Call centres are one of the biggest employers of people with no experience in New Zealand, and one of the few that train you properly and pay you while they do it. Banks, insurers, telcos, power companies, government agencies and airlines all run them, mostly in Auckland, Wellington and Hamilton, and a growing number of the roles are worked from home.
Inbound means people ring you: a question about a bill, a change of address, a complaint. Outbound means you ring them, either to sell or to follow something up. Inbound is the easier start and most entry level roles are inbound.
You take calls back to back from a queue, with the customer's account on the screen in front of you. Between calls you write up what happened. Most centres give you scheduled breaks and a target for how long calls take.
Two to four weeks paid classroom training before you take a live call, then someone sits with you for the first few. Nobody is dropped in cold.
Some callers are angry, and it is not about you. Good centres teach you how to handle it and let you pass a call up. If a workplace does not, that is the workplace, not the job.
None for most entry level roles. Retail and hospitality count for a lot, because you have already dealt with people who are annoyed.
The whole job. The phone interview is the real test, so treat the first call from a recruiter as the interview.
You take notes during the call. It feels impossible for a week and then it is normal.
Queues are staffed to the minute, so starting on time matters more here than in most jobs.
A quiet room, a wired internet connection, and somewhere you can sit for a shift. Employers usually supply the laptop and headset.
Most centres run extended hours, so shifts are rostered across mornings, evenings and weekends rather than nine to five. Evening and weekend shifts often pay more and are easier to get with no experience. Part time rosters are common and suit study.
No. Call centres are one of the few employers that will take you with no experience and train you for two to four weeks on full pay before you take a live call. Retail and hospitality experience counts for a lot, because you have already dealt with people who are unhappy.
Entry level call centre work is paid hourly, above the minimum wage in most centres, with more for evening and weekend shifts and sometimes a bonus tied to quality or sales. The rate on this page is read from the call centre and customer service roles listed on FindMeAJob right now.
Yes, more than before. Many centres now run hybrid or fully remote teams, though most want you on site for the training weeks first. You need a quiet room and a reliable internet connection, and the employer usually supplies the laptop and headset.
Inbound means customers ring you with a question or a problem. Outbound means you ring them, to sell something or to follow something up. Most entry level roles are inbound, and it is the easier place to start.
The calls that go wrong are the ones people remember, and yes, some callers are angry. A well run centre trains you for it, gives you a way to pass a call up, and does not punish you for a hard call. Ask in the interview what happens when a call goes badly, because the answer tells you what the place is like.
Most run extended hours rather than nine to five, so you are rostered across mornings, evenings and weekends. Evening and weekend shifts often pay more and are the easiest to get with no experience.