Cebu Days: A Handful of First Times (III)

In the first part, I wrote about my first riding a ship alone, long-distance travel. The second part was when my first time applying for a job after college. Life after college is the most challenging of all.

So this part would be about the call center industry's cultures and traditions.

First time to undergo an overall wellness check.

Before you undergo the training, there will be an orientation about the requirements to comply including the government insurance and everything. But the most interesting part is to undergo an overall wellness check.

In the contract, you will be asked if you are willing to have yourself get checked overall. Overall, you know what it means. Honestly, it's interesting for me to get checked by a doctor and see if everything is fine. A part of me is nervous and embarrassed. Body statistics were fine, I already have astigmatism that time so I didn't get surprised.

I'm not really sure if we have undergone a drug test but one thing I'm certain of, I was examined in my breasts and down there. Girls who have their periods are not allowed obviously to get checked. They have to be over 1 week after their period to get finally checked. Good thing my period was over two weeks before the examination.

When my name was called, I got so nervous and it was very uncomfortable to get undressed but I did it for the sake of getting the job. I have come so far for this so there's no turning back. Good thing my tests were fine and were marked as fit to work. Although the checkup was so painful. I wouldn't explain it in detail here. I asked my guy classmate too and he said that it was painful too. Yeah, it really was, literally.

First time talking to Americans over the phone.

We were very excited to go to work and we were told that even if we are still under training, we get paid.

The first part of our training was just the fundamentals, more on objective types. It was easy and I got rewarded for being one of the tops in the class. Also, the schedule of our training was 2 pm to 11 pm. Somehow, it still allows you to sleep at night even if it's late, your circadian rhythm wouldn't be compromised.

However, on our second part of training, this was where the hard parts begin. This time, we were taught how to handle calls in actual. We were doing a series of mock calls and it was very nerve-wracking. Finally, we were all able to pass the training and everyone was so excited to get endorsed to the production floor.

On the day I got my first call, it was extremely stressful. It's very different to talk with Americans in actual rather than just listening to an agent handle the call. This time, I'm all by myself and it's just me who gets to talk with the Americans. Although there's a group chat for everyone where you can reach out for help, you have your TL (Team Leader) to assist you and higher-ups are roaming around the floor ready to help too.

I remember my first call, I would classify my customer as not a techy person, probably because he's elderly. He was asking about his email about I wasn't sure about what he really meant and because of my nervousness, I walked him through and just provided the solution without giving him tips if ever something like this will happen again.

Overall, it was a flop. I got a survey on that call and I got a remark of DSAT or Dissatisfaction. I was so stressed about it but my colleagues cheered me up and there are days where everything doesn't seem to go on your way.

First time taking lunch at 1 am.

What would be the right word to describe if you are eating at dawn? In the call center industry, regardless of what time it is, it will always be called lunch.

When I was endorsed to the production floor, one stat you must take into consideration too aside from your performance on the floor is schedule adherence. As much as possible, you have to follow your schedule so that your stats will not be affected.

Usually, my lunch break is at 1 am or 2 am. It depends on my schedule. Newbies are scheduled to handle calls from nighttime to dawn because that's where the calls are coming from usually.

My circadian rhythm was already compromised and my health began to get affected too. I was not eating well, I don't get enough sleep, everything was at risk.

First time spending Christmas away from the family

For the first time in my life, I missed spending Christmas with the family. What was I was doing? I was working. When the clock strikes at midnight, I could see the fireworks dancing to the sky. I was looking at the window handling a call.

I couldn't focus because my mind was on my family. I miss them so much. As a family-oriented person, this is the most painful moment for me being away from them celebrating a tradition I never missed ever. More painful than the physical examination. Oh God, I couldn't imagine myself get checked again.

So while everyone is celebrating Christmas, I was there working. That made me realized that I will not let this happen again. I was homesick. That triggered me to quit the job and just be with them. If I work, I'll make sure that I should never miss important occasions in the family.

I have to cut this out and will publish the adventures I went through next article. I'll tell you a secret about the next one, it was my first time getting drunk. Wooo 🙈

Thanks for reading!

Keep safe everyone ❤