# Working in a call center with SA, Long Rant, need ways to cope



## Kestrelle (Jan 20, 2016)

So this all began when I tried to find a job outside of customer service. I worked in customer service and waitressing jobs through high school and college. I hated every second of it. But I assumed I'd work hard get degree and leave customer service behind. I got a call one day asking if I was interested in an administrative or customer service position. I told them I was looking for a career change and I would love to interview for the administrative position. It seemed perfect because I could use the experience in that job to get the job I really wanted after a year or so. 

When I actually got to the job I found out I had actually gotten the customer service job in a call center. I have a very severe phone phobia. Making personal phone calls has always been a struggle for me. At work I can suck it up to get the job done, but I still get nervous. So of course the thought of being on a phone call constantly for 8-12 hours a day made me anxious. I really needed the money though so I tried my best and although I did ok at the job my health started sliding mentally and physically. I started having panic attacks more often, and also had a migraine that lasted five months and I ended up going to the ER thinking I had had a stroke. I lost vision in my right eye, part of the right side of my body went numb, and for five months I had severe pain over my entire body that made any sort of movement hurt. I feel that the stress at work made this a lot worse.

Every day I get yelled at several times, sometimes it's just ten minutes straight of someone cussing at me over something their insurance did, but they think it was my company. I can pull myself together the first couple of times but after the third or fourth person yelling at me I'm shaking and having to hide how nervous I sound. by the fifth I have to hope the call ends soon so I can get away from my desk before I panic or cry. Unfortunately I had a panic attack a few weeks ago when a supervisor was walking by and I got written up for behavior, so now I probably won't be able to transfer to a department I'm better suited for than a call center.

If it's not the customer's giving me a hard time it's the job. We are barely given any time to get our work done, so if they think you've taken too long you get an instant message telling you to stop what you're doing and take another call. So it's one call as soon as the last one ends. There's no break to calm down. My supervisor told me to take a personal break if I need to calm down after a call, but when I do I'm told I took an excessive time away from the phones. Everything we do is recorded, and monitored down to the second. You can get in trouble for being back 30 seconds too late. It's company wide policies so even if your Supervisor isn't a jerk they still have to enforce it.

I can't even enjoy time away from work because I'm so anxious about the next day I work. I think about killing myself every Sunday night so I don't have to go back. I'm not usually a suicidal person. But I always have suicidal thoughts when I'm being yelled at, even before I took this job. I've tried to find a different job but nothing I've found pays enough to make rent, when I put my resume online I only was contacted for other call center jobs.

I need to find ways to cope with being yelled at, since it's going to happen to me several times a day until I can find a new job. But everything I try only works for the first couple of times I'm being yelled at in a day.


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## Cool Ice Dude55 (Jan 7, 2014)

I'm sorry that sounds truly awful. It's really taking hold of your physichal health as well. I think it's time for you to find a new job. One can not simply carry on like that. Is it really worth it?


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## SunFlower2011 (Nov 30, 2011)

I am sorry you are going through a tough time. I hope that you have health insurance, so your medical bill will not overwhelm you. Is there anyway you can take leave from work to look for another job? Maybe you can study for certifications to transition into another type of work. If you are considering IT or something you can start with the CompTIA A+ certification. It is just an idea. 

I am like you in regards to not being able to enjoy time because I am so anxious about work. I notice for me that anxiety and stress really take a lot of energy out of me because on the weekends all I want to do is sleep.

Try not to think about killing yourself. It is not the right thing to do. When you get yelled at, just imagine the words traveling in one ear and out the other. Just let it blow over you and do not think much of it. That is what I do in some situations. The less you care, the less it will affect you. Maybe you can try to talk to your boss or whoever is yelling at you and simply come to an agreement or understanding with you. 

Hope you feel better. Keep your head-up.


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## TruthAndOtherDisasters (Dec 17, 2013)

This is horrible. I know how those jobs feel like, it's the same for me. I agree with the others, can you do anything to switch job, either right away, or in the nearby future? 

