Sabado, Abril 27, 2013

'Twas A Year Ago....

One year ago, I made a major decision that completely changed my career and my life. It was tough and it has been difficult for me that time.
One year ago, I was just a simple person who wanted to get out from my comfort zone and experience life, the normal way.
One year ago, I accepted the fact that leaving my comfort zone will be difficult and accepted that there is no coming back.
One year ago, I promised myself that whatever happens and whatever problems that may arise in my journey, I can no longer go back.
One year ago, I left Sitel and Green Dot.


Leaving Sitel and Green Dot was indeed a difficult decision that I made, specially that I worked with them for 2 years. I made a lot of friends and I quite made a mark. It was in the peak of my career as a Mentor when I left and many have questioned my decision.

Probably others may say that Sitel has been a great help to them financially. Yes, it is, indeed. Sitel also helped me financially but I am not being motivated with money. I am the type of person who is searching and wanting more. I really do not settle for something that doesn't know my worth.
For 2 years, 2 months and 29 days in Sitel, I can say that I have already experienced a lot. Frustration, demotivation, demoralization, degration, happiness, success, loneliness, etc.
My journey with Sitel was a roller coaster ride 10 times (haha!) If I will give a word for my experiences in Sitel it would probably be "challenge". It was very challenging, really challenging. Waking up and preparing to go to work to render 8-hour shift is a challenge. Talking non-stop and resolving customer's issues is another challenge. Multi-tasking and thinking about ninja moves is another challenge. Having coaching sessions to my coach is another challenge. Everything is always a challenge. I can't even imagine that I was able to surpass those challenges. 

I really do have a lot of stories about my experiences in Sitel but its not really that good if I'll just write 'em here. It will just be a boring blog. Its actually better if I can tell it personally 'coz its more funny and you can really feel the emotion (chos!..hahahaha)

When I was still working at Sitel, everyone thinks that I am a very good agent, but the truth is I am not (hahaha.. I do have my evil side too!). Here's a run down of the evil things that I did way back then: (this acts can cause termination if and only if they caught you..) 1. I transferred my customer to the Spanish queue instead of transferring it to a Supervisor. 2. If I don't want to talk to my customer anymore, I will just place them on mute and wait for them to hung up. 3. I talked Tagalog during one of my calls. 4. I released calls (not just once but many times...hahaha... i am so bad..tsk tsk). 5. I pissed my customers. 6. I intentionally pressed headset to end the call. Actually all our calls are recorded so, if they caught me then , I am dead. I will be terminated right then and there, but the fact that I reached 2 years that means that I was not caught.. Well, I really can't blame myself, I was so pissed that time and it is already tiring to talk and solve issues over and over again. Its frustrating.

During my employment in Sitel, the only instance where i felt that I was important was during awarding ceremonies, where best and top agents in the account are being recognized. Gone are the days when my name was called and was recognized in the account. I have received numerous awards back then and its pretty amazing 'coz I was able to show them that I can have a spot in the BPO. But that was way back then. I challenged myself that time and those were the fruits of my labor and hard work. That was the mark that I made. I made my own name in GDC. 

It was April 26, 2012 when i rendered my very last shift in GDC. I was already a mentor then. I was part of the T2 listening session and the client gave me an A. It was very good call and I was able to give the customer the best resolution. I was given a Client Commendation that time. It was my first time to be part of the listening session and also the last. After that client commendation, I gave my resignation letter to my coach and told here that my resignation is immediate. My coach didn't question my resignation, she was even happy that I was able to find a normal job. The only frustrating thing that happened that day was when I talked to our Operations Manager Nadja. I showed her my resignation letter and she immediately offered my 1 month indefinite leave and I told her that I will not accept it and then she told me in verbatim : "you are choosing DSWD over invictus?" (Invictus by the way is the name for the mentors) I really don't like her remark. I think it was very insulting. I didn't feel like I was not important after all the sacrifices that I made for GDC. If she just told me what I want to hear like appreciating my efforts as a mentor and tell me how important I was then I probably have second thoughts in resigning. But I didn't hear those things. They don't know how to value their employees, they don't know how to appreciate them. And it was just so disappointing. I am a business admin graduate and I was taught how to value employees and how to motivate them. I guess real world is really different. And we really can't have it all. I promised myself that I will never go back to BPO industry again.

Well, it was just nostalgic reminiscing all those things that happened 1 year ago. I just miss it, despite of what happened. I miss it, I miss my friends, the bonding moments, the reklamo moments (hahahah..) and the non-stop talk about our calls. 

Here's a picture of me 1 year ago:



This was taken during my duty. It just so happen that we are availing that time so we are able to take this picture. As you can see in the picture, our bay is a typical computer shop, we don't really have privacy in our calls, our seatmate can hear us talking to our customers. This picture was taken at around 3-4am (hahaha.. I can still remember the time).

Despite of the frustration and motivation that I have experienced in Sitel. I am still glad of my experiences there, It made me a better person and I proved to myself something that I can always treasure for the rest of my life. So, SItel, big thanks! :)

'Till next time!

Toodles.. :)

Mharj :)



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