Call Center Technical Careers
Call center technical careers are those jobs that provide customer service to companies in large, cubicle-filled office environments, placing and receiving phone calls from customers all over the world. There is room for growth within the industry if you decide to make it your carer, and salary prospects for some call center careers can be quite attractive.
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Customer Service Careers
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Several options exist for customer service positions within a call center organization. The most common entry-level position for a call center technical career is that of the customer service representative; this individual usually answers inbound calls for mobile phone, cable and Internet, computer, and technology companies.
Other opportunities for call center careers include billing representatives, technical support specialists, and collections representatives. All of these customer service call center careers either receive inbound or place outbound calls to satisfy customers' needs.
Management Careers
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For those who seek more growth and possibly higher pay, management call center technical careers are those that involve the supervision of customer service representatives or individual call center agents. These individuals make sure that everything runs smoothly in the office environment and are there to support the customer service representatives.
Management opportunities in call centers also include quality assurance positions, assuring the quality of calls received and placed, sales managers, and higher level careers such as call center directors.
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Salaries
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, entry-level call center technical careers pay just over $10.00 per hour on average. Those with education and more experience as computer support specialists could earn $17.00 to $18.00 per hour (2006 data).
By contrast, supervisor and management careers are usually salaried. According to October 2009 data from Payscale.com, the annual salary for call center supervisors averages around $45,000, with higher salaries for more years of experience and more advanced skills. In addition, the location and industry of the employer also affects salary. For example, it is not uncommon for some call center directors and upper level management to be earning more than $100,000 per year, according to 2009 information from Business Week.
Training and Qualifications
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Industry requirements in entry-level call center technical careers are usually a high school diploma (or at least a G.E.D.) in addition to basic computer skills, typing abilities, telephone etiquette, and good interpersonal skills. Specialized call center careers, such as those in desktop support, may require an associate's or bachelor's degree. Company training is usually required of all call center employees.
Qualifications for call center management jobs usually require a bachelor's degree or higher in management, business, or related fields.
Industry Growth
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for customer service representatives such as those in call center technical careers is expected to be excellent through the year 2016--growing faster than the national 7 to 13 percent average growth--representing over 500,000 industry jobs.
In addition, even though outsourcing to other countries is a common practice in the call center industry, more companies are starting to bring jobs back to the United States resulting from low customer dissatisfaction. In fact, according to Reuters and Bloomberg, companies such as Delta, United Air, and Dell have all moved call center operations back to the United States to improve customer service.
Career Advancement
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Career advancement for those in call center jobs is pretty common. An entry-level customer service representative who demonstrates excellence and works for several years can be promoted to the position of call center team leader or supervisor. In addition, supervisors and team leaders can be promoted to sales managers, directors, and other management positions.
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References
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Mark Kobayashi-Hillary
