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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A Generation Without Bomb Threats


Today, I realized that there is now an entire generation of Zamboangueños who never experienced the constant bomb threats and rumors of rebel attacks that my generation did.

I recently met a 17-year-old from Zamboanga City through my Chavacano blog, and he asked me if we also experienced class suspensions due to weather disturbances (maybe the climate change programming is finally working for this generation). He was surprised when I told him about class suspensions caused by bomb threats. 

Of course, there were class suspensions due to rains and flooding, but they only happened when I was in elementary school. By high school and college, I never experienced flooding on our school premises. Perhaps it had more to do with the school's location or maybe there was La Niña when I was in elementary school (oh no, there goes MY climate change programming).

It boggles the mind that there is now an entire generation of Zamboangueños who never experienced constant bomb threats as a way of life. I remember our house shaking from bombs being dropped on the building at Lupong in Cabatangan (where the rebels were hiding), only about five kilometers from where I lived in high school.

I even remember hearing a bomb explode just a kilometer away from our school, right in the downtown area, when I was in college!

Perhaps people in Manila will never understand the excitement my generation felt whenever a popular restaurant in the country set up shop in our city. It felt like rain after a long drought, almost like Christmas!

I remember the giddy feeling when we dined at the first Jollibee on its opening day. It felt like a Fiesta!

In fact, I can still recall every single popular restaurant that opened while I was growing up in Zamboanga City: Jollibee, KFC, Mister Donut, and McDonald’s. There were others, like Greenwich and Chowking, but they didn’t generate as much fanfare.

Back then, the idea of an SM Mall in Zamboanga City seemed impossible. Nowadays, several well-known brands open in Zamboanga every year, and nobody bats an eyelash anymore.

The last time I went home, I barely recognized Zamboanga, with the new flyover under construction and all the new establishments changing the landscape of the city.

Growing up in Zamboanga City during a time of constant tension and excitement shaped my generation. I guess we are unique because we knew fear, but also the thrill of small joys amplified by scarcity. Today’s youth may never understand the mix of danger and delight that defined our childhood, but their Zamboanga is one of growth, change, and modernity, a city that continues to evolve in ways we once only dreamed of.

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