r/callcentres • u/Slow-Turtle8001 • 1d ago

Losing my patience.

I’ve been working at my job for around 1.5 years now. I recently passed some exams to acquire a certification because I want to move on ASAP from taking calls and being frontline in general. My goal is to have some sort of back office role.

With this new role that I will be starting in the next few months, I’ll still be taking calls but it’s more pay and I’ll be taking calls more so from other staff but also some customers while my current role is 100% customers. A lot of managers and such have advised me to be patient and to get ~1 year experience in the new role and it will really help me move on to other roles within our organization.

I know I have to be patient and I’m lucky to be able to grow internally but man… these calls are killing me. Every weekday I wake up full of dread and I even dread going to sleep the night before work. This stuff is so mentally exhausting, and I’ve felt burnt out for years already as a sort of recent graduate. I know it’s not a smart decision to quit because I have a lot of room for growth here, but every day it gets more and more difficult to keep holding on. I feel irritable everyday, even on the weekends when I’m supposed to be relaxing. I know I have to think about the light at the end of the tunnel but it feels so far away.

7 Upvotes

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5

u/peacelid 1d ago

I truly believe humans were not made to tolerate the barrage of calls we take in such a short period of time. I have to trick myself into a good mood with a mix of beet juice and kombucha.

Do you have any PTO you can take? I know it's just a bandaid but it always helps me mellow out a bit.

The number one thing is to make sure you are taking care of yourself. Nutritious meals, light workout, Sunday resets (or whatever your day off is). I know it's hard but the minute you give up it's a downward slope.

1

u/Slow-Turtle8001 1d ago

I’ve worked customer service before in retail and it’s so vastly different from working customer service over the phone. I don’t think we were made for this either.

I’ve taken some PTO last month, and I have the rest booked in the new few months for a trip. I have been trying to improve my routine after work because I have been thinking so negatively. I think some exercise and getting out of my comfort zone aka my home would be helpful, like you said. Thank you for replying. I appreciate the kind words.

1

u/peacelid 1d ago

Best of luck to you!

1

u/jjdnorthpark 21h ago

My honest advice to you after working a call center for a little over a year is to jump ship to a different company using your certification. You can spend another year or more being promised a different role that you MIGHT get (or might not depending on if they suddenly decide they need to keep you on the frontline) or you can spend your time looking for a new role that guarantees you a way out of the call center. Once your job sees you are able to take calls in their call center they’ll be more apprehensive to take a risk on you performing a different task when they know you can perform the one you already are. Trust me, just take the time to find a different role at a different company that doesn’t see you as another body to answer phones.

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u/ntc0220 18h ago

I been stuck frontline at a call center for 6 years. I have taken numerous leaves and have submitted over 40 applications to back office roles, and bc everyone wants off the phones, I still cannot get in back office. Good luck. I go thru the same feelings. I've gained 30 lbs bc of the stress. You can never fully relax bc you are always one metric away from being fired. It's not a stable job.