roles (which branched off into administrative/data entry roles, but all had focuses on sales or customer service). I have seen people fail and people succeed - including myself. One role, I just showed up when I could muster the motivation and did the bare minimum required - I ended up losing that job because I took too many days off and didn't make up for it when I was there (sales role). Unfortunately that's just unacceptable for most call centres as they need bums on seats and they need to meet a certain workload quota - when they have more than enough 'average' and 'low' performers, they will stress for high performance and dedication from their employees.

Later on in my call centre career, I was also promoted in other roles within my first 4-6 months (which was unusual for these companies) because I showed high initiative. The difference for me came down to the company I was with and whether I could see progression and actually wanted to be there. If I wanted to be there, I worked harder and turned up every day ready to put my best foot forward. This had a flow on effect to my work and my dedication was quite obvious. Most people can be very good at these roles if, and only if, they have the right mindset and genuinely want to be there. Some companies are not good at supporting high performers though, and that can be what makes the difference (it was that way for me, at least)

So it probably shouldn't be a huge surprise to you that you failed. If you truly wanted to be there and it was the right job for you to be in, your performance should have been meeting or exceeding the expectations set forth for you. Take this as a learning experience and find a job that you can apply yourself to which you can actually see yourself committing to and putting effort in. Find somewhere that you genuinely want to be.

Rejection sucks but it has a role in helping us to understand our place.

glitterfingers , thank you so much for replying . I was extremely motivated ; it was my first job and I really wanted to give it all I have , I was there everyday and was late for 20 minutes only once (I also called the trainer to inform her in this one time) , other than that I was there for this month and a half almost always half an hour early for the training session , and at least an hour and a half early during nesting . I never exceeded any breaks , I would be extremely exhausted and sometimes kinda panting after long calls because I made sure to sound energetic and eager to help while I was on the phone with customers (and I really was), I got very positive feedback during nesting from a member of the quality team . However I also admit that I made some mistakes during this period after which I would always feel devastated and very guilty as well so I made sure to never repeat them again and I truly never did .

One time the trainer said that we were going to recap what we took last week , I always had a notebook with me and took notes of almost every single significant piece of info . So when she asked if someone could recap for the rest of the class I volunteered , and I explained in detail everything on the system without opening my notebook or accessing the system itself : which tab contains which info and what these info should be used for and all of that , even she seemed surprise that I memorized all of these details . however during this last simulation call I was extremely stressed and just scared and what happened was that I forgot to mention a certain set of rules that were related to the inquiry the customer (of course someone from within the company and not a real customer) , so she terminated me .She said she was going to recommend me for the next wave however I should go look for another job .

I'm still confused at her words and actions . Other people were extremely careless , many of them were late multiple times , some of them have even cheated to pass the weekly tests . Also here's the thing , the account I was assigned to belonged to a travelling agency , so we operated mainly on hotels and flight reservations , flights are usually trickier , and we had two training periods for each of the two products separated by a nesting period for hotels , during hotels training I never had a single retest while others did . the people who did retest with hotels had a chance to for a retest again with flights . However if you never retested during hotels you still only have one shot to retest with flights . So other people were to able to retest twice while I wasn't just because they're two separate products . I still don't know how is this fair . I mean I admit I'm kind of a slow learner but I never repeat any mistakes and was always eager to improve myself and yes I wanted to stay there and I fairly liked the job overall . So I don't what wen wrong exactly , but I still feel really guilty and can't stop criticizing myself .

I think they applied the standards they told you you would apply. It's ok that this isn't the right fit for you -not the entire type of job but in this particular agency. We're not all good at everything and it's ok. I would be very careful next time not to be late that early on in a job. This is your first impression and while you're brand new in a situation that is time sensitive you must get there on time, every single time unless there is a true emergency. Try to get there a half hour early in the beginning so that you can account for most issues that can happen during a commute. Being early doesn't make up for being late. It's fine if you want to talk to HR but only if your goal is to learn what you can do differently next time, not to complain that it wasn't fair. JMHO -I know it's hard to be in a situation like this.

