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It's fair to say I have had a weird career path to becoming a journalist, writes Michael Taylor.

My first job was on a farm before working as a steward at a premier league rugby club, undertook cleaning roles at my former university and Student Union and sold electronics at PC World.

But while juggling media internships and work experience, I realised I needed a job to pay the bills and fund travelling for other journalism roles.

So, I started to work inside a call centre for an insurance company from March 2016 to August 2017.

I was a customer advisor within car insurance where I spent the day generating quotes for customers, managed existing policies or answered any general queries.

(Image: Getty)

Out of respect for my former colleagues and company, I won't name the business.

Every day was pretty much the same. I would turn up 15 minutes early to allow plenty of time to load up my computer and software, log in on time and sit and wait for the calls to come in.

I was given a script to follow (but could ad lib some bits), ordered to offer certain products, be productive with phone management time and create a list of potential customers to call back.

I had set times for breaks and lunch as well as around 15 minutes of 'unavailable time' for toilet breaks, refill my water bottle or have a quiet moment to myself.

The atmosphere was professional but casual where we would talk in between calls, help each other out with queries or answer Buzzfeed quizzes. It was a very typical workplace environment.

I would take at least 20 calls a day, answering mundane queries with the occasional exciting investigation where I would discover what has happened, resolve the query and inform the customer.

But there were certainly some odd moments.

I have been in the middle of arguments between feuding family members and couples, trying to speak to profoundly deaf callers or discovering someone is committing insurance fraud.

I would also receive bizarre complaints, ranging from callers unhappy with waiting times, the hold music and even complain about your voice.

Among the worst parts of the role was offering an annual premium when you knew the caller wasn't going to take the quote.

"It's HOW MUCH?" the caller would shout.

(Image: Getty)

"Forget it lad, I thought you could cut me a decent deal!"

"I'm sorry but you have wasted my time. Goodbye."

These are the most common phrases I would hear.

I got used to them, just laughed them off to my colleagues and we would all chuckle about it. That's how I survived working there.

No one really aspires to work in a call centre but it's just an in between job before something else pops up or you get the role you have always wanted.

This created a sense of solidarity with myself and my colleagues. Everyone wanted to be musicians, artists or answer their true calling in life.

Which is what made receiving negative phone calls even worse.

I, and others, would sit on the receiving end of abuse almost daily thinking "what am I doing here?" and it would be so crushing and demotivating.

To their credit, supervisors listened and understood the struggles I and my colleagues faced.

And this is why there's such a high turnover in call centre staff.

I certainly don't regret my time working at the call centre because it made me more professional, acquired new skills, confident and able to hold conversation with strangers, which are in turn, handy if you want to be a journalist.

But I certainly won't miss self-entitled customers, systems that would frequently crash, getting stuck on calls when I really need to be somewhere after work or being overwhelmed.

It's definitely made me reconsider how I call customer service centres and sympathise that the advisor is doing his or her best to answer my queries.

Top 5 hacks when ringing a call centre

(Image: chargerv8)

With plenty of call centre experience under my belt, I have created a list of tips to follow if you need to call one.

Don't be rude

This is the one golden rule and general life lesson.

The advisor is there to help you, answer any query and retain you as a customer.

If you call up, shout down the phone and blame him/her for an issue, you're likely going to ruin their day or mood and instantly make the call difficult.

It is unlikely the call handler is at fault for the problem you are complaining about and there is no way you would react the same way face-to-face.

Just be firm but polite if you want to resolve an issue.

Make sure you call for the right department

(Image: Getty)

There's nothing worse than someone calling you and has a query you have no power over.

It wastes both the customer and advisor's time and it's very annoying.

Make sure you listen to the options and press the correct digits.

That way you get through to the right department and likely have to wait less time on the phone.

If you're going to call, make sure you have your information ready

It's surprising how often you would ask for a document or information and the response of "Oh, let me get that letter" and then wait for the caller to come back to the phone.

If you are calling about a letter you have received or want to question a detail on your contract or policy, have it in front of you.

This prevents wasting valuable time for yourself, the advisor and other customers.

If you are waiting in the queue, make a check list.

Double check you have the relevant information to hand, a list of what you want to talk about and pen and paper to make notes.

Call between 6pm - 8pm

Some call centres are different but these are traditionally off-peak hours.

While there will be fewer staff members in the office, there's a good chance a few advisors have been waiting several minutes for a call to come in.

You're unlikely to wait on hold and will probably have a laid back conversation. Which leads me onto my next point.

Never call before closing time

There is nothing worse than receiving a call minutes before you finish your shift.

By calling just before the phone line closes, the advisor, as much as he/she wants to help, doesn't want to be stuck in the office after his/her shift is meant to end.

That means you will likely have a rushed call, not a lot of advice and a bad experience.

I would recommend calling at around 7.30pm if you need to make a last-minute enquiry.

Do you work in a call centre? Do you have any feel good or poor experiences you would like to share? Got a Bridgwater, Taunton or West Somerset story? Email me at michael.taylor@reachplc.com or call 01935 709742.

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