Being a call center agent: there and back again

Being a call center agent is mostly associated with, "night shifts," "irate callers" and "stress." What I notice about some people is that their faces tend to "cringe" when you tell them that you work in a call center, as if it's the most horrifying and disgusting thing they have ever heard. The funny thing is that these people are the ones that I think will never ever make it pass the first interview, if they apply in a call center (if they ever find the courage to do so). These people are usually those that have been stuck at a dead end job for 10 years or even more.

Being a call center agent has its advantages such as higher pay, you get a chance to improve your english speaking skills, bonuses, incentives and parties! When call centers celebrate, they really go all out. But perhaps the best thing about working in a call center is that you will get to meet a lot of interesting people. Some of them you will get along with, some are just plain a-holes. Just ignore them.

I am now on my second job as a call center agent in Convergys Bacolod (technically this is my fourth job), and I'll be staying with this company for as long as they will not "fire" me (sorry transcom people, you just chose the wrong company to work for). The advantages of working for Convergys, according to our trainor is that they promote people based on their performance and not how long they have been in the company. But they do reward people who have been with them for a long time. I can't discuss the details of working for Convergys because I might breach my contract with them which includes a "confidentiality agreement." However, if you're interested in applying for a job in Convergys Bacolod, please send me a message through facebook or my cellphone number (639109935922) and include your full name, email and cellphone and landline number.

A summary of my dining experience at Jollibee and McDonalds

I was eating lunch at McDonald's today when I remembered seeing an image on the internet of McDonald's tower with a sign below that says "Eat at McDonald's the number 1 fast food chain in the whole world except in the Philippines where we can't seem to beat that fat happy bee." I remembered the first time a McDonald's chain opened here in Bacolod. I was a child back then and I had no idea what the big deal was, but we ate there, and I really don't remember anything about that day except that we went there and ate, can't even remember what I ordered.

I can't remember where and when the first Jollibee chain opened here in bacolod because by then I really didn't care much about where I ate. For me, Jollibee and McDonald's are just the same.

Although I am a Filipino, I was more in favor of McDonald rather than Jollibee before, because of the fact that they where "the original" and Jollibee just seemed like a copycat, another thing I used to like about McDonald's was the quality of service and food they offered. Although Jollibee did offer quality service and food when it was starting, I still felt McDonald's was ahead.

Years gone by, Jollibee became better and McDonald's just stayed the same. Although at the moment, I believe that Jollibee now surpasses McDonald's popularity here in the Philippines I still have certain opinions and concerns about the two biggest fast food chains in the Philippine industry.

Over the years that I have been dining at McDonald's I have seen and observed a couple of things which I found either very disgusting or very annoying. Once when I was eating at a McDonald's branch here in Bacolod I saw a rat ran like hell in front of the table I was sitting in the rat ran in the direction of the kitchen and then It disappeared from my view.

I also noticed that their burgers are often dry and old, some of their burger patties don't smell nice too. So, the next time you eat a burger at McDonald's try sniffing at it first before you devour it. The employees at one particular branch I often eat from are also a bit annoying. They often stare at you when you eat, like something's wrong. Sometimes their employees also stand beside the table I'm eating and all they do is gossip. It's fine to gossip, but it get kinds of irritating if some people stand next to where you're eating and do it.

Jollibee has its share of problems. I once found a bug in the burger I was eating, which of course was too much even for me to handle, so I complained to them and they gladly changed it, although I have already eaten half of it. I think I could have caused quite a stir if I wanted to. There is also this issue about their managers, most of their managers are either very hard to get along with or a potential rapist. I've had many friends that once worked on Jollibee and a couple of them told me that there is this manager at a certain Jollibee branch who sexually harass female Jollibee employees and he has been transferred too different branches a couple of times because of this issue. One of my friends was even almost harassed by this manager, fortunately she was able to fight back.

Despite the problems with these two fast food chain giants, they still deliver quality service although they might sometimes have issues they still maintain a level of quality which is acceptable. Having said all that, I believe that there is still nothing that could beat a home cooked meal. So eat at your house whenever you can, it's often much healthier and cheaper.