There is a misconception that call centers are places where employees make poorly timed and obnoxious phone calls and spend most of their time being yelled at or insulted. For some, a call center job is viewed as a burden – an undesirable position that is only performed until something better comes along. This mentality is what prevents people at call centers from being truly successful, and why these positions are viewed as “dead end jobs.”

Many believe that because of their negative experiences with customer service agents, the only people who work in call centers are those with no other options. This is a false perception. Call centers can be a place of opportunity if the employee so chooses, and can lead to extensive promotion within a company. Consider the following benefits of investing in long-term growth at a call center:

• High opportunities for advancement. There are a multitude of call center jobs, including customer service agent, call floor supervisor, outbound call agent, training supervisor, accountant, receptionist, auditor, and more.

A person who starts as a customer service agent can easily move vertically or horizontally through the company if he or she shows promise. An employee can improve the chances for advancement by coming into work early and staying late, asking for feedback, and making positive changes based on that feedback. Within a short amount of time, an entry level customer service agent could be training incoming groups of agents.

• Development of communication skills. Nothing will improve a person’s communication skills like talking on a phone all day long. Working at a call center provides a person with experience talking with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, and teaches a person how to quickly read a caller’s mood based on their tone. Customer service agents are adept at articulating themselves efficiently, learning to say exactly what they mean in such a way that they are easily understood.

They also learn how to avoid confrontation and how to communicate effectively with people in all moods and states of mind, from happy to frustrated. These are valuable skills not only in a call center but in any interaction with a wide variety of people.

• Better understanding of human nature. Call center jobs provide employees with an insight into the human psyche, allowing them to see how people think and speak when they are happy, frustrated, sad, or furious. They learn how to calm people down and cheer them up when they are upset, how to tell when a customer wants to finish a conversation as quickly as possible, and how to respond when a caller simply needs someone to listen to them.

Call center workers know how to influence people and turn antagonizing callers into friendly customers. An understanding of human nature and how to deal with a variety of emotional states is a skill that can be applied in any social situation.

• Ability to view multiple sides of a situation. Customer service agents have to deal with all types of situations, from helping a caller fix an internet problem to issuing a refund for a diet pill that did not produce desired results. To help the caller, customer service agents often have to place themselves in the customer’s shoes, imagining how they would like the situation fixed if they were the ones in need of help. The ability to view a situation from another person’s point of view is useful in many situations.

For more information about call centers, or to find out how to get call center jobs near you and begin the path to success, contact Symphony Placements.