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Socrates once said, “An unexamined life is a life not worth living.” My life is a series of exams. Each day begins with a clean slate. I have a plan, but I don’t know the outcome. In reality, I’m writing with a pen so I can’t erase my answers but I can correct them. Whatever I do or say will affect the final score called success. I have to answer three questions: who am I, what am I doing, and where am I heading. I don’t know when the result will be and if it shall be given today, did I answer these queries well? If I fail, do I have one more chance to pass?
A year ago, I lost three things consecutively – my ESL job, my facial spa business and my father. At a certain point, I felt melancholic, discouraged and uninspired. Not knowing where to go nor what to do, my best friend named JK contacted me and offered me an opportunity to regain myself back. I waited patiently for the opportunity for a month. While sending off my brother to the airport, I received a message to report for an interview at one of the inbound call centers. I applied, and got hired but it wasn’t an ordinary employment. I’m the only employee who started working part time in the company, working 4 hours a day and got paid half initially.
In a call center, life is a continuing process of acquiring new skills and maintaining a positive attitude. When my cousin came along to help strategically manage the company, modifications had to be made to enable the company to grow. I felt threatened because I’ve been working for some time without a client. Yet, it was another challenge to prove my credibility. Some of us went through SALES 101 training. The training made me realize that in any transaction, I have to inspire, motivate, persuade and negotiate to close a sale. SALES 101 brought me a different perspective and transformed me to be confident, assertive and assumptive. I am proud working in a Philippines call center because I’m surrounded by indefatigable managers and versatile workers ready to adapt changes. Life in a call center is surprising, too. I would never know who’s going to pick up the other line. When the phone starts dialing, I asked myself whether I will make a lead or talk to an irate customer.
Mere acquaintances became good friends. We have lunch together, sit near each other and yet chat online to share a little secrecy. Some of my good friends left to look for a greener pasture while I opted to stay waiting for the next payday. Working in a call center is like conquering time and space. I increase my purchasing power but I live in a different dimension. I wake up when my kids go to bed. I work while the rest of the world has fallen into a deep slumber. I’m earning enough revenue to pay off my bills and save some into my bank yet has to sacrificed the sweetness of sleeping beside my significant partner in life under the dark velvet sky. However, along with this sacrifice is the realization of how colorful life in a call center could be. I could be laughing out loud with green-minded friends or working with a boss who sees things in black and white. I could be making a lead, waiting for a probable client or anxiously waiting to see the company grow. It dawned on me also that what comes around, goes around. I might have lost three things last year but I was given another present to cherish. In these times of economic adversity, I’m so blessed that I have a call center job.
My life in a call center is a test of trust and faith. It’s a test that confirms trust in my ability and faith towards the strategic plan of our managers. I have integrity to the management to lead the company to the right track. Now, I have the answers to the three queries I mentioned above. I am a Virtual Assistant striving to satisfy my client simultaneously working to improve the quality of my life. I could foresee where I am headed to. Someday, I would succeed with what I am currently doing in. If at certain times, I might have failed to write something on my clean slate, I know I have another day to do it again perfectly. I’m not afraid to fail anymore. If anyone wants to find out why I dare to be different, well I belong to the right company. Are you living an unexamined life? Tell me and I’ll show you the difference in Executive Boutique where you can find the executives making lives worth living.
