It started as a normal day at work, as usual, I was craving coffee when I stepped through the doors of the call centre.
It was 7:40 am and I had 20 minutes to make my coffee, pop my food in the fridge and set up my computer for the day.
It sounds like a lot of time to do all that, but I move in slow motion before the caffeine hits my foggy head. I’m the type of girl that takes her time to make things happen.
Walking in slow motion into the tea room I look inside the fridge I was in luck there was lactose-free milk. In a rush, I poured this milk into my coffee cup and I was ready to tackle the day.
Walking through the call centre I spot some of my friends behind their computers and wave hi rushing to my locker to collect my headset and the items that make my day happier such as my hand moisturiser, musk-smelling sanitiser, cough lollies, and tissues. It can be the simple things that can make my job a little bit easier.
I chat with my friend about the weekend and set up my computer. I like to wipe down my little table with sanitizer making sure everything was clean for the day. I hate when there is dust floating around! I had one colleague who had a little dust bunny collection, I wanted so badly to clean his desk! He told me he had names for these bunnies and me to stay away he didn’t want me to clean his friends away!
While setting up my computer I updated my roster for the day on virtual sticky notes. I like to know exactly what I am doing because every minute counts. If you are not in the right AUX code, you get a message from tech support asking if you are in the right code for example if you are in processing or phones there are codes for that.
I also had to check my break times and if I had any meetings with my team leader. Because I was away for a day, I had to quickly catch up on emails to make sure I was up to date with any information I had to give the customers. This all had to be done before 8 am when my shift started, which is pretty tough if you are running late. I think all call centres should allocate at least five minutes to set up, looking back over the last three years those minutes count that’s for sure!
Looking up from the computer I noticed masks were now off! This was the first day of freedom where we could all let our faces breathe! I could not remember the last time I saw people’s full faces and I was so happy to see smiles not blocked by masks!
I have nothing against masks but when you work in a call centre it is tough to wear these masks, you have your headset on blocking your ears. In addition to wearing the face mask, it’s so much heat on your face! I wear glasses so it’s constantly like a spa on my face generating pimples, eczema flare and asthma.
Also talking to customers over the phone was tough, often I have to speak louder because my voice is muffled by the mask generating more spit inside the mask. I very often had to change my mask throughout the shift as it was not sanitary to have the same mask on all day.
Often, I was naughty and let the mask slide down my nose, and when the managers came in to check on the workers. My team leader would tell me to slide the face mask over the nose and this would make me so grumpy.
I applied for a medical exception but as there were options to work from home this was not successful. I prefer to work from the office as these calls can be tough and I like to leave work at work and have my time at home just for me. Plus, I also have a dog that likes to bark regularly.
It was 8 am and I clicked ready to receive my first call of the day it was one of my favorites. I like talking to Indigenous customers it was like an insight into another world. I could hear the crows in the background and lots of loud talking. I asked the customer if she could tell her friends to reduce the noise it was too hard to hear her over them. The customer yelled “Shut up! I’m on the phone!” Suddenly her friends stopped talking she had so much power in her voice that the background noise just contained the crows chattering amongst themselves.
After helping her out, she yelled “Next Customer” all of a sudden, my one call lasted 30 minutes one customer after another came flowing through.
In these communities it is often that they all use the one public phone and to save waiting time on a phone call, all the customers line up waiting their turn to speak to you about their issues.
After that phone call, I got an email from the rostering team asking me to switch to processing which was a welcome change after talking so long my voice was starting to ache. I felt so lucky I had processing for the rest of the day and the tasks were easy all I had to do was make simple updates to customer records.
I enjoyed processing when the tasks were easy but when they were hard, I felt like a duck out of water. If I needed help then I would have to look up these manuals first to see if I could find the answer. And if I still needed assistance after that then I was permitted to contact floor support. I had to make sure my questions made sense and to know exactly what I needed to ask. That was proven difficult a few times, I needed help but as I was not familiar with the topic, I felt like I was sinking with no lifeline. I hated asking for help when I had no clue what I was doing. Sometimes these processing activities required another skill set that was beyond me and I had no idea if it was within my scope to process!
Soon my first tea break loomed and I was so happy it was time for my third coffee of the day! I spotted my friend in the tearoom and managed to gobble down my popcorn. I could never make the 10-minute deadline. I was always over my break by five minutes! It was too hard to go to the toilet, walk to the tea room, make coffee and eat a snack in those minutes!
I rushed to my desk and switched the AUX code from tea break to processing. And twirled in my seat, I like to look out the window to refresh my mind. The office had the best view of Dandenong, I liked to people watch. Once these teenagers went to the car park just below our building and started dancing. They were creating a Tic Tock video, of course, I had to stop work and watch! It was so fun to see so much enthusiasm and fun outfits.
Next thing you know it was 11:57 am time for lunch one of the main highlights of the day. I had made tacos and was looking forward to crunching down on them all day! I popped into the tea room and it was full! I had to grumpily grab my food and heat these tacos up then go to the other tea room. Luckily there was a seat just for me. I got to relax and enjoy the views of the shopping centre and its surrounds through the window.
My lunch went too fast and I was soon back at my desk. My butt started cramping and I had to stand and stretch working eight hours on a desk can be hard on your body. Sometimes I would just walk up and down just to get my blood flowing.
Previously my old team leader would glare at me if I stood up. She would always ask “Are you ok?” every time I stood up. She did not approve of people standing and stretching which made the job hard. At times she would monitor my toilet breaks and then ask why I was so long in the toilet. I told her I had to poo and it was too hard to rush that experience. She stopped asking me after that.
What I hated so much in the bathrooms were these signs that turned a positive motto into a negative one. It was the NIKE logo and below this symbol, they wrote: “Just Don’t Do it”. NIKE is a company that encourages people to go out and follow their dreams and to turn this into a negative made me so grumpy. It was like our company did not trust us to do the right thing, which was not a good way to install confidence in your staff. I was guilty of throwing some of these signs in the bin, it was a way of telling them to believe in your staff and that we will mostly do the right thing.
It was coming up to 2:06 PM which was my last tea break of the day. I was feeling a little stressed and I needed Twisties. I visited the vending machine who was very polite. I called her Vendee, and after every transaction she says “Thank you.” She was the first vending machine I had ever met that talked. I don’t think I’ll ever get over this novelty.
Soon it was 3:30 PM and my team leader placed a card on my desk about counseling. I did not know why he had done that. But I soon found out, within a couple of minutes an email came out from management which said the company had lost the contract. We will have three weeks of employment and have the option of redeployment or redundancy.
I was in shock after three years my employment will be ceased. All my plans were out of the window, I could either choose to stay on at Box Hill or live off my savings until I found another job.
I was not ready to go and I was so sad to be leaving the many friends I had met. I had major decisions to make, as life had thrown an unexpected curve ball.
I thought I would try redeployment to Box Hill and lasted one week in training while they were very nice the travel was just too much. I started at 9 am but was up at 5 am to make it to work in time. With bus replacements, I was late, even though I left home at 6:20 am.
It was simply not sustainable to travel four hours every day.
While I am sad to leave this company, I have to trust there is something better for me. I hope this will open me up to more creative opportunities. I have to believe there is something better out there.