I mean no offence in saying this, but you sound like you must be young if this was your first job. It may be that you simply don't have the interpersonal or professional skills that are required in order to navigate this role, that others you trained with who have held long term jobs before have displayed. Such things can be as simple as knowing how to interact with your peers and superiors in a way that is assertive/confident but polite (neither too shy nor too abrasive), as well as customer service and conversational skills that can often come with experience in different settings (knowing how to identify customer's needs quickly based on intuition, complaints handling and navigating a resolution in a short time frame, making judgement calls about how to deal with a person that is in the best interests of the company while appearing to show high levels of customer care). It can also include knowing how to structure an email (correct grammar), how to prioritise tasks and how to structure your work day, as well as how to organise your thoughts and objectives as you are completing a task so that you don't miss out the important details of your work. Some of these things simply come from trial and error, having made mistakes.

It may seem unfair that you weren't given more of a chance, but you could simply be too undeveloped for them to be able to invest the time and resources required to train you to the level that they need you to be at by now. This is a business decision, so try not to take it personally. I am not certain how things work in Egypt, but in most countries employers are not required to give you any reason for termination until/unless you are past your probation period and have signed a contract of permanent employment. So trying to speak to HR is unlikely to result in a favourable outcome because the employer has not wrongfully terminated you.

Even if you were a model employee in all other regards, they have obviously identified that their potential to profit from you in this situation is not worth the investment. That does not mean you do not have great potential, simply that you do not have enough to offer them right at this very minute. Do you really want to work for an employer who isn't prepared to give you the extra push in training in order to help you reach your potential? - That's a rhetorical question. The answer is a large, resounding no, in every situation.

The best thing you can learn from this experience is that you need an employer who is willing to recognise your strengths and work with you to improve on your weaknesses, because you clearly have the desire to do tasks well and that is something that many employers struggle to find. Many people take jobs that are easy to get simply because they need the income, only to find that those employers don't really care about developing them as individuals and are going to churn through "worker bees" as quickly as possible in order to meet their own objectives. These are not good companies to work for and will typically make you very unhappy very quickly. In call centres, that is the name of the game. High turnover, low investment/wages (and low profit margin). Also typically low training and support for middle managers who the bottom line (i.e. you) report directly to - thus creating tension and animosity in the workplace and leading people to resign early into their jobs. The process then starts again, because call centres need bums in seats, so they train a whole lot of new incomers and throw all the viable ones onto the phones and repeat the process.

Personally, I think you dodged a bullet. You can try for another call centre if you like, but I think you'd be happier in a different industry altogether

Batya33 thank you so much for your reply . Well actually according to the rules that she's given us on the first day : we were to be eligible for a two hours lateness during the training of each product and the only thing I had to do was call her to tell her I was going to be late which I did , so I didn't really violate any of the rules. (there was this other guy who did intentionally exceed break because he felt she was ordering him around and he wanted to be sorta badass I guess, and she knew about this and told him that to her he's dismissed from the job and guess what he's still joining the floor anyway) , so I don't know I kinda feel there's kind of a bias here that I don't really understand the basis of.

glitterfingers I did actually sign a contract of a permanent employment so I have the right to talk to someone from the HR . However I still would like to take the advise of someone with your level of experience regarding this issue. First: can it be that a trainer solely have the authority to terminate someone without checking with anybody else in a position of authority , and second: I feel that the trainer had a certain bias regarding this decision, not trying to say that I'm perfectly cut out for the job , of course I agree with everything you said and definitely as an 18 year old there's a lot for me to learn however the thing is I feel that there are other people with much less prowess that were still able to make it . I even had one of my friends telling me she had missed two of the five main attributes that we get evaluated according to and the trainer didn't notice and let her pass (the passing benchmark is 4 out of 5). I've also noticed the same thing happen with other people , so she basically let people pass or make them fail according to her own fluctuating level of concentration , and during the tests she'd be completely distracted with either her laptop or her smartphone that anyone could easily cheat and pass the test , and there are people who actually did that , so with all of this taken into account , I feel that the assessment process was just hideously messy and unfair, and I don't know if I should just move on or try to explain these things to someone from the HR. Would you please advise me ?

Ok so you weren't really late in that sense. I'd be careful about talking to HR - for all you know they could think the world of her and you are not even an employee -you were only trained for a month -you need a good reference from the company so be careful what you say and how you say it. Obviously trainers are human beings and there might be some subjectivity, distraction, etc. Also you did make mistakes which is totally fine but gives them a basis on which to make the decision.

I'm really sorry this happened at your first job.

