Sales-Oriented Call Center

This is the first post/topic I've made here and I hope I'm not doing anything stupid. I've been lurking this forum ever since I decided I wanted to get into IT and I really like what I've seen. Everyone's very cool with each other, and it seems like you've all pretty much been in the same situations at one time or another.

Some background on me: I went back to school about a year and a half ago to get my AAS. I was 22 and I'd been been working at a retail store for 3 years. I'm very nearly done with the degree, I have great grades, and I'm really into everything I've been studying. 6 months or so after I went back to school I was offered a management position there, which I accepted. It wasn't an awesome job but it wasn't terrible either: I got along with everyone, they were flexible with my schedule, and I was able to go home at the end of the day without wanting to kill myself at least most of the time.

Around this same time I made the acquaintance of some people who worked at a "tech support call center", which I thought was really lucky because that was the exact kind of thing I was needing to put some time in with. They told me it was the best job in the world, it paid great, that I should go for it and that they'd even put in a good word for me. What could possibly be the downside to any of that? I finally decided that I would apply, and I got hired in short order. Only after cutting ties with my then-current-employer it became clear to me that first and foremost it was a sales position, and that these gentlemen I'd become good friends with both came from sales backgrounds.

Without getting too specific, I work for company that does web hosting and offers business class e-mail solutions, as well a number of other related products. The job is configured more or less in the following way: external users call the number with their concerns or problems, and you're supposed to upsell them, pitch them a completely different product or get them to renew their services early. Anything they're calling in about is of secondary importance. You're evaluated exclusively on the basis of how many of these people you can turn and burn, as opposed to establishing any kind of rapport or resolving their issues.

I don't know if I have a knack for sales. I didn't make the decision to become an IT professional because I was confident in my ability to sell people stuff they don't necessarily need, especially people who are not always in the best mood before they even get on the phone. I've been at this place for 3 months now and I'm really struggling with it. My family and friends are all counting on me to succeed there, but unfortunately you can't get into one of the actual tech departments without meeting or exceeding your sales numbers. I'm really not sure how to proceed without ruining my career before it's even gotten started. Quitting my first sort of IT job after 3 months does not really seem like it'd be the best thing for me to do, but I'm totally miserable there. This place is basically the opposite of the internal user help desk scenario that I should have probably held out for.

What can I possibly do in this situation? Have I ruined my life? Was it pointless to have even gone back to school? I'd appreciate any advice anyone has to give, and am grateful to anyone who managed to slog through all this.

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Comments

MeanDrunkR2D2

Well, you got caught in the old bait and switch. I'd take what you have learned in your new role (specifically the customer service aspect) and look for a position that is in a true helpdesk/desktop/NOC type role (whatever path you are leaning towards). Of course, your life isn't ruined and school was not pointless. It's clear to you that this job is not what you thought it would be, and many of us have been in positions where the job wasn't what you expected. My first role out of college was like that (Thought it was 95% helpdesk 5% training) and it was more focused on the training and upselling of new products during those training sessions). I realized that within the first few months and by 6 months in I got out and found a much more fulfilling position in IT that was more geared with my career goals.

Just take it as a learning experience and use it to sell yourself to a true helpdesk. The pay may not be as great initially, but it will get you valuable experience and if you do well and are opportunities to move up in the company it's a great way to prove yourself, sharpen your skills, and make the progression that you want in your career. So what you need to do now is update your resume, highlight the technical parts of your current position to sell yourself as a good helpdesk employee to get that next job. Then after you have that ready, hit all the job boards hard and apply to everything that you see that you like. If you feel you aren't a 100% by what they are asking in the details of the job, but it's something you want or see yourself doing, apply anyways. Tailor your cover letters to each job highlighting your actual skills and eagerness to learn. And once you get the calls, entertain all offers even if you think you may not like the pay, as the experience of interviewing will be beneficial for you.

TomkoTech

Well any company that requires you to be a salesmen before getting a technical job doesn't sound like it is structured well.

I don;t understand why your family and friends would be counting on you to succeed at a job you despise? Look for another job that is actually a helpdesk position. Check indeed.com, monster, careerbuilder, craigslist. There are plenty of entry level positions available. Just get your foot in there door there.

Have you ruined your life? You aren't even 25. Taking a job you hate builds character if nothing else lol. Just take a deep breathe. Do your best while there. And look for another job that is actually in line with what you want to do.

N2IT

I don't know if you mentioned how long you been there but the sales experience is huge. Check it out it may grow on you, I think the key is to stay positive and don't automatically assume you are going to like it or not like it. Go in with an open mind and see where it takes you. Retail IMO is one of the worst jobs in the world and you excelled and even were promoted.

