Of Introduction and Assimilation

I'm trying to kick start this blog one more time. I'm hoping that this post and the the new layout I have will help motivate me to post more now that my work is becoming less stressful. In a few weeks time, I should be able to have more free time. Well at least that's the plan.

What do I do anyway? Whenever someone asks this question, I always do a quick observation of who I'm talking to, what I will be able to achieve by giving such information, and the mutual benefits that comes with it. Too much thinking for a simple question, I know. I'm just that haywire up there in my shell but I digress. I work for one of the financial institutions in the United States but based in the Philippines. "Call Center"... "BPO"... "Outsourcing"... these are just a few of the terms that might have crossed your mind after reading the previous statement. On paper, we are not a BPO or Call/Contact Center or Outsourced company. We are a separate entity under a different class. But that's just on paper. Experience wise, it works exactly like a normal call center would. I should know. I've been in the BPO industry for the last 13 years.

The company that I'm working for falls under the other side of the fence of Outsourcing. We are called Offshore branch or to sound more classy, International Satellite Office. Our jobs were not outsourced to a different firm or company but rather the US based company decided to put up an office here and hire the locals to help them up. Sounds like the next step towards getting out of the stereotype of being in the call center industry but it's not. Graveyard shift is still the norm. People are still hooked up to coffee machines to keep them awake. And the accent... yes that accent. I can imagine people already cringing but I digress yet again. Back to the topic that is my job. My work deals with the stock market. My position and job description goes with the lines that I am licensed to trade in all the US stock market. I deal with people's money and investment as far as shares, dividends, mutual funds, and interests are concerned. We deal with people's life savings and the risk of losing all of it in a matter of seconds. It sounds thrilling and exciting but it's not. It's tiring and stressful. Just the way I like it. Because at the end of the day, it is just like every call center there is - we pick up the phones to talk to customers and answer their questions.

For more than 13 years I've been doing this job. And to be honest, I don't think I can do anything else. That's why even when I say I'm tired of receiving calls, this is the only kind of job I can do now. All of my other skills are now lost. This industry have absorbed me as part of it's machinery. Outside of it, I am but scrap metal. But all hope is not lost. This coming November 23, 2020, I will hang my headset for good.