Canadian telecommunications Internet and telephony giant Telus has announced an investment of 1.5 million dollars to expand its call center in Prince George (British Columbia). This investment will support the development of Telus’ Optik TV network and should achieve, within a six-month period, the progressive creation of 100 call center operator positions. The company urges applicants to submit their applications now.

With a little effort, call centers could offer good employment prospects for the older generation within a few years time.

Longer life expectancy and the rupture of professional careers have both meant a rise in the number of older workers on the labor market today. Nor is the call center sector spared by this trend. As Cherif Atallah, Director of Excellence at ACN North America reveals, “the number of applications we receive from older people has been increasing over the last five years or so. Today, older candidates represent one to two percent of the people we interview for positions; this percentage was close to zero in 2005.”
Atallah also adds however that this influx in applications has not yet been translated into the actual workforce. At ACN North America in Montreal for example, older employees only represent 2.5% of current staff. A disparity which, according to Atallah, is explained in part by the level of technical sophistication and hi-tech nature of these professions - elements which discourage some older candidates.
“That said,” Atallah continues, “older employees have all the qualities required for working in call centers. They are generally above the average when it comes to attendance, punctuality and stability and they also contribute to giving credibility to the companies which employ them.”
The other significant factor is seniority. On average, older workers will remain longer with a company than their younger counterparts. According to Cherif Atallah, the calculation is therefore simple: by investing in the training of older employees, even extending the duration of training to incorporate an upgrade of technical knowledge, companies will see employee turnover significantly decrease and will therefore gain in efficiency. ”It’s unfortunate, but I do fear that the industry may not be quite ready for it though,” he laments.

Homère Jouard

The Pollara call center based in Bathurst (New Brunswick) closed for business on December 31. Specialized in public opinion polls, the center employed 110 people. Taking advantage of the available workforce, talks are underway for other call centers to establish in Bathurst.

By the end of 2011, calls for ambulances in the Laurentides and Lanaudière regions will be routed through a single call center. This new structure will have 60 employees, of whom forty already work in existing centers. This will be the latest call center of its kind established in Quebec, where nine call centers are already in place.

Contrary to what you may believe, call centers offer many opportunities for professional development. The different specialties within the field mean you can lead an interesting and varied career.

Anthony Tardif, Recruitment Manager at Atelka, supplier of products and services for technical support and remote sales, explains more. “There are several ways to enter the call center sector”, says Tardif. These positions include Customer Service Agents who manage customer needs; Technical Support Agents who get involved when there are issues; and Telemarketing Agents, the only agents who make outgoing calls, evaluate customer satisfaction levels and offer them new products.
From these positions, “it's always possible to climb the career ladder”, Tardif adds. “What is more, most of the high-level professionals in this sector began their careers in one of these positions”. In fact, it’s an almost compulsory step to finding out exactly how the system works. So what is the logical move after answering customer calls? Becoming a Quality Agent for monitoring agents’ work, checking that callers’ expectations have been fulfilled and writing up performance reports. “There are very precise evaluation grids to be completed; it’s a job which requires a very meticulous nature”, Atelka’s Recruitment Manager continues.
The next step is Supervisor, unless an employee prefers moving into the training field. And the career possibilities don’t end there. Supervisors can then hope to become Director of Operations, that’s to say manage a whole call center and its Customer Service Agents, Technical Support Department and Quality Agents. Or they can even hope to become an Account Director who ensures the liaison between the center and its customers.
Companies train employees at each step of their career so that they are able to fulfill their roles effectively. Professional development can be very rapid if the employee has the right skills: after about six months in one position, it is often possible to move to the next. As for the highest positions, “companies first search internally before considering recruiting someone from outside,” Tardif emphasizes.