Would i be mad to change my career whilst were in this recession?

makershaker

Been in my driving job now with the same company for 13 years. I left for a brief 4 month spell in another driving job 3 years ago but hated the shifts in the new job and luckily managed to get my old job back

Now though, things have been really quiet for 2 years, we are no longer allowed to do any overtime that we were guaranteed every week and to put the icing on the cake we've just been told we wont be getting a wage rise for the 3rd year in a row. My wages have stood still while all my bills have risen.

Recently i applied for a job as a customer service advisor within an insurance company. It has a reputation as being a fantastic place to work and anyone i've spoken to tells me they love working there. I went to the first interview and it went well, ive now made it to the second interview and i'm confident i can impress and get the job. I've no experience of working within insurance but they put you through 12 weeks training and ease you in gradually to the job, theres loads of amazing benefits and the starting salary is £2k more than what i earn just now. Theres potential to also earn commission through some additional selling and salary increases through reaching targets.

Sounds great and i wanna go for it but would i be mad to consider going into an unknown field of work considering i have a mortgage, partner who only works part time and young daughter too? Its a big risk incase i'm not suited to it or i'm hopless at the job because if i were to end up unemployed i could lose my house etc...

I'm never gonna earn a decent wage in the job i'm in and am fed up scraping by each month but dunno whether to take the gamble or not!

What do you think?

Opinions please?!!!

paulwf

What exactly do thy mean by customer services advisor? Will you be based in a call centre cold calling customers? Or perhaps will you have to deal with customers that are angry when you tell them their claim is denied?

Customer service advisor sounds like their term for telesales, and if so will you be on a commission based wage?

It potentially sounds like a good move but find out all the facts first as call centre based sales usually isn't much fun.

inmypocketnottheirs

Can you handle working with targets? Targets to earn commission. Targets to keep your job.

It sounds like a thinly veiled sales job IMHO.

makershaker

No, its mostly inbound calls regarding giving quotes...etc although some cross selling is expected from me. Its just ive never done a job like this before and dunno whether to take the gamble or not

makershaker

paulwf wrote: »

What exactly do thy mean by customer services advisor? Will you be based in a call centre cold calling customers? Or perhaps will you have to deal with customers that are angry when you tell them their claim is denied?

Customer service advisor sounds like their term for telesales, and if so will you be on a commission based wage?

It potentially sounds like a good move but find out all the facts first as call centre based sales usually isn't much fun.

No, its a salary with a 10% uncapped bonus for additional selling. i would be dealing with enquiries about insurance but would not be dealing with claims

one_hot_minute

I dont see what you have to lose tbh. You hate the job you're in, your t&c's suck, based on what you've told us, your current employer seems to be struggling in the recession. Will they be around this time next year.

At second interview, try to establish how this position has come about - is it a new post? If not, how was the post vacated, did the person leave or were they promoted? Is there a high rate of staff turnover. Be very honest, tell them you are so keen on this position, but in leaving your current employer after so long, you are looking for somewhere where you can have both job satisfaction and security in the long term again. This can only reflect well on you!

DVardysShadow

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If the job has caught your imagination, rather than just being slightly less awful than your current job, then you should go for it. Do have a little discussion with your partner as to how you would proceed if the job went belly up

d-seven

Look at it this way, only you can decide whether it's a good or bad time to change career, irrespective of the recession. Like previous posters say, this sounds like telesales. You seem to know what the job entails, so if you feel good about it, go for it!

makershaker

Let me just say i dont hate my current job, i'm just really fed up with the low wages and lack of pay rise over the last 3 years now. After 13 years service (albeit i left for 4 months) i feel i should be on more than the £14, 300k their currently paying me. Its gonna take me around 6 years on 2% pay rises every year to get to around the £16k mark and by then i'll be 39 years old.

Starting salary for this new job i have a chance of is £16,200 + possible bonuses. They company is Kwik Fit insurance and have been voted consistantly in the top 100 companies to work for in Britain over the last 5 years by the Sunday times. A few people at the interview had been there reccomended by people already working there. Each one of them said their friend loved the job and it was a great place to work. When i went for the first interview they told me the Customer service advisor roles (which i had applied for) were now all filled and they were recruiting for Outbound Sales agents only. I told them i didnt really fancy that role and asked to be kept on the list for the role i originally applied for. They phones me a week later to come for an interview for their other company which is in the same building with all the same benefits.

Heres a link to the vacancy....

http://www.greeninsurancecompany.co.uk/careers/vacancies.html

And heres another link to some of the benefits....

http://www.kwik-fitinsurance.com/recruitment/Benefits.aspx




People on here seem to be cold on telesales aspect of the job and i'd like to know why? Is the pressure massive on you, i.e poor sales and lose you job?

Let me know what you think of the job going by what i've told you and the job description?

And also if you think its worth the risk going for the complete change of career.

*Scarlett

Hi

Just a bit of input from someone who went from a purely admin background to telesales / cold calling in a call centre.

It sounds to me that it will be a sales job and hopefully they will give you adequate training and support. You should ask about this. They will hopefully give you a grace period to settle into the job where sales volume will be considered along with your quality results and productivity.

Although after a while (perhaps probation period) you will be expected to produce results.

The downsides of this type of employment are the monotony of the role, high targets and the feeling of being "chained to a desk"!!

The upsides are that you are usually working with a lot of other great people that you can moan to (eveybody has been through the same pain of a really bad day) and if you do peform well you can earn great bonuses, depending on the company.

If you have a real sales drive and a lot of resilience, I would go for this - it could really work out better financially for you.

Good luck either way

bristol_pilot

I normally advise against career changes during recession, but at your salary level and current prospects you have little to lose. I'd say go for it.

PS Kwik Fit insurance phone me every year for a quote and they have never been able to beat my renewal premium, so I wouldn't count on it beaing easy to hit those targets