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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Gold as an Inflation Hedge in the Philippines

Gold is often seen as a hedge against inflation across different cultures and several millennia. Gold advocates would cite that the price of an italian suit in the early 1900s is the same today as it was back then. Today, I came across a post on Facebook that claims to be an ad for flights from the 1960s. Since gold was still money back then and had a fixed amount of dollars associated with it, this is a good data to compare the ability of gold to hold its value.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15YufUohLj/

During the Bretton Woods era, the price of gold was fixed at 35 USD per ounce. Meanwhile, 1 USD was worth 3.90 PHP. If a flight from IloIlo to Manila was 28 pesos, this would be equivalent to 7 USD. In terms of gold, 7 USD would have bought around 7 grams of gold (1 troy oz is equal to 31.1 grams). In today's peso, 7 grams of gold would be worth more than 30 thousand pesos. Far more than what Cebu Pacific actually charges today!

The truth is I already knew that the cost of flight tickets have gone down significantly over the years, similar to electronics. Of course, it could be just nominal confusion. For example, I can vividly remember being told that a flight from Manila to Zamboanga took only thirty minutes when I was a kid. Today, it already takes two hours. I even remember the flight taking only an hour when I was still working and then later on an hour and a half. Just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating or having false memories, I decided to research about it and apparently, airlines use less fuel in order for their prices to remain competitive and that is the reason why flights are becoming longer and longer.

As a child, I also remember my grandmother bringing home a lot of freebies from the airlines whenever she goes to Manila. From what I read, they also used to serve full meals to passengers on the plane.

Based on the mentioned ad, it looks like passengers used to get a lot of legroom back then and I would bet that there weren't a lot of restrictions on checked luggage like there are today. 

I even suspect that the notion that electronics have come down in price is just another deception. I mean I remember using my Nokia 3315 in highschool to talk to someone for several minutes and I never experienced the phone getting hot. Today, it feels uncomfortable having lengthy conversations using smartphones because they become too hot after a few minutes. Meanwhile, the cameras are advertised as having more pixels but the quality never seems to improve. So we may think that we are getting more features and paying less but the hardware never seems to be the same.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BmuHwNWyM/

In this ad claiming to be from the 1920s, a Christmas eve dinner was priced at 60 centavos. During the 1920s, the exchange rate was two pesos for one dollar. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold was 20 dollars. Based on these figures, the dinner costs 0.30 USD which in terms of gold would have been half a gram of gold. In today's gold prices, that would have been 2400 pesos. Exactly what dinner would cost today in hotels! Amazing, right? It means that if you were paid in gold a hundred years ago, you can still buy TODAY what you would have been able to buy back then!

A few months ago, I bought a cup of Dairy Queen ice cream and it tasted very cheap. I remember having it for the first time in 2007 when I first came to Manila, thinking that it was so expensive at 50 something pesos but man, was it was worth it because it was so good! Today, it's more than 100 pesos and it no longer tastes as good as it used to.

My dad used to ask me why people in the past were able to support a lot of children. Well, I now have the answer. People in the past were able to have big families because the value of their labor was never taken from them through inflation!

I suspect that the demonetization of gold in the 1970s also contributed to the rise of families with both parents working (along with feminism). Today, I can't imagine how my married friends with kids (who have good salaries) manage with the rising cost of everything.

People have been deceived by NOMINAL confusion, content to see their salaries going up and up but in reality, they have been going DOWN. 

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