Job snobs

[fairynick]

I’m really starting to get sick of people saying things to me such as “aw how’s the call centre”, “is it just a temporary thing?” “you’ll have a career one day”.
I work in a sales role for an energy supplier. I earn 20k basic a year but also receive weekly commission so overall my salary is more like 23-25k depending on how hard I graft.
I work fairly long hours, constantly subject to target, help some really vulnerable people and love chatting to people.
There’s definitely some sort of shame placed on people working in call centres as if it isn’t a “proper job” but I don’t understand why.
I don’t think the money is bad, I know primary school teachers and nhs workers who are on similar salaries as me yet they are seen as having a real career.
So then I thought it bows down to maybe if your role holds responsibility and is seen as helping society. I think it’s great that people can help the world and teach our children, but I also think it’s fine if you just want to work to earn money.
Does anybody else receive comments like this, or are you someone who thinks of call centre staff as not having proper jobs?

For a while I worked in a waste and recycling business which also ran community dumps and various social ventures. I absolutely loved it, a surprisingly complex and fascinating business. People just couldn't understand why I was so passionate about it and why I didn't want to work in a blue-chip environment (I have a very academic CV and hanging out with bin men was an admittedly surprising choice, but I had the most fun in that job I ever had.)

I loved telling people about the waste industry and I really enjoyed the snotty reactions!

People who look down on your job are probably ignorant about what you do, make assumptions about you as a person and judge you without really thinking about it. Oh guess what, I just described people in general. It's very hard to divorce people from their cultural and social stereotyping, that is just the way it is.

Just be proud of what you do and gently set people straight. The decent people will rethink their assumptions, they are the ones worth knowing.

I dial warm leads, so basically people who have asked for the call.
There are advisors at my call centre who do cold calling and I don’t think they’re awful people, they’re not claiming any benefits and there’s not much other “unskilled” work in my area.
I understand that sales calls are annoying and can definitely take advantage of the vulnerable, but that’s also the case with many other job roles.
Thanks for all the replies though, it is interesting to hear other people’s perspectives.

my husband doesn't disclose his salary to be an classless arse but to shut snobbish arses up looking down on him for being a factory worker.

So he loses the moral high ground in being as benighted as them.

Who cares if she's a cold or warm caller?

Good for you on earning 25k per year op

Lots of people dislike cold callers because the calls can be rude, harassing and intrusive.

That's not to say all cold callers are like that, of course.

Every time someone asks me about my job I dress it up. I’m an administrator at a university and having gone part time since returning from mat leave I’m on about 13k. I was the smart kid at school, the highest of high achievers. I had no idea what to do with my life and stayed in education forever, ending up with a pretty useless PhD (which I treated as a 3 year job as I was funded).

So I now work in admin and I love my job. My colleagues are brilliant and I look forward to going into work. But whenever people ask I say student support or similar because it just sounds better. I’m so ashamed to admit that.

I think people don't realise how much stuff is call centre. 999 call handlers/dispatchers - call centre. I did that for 10 years
Work in a call centre now, a tiny one. Not much stress, no work to take home, decent colleagues and uncapped commission. Suits me fine

I disagree with people who say working in a call centre is not a real profession and there’s no room to progress. In my last call centre job the regional sales manager who was on a 6 figure salary started off cold calling people part time on a evening. Where I work now, most of the team and operational managers also started off on the phones. If you’re target driven and good at your job there’s definitely opportunities to progress and earn good bonuses.

Personally, I'm impressed with anyone who gets out and works hard, I dont care if you're scrubbing toilets or answering a phone, if you're able and out working then go you!

I understand that sales calls are annoying and can definitely take advantage of the vulnerable, but that’s also the case with many other job roles.

This argument is so shit: you admit sales calls ‘can definitely take advantage of the vulnerable’ but just because other jobs do too then that’s ok?

Which other jobs are you talking about?

I hope you never have a vulnerable person of your own duped by a sales call OP.

I would rather go on benefits than make cold calls.

It’s a job not a profession.

For those on a career path that is a starting salary with a path up.

Most people could do that job, whereas it takes training and dedication to work in one of the careers mentioned.

There is a big difference between working in a call centre and a teacher, one is open to all and the other needs a degree and a postgraduate qualification.

Well done on having a job! .
People are arses.

This - I can't stand job snobs!!!!

@HathorX - I've just finished a temp job at a waste and recycling centre, and I enjoyed it too (apart from the long hours, I'm too old!). It was fun and I really enjoyed the company of the other staff. I used to work in admin and I can't face going back to that now that I have tried other things (I worked in inwards goods, and in a laundry as temp jobs also).

Op, if you like your job, you have natural sales skills and you can cope with a “weekly target” environment, you will always be able to find a job and earn a decent living. Sales skills are transferable. Good for you.