Yeah I of course understand this , however some things are not so subjective: for instance forgetting to leave documentation of the case or forgetting to recap certain details with the customer which she sometimes notices and sometimes doesn't , but anyway you're definitely right , they would probably totally side with her however she's already told me she's recommended me for the next wave , although there's going to be a darn irritating delay and I'd have to start the training all over again , it's still better than nothing and definitely much better if I was able to rejoin with a different trainer (she was quite awful IMO) , so hopefully it wouldn't come to that , however if it did and they said they're going to terminate me anyway, I'm just going to let everything out in all of their faces especially hers(while being as respectful as possible for sure) , as there will be pretty much nothing for me to lose at this point.

Yeah I of course understand this , however some things are not so subjective: for instance forgetting to leave documentation of the case or forgetting to recap certain details with the customer which she sometimes notices and sometimes doesn't , but anyway you're definitely right , they would probably totally side with her however she's already told me she's recommended me for the next wave , although there's going to be a darn irritating delay and I'd have to start the training all over again , it's still better than nothing and definitely much better if I was able to rejoin with a different trainer (she was quite awful IMO) , so hopefully it wouldn't come to that , however if it did and they said they're going to terminate me anyway, I'm just going to let everything out in all of their faces especially hers(while being as respectful as possible for sure) , as there will be pretty much nothing for me to lose at this point.

I would say nothing, do the next wave of training and now that you know what mistakes you made you won't repeat them.

Batya33 thank you so much for your reply . Well actually according to the rules that she's given us on the first day : we were to be eligible for a two hours lateness during the training of each product and the only thing I had to do was call her to tell her I was going to be late which I did , so I didn't really violate any of the rules. (there was this other guy who did intentionally exceed break because he felt she was ordering him around and he wanted to be sorta badass I guess, and she knew about this and told him that to her he's dismissed from the job and guess what he's still joining the floor anyway) , so I don't know I kinda feel there's kind of a bias here that I don't really understand the basis of.

 

glitterfingers I did actually sign a contract of a permanent employment so I have the right to talk to someone from the HR . However I still would like to take the advise of someone with your level of experience regarding this issue. First: can it be that a trainer solely have the authority to terminate someone without checking with anybody else in a position of authority , and second: I feel that the trainer had a certain bias regarding this decision, not trying to say that I'm perfectly cut out for the job , of course I agree with everything you said and definitely as an 18 year old there's a lot for me to learn however the thing is I feel that there are other people with much less prowess that were still able to make it . I even had one of my friends telling me she had missed two of the five main attributes that we get evaluated according to and the trainer didn't notice and let her pass (the passing benchmark is 4 out of 5). I've also noticed the same thing happen with other people , so she basically let people pass or make them fail according to her own fluctuating level of concentration , and during the tests she'd be completely distracted with either her laptop or her smartphone that anyone could easily cheat and pass the test , and there are people who actually did that , so with all of this taken into account , I feel that the assessment process was just hideously messy and unfair, and I don't know if I should just move on or try to explain these things to someone from the HR. Would you please advise me ?

Yeah I of course understand this , however some things are not so subjective: for instance forgetting to leave documentation of the case or forgetting to recap certain details with the customer which she sometimes notices and sometimes doesn't , but anyway you're definitely right , they would probably totally side with her however she's already told me she's recommended me for the next wave , although there's going to be a darn irritating delay and I'd have to start the training all over again , it's still better than nothing and definitely much better if I was able to rejoin with a different trainer (she was quite awful IMO) , so hopefully it wouldn't come to that , however if it did and they said they're going to terminate me anyway, I'm just going to let everything out in all of their faces especially hers(while being as respectful as possible for sure) , as there will be pretty much nothing for me to lose at this point.

You may have signed a contract of employment, but that does not hold any protection for your termination within the probationary period which is usually at least 3-6 months. As you were likely still within your probationary period, she would not have had to give you any reason and could terminate you because she simply didn't like your hair (so long as she didn't outright tell you this is the reason, you'd never know and she could claim it was for subpar performance). If it is in her work agreement/contract that she manages the induction, training and assessment of new employees, then it is likely also her responsibility to dismiss those who do not meet the standards of the induction, training and assessment that she administers. She may or may not have to notify her supervisors beforehand, or afterwards, but it is likely that she did keep track of your training and assessment to be referred to just incase. This may include qualitative notes such as the skills you displayed or lacked, which might not look good on you, but which you cannot argue with.

You should not approach HR questioning her authority to dismiss you, as you were advised of the assessment standards beforehand and you were advised what you missed on the assessment that caused you not to pass. The fact that she's offered for you to come through with the next wave of trainees is, in my opinion, a very generous thing for her to do. If she could have easily dismissed you completely and told you that you weren't cut out for the job, it seems she was not being completely unfair to try and help you get into training again.

