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Customer Service/Call Center

Nordstrom Customer Service Representative

Job Description

Background: the pros and cons for this business can be switched around. what i may think of as a con, such as not knowing my schedule two weeks out, other who like unpredicatability, may believe this to be a benefit to the job.

Pros

-discount: 20%during the year, and 40% of nordstrom's product group once a quarter

-learn all the in's and out of the company so i know how to utilize "the system"

-i get to see all the "crazies" at work. by the people come up to customer service they are already the people with issues and who a lot of the times are straight-up stealing.

-i got to see someone get arrested right in front of me, exciting stuff

-it's fun to be able to talk to all sorts of people and work with the public.

-the name "Nordstrom" carries a respected reputation and it's nice to be affiliated with a company known for its customer service.

-if you like to dress up, but in a trendy way, then you'll be able to do this at work.

-schedule is flexible and you don't work the regular 9-5 (or in some cases for people 8-6)

-you learn how to smile and suck up whatever people give you to. it teaches you patience and appreciation for those who work in the business.

-there is not company "policy" say to speak. the job is very autonomous and many times it's all about you being your own boss and doing what you believe is correct and consistent with the Nordstrom environment

-Nordstrom is doing well on the stock-market and the employees can participate in a profit-sharing program.

Cons

-you get to see all the crazies and have to give them money for goods they are returning that they shouldn't be able to return (i.e. they stole them, bought them from value village and are returning them, or..have had the darn things for years and are returning them now). I once had a normal looking lady empty out an expensive Monsac purse right in front of me on the counter and say she wanted to return it. i had to research her purchase so that i could give her her original purchase price from over a year ago and give her cash for it.

-because we are "Nordstrom" you have to bend waaaaay over backwards to please the customer. it can get ridiculous sometimes.

-even though we have to be super courteous to people, the customer can be horribly terrible to us.

-if you don't like unpredictability-it will be difficult to handle not knowing your schedule more than 2 weeks in advance and not being able to (many times) have more than 2 days off in a row. most of the time when i worked there i never had a full weekend off.

-it's not the best paying job. but if you are working on commission in a busy department and are a good salesperson-your job can become quite lucrative.

-if you like to shop, it's dangerous to work within a retail store and the mall. many times a large percentage of people's pay checks can go back into the company.

Company Size

10,000 or greater employees

Pay Range

Years in Job

1

Education

Non-needed

City

Bellevue

State

WA

Call Centre Operative

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Job Description

Sitting there with a headset on while customer questions and complaints (usually complaints) regarding sharedealing came flooding in without respite. I must stress that my role didn't involve sales so I wasn't working on commission, merely as a customer service advisor - so I would simply pick up a basic wage with no discernable benefits.

The one thing that I have learned is that you have to be a certain kind of person to be able to glean any amount of enjoyment from working in a call centre. A minority of my colleagues seemed to enjoy their role for some reason, but I seriously question their sanity.

Many people use call centre work as a stepping stone in their career, and attempt to quickly gain experience so that they can move elsewhere and try to earn more money; thus you will find that there is often a rapid staff turnover and efforts by management to retain staff are lacklustre as everyone is easily replaceable. This was certainly the case where I worked, and there were no real benefits to working there other than getting paid as there was nothing to aspire to; and because of this staff morale was almost non-existent.

In summary, if repeating the same thing to angry people over and over again and being an undervalued, mindless automaton sounds good to you then this may be the kind of job that you are looking for. However if you have any kind of intelligence or self worth, I would only recommend considering doing this kind of work as a last resort.

Pros

You get paid

Very occasionally you may be able to help a caller rather than just fob them off with excuses

You often work a shorter day than regular office staff

Cons

Poor pay

You are normally thrown straight into the job with very little training

Highly stressful and hectic environment

Company policy may often mean that although you know exactly how to help the customer, you may be prevented from actually doing so because you have a 30 second time limit to do it in

Little scope for promotion

Gets repetitive very quickly

Giving a customer incorrect advice or even speaking to them in a tone that they don\'t appreciate may get you into a lot of trouble

You will often be monitored at random and have management watching your every move, sometimes even having to ask for permission to go to the toilet

Potential neck and ear damage in the long-term

You will often be dealing with complete idiots, and sometimes working alongside them too Customers will often be aggressive, and in extreme cases may even threaten to have you killed

Company Size

10,000 or greater employees

Pay Range

$0-$20,000

Years in Job

2

Education

very little needed

City

United Kingdom

State

AL
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