At work, are you behind the scenes or on the front line?

@maezee (41997)
United States
October 10, 2010 7:21pm CST
What exactly do you do for your company? Are you "on the front line", and by that I mean, constantly dealing with customers and customer service - the good ones, the bad ones, the complaints, and the compliments, the issues, and so on? Or are you "behind the scenes" - such as working in a place that doesn't come into contact directly with customers and you work more to get WORK done than to wait on people? One thing I really like about my second job, at the data entry office, is that while the hours are pretty limited these days and everything, I do NOT have to deal with customers and people on a one-on-one basis. The job is for how much work you complete, not directly dealing with people. The closest I deal with people at that job is if I'm speaking with someone representing a client, and I don't handle clients, I just re-direct them to the owner who answers all questions and business-related info. It's seriously nice. Not that I don't like people, it just gets overwhelming and annoying at times. At my main, nearly-full-time job, though, I consider myself "on the front line" in terms of having to deal with customers one-on-one, the nice ones, the rude ones, and so on. I do like people, and definitely like chit-chatting and the regular customers that I've gotten accustomed to, but at the same time, if I have too many rude people or complaints or issues to try to solve myself, I can get a little overwhelmed and frustrated. Also, when I worked at Macy's for a short stint (bout 6 months), I was an early-morning merchandiser, meaning I was NOT waiting on people, but getting WORK "behind the scenes" done, like setting up sale and doing mark-downs and re-arranging parts of the store and whatnot. I honestly like having the best of both worlds. What about you? Which do you prefer? And which do you currently do?
5 responses
@kingparker (9673)
• United States
11 Oct 10
That would be same for me. I hate to deal with customers these days, and because maybe I am suck at deal with customers. I would rather work behind - the scene. At least I can concentrate on what I am doing, and I don't have to worry about my manner and all that stuff.
• Greece
11 Oct 10
I am currently "at the front line" and really can't remember if I have ever worked somewhere that I wasn't. Probably not. I can say I am now an amateur at sociology, meaning that I usually can tell what customer is going to have an issue the minute (s)he steps in. I find it interesting that I can develop some psychology skills without ever reading anything. I have reached a point that I am so used at dealing with people and don't believe I could ever do a job that doesn't involve that. The reason I started doing such jobs is because they were paying a lot better than others and the main reason I stayed is the same. Dealing with customers is sometimes frustrating, since we all know that the customer is rarely right. But I get the possibility of meeting people (which can help me in a number of ways) and getting tips from them. I wouldn't want to lose the tips by doing a "behind the scenes" job!
@peavey (16936)
• United States
11 Oct 10
I was on the front line until just recently, then I gave that up and am now working behind the scenes for the same company. I'm not sure yet if it was a good choice. Sometimes working behind the scenes is kind of boring.
@TrvlArrngr (4045)
• United States
11 Oct 10
I have always worked with the public - the good and the bad. Now I run a call center and have to take all the irate escalation calls. The good thing is that they usually back down when they get to my desk but not always. I also have a second job where I work Concierge at an upscale retirement community. I interact with people for 12 hours straight every Saturday. I just love it. I find working with the elderly to be very rewarding.
• Indonesia
11 Oct 10
my first job, i'm work behind the scenes... i'm the head of IT in one mlm compay, i usually handle and process about all the points for 5 years. Maybe it's my safe zone before, buy 2 years ago i resigned from my job and taking a new challenge in stock market, now i'm the front line as the sales... i must search the information, learn about the chart and give some suggestion to the customer. For me, now is my great job and very excited for me