Moving on from Customer Service

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  bargainslut on 19/10/2016 - 03:17

  -2

  I think internal is best, try meditation and free the soul.

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  phoenixx on 19/10/2016 - 05:17

  +4

  Do you have major financial commitments? If not, why is it too late for a apprenticeship? My partner did just that at in his thirties (after a music degree and the reality that making money in the industry is like finding a unicorn). With some overtime and the fact he's "mature aged" means the money really isn't all that bad. Work hard and show dedication and you can possibly get signed off early too.

  I would serious consider it. Good luck :)

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  DarkOz on 19/10/2016 - 07:27

  I don't blame you for wanting to get out as obviously you do know why there is a high amount of staff taking sick leave, right? They are just sick from work if not sick of work.

  Your experience in and the brand name of a big corporation is always valued. Use that to your advantage as a stepping stone looking for work outside. Staying in the same field or not is totally up to you to decide. If you can't find anything better outside that means you will have been in this company long enough to apply for an internal transfer.

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  [Deactivated] on 19/10/2016 - 07:50

  +1

  So question is how to move on?

  Create referral links and post it in every possible deal you can to make some $$ ;)

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  mskeggs on 19/10/2016 - 09:31

  +1

  How do you feel about sales? Inside sales jobs are effectively call centre sales, sometimes inbound, sometimes outbound, sometimes a mix.
  If you are prepared to do it, you would likely find a better paying job.

  • 

    spackbace on 19/10/2016 - 10:14

    I was thinking the same after doing pretty much the same. If OP has good CS skills, sales shouldn't be very daunting

    • 

      Nametab on 19/10/2016 - 15:07

      Depends. I would add a caveat of Sales for a decent/reputable product or service (or having a good work environment).

      I've seen agents cry and leave, after being yelled at for not forcing a 86yo grandmother onto a 200mb Bigpond contract, who said she would like to Skype with her grandchildren.

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  ItsMeAgro on 19/10/2016 - 10:01

  Do you live at home?

  What worked for me was to take a very, very low-paying job in the field I wanted to work in. After six months I had the experience to get a job for double the pay (and double it again after a few more years).

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  Malarkey on 19/10/2016 - 10:12

  Hellllllo Suncorp employee!

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  yoonibear on 19/10/2016 - 10:54

  I'd probably look for some back of house work in those industries. Chances are you would've picked up systems experience, product knowledge and some sort of problem solving experience.

  I worked in a customer service role within the financial/telecommunications and utilities industries, by my fourth year I had enough and basically quit my job on the spot with no other job secured. Thankfully, the experience I had, I was able to secure a back of house role with a new company. Like yourself, I should've taken up an apprenticeship - if you haven't got any major financial commitments, go for the apprenticeship. We recently had a manager quit their role in a swap for an apprenticeship and he's never been happier

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  Nametab on 19/10/2016 - 15:34

  +2

  I've worked in contact centres/service delivery for almost 10 years now. I know exactly where you're coming from, and how crushed your soul potentially is. Through this time I've done a lot of training/coaching/mentoring, including helping people get out of this field (or situation).

  I know you are asking for suggestions to help facilitate your decision process, but at the end of the day you ultimately need to reflect on where you want to go, where you want to be, or what you want to do.

  If you're looking to transfer some of your skills but stay in similar/related roles, I can give you some initial food for thought:

  • Look at something less confronting or 'frontline'. For example, CS over Social Media, online/email based roles, more admin/back-office roles, community managers, moderators, etc.
  • Any experience floorwalking, coaching, training, etc? It doesn't need to be a 'formal' promotion or position description, even acting duties like helping new staff can potentially leverage into a QA or training role.
  • Warm sales, or after sales support eg. following up on credit card applications.
  • Change product/service to something you're more passionate about? I don't know anyone who's passionate about collecting defaulted debt, but you may be passionate about Technology, Pets/Animals, Entertainment, etc.
  • Look for CS roles in organisations that are more environment/employee focused? Depending on where you're located, there may be options for employers that push employee perks+benefits.

  If you're looking to stay in the same/similar roles, in my experience Back Office, Level 2 or QA/Training is less likely to fall victim to outsourcing/offshoring. Companies often keep Customer Relations, Complaints or Compliance aspects 'onshore' while outsourcing the Level 1/frontline support.

  Jumping to a new field/role is a whole different thing, but the double-edged sword of Customer Service is that it's not specialised but essentially transferable skills to almost any role.

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    [Deactivated] on 19/10/2016 - 16:02

    If you're looking to stay in the same/similar roles, in my experience Back Office, Level 2 or QA/Training is less likely to fall victim to outsourcing/offshoring. Companies often keep Customer Relations, Complaints or Compliance aspects 'onshore' while outsourcing the Level 1/frontline support.

    But you don't want to be the one following up on stuff from an offshore support team. 9 times out of 10 they are useless and just create more headaches for those left onshore

    • 

      Nametab on 19/10/2016 - 17:26

      I know what you mean.. depending on the back-office functions you may not be customer facing (same with QA). Complaints team can be hit/miss, sometimes people are just happy to be speaking with someone in the country and give you a break in contrast (that, and you often have more authority/delegation so you can resolve issues).

      Really depends on the situation. One role I had, involved a lot of the scripting and knowledge management for the offshore centre(s).. that removed me from almost all customer engagement, but leveraged off CS experience.