Looking for: Customer Care Agents with Adobe Photoshop Skills

Another work-related post. Looking for people who want to join the BPO industry. If you're interested or you know someone who might want to be party of the industry, details are below, including my work-email address. :)



Gone are the days when CSRs or call center agents talk on the phone, providing assistance to customers or offering products and services. The world is changing and so is the job description. Some call center agents now possess skills that were different from the call center agents 10 years ago. Find out below how you can put that talent and skill to grow your career!

Responsibilities

The Role. Is quite simple, in fact. Provide exceptional service and support to ensure the satisfaction of our Fortune 500 clientele and the people they value the most—their customers.

• Listen to customer concerns, resolve issues in a timely fashion and ensure satisfaction in every transaction
• Respond to inquiries through phone and email pertaining to Yellow/White pages products, entries, billing or customer accounts
• Execute simple procedures to resolve customer concerns
• Recommend other packages better suited to serve customer needs
• Perform other activities meant to increase customer satisfaction
• Create and edit advertisements using Adobe Photoshop
• Completion of at least 2 years of college without back subjects
• Strong conversational Australian-English communication skills
• Analytical with effective negotiation and problem-solving skills
• Ability to establish rapport and can easily collaborate with others

The Perks. TeleTech offers opportunities for career advancement, personal development and experiences meant to enhance the quality of your professional life.

• Competitive compensation package including regular performance bonuses
• Medical and dental coverage plus life insurance options
• Immerse in personal development programs and continued skill enhancement through proprietary training
• Engage with your colleagues and build friendships through exciting promotions, events and activities

The Profile. If you have a strong sense of commitment and an eagerness to learn, then TeleTech can help you succeed starting with these basic qualifications.

• Completed at least 2 years of college without back subjects
• Effective English communication skills
• Internet savvy, with basic knowledge in using Adobe Photoshop and MS Office applications.
• Preferably with customer service experience
• Should have basic to advanced skills in using Adobe Creative Suites v.6
• Will be working at TeleTech Pasay

How To Apply. Choose a method that suits you best.

• Email. Send your resume to PamelaTiczon@TeleTech.com
• Website. Apply online through www.TeleTechJobs.com
• Facebook. Visit www.Facebook.com/TeleTechPilipinas
• Twitter. Join the conversation at www.Twitter.com/TeleTechPinas

About TeleTech

TeleTech offers a world of opportunities—literally. With service delivery centers in 17 countries worldwide, TeleTech provides a great opportunity for you to gain valuable experience working with diverse clients, customers, and cultures every day. In fact, our associates interact daily with more than 3.5 million customers in nearly 30 different languages around the world via phone, Internet, email, and other media. Now that’s global reach.

TGIFridays Glorietta Php 20 burger treat

TGIF Glorietta 3 exclusively gives all Premiere card holders a BURGERlicious treat to crave for! 

Get your favorite Bacon Cheese Burger for 20.00 when you flash your Bistro Premiere card. 
(First 100 guest only)

This is one burger blowout you should not miss!

Join the fun on May 8, 2014 and experience the new look and feel of TGIF Glorietta 3. See you there!

TGI Friday's is located at 3rd Floor, Glorietta 3, Ayala Center Makati City. For a list of their branches across the Philippines, visit www.fridays.com.ph/locations.php.

Hot Off the Fryer: Taiwan's Hot Star Large Fried Chicken

Fried chicken is probably one of those food that will always make it on anyone's comfort food list. I could only nod my head to agree.

Last week, we had one of those days where office pantry food isn't appealing and you finally ran out of choices in the nearby mall, my coworkers and I decided to head to Blue Bay Walk in Macapagal Avenue to try what anything new.

There are a few shops open, including Payless and a kitchen store. Restaurants are operational when we went there, with "staples" such as McDonald's and Starbucks, along with an eat-all-you-can establishment. A little exploration and we found Hot Star Chicken.

Hot Star Chicken opened in the Philippines last February, all thanks to Richard Chua. Yep, the same guy behind Peanut Butter Company. (We thought it was operated by the same company that runs Army Navy because the interiors were quite the same.) Hot Star's goal is to deliver street food that is authentically Taiwanese and amazingly addictive. You can easily spot this restaurant with its bright blue exterior. Unlike in other countries where it's grab-and-go, the Philippine is the first sit-down branch.

Hot Star's claim to fame is their signature deep fried chicken breast that's about 30cm long. You can have it in three flavors: Original Large Fried Chicken (seasoned with S&P), Crispy Large Fried Chicken, and BBQ Large Fried Chicken (the original flavor glazed in BBQ sauce with sesame seeds). You can order the fried chicken alone for P110 to P125 or you could add P35 to enjoy it with rice and a regular Pepsi product drink. Other chicken choices from the menu are Chicken Popcorn, BBQ Wings and Chicken Sandwich.

