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Showing posts from January, 2009

14 Call Center Interview Questions & Answers

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The call center industry is one of the fastest growing in the country these days. As recently as ten years ago, there were only a few call center agents and the word call center was hardly ever used in the country. Today, almost every family has at least one member working in the call center industry. The reason for this boom is partly economics. In the Philippines, low paying jobs are very notorious and while call centers set up shop here because of the low labor costs, Filipinos decide to work for the call center industry because it pays higher than average wages. Consider this: if you are an average worker with an entry level position, you probably are getting paid seven to ten thousand a month; meanwhile, an average employee in the call center industry with an entry level position will get around fifteen thousand pesos a month, plus free dental and health benefits (HMO). Call centers also will pay your SSS (Social Security), PAGIBIG (home building fund), and PhilHealth (health ins...
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Tips when Buying a Digital Camera

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Buying a digital camera can be a headache. With all the choices that you have out there in the market, how would you know which to buy? Recently, I decided to buy a digital camera with a budget of 8000 pesos. When buying electronics, I normally scour the web for bargains. I never go to malls for my tech needs because mall stall owners usually would place a high mark up on their products. Places like green hills and the like are out of the question because I don’t know how to go to those places. One of the advantages of shopping online is that you could subsequently search for reviews on the cameras which caught your eye. For instance, when I found the Canon Powershot A470 on eBay being sold at 6000 by an ebayer, I immediately used Google to search for reviews on the Canon Powershot A470. When reading reviews of a certain digital camera, you might find yourself not understanding the meaning of what’s written on the reviews. A good alternative for you would be to just search for sa...
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Pancit Canton Toppings

The bounds of cooking are endless. We are free to create and recreate dishes according to our every whims and desires. We are encouraged by great chefs to experiment and go beyond the normal and the traditional. This evening, after watching a Lucky Me pancit canton commercial, I decided to do just that. Since two of my favorite instant foods are the pancit canton and canned tuna, I thought of having pancit canton and the tuna as a topping. Sounds yucky? Well, I must admit that before trying my pancit canton topped with tuna, I was also skeptical. The judgment? I’ve created a gastronomical delight! Yes ladies and gentlemen, top your pancit canton with tuna. The end result is heaven. Why is this perfect? Well, remember how many people are saying that pancit canton is very unhealthy and is very fattening (talk about sinful)? Well, the tuna on top of it can make you stop feeling guilty. Remember omega 3? This dish though is like bagoong. You should only eat it once or twice a mont...
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Learning a New Language

When I was around 10 or 11 years old, I knew I could write relatively well in English. I remember my teacher reading my works to the entire class. Today I can say without reservations that my written English is good at the very least. When it comes to spoken English though, I am far from being fluent. Yes I do work in a call center and I do deal with American clients however, I speak English almost always in a very robotic manner (due to scripts being provided) and only around 6 hours a day (removing the breaks and the idle time). It’s interesting to note that I learned to read in English first before learning to write in the same language. In fact it was my interest in reading that encouraged me to try writing in English (by writing I mean write stories). In learning Spanish, I am trying to develop my reading skills first because I am trying to follow the same path that I took with learning English. It’s unfortunate though that my brain isn’t like what it used to be. It is a fact t...
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My Air21 Nightmare

It started when I bought a digital camera from an ebayer from IloIlo. I thought that everything was gonna run smoothly until the time came when I was supposed to pick up the item from the Air21branch (where I had the item delivered to). When i got there, the Air21 employee told me that the item wasn't there yet. He asked me to call up the Air21 call center (washing his hands off of my case). That was the first thing that ticked me off. Ownership is a very important part of customer service. This guy made me feel as if he wanted to run away from me! When I did call up the Air21 call center, the agent told me that it'll be delivered within the day. That afternoon I came back, got the same reception from the employee of Air21 and again called up their call center (since my item wasn't delivered yet). This time, I was already a bit skeptical about the veracity of the agents' answers so I asked the agent if it's guaranteed to be delivered within the day. She told me yes....
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Woe is me!

This morning I decided to go banking. First stop was China Bank. I decided to open a Time Deposit Account with them since i did not like the thought of my money being dormant. Of course, I had to put aside some of it (in another account), because I need at least few thousands liquid. I was not at all interested about the interest rates, taxes, and all that. For me, I just wanted to at least reduce the effects of inflation on my hard earned money. When I went home, I decided to do some computations. I was actually under the impression that the way TD works is that whatever amount you put in is just multiplied by the interest rate, and that's it (e.g. 10 000 X 4% interest rate [0.04]). That was when I became so excited. I was exhilarated! Imagine, being able to pay my rent out of the interest earned if I will just save more money! But alas, this is not the case. After being very excited, my (still) rational side decided to do some research. For the benefit of those people who do no...
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Being Anti filipino

The USA is composed of different nationalities, each with different cultures , languages, and beliefs, however united in a single vision and a sngle dream. There’s an American president (during the period wherein the US saw mass migration from Europe ) who said that Europeans who wll set forth on American soil should bare their European skins. This American president is talking about assimilation. This I what makes America a great nation despite the fact that it is made up of so many kind of peoples.  The Philippines is also made up of various diverse kinds of people, each with its own belief, culture, dialect or language, and history. Yes it does sound very amusing and rather dandy in books and tourism advertising campaigns. However as a nation, it causes serious damage.  Being a Promdi in Manila is like being a Filipino in another country. You’re either too proud of your province or ashamed of it. I belong to the former. I always say nice things abou...
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