In the meantime, how to cope with the yelling...Since I wouldn't cope with it much better, my only way that I know is you suck it up and just brace yourself for each coming day. But, to be able to do so, you need to be in the best state possible. For example, when I had a job that felt this way for me, I really spend a lot of my time "bracing" myself, because I hated going to that work every day. 

So, in the morning I would wake extra early and have a looong self-serving preparation ritual- breakfast I like with lots of coffee, watching or reading something I enjoy, finding outfit I feel good in, having mp3 with lots of great music for the way to work.

After work, I would make sure I always had something to look forward to- meeting my best friend for coffee, buying a great book, going to a movie, relaxing in whatever way I can think of. Unfortunately that also meant I spend too much money on going for coffee, or going to dinner, but that was the best I could do at the time. I spend most of the work day counting the minutes until the day ends. And whatever the situation about finding new job is, if you are unable to look for job now or quit, may be start saving money, so one day you can quit even without a new job and have enough saved to devote half a year just to finding another job. At least then you will have a goal you are working towards, and that really help to keep you going when doing something you don't like.


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## ScottK94 (Oct 22, 2015)

I worked in call centers for 10 years and they are definitely not the place to be for people like us. They suck the lifeblood out of you in several ways. When you are ultra sensitive about what other people think and people are dumping their problems on you and calling you names, you can start to believe what they are saying. And most of the time it has nothing to do with you personally, they just have a problem that they want to unload on someone else, and people that are safely on the other end of a phone know you must be nice to them, and they also know they could possibly get punched out if they said the same thing to a person standing next to them.

And if you also happen to be an introvert like me, talking on the phone all day sucks the energy out of you too, and then when you go home you don't feel like socializing with anybody because your energy is all used up.

Finish up that degree and then get the hell out of there. Keep proactively looking for another job and something else will hit eventually. Use your company's short term disability program (if you have one) to take some time off for mental distress if possible to give you some time to think, put things in perspective, and find another line of work.

Call centers are super stressful to people without SA, let alone us. You are boxed into a corner with no room to maneuver with call time and quality goals. Word to wise...get the hell out there ASAP. Wish somebody had told me that a long time ago. As for suicide....there is a whole big world out there with lots of possibilities for careers. Try not to let stupid people get you down. Be proactive...do something positive about your situation...don't stew in inertia. You'll feel lots better knowing there is a light at the end of the tunnel of call center hell, you are no longer being the victim and you are doing something proactive ...and you are worth it!


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## HannahG (Aug 31, 2010)

Sounds like I wrote this. Yes Call Centres are horrible. Callers always are disrespectful, yell, swear. It's like 50% of my callers are a-holes. The management is terrible and pay isn't great (but more than other jobs out there so I'm stuck for now).

Coping methods:
* Just focus on the scripting and don't care. Seriously, I really don't care anymore of they get helped or not. The job's destroyed any empathy I have.
* Bring something to keep busy. Currently it's non-stop calls and we don't even have 5 seconds between calls so I just sit there doodling while they talk and I've learned to doodle then type then doodle... it helps distract me a bit. If you have a few minutes between calls then read, write your epic novel, etc. 
*On breaks do something fun like play games on your phone or read or something.
* Vent. There are a lot of co-workers that are constantly venting about the idiots that call so I join in. So it's become very easy for me to relax around them at work.
* Take deep breaths. I sometimes still get anxious when I get a call but I take a deep breath and just focus on the task and it helps a bit.

With that said, I am sensitive and the calls get to me but I'm not as angry or upset as I once was. With the above coping mechanisms, I am now able to basically forget about work after leaving the building, about 95% of the time. There is sometimes however, on my day off, I'll be like "Oh no, in 18 hours I'll have to go back to work" but it passes.

And when it gets to be too much, I call in sick and take the day to chill. I wouldn't recommend doing that too often. You don't want to get fired.


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