The menu also includes Crispy Fish and spaghetti. You can also find Chicken Skin on the menu. You can opt for mushroom soup, mashed potatoes or fries for you sides. There's also a crunchy Fruit Salad which is a fruit salad that has chicken skin. Dessert choices are soft serve cones or Ice Crush (a milkshake-ish concoction), both of which are available in Almond or Black Gulaman flavors.

We opted to get the BBQ wings and shared among ourselves. It was good and quite tasty. It goes well with their rice gravy. Comparing it with the Korean fried chicken competitor next door, I'd go with Hot Star on any given day. Service was fast and from where we were seated, I could see the kitchen was spotless.

Crappy cellphone photo. :p

Based on what we ordered, I'd say I'm going to come back and try the other dishes. In my book, it's a 4 out of 5. I'd even recommend my friends to eat there.

If happen to be around Macapagal Avenue or Roxas Blvd., give it a try. You can check out the Express Lane to feel how the original branch works or if you're in a rush.



Hot Star Large Fried Chicken is located at Blue Bay Walk, Macapagal Avenue corner EDSA, Pasay City and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Scattered Thoughts: Mixed Emotions on Labor Day.

As I’ve written in another post, I rarely talk about work because it’s hard to keep it professional once you need to talk about technical stuff. And I hate explaining too much about my work because 1)people assume a lot of things about it; or 2)people don’t get it at all.

Today is Labor Day in the Philippines and about 80 other countries who celebrate labor and workers. In the Philippines, it started in 1903 to demand workers’ economic rights. It’s an official public holiday, hence #laboracay is probably trending now. (Not that I have any objections to people spending their vacation in Boracay, but in reality, not everyone there is a common worker earning minimum wage or a few pesos above it and has a family to feed. – I wish we could send all employees, workers and laborers of the Philippines to Boracay to really feel that it is because of them why Labor Day is being celebrated.)

From last week up to yesterday, I have seen my coworkers plan and strategize how to go about the various Labor Day Job Fairs across the country. Spearheaded by the Department of Labor and Employment, I honestly think this is a good initiative for companies to give back to the society through the job opportunities they have to offer.

In my five years as an employee, I realized it is much more than earning. Being able to work is beyond being productive. To me it means you are a contributor, your skills are valuable to the company you work for and your pay helps sustain yourself or your family. It’s not really a monotonous (or robot-ish) way of life to be an employee. Stress, challenges and failures are just part of the ride. It makes it worthwhile.

Five years ago, I never thought I would be building a career in the call center industry. Brainwashed by people who know little about the industry, I, too, had my fair share of negative perceptions about it. In my job before joining the call center industry, I came to realize why call centers are the ones who take up majority of the job fair spaces. It dawned on me why call centers have bigger advertisements than those from the non-BPO industry. I learned more when I finally signed the contract and here I am, almost three years later, wondering what is so bad with working in this industry that even a prime time drama series would think so low of it.

I got over the fact that there will be people who think call center agents are just glorified telephone operators who get paid by sitting all day and well, talking on the phone. That’s an issue I gave up on and have learned to let go of. But yesterday, another form of insult to the industry was served to me. And I will reserve that for another day because it doesn’t deserve to be told today where employees, laborers and workers are being honored.

We all have our own set of dreams and goals in life. I personally still want to be a lawyer but I have other priorities now and that will have to wait until later. I know people who graduated from college and chose to work in a call center because they want a job or they’re probably itching to start a career and call centers happen to be everywhere. Right place, right time. I respect people who have not finished their education for reasons beyond their control and ended up in the call center industry or working entry level jobs. (Emphasize on beyond their control, because there are some who choose not to study because they don’t feel like it. These people should rot in hell. Or at least give their tuition fee money to someone else who’d be willing to graduate.)

Just like my respect for undergraduates, I have high respect for people who answer the phone, sweep the street, security guards, even those who collect the garbage and the OFWs we send off every year to provide a better future for our families. Being able to find a job and be of value to a business or a customer is something each person should take pride in.

To set the record, I do not work as a call center agent. I get to work at home because the nature of my job does not require me to be physically present in the office to perform my tasks. I have my own customers, which could be both internal and external. Contrary to what I had planned in the past, life’s irony brought me here, in a call center. It isn’t so bad and I am honestly happy with where I am today. I have a job and I love it. Would I choose a different job? Perhaps. But for now, I choose to be here. Along with the 800,000 other call center employees in the Philippines.

Mabuhay ang manggagagwang Pinoy!