Why are there so many IT call center jobs?

Hello, I'm at my ends wits here, I was laid off from an IT call center job just over 2 years ago and still haven't been able to find steady work. I'll never lose my passion for IT but I'm losing hope in finding a job in IT. I'll have to take any job to survive rather it be retail, uber, doordash, etc with the rate I'm burning through my savings. Most of the jobs that I've encountered had you on the phones all day long and some are worse than others. I don't mind being on the phones but not all day and not in a call center environment. I cannot stand call center metrics, micromanagment, horrible and degrading management, contract jobs where you're treated like 2nd class citizens because the client always comes first, and the list goes on. Also the constant ding ding ringing in my ear, it bothered me so bad that I ended up putting my headset on the other ear, back to back calls, manager checking in on why I'm on the calls for so long, nasty callers, etc. There's plenty more but I'll keep it short.

Sorry for the rant guys but I'm just lost and figured why not start here. I've been thinking about going back to an IT call center that's how desperate I'm getting but the nightmares are too much. Some of these jobs I'm seeing are paying up to $25 an hour so it's very tempting to get my foot back in the door again and to hopefully move on to a better job after that.

What do you guys think? Why are there so many IT call center jobs? Thanks in advance

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EANx

Basic85 wrote: »

I'll never lose my passion for IT but I'm losing hope in finding a job in IT. I'll have to take any job to survive rather it be retail, uber, doordash, etc with the rate I'm burning through my savings.

What did you do to invest in yourself during those two years? The only cert I see is an expired A+. A "passion for IT" usually means you're always working on something. When you have people out of work and career changers chomping at the bit, what are you doing now to differentiate yourself and get in the door?

Jon_Cisco

If you have nothing else take a call center job but only until you can move on. This is not the kind of work you want to be doing year after year but it keeps the bills paid.

Make sure you have some direction even if it is very vague that you want to move in. Otherwise you might end up stuck where you don't want to be.

Good Luck!

Basic85

EANx wrote: »

What did you do to invest in yourself during those two years? The only cert I see is an expired A+. A "passion for IT" usually means you're always working on something. When you have people out of work and career changers chomping at the bit, what are you doing now to differentiate yourself and get in the door?

The truth is I haven't, however I have been taking junior college classes in IT and gaining college certificates. To be honest, test taking scares the living daylights out of me, however it's either I do this now or do this never. It's tough when you're burning through your savings and buying cert exams. There is a lot of competition out there and I'm thinking I can't compete against them.

scaredoftests

Where are you located?

Basic85

scaredoftests wrote: »

Where are you located?

I'm located in the USA, specifically California. I've been thinking about moving out of state to maybe Texas as I've heard there are more jobs down there.

scaredoftests

DC Metro area as well.

Node Man

Basic85 wrote: »

I'll never lose my passion for IT

Basic85 wrote: »

To be honest, test taking scares the living daylights out of me

Love will pull someone out of their comfort zone.

PC509

There's a lot of call center jobs because people either move on or move up. Most people will use that as a stepping stone while earning certs and more skills and moving up. That's why call centers/tier 1 help desk gets a bad rap. All the ones that know what they are doing move up (some like it there and stay, but it's rare). When you get back into it, invest in yourself so you can move up. Get other certs, keep applying to higher positions. Use that passion to learn something new, take the exam to prove you know it, and apply to places so you can use the knowledge you gained.

You're in charge of your career, it's not all luck. Put in the time and effort, even if you hate exams, and you'll do good. I remember interviewing a guy for help desk. He was a help desk lifer. We have a good training budget here. He was willing to take training "if it was required for the job". He was willing to take a cert exam "if it was required for the job". Everything was only if it was required. He didn't want to do any effort if he didn't have to. We didn't hire him.

Be one of those that moves up from the call center because you're just too good for it.

ThePawofRizzo

To advance in an IT career you're probably going to have to work on your anxiety. If just taking a test "scares the daylights" out of you, imagine how you'll do when the email server is down and 2,000 users are saying "I need it now!!!" Test-taking ain't no thang when compared to some of the scary scenarios an advanced IT role can bring to you.

Keep at it in school. I'd renew that A+ cert ASAP, and keep certifying. If you haven't found anything permanent that isn't call center related, then you apparently aren't standing out to potential employers for a different IT role. You may just have to go back to a full-time call center role to establish a more stable work history for a couple years, get that education and certification done, then move forward. Two years may seem long, but if you don't, in 10 years you may be in the same place.

AvgITGeek

I'm going to chime in with the others and say you really need to renew your A+ and take anything that will get you in front of systems and customers again. Call centers or even any contact with customers (both external and internal) will give you a chance to hone your soft skills.

I did something similar to you. I was in a job where my IT skills stagnated but I was comfortable. While I continued to book learn things, I never pulled the trigger on sitting the exams. Then I found out the company was going down and I had no growth to show other than equipment I touched on a daily basis. My resume included 10+ years of IT experience with gradual increase in responsibilities but the only certifications I had to my name was a Windows NT 4.0 MCSE and A+. That didn't look very good to potential employers. I got my two current Server 2012 certs and am now working for a MSP. Yeah, that could be considered almost call center like but I'm getting my hands on more servers and larger networks than I've ever had before.

TechGromit

Skyliinez92 wrote: »

Because no one want's to work in a call center. After a few months you either get sick of it and leave or progress to 2nd line asap.

