I have realised sheffield now has so many call centres which offer different products/services.

Im lookin 4 a job call centre based but i am spoilt 4 choice?

can any one help me?....

if u work in a call centre - which 1?

wats ur positive and negative feed back?

thank u very much people.

I used to work at Freemans, down at Attercliffe. Good points? Well, pay was okay, staff discount from anything in catalogue, gym and pool for £10 a month. Bad points? Well for me personally, having to start work at 7am every saturday and sunday morning. There wasn't much atmosphere either. Overall, it gave me 2 years experiance, which I have used for my current job @ William Hill. You really need a car to get to Freemans down at Attercliffe, well, it's handy to have a car to get there anyway.

Good points at William Hill? Pay again, much better than at Freemans. Pretty Central (Back of Debenhams), great team atmosphere, excellant team nights out. Friendly bunch of staff. Not really got any grumbles with it at the moment, but I have only been there since end of Jan 05. So ask me later, and I am sure I'll find something lol. No, really, it's a better place to work than freemans I think anyway.

Originally posted by smh2004
Good points at William Hill? Pay again, much better than at Freemans. Pretty Central (Back of Debenhams), great team atmosphere, excellant team nights out. Friendly bunch of staff. Not really got any grumbles with it at the moment, but I have only been there since end of Jan 05. So ask me later, and I am sure I'll find something lol. No, really, it's a better place to work than freemans I think anyway.

I work at William hill as well.
Flexible hours are brill, double pay on sundays and bank hols
I agree and bonuses are good, an extra 35p - 70p an hour, you get half paud in June and half in December.... wooooo cant wait.

There's a Government funded Learndirect course called "Call Centre Pre Employment" that my centre runs. Usually £15 for a 15 hour course but free to you! look at: http://catalogue.learndirect.co.uk/courses/100428SM001/?view=Standard
for details and if interested contact me at Best Training

Im lookin 4 a job call centre based

Are you mad?

Avoid Capita/Dixons like the plague...

i know i have alrdy heard the stories.........

add ventura and Telewest to your list of ....to, avoids

Originally posted by dan_999uk
Are you mad?

Avoid Capita/Dixons like the plague...



Have to agree.. i was unfortunate enough to work for Freeserve Tech Support for a year. Great staff.. Always had a laugh with my fellow team mates (all of whom were male) but apart from that.. I can't say it's a good place to work.. I even took a wage drop to get out of that hell hole!

I use to work for Halifax down on Victoria Quays.

I had a good time, made some good friends. Same as all call centres there was a lot of targets, but thats life!

Problem with working in a mortgage call centre is there is now a lot of regulation by FSA. I could see it was going to get more difficult to sell especially with housing market slowing down so i got out and did face to face.

Just to cap it, if you want to work there then be prepared for a LOT of scripting!!

The call centre I work in at the moment isn't all about targets.. they do help but their philosophy is if you don't get the deals.. you don't get the commission. Although they do like you to get a few deals.. there's no huge amount of pressure.. Everyone has bad days sometimes..

I love the job I am in at the moment and wouldn't trade it for any amount of money (unless it was enough to let me retire)

heffy which call centre u workin at?

I work for a newly established call centre in Sheffield Centre, Selling One Tel to BT customers. PM me if you would like more info. There's 3 directors who are all easy going and they don't set targets that you have to stick to.. just aim for..

hey

i work at capita dixons and dont understand why people are sayibg avoid it like the plaugue? could u please enlighten me on this situation as a enjoy being there!!

lindsey

add ventura and Telewest to your list of ....to, avoids

With TW (Virgin) it depends on which division youre working in. Residential, dont bother with, but the business side is BRILLIANT. Mon - Fri 8-6pm. I miss my job there (left due to a move abroad) Only targets involved were with learning how to resolve issues in a timely manner. No selling, no tech support (either they were transfered to the tech support team or offered a call back) just basic customer service.

My new call centre roll doesnt require selling (mainly because its financial focused and Im not qualified to sell the product - just inform) and the latest we end our shift is 8pm, which is mon through fri. We work one in four saturdays and for it we get a day off in the week. The people are GREAT (probably some of the best Ive ever worked with) and its a laugh to be there.

Call Centre work isnt for everyone, and it doesnt always have to be temporary work. Some people actually enjoy helping others and make it their careers, like me :D. I just think the majority of call centres here forget that there are people who want to help and stream line how their work is done. Those who can are willing to, get walked all over and eventually burn out. You know if youre in a decent call centre if people dont want to be promoted (just move laterally) and have been there for five or more years

I have tried 3 call centres crapita,snorich union and now mingy menzies, the latter was deffinitely the worst of the three, you don't get a morning or afternoon break, they don't schedule your dinner break for only half an hour and are told at a moments notice to go to lunch at 11.45 which is crazy as you have to work nearly 5 hours without a break there after.

There are so many over weight unhappy people working there and the the manager looks like peter kay so that made me chuckle.

When i was there last week in my training they just sat me with a call advisor and said observe, very little coaching involved.

You have to work every saturday and be at your desk for 0600, there are no perks so i would give it a wide berth especially also in view of the location on the airport road.

They don't do team briefs or huddles they had a meeting last week to inform all staff not to go on unauthorised toilet breaks or coffee breakswhichi think is petty.

Some of the staff swear at each other and i saw people sticking two fingers up at colleagues, they might be in jest but it gave me the impression of an unprofessional enviroment.

The agency which set up the placement was nice but i won't be looking for work with them again as they didn't explain to me about the drop in pay once you have been sellected and also the saturday shift at 0600.

With the next agency or job you look for be CLEAR in what YOU want from a job. Write down what you do and dont expect from an employer. Decide what you need and dont need in a work environment, and where you could compromise (like if you dont like 6am EVERY saturday, but you might be able to find a role that gives you 1 saturday in 4 with a 9-6 shift).

A decent agency rep, will ask you what you want and you will be FIRM with what you need to work. They will also be open with all information in regards to hours and salary. Though generally going from temp to perm you do take a pay cut as companies pay the temp agencies more to fill a role quickly, and to hire someone permanently takes time and even more money.

When you go out an interview, take a set a questions to ask the person interviewing you. Ask things like: "Are people sociable or is it a quiet office?" "How are things like breaks and dinners broken down?" "How in depth is the training? Is it a group or one on one?" and see if they are willing to give you a tour of the call floor so you can see what to expect. Most prospective employers will be glad to answer most questions you have, if they cant answer those questions or give you an answer you dont like, then you know its not for you.

BTW the roles youve had, have they been perm or temporary work? If its temp work you generally wont get full training and have a baptism by fire kind of an inductions. Which sucks, but its the price you pay for being a temp. Also some companies treat their temps like **** but treat their perm staff like gods.

If youve done all this, then maybe youre in the wrong career track for you?

At all 3 call centre jobs i was offered a contract for 13 weeks and if things had worked out i would have been permanent, the norwich union job i got through an interview direct with the employer, the other 2 were agencies.

Thank you ever so much for your input in to this thread a lot of what of you said is true.

21st century workhouses.

At least they paid me for the 3 days training i did at my last agency full marks to them for that and i would be happy to work for them again so not all bad