I was supposed to start on Monday [April 13th] but then it got moved to Tuesday. They said it was a relaxed atmosphere, then they said your pay was based on performance and you had to make a certain quota of calls or you'd be terminated.
It was a call center where the main computer would go through a list of people we were supposed to call and these people would come up on our terminals. We'd then have to read a script to the people being called and ask them to make donations for causes. Supposedly these are people who were going to be very cooperative with us but most of them were sick of being called, a few threatened us, a few flat-out hung-up, or we'd have people who'd couldn't donate anything. Then I'd get answering machine after answering machine after answering machine after answering machine.
It wasn't too long before I decided I didn't want to come back. I thought I might be able to learn about different organizations but the information comes up so fast, and we go through so many different organizations and causes, that I can't learn anything.
Blaring in the background the whole time is loud music, which goes from oldies to hip-hop at the drop of a hat. The music was all over the place. But the music doesn't matter, what matters is that it was distracting, and I was wondering if the clients could hear it too.
And, of course, while I'm dealing with these people who don't want to be called, none of them give textbook answers, so I have to keep going through different computer screens and menus, and you had to really be on the ball but I wasn't. And I was using a Linux, which I'm not familiar with at all, that looked it came from 1981. I was completely disoriented and trying my best to deal with whatever curve the people were throwing at me.
Then we outside for a break, which was really a smoking break. Everyone was smoking except me, so I walked off. One of them asked if I wanted anyone to walk with me so I said, "Yeah, whatever, I don't care." Then I came back, and word-for-word I said, "So you people are supposed to care about the environment, but here you are smoking, polluting the environment." To which they couldn't say anything. They probably don't give two shits about the environment. They don't care about wind or solar power. This is just a job to them. I've been interested in things like solar-powered cars since I was 11. When exactly did they start caring about "green" technology? Last year? Hybrid cars are like this year's SUV's. Most of them acted like complete idiots.
After we got back grom break, I managed to get two people to make donations. $95 total between the two of them, but I was fed up with whole experience by then. And, of course, I was unlucky enough to have my trainer step away to use the bathroom while I managed to get these donations. Go figure.
At the end of the day, they said the job wasn't for me and I told them I was about to say the same thing. They asked me if I wanted to pick up my or if I wanted it sent in the mail, so I said I wanted it sent in the mail so I wouldn't have to come back.
