One third of call centre staff are graduates

The-mouth-of-the-south

I spent 5 years in a call centre and nearly hung myself in the end. It took away my ability to look for other roles as I lost much of my confidence.

Loanranger

In the old days, many professional jobs did not require a degree, for example teaching and nursing. 5 GCE O levels were sufficient to enter training.
Those roles may have become more technologically advanced but they don't require a degree.
Similarly, in the 70s, banks stipulated 5 O levels to enter as a bank clerk involving stamping cheques.
The job did not require 5 O levels.
The situation today has arisen because of grade inflation and the government's aim to encourage 50% of school leavers to go to university, whether they benefit from it or not.
The result is that there is a generation of young people who have been led to believe that their qualifications are worth more than they actually are.
I remember having to explain to young people who had left school in the 80s that a CSE grade D was not regarded as a pass grade. No-one in school had bothered to explain this to them.
What to do?
For a start, make clear the difference between a research led university and a vocationally oriented university where students train for specific kinds of work.
They used to be known as polytechnics and, even further back in time, colleges of advanced technology.

PasturesNew

Some years ago I had to plan a roll out of new kit into an existing call centre. There were about 220 staff members, split into teams of about 8. Each team handled a different part of the business. They sat in a cubicled areas, and lines, with one manager per team.

I had to go through each team, looking at which shifts people did and who was part-time. I then had to only remove one PC from each team at a time, so the rest was functional, then train the people whose PCs were being replaced that morning or afternoon, so when they sat back down again it was at the same desk but on a new PC on a different server and with different software to the rest. And where somebody worked on an evening shift, I had to schedule it in so that they were trained when they came in if the PC they normally sat at had been swapped out that day.

This meant I was working closely with a list of names and shifts/hours.

It was about 1998/1999 - and they were 95% women, working full-time, of non-specific educational level. So "just regular people who were proper professional office workers and knew their job". I wasn't aware of any of them having a degree. Nobody I ever worked alongside seemed to have one, yet they were all bright and doing a good job.

olly300

The-mouth-of-the-south wrote: »

I spent 5 years in a call centre and nearly hung myself in the end. It took away my ability to look for other roles as I lost much of my confidence.

Interestingly working in a Call Centre improved my customer service skills.

Then again I ensured like my friends and other people I know that it wouldn't be my final job however easy the job was at the time.

Generali

carolt wrote: »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/sep/22/call-centres-rise-graduate-applicants

It makes me think that the UK has too many people going to university like much of continental Europe.

mandi

kabayiri wrote: »

Call centres are increasingly becoming Contact Centres. The name change highlights a change in focus. .

I know what you mean . I have spoken to Jack , Harry & Michelle this week , all of them were in India

olly300

mandi wrote: »

I know what you mean . I have spoken to Jack , Harry & Michelle this week , all of them were in India

You can tell if you are calling a Call Centre in the UK as you often get to speak to Raj or Hardip.

StevieJ

mandi wrote: »

I know what you mean . I have spoken to Jack , Harry & Michelle this week , all of them were in India

Let us hope that they are better at customer service than organising big events

Orpheo

Loanranger wrote: »

In the old days, many professional jobs did not require a degree, for example teaching and nursing. 5 GCE O levels were sufficient to enter training.
Those roles may have become more technologically advanced but they don't require a degree.
Similarly, in the 70s, banks stipulated 5 O levels to enter as a bank clerk involving stamping cheques.
The job did not require 5 O levels.
The situation today has arisen because of grade inflation and the government's aim to encourage 50% of school leavers to go to university, whether they benefit from it or not.
The result is that there is a generation of young people who have been led to believe that their qualifications are worth more than they actually are.
I remember having to explain to young people who had left school in the 80s that a CSE grade D was not regarded as a pass grade. No-one in school had bothered to explain this to them.
What to do?
For a start, make clear the difference between a research led university and a vocationally oriented university where students train for specific kinds of work.
They used to be known as polytechnics and, even further back in time, colleges of advanced technology.

I'd rather that my daughter's maths and science teachers had a degree. I suspect that, in her case, the student would otherwise too soon surpass the tutor. I also suspect that you qualify your comments with a garnish of your prejudices, your neurosis and what you believe you know rather than the actual facts. This is a pity because you do circumnavigate some truths, you just haven't really thought them through.

Our education system is highly politicised and the electorate actively participate in this.

I have met some highly qualified people whom I wouldn't trust to run my bath and some unqualified people that are truly enterprising, but that hasn't led me to view this to be an absolute truth. Qualifications have become a security blanket for employers and recruiters and they all too often fail to understand the capabilities of the individual. Recruitment has become a sham, the recruiters convince themselves that they have an infallible, refined system but I suspect, in many cases, the best candidate may not even make short-listing. I know one company that recruits the "best person for the job" before they have determined what the job is. The dynamic people quickly exit the company, the undynamic are bribed to remain there as this company pays a bit higher than is usual for the sector. The laughable thing is that this company is compelled to wax lyrical about the excellence of its rigorous recruitment process. The problems within this company can be traced to a manager and a director. Some brave (foolish) employees have tried to challenge this to be told that "there will be no change of management here." However, from conversations with the owner of the business, I know that he is aware that there are problems and is getting wise as to where the problems are. There may be a change of management sooner than they think.

Heyman_2

olly300 wrote: »

To be honest I don't know what the fuss is about. Both myself and lots of my friends worked in Call Centres when we graduated.

I went on to do a Master's degree (like another one of my friend's), others used it to save up for a gap year and most used it as a job to pay the bills while they were searching and applying for other roles.

We weren't and aren't all arts and social science graduates.

Would you prefer graduates to stay on the dole?

No, they wouldn't - it's just another facet of the 'everything is terrible' agenda rather than scratching below the surface.

I worked in a shop on a low wage after I finished my degree for a year before moving on to my chosen profession, to pay off my debts and put food on the table.