While that certainly true at most call centers, it's not always the case. A colleague was hired at a call center job over 5 years ago and he's still there. The difference where he works, it's a union job with Verizon, with a starting rate of $32 a hour, good benefits and lots of mandatory OT it's easy to make 100k+ a year. Yes, the job sucks with taking abuse from customers all day, but your paid for that hassle, unlike a lot of these $15 a hour call center jobs. The down side of these jobs it's tough to leave, where else are you going to make 100k+ a year with just an A+ and Network+ certs.

NetworkingStudent

Basic85 wrote: »

Hello, I'm at my ends wits here, I was laid off from an IT call center job just over 2 years ago and still haven't been able to find steady work. I'll never lose my passion for IT but I'm losing hope in finding a job in IT. I'll have to take any job to survive rather it be retail, uber, doordash, etc with the rate I'm burning through my savings. Most of the jobs that I've encountered had you on the phones all day long and some are worse than others. I don't mind being on the phones but not all day and not in a call center environment. I cannot stand call center metrics, micromanagment, horrible and degrading management, contract jobs where you're treated like 2nd class citizens because the client always comes first, and the list goes on. Also the constant ding ding ringing in my ear, it bothered me so bad that I ended up putting my headset on the other ear, back to back calls, manager checking in on why I'm on the calls for so long, nasty callers, etc. There's plenty more but I'll keep it short.

Sorry for the rant guys but I'm just lost and figured why not start here. I've been thinking about going back to an IT call center that's how desperate I'm getting but the nightmares are too much. Some of these jobs I'm seeing are paying up to $25 an hour so it's very tempting to get my foot back in the door again and to hopefully move on to a better job after that.

What do you guys think? Why are there so many IT call center jobs? Thanks in advance

Questions/ Action items
+1 EANx

1) What are you passionate about in IT?
Security, networking, programming, desktop support,Linux,Microsoft,ect.... What really excites you about IT?

It is much easier to reach your goal once you identify your passion and have some direction.

2)
Regarding your anxiety, you may need to seek professional help for your anxiety.

I think there are a lot of call center jobs, because it takes a lot of people to solve the minor problems ( monitor won't work, no internet connection, IE won't load a web page....), however; it takes a lot less people to solve the bigger problems(network outage, server down, ect). Also, all the reasons you listed are the exact reasons why people leave the help desk.

I hope this helps.

Tekn0logy

Basic85 wrote: »

Hello, I'm at my ends wits here, I was laid off from an IT call center job just over 2 years ago and still haven't been able to find steady work. I'll never lose my passion for IT but I'm losing hope in finding a job in IT. What do you guys think?

Basic85, when recruiters see your resume what identifies you as a techie? Do you have any tech blogs, any independent tech projects that you share on social media? What is on your LinkedIn profile? Is it connected to your Facebook profile? IMHO, THEY SHOULD NOT BE CONNECTED. Recruiters and staffing companies will try and may be able to connect you to your Facebook profile anyway so it should be cleaned up just like you would clean house for a first date.

Recruiters are most concerned with: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY. 2 years is a big gap. If you want back into IT, you have to fix your skills and resume. The fastest way is to get an IT certification in present day tech like MCSA Windows 10. This will tell Hiring managers that you are serious and that your skills have been validated. There are other tracks like AWS or Linux, but I think Windows would have the best ROI.

Do you know why you were laid off from a call center job? Do you know what was in your HR file before you were cut? One of the questions you must be prepared to authoritatively answer is "Why did you leave?"

You have to let go of the past. Not all IT shops are the same nor are all IT managers. When you interview, do you blame your past employer for your current situation? Can you tell the recruiter what you liked about your call center job? Any negativity towards past employers even if honest is a red flag. Another question you must answer is "Why do you want this job?"

UnixGuy

Being scared of tests mean you're scared of failing a test (because that's the worst that can happen in a test). I say you need to be taking a lot of tests, and potentially failing some of them to get over this fear. Failure is a big part of success

echo_time_cat

Anyone else end up curled up in a ball in the corner upon seeing "...call center..." ?

Anonymouse

Basic85 wrote: »

I'm located in the USA, specifically California. I've been thinking about moving out of state to maybe Texas as I've heard there are more jobs down there.

What part of California? There are tons of lower level helpdesk jobs around the bay area.

EANx

Basic85 wrote: »

The truth is I haven't, however I have been taking junior college classes in IT and gaining college certificates. .

Personally, I like to see an Associate's Degree more than a Bachelor's. Many people get a Bachelor's on scholarship or parents pay for it and often it's simply a way to delay moving into the world of work. Someone who has an Associate's though is more likely to have been working full time. I like to see that drive to better yourself.

ThePawofRizzo

EANx wrote: »

Personally, I like to see an Associate's Degree more than a Bachelor's. Many people get a Bachelor's on scholarship or parents pay for it and often it's simply a way to delay moving into the world of work. Someone who has an Associate's though is more likely to have been working full time. I like to see that drive to better yourself.

LMAO. I guess it must be based on who you've interviewed, hired, or talked with. I see someone with only an Associate's and wonder why they didn't keep moving towards getting that Bachelor's? "Was it because they couldn't hack it, or because Mom and Dad weren't paying anymore because they were doing so poorly?" But I and my siblings all worked full-time and paid our own way while going to school, so my experience is quite different.

draught

I guess I've been lucky in my career that I've never have had to work at a call center. My first in IT job was taking calls and dealing with users remotely but it was part time and very low stress. After that I did IT field work and then desktop support work. For me now it's desktop support and network support. But I'm moving towards purely doing networking support.

Yes, you must boost your certs or display working knowledge in your work experience even just getting work experience will open doors.
Any Microsoft certification is a solid choice or go for the Cisco certs if you are interested in networking.

kalijennifer

This all call center job is only time wasted job place away this bad job