How to be a Call Center Agent?

I started my call center career by setting my mindset to become one. However, never did I thought of how to get there exactly in the first place. It was then I knew that being able to speak English is just a very, very small portion of the overall factors that you should have. Now some of you would be wondering, "Why? What are the other factors? What does it take to become one? I got a grade of 98 in English Language! I know how to speak English language fluently, is that enough?" WAIT! Okay I'll tell you more about being how to be a call center agent.

What you should have in your checklist:
1. Resume
2. Motivation
3. Patience
4.  English Language Skills
     - Communication Skills
     - Listening Skills
     - Comprehending Skills
5. Multitasking and Computer Literacy Skills

Now let's digest each one in the list.

→ Resume

Of course you need this one! Applying for a call center agent should pass the interviews and exams before working and taking calls.

→ Motivation

Working is one thing, but working with motivation is far more higher and a totally different story. When you work in a call center, it isn't enough that you know how to interact and communicate with people over the phone. You will surely get bored 3-6months later. Be motivated! Don't be contented on  where you are right now. Aim higher and do something to have a higher wage and position in the company, not only you will be happy that you achieved the goal that you desired but the respect of the people around you will intensify as well. A person who has a high position in a company is well-respected. And I'm pretty sure that you want to be respected, don't you? Though not all are after the wage and respect but at least have something on your back to keep you motivated! ;)

→ Patience

I want to emphasize on this one. While you're taking calls on your shift, you can't blame the person who's calling. There are a lot of people who will be yelling at you and throwing curses throughout the conversation(yes, those curses like the ones in your mind right now) and you can't fight the customer back or else, UPDATE YOUR RESUME! That's the reason why you really need to have a load of these guys, OR you can just ignore all those curses and move on to the next curses you will hear. :D

→ English Language Skills

I'm basically going to dig in to each of the items that I listed as clear as possible. So here we go:

→ Communication Skills

It's a MUST to have this skill in this field as you are going to be communicating with people of all types of gender and attitudes all of the time. Being able to interact and exchange thoughts with people you knew or you just met without hesitation is a big plus. If you are a shy type of person, then better find another job, but I wanted to extend my admiration to those who are shy but has the skill to communicate to other people in another type of medium such as over the phone. Kudos!

→Listening Skills

Listening is a totally different story. It's quite easy to learn how to speak English but listening a native American over the phone is really, really hard for newbies like me. This skill can be obtained by watching American scripted movies "WITHOUT" subtitles so you can practice and develop your listening skills or you could listen to different music everyday. This way, you will slowly develop your listening skills and you won't even notice how far have you got your skill developed in a month or two.

→ Comprehending Skills

You MUST MUST MUST have this skill as this is so essential in this type of job. Listening is the basic skill that you should have. Once you manage to have developed your listening skill, it is going to be then you need to work on with your comprehension skills. Listening attentively to your customers needs and provide them with what they need is what you are going to work on with almost all of the time throughout your shift. So comprehend, comprehend, and always comprehend your customers needs throughout the entire call so you could provide and accommodate them well.

→ Multitasking and Computer Literacy Skills

Yes, multitasking, working on the computer while listening to the customer's needs altogether, in an orderly manner. This is mostly what you do when taking calls. With the information taken and disclosed, you really have to at least obtain a record of what happened throughout the entire call from start to end. In order for you to have these records in your computer, you must at least have a basic understanding about how to use a computer. Of course you will undergo training on how to use the tools that you will use and how to accommodate the customer correctly.

So that's it for today! I'll be adding more like tips on how to have a decent resume, how to get through the interviews and more! So stay tuned! I hope these information can help those who want to join in the call center industry. However, if you have questions and suggestions and/or corrections, feel free to leave a comment :)