exvigilare

I’ve been meaning to tell you about the new gig, but I’ve been ridiculously busy this week. I’m working at a Real Estate Investment Trust, helping them ramp up a call center. It’s essentially property (apartment) management, but the call center is responsible for setting appointments for customers to view the properties, and answering questions about the properties. That’s it.

I had no intention of doing any more call center work - ever. It’s generally miserable work (and MCI was one of the good call center jobs). The turnover rates are ridiculous, there are too many goaled indicators, and everyone - top to bottom - is generally stressed out all of the time. Not here. My company is just getting this call center up and running. The people in charge of the center are intent on getting it right, and to do the right thing every time. This place has to double its headcount in the next 2 months and we fired 4 people on Friday for well-deserved reasons. That’s a good thing. Management demands the best of themselves and the reps - unusual in a typical call center environment.

So, I don’t get paid a ton but since we’ve been living on unemployment and food stamps for 6 months, “not a ton” seems okay. This still isn’t what I want to do, but I start school next week for certification in Project Management. There are plenty of PM jobs here, and if the call center keeps growing they will need plenty of help. At least I can learn the basics of the business now and get plenty of ideas what kind of brilliant work I can offer them in the future.

One step.