Last week I applied for a internal job opening that I thought would be a good promotion. I work in a call center taking incomming DSL tech calls. Today I was interviewed by a supervisor. It turns out the promotion would be working on the escalation line. This line is where one would send irate customers who demand to speak with a supervisor. The goal is to calm these people down and take care of their problems. I didn’t find any of this out until during the interview. Now, I have NO problem taking care of OTHER peoples problems, in fact I’m quite good at it and know how to handle these situations efficiently. The problem is irate customers… some people have NO problem handling them and just let everything go in one ear and out the other. I on the other hand don’t handle them well. I try to remain calm but the blood pressure builds and I either end up with a cramped neck, a dented cubicle from putting the customer on mute and punching it or I begin to verbally combat the customer “just enough” to effectivly counteract there attitude… but that is unacceptable and I would get written up.
But at the end of the interview I was thinking $.50 raise and told them I would probably be interested. D’oh!
Three hours later she comes up to me and asks me if I would like to take some escalation calls.
I immediatly thought “no way!” and said “ahhh… I don’t think so.”
“What?” she says, “Does this mean you don’t want the job too?”
me, “well, yeah, I’ve been thinking about it and I don’t think its for me.”
her, looking angry “DAMNIT!” and stomps off.
Well… as you can imagine that ending does not sit well in my stomach and give me a good feeling. Not to mention I turned down a $.50 raise, and I’m so damn poor that would have been nice. Still I don’t think it would have been worth it… stress tends to ruin my whole day.
I’ve been used in a management position, and it got to the point that the stress wasn’t worth the money. If I had been offered a promotion to the job full time, I would have turned it down.
I think you made the right choice. That is not enough of a raise to have to deal with irrate customers. Besides after taxes you would probably make $20.00 less take home pay!
If you do decide to go and explain your reasons, be honest (of course) but also remember that a careful use of language can spin the situation in your favor. For example, you decided it wouldn’t be worth the hassle and stress. Obviously, you don’t want to say something that blunt.
Explain that you went back and really thought about the discussion you’d had during the interview. You started to think about how you would approach these call-ins and realized that you needed to spend a bit more time honing your skills before tackling the task. After all, what you want your company to be viewed in the best possible light and would consider it a personal disappointment if you took the position before you were 100% certain you could communicate yourself and your company thusly–leaving irate customers with a most positive feeling about the company.
Its basically true and you might even feel that way a little–since stressing with irate customers and telling them to sod off wouldn’t leave them with a good opinion of the company–it is just stated from the perspective that you are putting the good of the many (company) above the good of the one (yourself–a raise).
I think it’s a bit dishonest of your company’s management not to be completely open as to what the job was actually about. Sounds like you have narrowly avoided being sucked in.
And if your supervisor’s comment is indicative of her motives, it appears that management need to con staff into doing their dirty work. Fifty cents an hour is not adequate recompense for putting up with that shit.