so, since april 25, i've been working on a grave yard shift...from 8 pm til 4:30 in the morning, manila time. actually, i'm still in the training stage...trying to learn about life and health insurance...(mind you guys, it's not easy as you think it is. learning about how insurance works is heavy on memory work and very much like going back to school and taking quizzes every now and then. that's right...we also have quizzes!). ofcourse, we have to learn about our product first before we start entertaining phone calls...but this is just the tip of the iceberg...
what's really difficult is how to shift your entire biological clock the other way around, and turn your nights into days, and vice versa...i was really surprised when everyone in the building greeted me "good morning!" at 9:00 in the evening! akala ko, nagpapatawa lang! but when i heard the expats saying the same thing at the elevator, i said to myself, "my God...i'm in twilight zone..."
eto ang challenging...e di ba, summer ngayon? (and man, this is the worst summer of my entire life!) have you experienced sleeping during the day, only to wake up sweating profusely and feeling so icky because of the extreme humidity??? ang hirap matulog ulit, di ba? what more if you really don't have a choice coz you have work at night??? wow, i really had to scrimp on my budget and bought myself a new airconditioner!!! dahil kung hindi...mamamatay ako!!! not only because of the excruciating heat, but also because of sleeplessness!
i have never been so health conscious before than now....i've been buying boxes of Stresstabs just to make sure i don't get sick...and just as when i thought that i would lose weight, i'm so darn wrong guys...i eat more often than usual, drink an average of 5 cups of Milo a night (coffee gives me a bad feeling in the stomach...besides, bumabaha ng kape at milo sa call centers hehehe)...and now, i weigh 10 pounds more than i used to!!! GRRRREAT! (talk about losing weight when you don't get enough sleep!)
now since i've been officially employed for a month now, i've adjusted already with this new lifestyle...it gets pretty tough to stay awake on monday evenings though (one has a natural propensity to sleep at night), but i'm getting the hang of it.
and what about the phone calls? i haven't handled a phone call yet, but as they say, i've already "barged" in with an expert...since all of our clients are from mainland USA, then ofcourse, our calls are also 98% from american callers. at this point, what i feel would be difficult in taking the calls (aside from forgetting the proliferation of concepts about the products) is trying to understand different american accents while trying to explain things to an irate caller. there was one call where the only thing i understood was the policy number she gave...and that's it :-( i'm hats off to these guys at the call center coz they can understand practically every kind fo american accent they can hear...and what's even more admirable is the way our Filipino CC specialists converse with these clients...they, too, have the accent!!! many of these callers are amazed when they learn that the assistance they're getting comes from manila! imagine hearing a brown asian speak the way they do! HAH!!! bilib sila, di ba?
haaaaay naku....i have a few more weeks ahead of me before the interview with the US consul...if i get denied for whatever reason, i think, i'd like to stick it out with the call center and give it a shot. people there are nice, a bunch of young and intelligent breed.
as to the question if one can make a career out of this kind of job, i'd say, to the patient and hardworking, yes.
i'm actually feeling sad if let's say i do pass my interview...i've found new friends, really nice ones. but of course, first things first...at this point, there's nothing better than a job abroad, right?
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. this is my personal favorite :-)
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