# Call Center job for someone with phone phobia.



## OrangeArmy (Dec 30, 2014)

I recently applied to, and will probably get, a job at a call center for a time share company, the title of the job being "Vacation Planning Counselor". From what I've heard from the family member helping me get this job, it entails receiving calls from time share owners and helping them plan their vacation, and answering any questions they might have about it, but no sales and no cold calls, thankfully. The thing is, that I suffer from phone phobia, and while the job comes with a 3 month training and I'll likely be trained on what to say and do, they also encourage you to be outgoing and chipper, which god knows doesn't come naturally to me when I'm on the phone. The thing I am most hoping to get from this new job is getting rid of my phone phobia....well, and a better paycheck as well.

This being my first call center job, not to mention my second job overall, I am feeling pretty nervous. Has anyone done a similar job while also being phone phobic?


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## SplendidBob (May 28, 2014)

Yeh, it didn't go well for me. However, the company I worked at was utterly **** and the 'training' took about 20 minutes 

Was ringing up and trying to persuade people to fill out questionnaires. Basically asking to waste peoples time, and for someone with phone phobia fairly horrifying.

I think this kind of thing can probably go two ways, either make it worse (like in my case) or make it better. I would actually bet on the latter in your case because the training seems extensive, you are receiving calls (and not phoning to harass people who don't want to speak to you).

It will be tricky to begin with, no doubt, but I think if you are able to stick at it it will probably be very beneficial to you. The trick is going to be sticking at it for long enough for the fear extinction to kick in. I think you are looking at it from the right perspective, consider it exposure therapy and a chance to rid yourself of this nasty phobia. If you are able to do it it will open a lot of doors for you in the future 

Good luck.


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## BlueDay (May 6, 2014)

Not only did I do it, but it was the single longest job I've had! (4 years) I was plenty nervous for awhile, one of my trainers joked that he wanted to give me a towel for my sweating forehead.  If you can force yourself through any initial discomfort, there are actually some advantages to this position for SA folks. You have almost no interaction with fellow employees b/c you're all on the phones. This is big. That means no (or very little) small talk, answering questions about your personal life, etc.
Second, you don't have to worry about trying to "look busy" all day. You sit there and answer calls as they come. That's it. And third, the conversations feel somewhat "safe" b/c you know what you're going to be talking about and you have some perceived importance by the caller as being the person who can answer their questions. As a special bonus, it may (not everybody) help you as a kind of exposure therapy or at least give you a little more verbal skill over time. Good luck!


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## Ichigo91 (Feb 21, 2012)

BlueDay said:


> Not only did I do it, but it was the single longest job I've had! (4 years) I was plenty nervous for awhile, one of my trainers joked that he wanted to give me a towel for my sweating forehead.  If you can force yourself through any initial discomfort, there are actually some advantages to this position for SA folks. You have almost no interaction with fellow employees b/c you're all on the phones. This is big. That means no (or very little) small talk, answering questions about your personal life, etc.
> Second, you don't have to worry about trying to "look busy" all day. You sit there and answer calls as they come. That's it. And third, the conversations feel somewhat "safe" b/c you know what you're going to be talking about and you have some perceived importance by the caller as being the person who can answer their questions. As a special bonus, it may (not everybody) help you as a kind of exposure therapy or at least give you a little more verbal skill over time. Good luck!


Thanks for sharing this!

What happens in case you don't know the answer to the question?

Is there a learning progress how to answer and what questions?

In your first day of work, does the bos sit next to you to see how you answer the phone?


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## BlueDay (May 6, 2014)

Ichigo91 said:


> What happens in case you don't know the answer to the question?
> 
> Is there a learning progress how to answer and what questions?
> 
> In your first day of work, does the bos sit next to you to see how you answer the phone?


We had a coach line to call for answers. Most places will have something like that.

Your training program should cover your second question. 

On my first day, no it was just orientation. We didn't use a phone at all for 3 weeks. It was all classroom training, but that will vary depending what you're doing. There was a lot of mechanical/technical info we needed as my job was greatly involved in helping people repair and install products.

After that, we had trainers that would listen and give you tips or advice. They could also jump in if needed. That lasted a couple weeks before we were let loose.


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## saraA (Oct 24, 2016)

i started working at a call center for about a week now , i'm still on my probation month . i suffer from phone anxiety too and since i started working it's gotten worse cause in my job we harass people and annoy them so that increases my anxiety .. i'm trying to deal with it by forcing myself to stay in this job , i don't know if that's healthy or not .


