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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What you need to know if it's your first time visiting Cebu City

I was feeling restless at the start of the year so when I found a cheap flight to Cebu, I immediately booked one for myself even if I had no concrete plans on what exactly to do in Cebu.


Since I did not do any research and I did not know anything about Cebu, I was surprised to learn that the beaches and other tourist attractions I commonly hear of in vlogs were pretty far away from the downtown area. 

My friend said that the beaches near the downtown area were dirty. Where I grew up, you can stay in a downtown hotel and still get to some rocky but clean beaches just by riding a jeepney. 

If it is your first time travelling to Cebu, it's best to limit your stay in the downtown area to just one or two days. Tourist attractions like Moalboal and Oslob will require you to stay at a hotel in those locations. 

Since we often hear that Cebu is an island, we tend to have a false impression that it is small. That was one of the things that shocked me when I arrived here. You will definitely not feel like you were living in an island in Cebu because it is a metropolis.

When I come back, I will be heading straight to the bus terminal from the airport and take a bus directly to the beaches. I will also be definitely staying at a property near the beaches I want to visit. I think there might also be tour packages that come with transportation from the airport going to various beach destinations.

Attractions such as the Temple of Leah and Top of Cebu are accessible from Cebu City but it's probably best to get a mountain tour package if you plan to visit those attractions. Most mountain tour packages already include a city tour as well.

Since I already booked my Airbnb for an entire week, I had to limit the destinations I would visit to those that were within Cebu City. What I found out was that even if you stayed in the downtown area, there were several attractions to keep you occupied.










In the downtown area of Cebu, there are several museums that you can visit and each one is close to one another. A few examples are the National Museum Cebu, Casa Gorordo Museum, and the Archdiocesan Museum.


Maybe they wouldn't sell as much but I didn't see anyone offering Cebu museum tours. However, you can definitely fill an entire day or two with just visiting museums in the downtown area of Cebu city. The best part is you can walk from one museum to the next and won't have to spend for transportation.


















Historical and cultural attractions such as Fort San Pedro, Magellan's Cross, Santo Niño Church, and Heritage of Cebu Monument are all located in the downtown area as well and are all within walking distance of each other.






From Cebu Lechon to Ngo Hiong, there are several dining options available so a food tour is in order when visiting Cebu City.








If you are in the downtown area, you have the advantage of being able to take mass transit systems such as buses and jeepneys. 



Language Issues

I have heard stories of how Cebuanos were extremely proud of their language and will not speak in Tagalog even with Filipino tourists who do not speak their language. I remember back when I was still working and some friends visited Cebu, they said that Cebuanos get upset when you ask them to speak in Tagalog. 

When I arrived in Cebu, I heard several airport employees speaking in Tagalog with visitors so I thought that maybe it was a thing of the past or maybe the stories were just an exaggeration. I mean Cebu, today probably has more tourists compared to ten years ago.

I was wrong. The stories were not an exaggeration. Even if you asked YOUNG people for DIRECTIONS in Tagalog, they will reply in Cebuano. It was very impressive.


Since Chavacano is encountering a lot of adoption issues as migrants and young people prefer to speak in Tagalog, I can truly sympathize with the Cebuanos but man, this was just ridiculous! There were several times when I spoke in Tagalog and they replied in Cebuano but after not comprehending and asking them to repeat, they would simply repeat what they said in Cebuano. I mean I did not want to sound rude and ask them to speak in Tagalog.

There were certainly a few locations where people seem to adjust to the language needs of non Cebuano speakers

Fortunately, I had enough survival Cebuano language vocabulary in my arsenal to fulfill basic needs such as ordering food. Most of the relatives on my mother's side of the family speak Cebuano and there are a lot of Cebuano speakers in Zamboanga city so I did not encounter a single situation wherein I did not understand what I was being told in Cebuano. In most survival situations, you can already infer what the speaker is telling you even if it is in a language you do not have a mastery of. I mean there was a time when this lady spoke in Hokkien to my friend, later she asked me a question in that language. Some of the words she used were in English so just based on context and her hand gestures, I was able to deduce what she she was asking me.

Overall, I had a very pleasant week long stay in Cebu and I will definitely be back for more adventures.

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