Look at the picture. What do you see? It looks like a bunch of Filipina callcenter agents either bored or stressed out! Sadly, this is the picture majority of our society perceive our work to be. Dead-end and not a career. This is the reason why callcenter have a hard time finding qualified people themselves.

The reason behind the negative perception is ignorance. Most people don’t know what type of work we do and our personal sacrifice to provide for our needs and for our families. But we can’t really blame them. Our industry has not done enough to enlighten more students and professionals in this matter. Even amongst ourselves, we haven’t done enough to convey that what we do is an honest living and a worthwhile job.

The only thing that most of us convey we are proud of is how much money we get. And that’s a fact. How many times have you told non callcenter people the good things you do in a callcenter? Maybe once or maybe none. But how many times have you encouraged people to join you in a callcenter because it pays well? I’m pretty sure at least one. Working in a callcenter, doesn’t just mean you get paid better than most people, it means that you play an important role in everybody’s life. Let me enumerate. Let’s start within your work. You mean a lot to the customers because you are there to help them out. Even if they just want to vent or just be heard. You are important to your co-workers and supervisor/manager because their performance is based on how well you you do your job. You are important to your callcenter company because you are their backbone and you are a leader-in-training. Outside, you are important to your brothers and sisters because you can support them financially. Even just to share the financial load of the family. You are important to your parents because they can now depend on you. And shall I still say your importance to your wife/husband and kids? I think you get the picture.

Our society’s negative perception is basically caused by only 2 things. Fear of the unknown because they don’t know what we do. And secondly, our own perception of what we do and how we convey that to other people. If we all go out of our way to feel proud of what we do and convey that to other people, we can feel more meaning to our lives and work. We should all be proud.

My hats off to all of you!