are you a call center agent? what did you experience on your first call

My roomie started out as a hotel operator then got a job answering phones for a company. Later they expanded to call centers overseas and have had a lot of trouble with some of the agents. Not because their English is bad so much as they way they treated the customers. Some were rude, especially to women callers. Some could not get off the "script" if their lives depended on it. And then there were those who made mistakes. Now, every one expects a new person to make mistakes, but after you have been instructed to how to NOT make the same mistake, learn from it. Nothing, I mean NOTHING is more annoying than having the same person make the same mistake OVER and OVER and OVER! If you have a responsible manager, it can lead to being let go. If not, well, remember the people that are fixing that mistake do talk and if they note the same mistakes over and over again, the call center will not get their contract renewed. But, and most important for you, remember, no matter how rude the person on the other end of the phone is, he can not track you down and hit you with his blind stick as happened to one fellow who kept messing up rides in the special transit call center here in town. And they will NEVER, EVER throw up on your shoes!

I don't know if you mean answering phone calls, or Telemarketing. I was a telemarketer before, and I LOVED the job. The first call I made was very scary, but at the same time, it was fun. There was a certain thrill about calling someone and having them even politely say no thank you. I dunno. It's hard to explain. As far as incoming calls though, I wouldn't mind trying that out. It also sounds fun.