Don’t listen to others. Some will dealing with £50,000 student debt which must be horrible.

There are advisors at my call centre who do cold calling and I don’t think they’re awful people, they’re not claiming any benefits

So people who claim benefits are?

It's to do with the cold calling not your salary, presuming you don't drop your salary amount around

You say in your OP that you ‘help some really vulnerable people’ but in your second you acknowledge that sales calls ‘can take advantage of the vulnerable’. Which is it? I’m not sure I understand how selling someone something helps them...

Job snobs are normally fairly insecure people in my experience, who thrive on the perceived praise of others.

We have a job snob in our office at work, she genuinely believes our cleaning team are below her.

I’m an actuary, when I was in my first training post I worked as a waiter at weekends to make a bit of extra money. Lots of people are very snobby about wait staff, it was a fairly small place and the wait staff prepared all desserts. A customer once asked me to praise the chef who had made his creme brulee, I politely said I had made it. He then complained as in his view wait staff are both stupid and dirty, he demanded a refund as well.

I'm not sure here. I don't know enough about you to make a judgement.

I have nothing against sales based people, many of whom may operate out of call centres. However, many don't have a great reputation.

You say you are helping vulnerable people in a warm "cold calling"sort of way. You are selling something or other. What are you trying to sell to them? Why are they supposed to need it? Have they been put in contact with the company you are selling for first, or have your "cold calling advisers" taken their details from some other database and called to put pressure on them?

I don't necessarily judge the person who is doing the calling and trying to make a living. I do judge some of the ruthless companies who seek to make money out of selling sick and vulnerable people stuff they do not need.

When my MIL was terminally ill she was sold an electric garage door that she didn't need and which didn't work anyway. Sold it on the basis of it would help her get in and out of her garage more easily. She had no problem there in the first place and never used her garage.

Many of the jobs do prey on the vulnerable. Maybe yours doesn't, but there isn't enough information to go on.

In my job you can help lots of vulnerable people but there is also scope to take advantage of them if you want to hit your number and you might not get caught.
The energy industry is fairly heavily regulated but some of the big suppliers really do take the piss with their customers.
Even though I work in sales I can’t technically take money off anyone, I’m only allowed to process a sale if it actually benefits a customer and will save them money. For example someone might pay £100/month and I can process a sale if I can get it lower than that. I also advise about certain schemes such as priority services register and warm home discount which a lot of vulnerable people are unaware of. This makes me feel like I really am helping people.
In lots of jobs vulnerable people can be helped and also taken advantage of, however I understand that many view sales calls as predatory.

I’m switching people’s energy suppliers, sorry if I didn’t make that clear.

When I say I dial warm leads I mean that we will have put an advert online and when someone clicks the advert there’s a little questionnaire to make sure they’re eligible and the final question is “do you want one of our advisors to ring you to discuss this further?” 9/10 people I speak to answer like “ah yes thanks for getting back to me”.
The people in my office who are cold calling is basically when you fill anything in online and tick a box that opts you into marketing calls, everyone does it by accident so a lot of the time the call doesn’t apply to them, they werent expecting the call and they aren’t interested. I used to do the cold calling and it was much more difficult however still had to follow the same rules. I get that being bombarded to sales calls is really annoying though, especially when you haven’t really asked for them.

Wtf does not liking cold callers have to do with this thread?
Anyway jobs are a weird thing on MN as everyone (or at least their husbands) earns £100k in some "high pressure, specialised role" that doesn't exist anywhere on the planet outside of London but they're only just scraping by on this meagre wage.

I've been an HGV driver for 30 years, and for the first 20 my uncle kept asking when I was going to progress in my career. This wasn't snobbery as such, but the mindset of someone who had been promoted just for turning up. Eventually I got to him to understand that promotion in my trade meant a) selling my soul to Satan b) dying of a stroke c) being imprisoned for other people's mistakes.

Wtf does not liking cold callers have to do with this thread

OP is (rightly) pissed off at people's snobbery about the job she is doing. There are many good call centres. There are also bad ones too, which I am sure we have all had some experience of. Unfortunately it is the bad ones that will stick in people's minds and probably cause the reactions that she and others like her are getting.

Call centres are necessary for many things. Not all are bad. Constant bombardment by cold callers selling totally unnecessary shit, or by scammers and ambulance chasers etc. is both unnecessary and a pain in the arse. It gets them all a bad name even though that isn't necessarily justified.

It sounds as though the type of stuff OP is doing is potentially in some way a service, so not too bad. That said though, my usual response is that I won't buy or sell by phone. I will go off and do my own research if I am in the market for that sort of thing and might go back to them if I can't otherwise get what I want.

Nobody should look down on OP for trying to make a living. People are probably reacting to a stereotype in their minds rather than appreciating a wider picture.