No choice but call centers
Last Friday, I celebrated my 23rd birthday in our company. There’s nothing actually to celebrate. As Ted Failon always says, “lilipas din yan.”
March 16 last year, I was in Ayala for a scheduled interview. I wasn’t able to arrive there on time, so I didn’t proceed to the interview. Later that day, I was in Ortigas for another interview. After a series of tests, both written and oral, I was able to land in the initial interview. I didn’t make it since I told the interviewer that I want to study and work at the same time. It seems that they do not have a program for working students.
On April 10, I was finally employed in a start-up Filipino company, but that’s another story.
So far, I am happy with my present employer. I began working Nov. 6.
Last Thursday, I finished the PA (perfomance appraisal) document our team lead asked us to answer. I am blatant enough to say that I want to be regularized in the company.
Given the chance however, I want to be the boss, and not just a regular employee. I want to be the owner of a business establishment, hopefully, a one-stop shop for students’ computer needs – Internet (which may also include games), research, desktop publishing, web publishing, and photo services. I have no choice but to work and save up.
I studied in the country’s premier state university, the University of the Philippines-Diliman, but here I am, talking with irate and illogical American (and Indians, Vietnamese, Russians, Mexicans, Europeans and Filipinos) customers, dealing with their concerns (and complaint) with the computer.
Whenever I read articles about the call center industry, I ask myself why did I choose this job. In Cold pragmatism? , a college student asks why people, specially the graduates of good schools, chose to follow the limited career path call centers offer when they can navigate their own ship? “Where would we be without dreams and ambitions? Where would we be if all we ever wanted in life is to get by safely, living and dying with a muffled whimper?”
He has a good point. But doesn’t he realize that not making a decision is a decision in itself? Maybe some of us didn’t really have a choice on the career path we want to take, but if we earn money while building the foundation and gaining work experience, would that be commendable? High-end companies would require years of experience, but where would we get that experience if nobody hires us?
And in the corporate world, the ability to speak in fluent English is an advantage. I found a blog entry today by an American living in the Philippines, who suggested that Americans could export their language and education to the Philippines, as they did 105 years ago when the Thomasites arrived. The thing here is that we may not want to continue wearing our headsets and looking at the computer screen for eight hours, but as of the moment, this is what the market forces tell us to do. We’re just being practical. But that is not cold pragmatism.