Also, consider this: the people in HR have many years or even decades of professional experience behind them, are well-acquainted with this trainer and have probably worked alongside her for many years, respect and like her, and possibly even manage her employment/payroll issues from time to time. How do you think they will react to being questioned by an 18 yr old who was training with the company for one month and didn't even pass their assessments? Do you really think that you will help them to see that this trainer might not be doing her job properly, and that you are right and she was wrong? Even if the trainer has done one or two little things wrong and not been completely fair, the fact remains that you did not pass your assessment and you are not a permanent employee with the company. You have absolutely no bargaining power, no social power whatsoever. I know this seems very unfair to you right now, but it is a fact that you have to deal with when you're starting out in the workplace.

HR will not respect your opinion or your complaint as to them you hold very little value. At 18 it is hard to make a sound judgement call and to see things from the perspective of those who have many years of work experience ahead of you. And because they know this, they will not listen to you unless you can prove that the trainer has done something grossly negligent or unlawful (prejudice or bullying, for example). Even then they would probably not take your complaint seriously, they'd tell you they will deal with it, but they would brush it under the rug and then you'd never be invited back to train with the company and never hear from them again. That's just how people work, they look out for themselves and for their peers. People tend to trust the people they know and they trust strangers very little, particularly strangers who might have a reason to feel slighted (because they didn't pass their training). That's how they will see it.

It is very poor form to question the integrity and competence of your superiors in any work situation. I have been fired from a separate role for questioning my superiors' decision to do something unethical - I thought they didn't realise what they were doing, but they did and they didn't want me to argue with them. Still within the probationary period, they did not give me a real reason and simply told me I was "not a good fit" and then had me leave the building immediately without collecting my belongings (they did this so as not to cause a scene and so that I couldn't argue about being dismissed unfairly). I was very angry and thought to write the CEO (as I had his contact details) but realised that I would not be taken seriously and it is a waste of time to get upset over this when I could find a job somewhere else and move on with my life. Besides, nobody wants to work for people that they think are incompetent, unethical or lacking integrity. I certainly didn't. Do you?

I agree with what you're saying in the general sense , however there are few points that I think I should mention here : firstly this trainer is quite young (mid 20s or something like that) and she has just been promoted for the role after failing 5 times in a row , so chances are she's not really all that highly respected by the HR team as she was just an agent a few months ago , secondly the company I used to work at has a dire need for people and that's per the trainer's own saying , as there are a huge amount of people resigning everyday , so given the company's need for employment , her recommendation for the next wave was nothing more than a routine action that any other trainer would have taken . I even know two other people who used to be with me in the same wave who got dismissed because they exceeded their break during nesting by half an hour which resulted in an immediate termination for both of them , however when they went and spoke with the HR and started a lengthy argument with them after which they agreed to assign them to the sales department .

I'm actually not planning at all on openly questioning her authority , but the thing is you really need to see this girl to know what I'm talking about , she's honestly a disaster piece of work , almost the entire session was extremely disorganized , dozens of critical info wasn't delivered properly to the trainees and we had to ask our SME while we were nesting about these info , and lastly even false information were given that I would have never known they were false have I not decided to shadow with an expert agent one time in the morning when I was too early because the session was postponed for two hours.

I don't want to get into much details about the assessment process , but even the way she assessed me I felt was kinda unfair . What happened in the simulation call was the the customer was asking about the options he has if he cancels or changes the flight reservation , so I recapped with him by saying "so Mr.Miles I get that you're inquiring about the changing or cancellation policy on your ticket" to which he said yes , I then proceeded by explaining the cancellation policy for him: that it's a non refundable but with a future travel credit option , so he showed interest in this option and started inquiring more about it and I answered his questions , except I forgot to mention the whole set of rules that "it has to be for the same traveler and it has to be the same departure airport and that it has to be with the same airlines and that there will be a fee when he decides to rebook again in the future with this credit " , so he just told me that he'll think about it and call again . Not mentioning all the rules is related to an attribute called "what I said" so of course I failed this one and I'm allowed to fail only one attribute to pass, but she said I failed another attribute which is called "knowing why the customer called" because I didn't mention the changing policy even though the customer didn't mention it again throughout the call and was clearly much more interested in the first option , So I don't know , does this really count that I've failed to determine why the customer has called ?