You may have what it takes, good luck I hope you do well. Sales can be profitable once you get some years of experience under your belt.

I recently accepted you make the most of what you have. I always wanted to work on servers but never had the chance. I ended up working in a procurement / supply chain team and I really enjoy it. I work with technology which is great but I no longer am in IT. I was leery at first and even concerned but I actually like it better now.

I call IT to fix my problems I no longer have to worry about that stuff. It's nice!

okragn

Thanks for taking the time to give me some advice, I really appreciate it. It's true that I'm young and that I'm new to this, and I'm more than likely blowing everything out of proportion. My big thing is that the lady and I are basically on our own, although I do have quite a bit of money saved. As far as the expectations of everyone around me are concerned, I think more than anything they're really wanting it to work out for me mainly because I've been pushing it so hard with working and going to school full-time.

I think more than anything my lack of certifications and experience have been preventing me from getting a legitimate help desk job; I at least have one of those bases more or less covered now. It shouldn't be much of a problem to do more to represent the more technical aspects of the job on my resume.

I also agree that their whole policy for promoting people is pretty weird. I think it's meant to work towards making sure everyone has the same commitment to the "culture" of the organization, but this definitely has its shortcomings.

N2IT wrote: »

I don't know if you mentioned how long you been there but the sales experience is huge. Check it out it may grow on you, I think the key is to stay positive and don't automatically assume you are going to like it or not like it. Go in with an open mind and see where it takes you. Retail IMO is one of the worst jobs in the world and you excelled and even were promoted.

You may have what it takes, good luck I hope you do well. Sales can be profitable once you get some years of experience under your belt.

I recently accepted you make the most of what you have. I always wanted to work on servers but never had the chance. I ended up working in a procurement / supply chain team and I really enjoy it. I work with technology which is great but I no longer am in IT. I was leery at first and even concerned but I actually like it better now.

I call IT to fix my problems I no longer have to worry about that stuff. It's nice!

Thanks for your well wishes. Yesterday I was planning to up and abandon the job, where today was a slightly better day. The thing that sucks is that the pay is really good in relation to where I'm at in life. If I were to go back to retail I could only hope for it to pay half as good at best. I could definitely handle making substantially less money, but going from this to borderline minimum wage would be pretty rough.

selenityhyperion

Not everyone is cut out for sales. To each their own! However, maybe if you were to obtain an A+ cert it would help you on your way towards an IT job. Some days are going to be worse than others and you may feel like quitting but remember this - you are gaining experience and wisdom.

Whatever you decide - it won't be the end of the world! You are young and have many many years ahead of you. Bad experience is better than no experience!

TomkoTech

A couple things to note.

You do not need any certs to get an entry level help desk gig. There are probably hundreds if not thousands of members on this forum who got their foot in the door of IT without certs/traditional educations prior to. I landed my first IT related job just because I was passionate about computers in my off time and had was able to sell myself in the interview. The want ads may say you "need" such and such certs or background but it never hurts to submit a resume with cover letter anyhow.

If your salary is that much more now than when you were a retail manager, getting into the IT side is going to probably be a huge pay decrease if you go the traditional helpdesk to start route. It really depends on location but around here most companies are looking to pay $10-12 an hour for entry level with little to no experience. $15-18 is about the cap in the area for general help desk. To break $20 you have to have a specialized set of skills.

Cyberscum

okragn wrote: »

Have I ruined my life?

Wow thats a bit extreme. Well Ill give you my take on sales...I did inbound calling for a good number of years a while back. I did not like the ethical delemma that I was faced with day in and day out so I asked other employees hope they dealt with this issue. One of my friends responded, "Just take all emotions out of the puzzle. Think of it as a challenge, you take the call, identify the needs and attack for the kill." Well so I tried it, every call I took was a new and interesting challenge for me to solve. Needless to say I did very well in sales and actually think about going back here and there because of the ridiculious salary these guys make in niche IT markets.

All I am saying is change your perspective on our job. Try and make it not about the customer, but about how you can identify the different needs that they can utilize. All in all people buy crap they dont need all of the time, dont feel bad because you were able to sell them some cool new technology they can use.

pinkydapimp

Great advice above. It may not be the best role, but hey take this opportunity to embrace and learn these skills. Sales skills are hard to come by for technical people and can be very valuable even in technical roles. So in the meantime, build those skills and add some certs and try to parlay this into a more technical role. Maybe field engineering or something customer facing where you can leverage the soft skills you are gaining now.

And keep in mind sales engineering roles, which are more technical sales roles (usually your paired with a sales rep who handles all the true salesy stuff) are in high demand and pay very very well. Something to consider.

Good luck!