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## laloco (Oct 25, 2016)

Hi SaraA. Im sorry to read about how you are feeling - I worked in a call centre and suffer with Phone Phobia. I was treated like a leper by my management after speaking to them about it. My anxiety was off the charts and my sickness periods was terrible. Luckily I was put into another role (so they could get rid of me it felt) which did not involve using the phone as much. I flourished in this roll. It will never go away but it made me feel a lot better.

Is there any scope where you work where you may be able to move into something where you will not be using the phone as often once your probationary period has finished possibly do you think ?


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## saraA (Oct 24, 2016)

Hi laloco i'm happy that you found something else that doesn't involve talking on the phone i know it can be pretty bad ,one day i got really sweaty and my heart started beating really fast ... sadly that's the only position available for me but it seems my anxiety is getting better now , i'm starting my third week tomorow and eventhough i still hate talking on the phone my anxiety isn't as bad as before .. i hope i can get rid of it for good and that's my goal for now


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## Aria2 (Nov 1, 2016)

I'm also a phone-phobic. For I moment I thought the same as you, that I could overcome it looking for a job which involves making a lot of phone calls (and actually having the degree that I have, being a receptionist would be a logic choice). The thing is that just the fact of thinking to make a phone call to a stranger freakes me out.
And I wonder how do you dissimulate that in an interview?
I'm scared just talking about it.
Sorry I don't have any useful advice to give you..I'm in the same situation as you and I'm trying to get through it..


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## RenegadeReloaded (Mar 12, 2011)

Yep. Worked in a call center for like a week.

We were supposed to call possible clients and convince them to choose and enlist for our private pension program. We had 1 day training. On a scale of 1 to 10, my anxiety during phone calls was at 7-10. So intense stuff.

You will not have to convince people to buy things, so I guess it will be easier.


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## twitchy666 (Apr 21, 2013)

*I fancy it*

This means you become a narcissist battling peasants by telling "You Can't"

life turnaround. Position of authority. There is no form of 'help' people beg for.

my niece did this, apparently, years ago, before university,
her prelude to psychology

I've learned the way of SQL introduced freshly to me. Easy to learn quick. This syntax guided the way I converse with people because it involves logic, imperatives, facts.

Trouble with any form of authority anywhere... fill in the form. Do that. Do this. Follow instructions. That's how I communicate with a database server.

supposed to be a friendly agent? My experience with phone is receiving only negative treatment.

Common retail... TV advert for any financial services. The world is money. Nothing else. Sign up if that's paper & pen to go in post. Otherwise entirely login login login.. your ... was wrong

I tried quizzing street shops about utility failure, faults, or changing tariff...

The most evil signal I get > is You can only do this little-finger & thumb gesture for call up. Call us now. Narcissist domination of tweetiepie in-ear. Everything a hangup. Buzby of 1970s? Magic electronic remote communication addiction

piling on mobile feature on top
then HTML for a softer visual way but still controlling the population, milking their funds


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## uga1992 (Sep 15, 2016)

I worked in a call center for like 2 months last year. It was customer service for an alarm company that installs residential and business security systems. Most of the calls were people's alarms going off, and we had to call them and make sure the alarm was false. If it wasn't or there was no response we would dispatch their local police department out there. The other questions were mostly either questions about bill payment, or questions about troubleshooting on their alarm system. That last one gave me the most trouble as the training we got in that department was not adequate so I had to learn a lot from the enormous handbook they gave us while on the job. I can't tell you how many times I "transferred" to another department when I couldn't find how to fix it in the book. Also, people complaining about the company charging them higher than the advertised rate. That was something I had no control over so I ended up crediting people when they were overcharged even though I wasn't supposed to.

Biggest problem was the ****ty hours (4pm-1am Wed-Fri and 1pm-10pm Sat/Sun) and the 40 minute commute each way I had. Aside from that, they had a lot of strict policies that were annoying. They eventually let me go because I apparently caused fire damage to someone's home when I incorrectly reported an alarm as false. The day they said that happened was a day I had off so I'm not sure if it was legit, but I didn't care about the job anyways, it was only something I took in an emergency situation. Though my dad *****ed at me at the time because he was like "you can move up in this company" and I was like "no this company sucks I don't want to"


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## Calix64 (May 22, 2014)

You can do it since I did it. I used to be afraid of talking on the phone and I got a job as a Spanish Interpreter over the phone. I have been there eight weeks now and have been on the phone 6.5 weeks (since the end of the three week training) A lot of people have left not me and I am getting better and better. I prefer that over being at a grocery store or fast food restaurant. I am better dressed don't have to stand all day and make well over minimum wage (almost $6 more per hour and that's not during overtime when it's higher)


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