Overall , I'm not trying to exclude myself from being blamed here , I surely should have done better and that's why I will never be able to forgive myself for not being able to doge these trivial mistakes so as not to waste the opportunity. It's truly the most painful experience I've ever been through and I don't know what am I going to do know . I feel like a huge failure and I'm really lost :S

Tell me Cold One. Are you taking on this job as well as being at college. I understand you started college last Autumn. Yes?

Also, do you think call centre work is really the job for you? It doesn't suit everyone.

Assume that she is sleeping with the HR director or that they are related. Don't go there.

You are not a failure in the least. It might not be the right fit and you tried your best.

I volunteer with a local radio station where I have to follow a script and take potential donors' calls. I'll tell you that even for the short amount of time that I do it it's stressful and easy to forget all the parts to the script. And I'm 50 and am used to doing customer service phone calls.

So, unless you live on Montana, a employer can fire you for any reason at any time (unless that reason is that you are a member of a protected class). Speaking to HR will only make them raise an eyebrow, not get you your job back.

Here is a really good article you should read:

TheColdOne is in Cairo (Egypt). Presumably the labour laws are not quite the same there.

Or is the call centre company an international one, TCO?

TheColdOne is in Cairo (Egypt). Presumably the labour laws are not quite the same there.

 

Or is the call centre company an international one, TCO?

Ah, yeah, no idea how this works in Egypt.

Hey Moontiger and LaHermes thank you so much for joining us . After some thinking I did decide that I won't bother with the HR , you guys are probably right about it being useless , so I'll just have to accept that the opportunity is gone forever I guess (which is extremely difficult given how much hopes I had hanging on this whole thing), and LaHermes I actually dropped out of the major that i started studying September last year because I intend to change it , so I will start college again next September , and yes I originally planned for this job to go along with college.

Regarding the question of whether I think the call center job is for me or not , I think have to say no , I thought it was , but it turns out it really requires much more than I have . The call center job, according to what I've learnt and seen in this very brief period of time, requires an emotionless and careless person who's quite skillful when it comes to pretending that they give a sh*t (excuse my french) , and I'm not like that , I genuinely do give a sh*t and I want to help people . More often than not I find myself too engaged in the case and in actually trying to assist the person who's calling me that certain parts of the call script just slip my mind , but then again , in this miserable country this is pretty much the only sort of job that is available and pays well for people with language skills like myself , and the opportunity that I had which I'd blown away was the pretty much the most suitable option for me given how it is in other call centers or in other accounts (I was also performing well on the floor during nesting despite some silly novice mistakes) , and actually I did genuinely enjoy it and I wanted this job more than any other thing . I know I can find a job somewhere else , but I really don't want to . I just hope they're forgiving enough and would allow me to rejoin with any upcoming wave .

It's fine if you want to talk to HR but only if your goal is to learn what you can do differently next time, not to complain that it wasn't fair.

I second this from Batya. If your approach is to badmouth the process or the supervisor, that does the opposite of build a 'case,' it just gets you written off as too much trouble to deal with a second time.

But I'd also consider Glitterfinger's suggestion that this may just be a boiler room operation that's not a great opportunity for career development in the first place. Instead of feeling lousy for not performing like a bot, I'd make appointments with temp agencies--one per morning, at least 3 per week, starting with those closest to you and working a radius outward. These appointments require some tests on any applications you claim to know, but if you don't perform well, most places allow you to use their tutorials and test again at a later date to bring a higher score--which raises your hourly rate.

Temping exposes you to different corporate environments, and it doesn't matter what position you accept. The goal is to get inside the companies and learn which would be the best fit for you. From inside, you demo your work ethic and apply for jobs within that are not published outside of the firms.

Temping is how most companies 'try before they buy,' and it also gives you the option of walking away from any environment not suitable to you. I'd try that first before belaboring what sounds like a lousy job in the first place. Gain exposure to other work situations through temping, and you'll learn invaluable stuff not only about the work world, but also about what is NOT tolerable. Then you can avoid beating yourself up about situations that simply aren't suitable for you. We all have those.

Head high.

TCO.

" in this miserable country this is pretty much the only sort of job that is available and pays well for people with language skills like myself , "

I understand completely what you are saying. And for young people (you are young, a student) there is probably even less employment.

What I think is important is not to beat yourself up about this first experience.

Do not, please, indulge in negative self-talk like this:

I feel like a huge failure and I'm really lost