Seriously pondering asking to swap to a different (ie data entry) position with minimal phone handling and wonder if in general I just suck at communicating.
@Leucrotta Not to brag, but I consider myself a reasonably bright person.
However, there is no way I could do telephone work for any length of time without serious risk to my mental health. And then my physical health.
People treat retail workers poorly and they can see their faces as they are screaming at them. The extra level of de-personalization the phone gives empowers them to even further acts of abuse.
Even if the caller is polite, chances are the tools you have to work with are inadequate, the policies archaic, and the guidance minimal - until you screw up.
Unless you answer the phone with a hearty "fuck you" every time, I could hardly consider this to be a failing on your part. The whole system is set up to burn through people.
(Source: I manage a tech writing team and we are currently working very closely with folks in phone support - the first time we've ever really been able to sit and talk with them and review documentation with them. This is a decently good company and it's still practically a slaughterhouse on the phone floor.)
@GraySpots this has been training, b/c this call center has some really strict confidentiality rules and mixes strict adherence to authorized wording with trying to stay personal and relatable (intended to avoid setting up callers screaming abuse at the CSRs). I had not quite realized I’d be playing on hard mode. The down side; facing what might be difficult material for anyone but definitely for me, making and slowly correcting mistakes, means facing lots of not-good-enough messages.
@GraySpots I don’t think I could have coped even 8 years back. It’s nigh impossible to gauge whether I’m any good at this and, even if I am, whether it’s still not worth it. This is several degrees more difficult than prior phone work as reception/switchboard. I’m hoping I will have a better handle on whether I can/want to continue, soon. Meanwhile I reserve the right to call my supervisors (who tbf are basically okay) complete nimrods when they harsh me for what feels like bullshit.