Today was the first day of my new shift schedule. I bid the 8PM-5AM evening shift, higher night differential pay, and stressful work hours “goodbye,” and welcomed the less stressful work hours along with the quasi-normal sleeping hours of the 4PM-1AM afternoon shift. My agents’ couldn’t be happier since they’ve wanted that shift for quite some time now.

If you work in a call center, you’re probably used to the shifting schedules and your body clock getting all screwed up. If you don’t, well… at least its something to expect. There was even a time wherein my schedule changed on a weekly basis. Sometimes the schedules may even change without prior notice and you are expected to adjust immediately. Which means, no matter what happens, there is no excuse to be late. Ever.

Schedule adherence tops the call center priority chart, and in most cases, failure to comply is sanctioned beyond expectations. And by that, I do mean TERMINATION. Whether you’re a student who came from school or someone who lives in Timbuktu and got stuck in traffic on the way, you still have to find ways in order to get to your shift on time. Explanation? The number of people scheduled each hour is expected to receive a certain number of contacts per hour. So, if an agent is absent or late, this means that the calls is to be spread out in the entire floor. In reality, call allotments may be given a variance as part of contingency planning just in case some people are late or absent. However, even so, sometimes its hard for call centers to meet client expectations if people don’t strictly comply with their schedules, that usually they would ask people to do mandatory overtime.

Now, if you’re planning to apply for a call center, do make sure you are able to do the following:

1. Always, and I do mean ALWAYS, be on time, if not earlier. You’ll be signing a piece of paper after a few incidents if you don’t. Trust me.

2. If you’re sick, try to still go to work as much as you can. Unless you can get a medical leave approved. Try not to be absent, especially if your reason will be dysmenorrhea, LBM or anything less serious than that. Come on, I have an agent with gout and back pains because of gall stones who still go to work and I don’t even force him to. So if you’re going to tell your team leader that you have a headache, just take some mefanamic and go.

3. Sacrifice one of the 3 S’s: Studying (if you’re a student), Social Life, or Sleep. Believe me you cannot afford to do all of them.

4. Be prepared to do mandatory overtime. I know, it sucks that you have to suffer because of the other people who didn’t got to work. But hey, you get paid more than them. That’s always good.