Something different to post...

Figured I'd post some good news for a change.

Some of you have already been told this great news, though probably not all the details...

After a summer of dismal unemployment, I finally broke out of the hopelessness barrier and was able to gain work once again. I'd almost forgotten the peace of mind that having a steady income brings. This summer has been so tight and stressful, not knowing how we were going to manage to pay our bills from week to week. Thankfully we had some meager savings, and - with the help of some generous family members - we were able to live through the summer months with enough food to feed us.  I won't name names here, but I would like to state, for the record, how eternally grateful we are for your assistance. And, if we can find the means, we will repay your kindness and generosity.

I'm actually starting my 3rd week working with them. Why, you may ask, have I waited so long to post the great news? Well, to begin with, I wanted to make sure that this job was real. That it wasn't just a temporary state and that we were indeed going to get paid for my time there. Why would I be so hesitant with such things? Well, some of you are well aware the long delays I've experienced with Sykes@Home on working with them. Between two classes being delayed/postponed, one class that bumped me for not having all my equipment in on day one, and another with some questionable ethics... I had begun to give up on this group actually being a legitimate employer. But, after all the delays and miss-communications,  they finally came through. Even my first day of training, I was still a questioning whether this job was real. My first indication of legitimacy was the computer they sent to me for use. I got it within my first week. The second was the immediacy of paying for my training. It was only the first week, but the direct deposit went through without any issues. Not only did they come through in giving me the opportunity to work from home, but I have one of the friendliest, funniest trainers going. She makes learning fun. I've begun to make friends with my class-mates and we're a pretty decently intelligent group. It's nice to hear the trainer talk about giving us time to relax because we're ahead of the course-work.

So, in a few weeks, I'm going to start taking Tier 1 calls for Rogers Wireless customers. The skills I am learning now, combined with what I had learned while working with OLS/HGS, I can easily say I know most lines of business that the communication's company carries. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the company has no faults, but their dedication to keeping Roger's jobs in Canada is something to be admired. So far, they've been one of the most understanding and dedicated companies I've worked for. I'm looking forward to getting on the phone to help out customers. My knowledge in their products and their systems can be of great benefit to the company. And, best of all, it's technical support. And I've always enjoyed working in that field.

Not only do I get to do a job I like. I get to do so from the comfort of my own home office. No more running out in the snow and rain to catch a bus. No more worrying about transit schedules and how long I have to wait till I can get home. Nothing beats hanging up my headset, turning off my AIB (work computer), and turning to my personal computer and logging in to one of my favorite games. The zero commute time has got to be the biggest and best perk to this job. No more packed lunches. No more boxed drinks. No more having to pay for coffee that might be cold by the time the order gets to me. I think more service companies should aim to provide tele-commuting jobs to their reps. I've always said that the worse part of working customer service, or any phone job, wasn't the work itself. It's not the sometimes irate customers, or the often-times crappy work hours. It was the hostile environment that is a call centre. It's the brown-nosing, back-stabbing, drama bubble burst of immature humanity that makes the job stressful. The hive of disease that 200+ people on one open floor can do to your body. The amounts of colds, flues, etc that I've had because of sick co-workers has caused me more time away from work than I can count. So.. with this reduced stress  of working from home, I can now do what I like to do: focus on my customer's issues and give them excellent service.

So, I had much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I hope your year is going well... Next big adventure: Hal-Con!