Putting myself in a stressful job ?

[immax]

So basically I have social anxiety and ADHD, and this has hindered me for a while at getting a job. I was able to land a job at a call in center recently, but frankly I find this kind of job very stressful and anxiety provoking, just the constant being yelled at and so on. I also did not pay 100% attention during the training and for that reason I am sort of fumbling around my systems and asking for help a lot.

 

I'm wondering if it's worth it, or a good idea to put myself in a job like this. I've heard stef talk about how doing such a thing could be kind of unhealthy for someone who's been through a lot of emotional abuse, which I have. I don't know, what do you guys think ?

 

Part of me thinks I should take the money that I have now and use it to move somewhere where I can find a better job.

 

What do you guys think ?

[MysterionMuffles]

I worked at a DEBT COLLECTING agency call center and that was hell. Coaxing people to talk to agents about their money problems, who I imagine would be dysfunctional people BECAUSE they've racked debt in the first place. Not to say that all people in debt are dysfunctional, but due to the amounts I saw on the database, it was kinda messed up to see.

 

Anyways, yeah you don't want to keep this job. If you really need the money right now I would say try to look for a new job at the same time while keeping that one. It's a good challenge to yoru social anxiety because you ARE cold calling people, try to enjoy the challenge while you can, but know that in the long run it won't do you any good. For me, I was relieved when I was fired because I couldn't reach the daily quota of 400 calls. Or not even talking LOUD enough which is also taxing to the mind and body, especially when you're repeating the same answering machine message to people who don't pick up.

 

And imagine what it does to your self esteem when you cold call someone, and clearly that person doesn't want to be bothered especially by a call center agent. NO ONE wants to be a telemarketer, it's one of the worst jobs out there. Ask a kid what they want to be when they grow up, 99.9% of them will never ever say they want to be someone who makes annoying unwarranted calls to people's houses during the day.

 

Anyways for your own sake, nevermind your social anxiety and ADHD, call centers are just NOT the place to be working at. Definitely find another job and get out as soon as possible because it's gonna be very fatiguing for you to have to put up with people who will outright just yell at you for simply calling them. Granted there are times where I've had nice and peaceful chats with some debtors and maybe thats why I never reached my quota. I got so bored and lonely from negative calls that when someone was actually nice I enjoyed the small talk. But those instances were too far and between to hold onto, I preferred having an overall positive experience of interactions like when I used to do sales at retail stores.

 

Hope this helps.

[jonagelle]

Medications for anxiety include (SSRIs) selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and beta blocker. There are a lot of medication for anxiety. Consult your psychiatrist so you will be prescribed with the proper medicine. And you must follow his instruction. Take your medicine at right time and right dosage. If you missed tell the psychiatrist. So he can keep track. When you get home you must take a total rest. Sleep on enough hours. Eat what you want but do not overdo. It must be balance meal. Choose healthy foods. Talk to someone so you will be comforted. You can talk to your neighbor, close friends and family. Surround yourself with things that will make you happy. Do activities that will make you happy. Perform on things that will comfort you. Dont let yourself be stress. As stress is the cause of anxiety.

 

Nathanael King is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, NLP practitioner and weight loss & nutritional therapist. He also helps people suffering from panic attacks or social anxiety. He has written a book on how to build confidence instantly using NLP techniques. Please click <a target="_new" href="http://dailyimproveself.com/instantconfidencefree/">here</a> to download now. You can also sign up for weekly newsletter at <a target="_new" href="http://www.SelfProgress.co.uk">http://www.SelfProgress.co.uk</a> for your growth.

[immax]

I worked at a DEBT COLLECTING agency call center and that was hell. Coaxing people to talk to agents about their money problems, who I imagine would be dysfunctional people BECAUSE they've racked debt in the first place. Not to say that all people in debt are dysfunctional, but due to the amounts I saw on the database, it was kinda messed up to see.

 

Anyways, yeah you don't want to keep this job. If you really need the money right now I would say try to look for a new job at the same time while keeping that one. It's a good challenge to yoru social anxiety because you ARE cold calling people, try to enjoy the challenge while you can, but know that in the long run it won't do you any good. For me, I was relieved when I was fired because I couldn't reach the daily quota of 400 calls. Or not even talking LOUD enough which is also taxing to the mind and body, especially when you're repeating the same answering machine message to people who don't pick up.

 

And imagine what it does to your self esteem when you cold call someone, and clearly that person doesn't want to be bothered especially by a call center agent. NO ONE wants to be a telemarketer, it's one of the worst jobs out there. Ask a kid what they want to be when they grow up, 99.9% of them will never ever say they want to be someone who makes annoying unwarranted calls to people's houses during the day.

 

Anyways for your own sake, nevermind your social anxiety and ADHD, call centers are just NOT the place to be working at. Definitely find another job and get out as soon as possible because it's gonna be very fatiguing for you to have to put up with people who will outright just yell at you for simply calling them. Granted there are times where I've had nice and peaceful chats with some debtors and maybe thats why I never reached my quota. I got so bored and lonely from negative calls that when someone was actually nice I enjoyed the small talk. But those instances were too far and between to hold onto, I preferred having an overall positive experience of interactions like when I used to do sales at retail stores.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the advice, and I'm actually not cold calling people, I'm fixing people's internet problems, so I get people who are yelling at me about their internet problems that need fixing.

[Zava]

inmax, I was in a very similar boat as you. I got caught up in a horrible call center job for years and I had horrible anxiety. The worst part was that I wasted years of my life getting _emotionally invested_ in calls, taking abuse from callers as if I owned the business! As if I made the profits. As if the magic CEO god was monitoring all my hard work. Hahah what a joke on me.

 

The CEO didn't even care about the customers much: He was extremely stingy with customer service pay. I even overheard him talking disparangingly about the idiot customer service reps. Well yes... a certain payscale gets a certain quality of employees whether it's market determined or not. Unless they're doe-eyed and naive like I was, working harder and harder hoping I'd get acknowledge, approval, anything near proper compenation. Employees eventually wise up, hopefully. I don't know exactly what your situation is but I'm guessing it's not too different from lots of other call centers. No one was micromanaging me at that job. I micromanaged myself. I became my own abuser in fact. Until I opened my eyes, broke out of my myoptic, prison-shell and saw how things really were at that job. It's extra hard to do when everyone sitting at their cubicles wearing blinders and plugged into the matrix too.

 

If can get a better job, as the other poster suggested, in face-to-face setting, that sounds like it may be better for you.

 

However, I am happy to say there is a great way to get through the call center job and this is it: Don't care too much. Seriously. This can actually be a good job to practice this. Just do the minimum to get by. Unless the CEO/management actually pays attention, really, and rewards hard work. Remember the customers yelling and throwing tantrums are just disembodied voices over the phone. They're not coming to your home to complain. A lot of those people are impulsively abusive. Most don't even have the logical sense to ask for your name. Don't take it personally. Don't absorb their toxic energy. Imagine you have a sheild that protects you. Build it! Deflect their negative energy. Point it at the company where it belongs, not at you. Be as polite as possible while pointing their attention to the fact that it's the company, not you. It took me way too long time to put this into effect. Even if the customers have been mistreated by the company, it's not your fault. Perhaps the CEO, managers etc, created bad business practices or products and then placed people like you in the position of defending them while not giving any authority to improve things.

 

If a customer asks for your name and they're too impatient and unreasonable, escalate it to a manager. You can even be honest and say, "I don't have the authority to do that.." to whatever request they might have, and this will encourage them to ask for a supervisor without you actually having to bail. Don't take it personally. Again, you aren't given authority to give the customer everything he/she wants, right?

 

Also, remember how puny your paycheck is. If you think it's not puny you're probably underselling yourself/have low self-esteem or few coping skills which in some ways can be related to social anxiety. If it's a good paycheck, however, then just think of that money, use it to motivate you and 'kill the customer with kindness'. Sympathize with them. Do your best to help them. If it's not enough, let them know you're doing your best but you only have authority to do so much. That's when you pull your parachute: The manager or whoever is above you. Hopefully they get paid better to handle those escalations.

 

I hope this helps. Sorry for the rant. I just totally sympathize and wish someone told me this stuff years ago. It might be one thing to hear it and another to put it in practice.