We noticed in our company along with many small and medium mobile service type companies have used the services of Call Centers and Answering services to collect calls for the operators. What we are finding when talking to companies which do not have their own telemarketing departments that it is difficult to find a call center company that can keep customer satisfaction rates as high as they need. We are hearing from companies that this is getting tougher and tougher. The consumers are not getting any easier to please either. Call Center rates which take calls and then electronically dispatch by alpha pager or Blue Tooth PDA device charge between $1.50 to $2.80 per call and $.40 to $.90 to dispatch out. Often small companies were getting a break due to the fact that call center companies and answering services had other large Corporate Clientele and larger customers. With the economic hit combined with the Telemarketing hit with the “Do Not Call List” (which no one can deny is needed to keep pesky telemarketers from calling at your residence during dinner times purposely), the change in the call center industry was drastic. Now the economy has rebounded, but in some markets where they were large employers many are still in the job market.

Larger companies now are using several new technologies to lower their costs at call centers and to only use actual operators when absolutely needed. When needed the “in-bound” operator is usually given several up selling screens in order to increase sales for the company and they are often given commissions on up selling. There are hundreds of new white papers on Call Center IT software on Bit Pipe online as the industry is trying to use artificial intelligence in order to limit the time of the operators at the centers.

Many of these telemarketing inbound call centers are not even in the country. Called one the other day in Nova Scotia, Canada. Have called several in India for many very large companies. It is interesting that these companies often process payments and credit cards through these call centers and often take personal information and credit card numbers. There use to be a huge problem with call centers using prison labor, which was going on until the FBI started checking into the identity theft and caught a bunch of them at it. Companies are trying to shave costs where ever they can. Many companies are trying to shave costs where ever they can and that means call centers but using intelligent systems, over seas or out of country operators and/or closing service centers all over. Some have outsourced to third party call centers with some success, which works fine if the call centers can keep your satisfaction rate at 80% plus, usually this is tough, but the India Companies are good at this, being polite that is. Actually and unfortunately for good American’s who had these jobs.

There has been some talk about the out sourcing jobs in these sectors although these jobs are very valuable we should be worried more about IT Jobs being deported to China. And Department of Defense Contracts going to Indian companies for IT. Some in-house state of the art call centers are getting 500% up sell, meaning not only are they getting a live voice to the customer which is perceived as value added in this day of non-personalized service, but also extending customer loyalty by up to 15% a good white paper on this is written by the founder of eLoyalty. The Title of the paper is “Customer Connections – A Breakthrough Model for Analyzing and Influencing Customer Behavior;

http://fcw.bitpipe.com/data/detail?id=1071510946_531&type=RES&src=KA_RES

It dives into the “paradigm shift” as he calls it as call center computers analysis the voice of the caller and suggest sentences to use to the operator to resolve hostile conflict, build report and then up sell or get a customer to settle down if it is a complaint call. In after phone experience surveys by customer there have been unbelievable improvements in satisfaction. Anyone wanting to improve their businesses ought to read that white paper. Maybe the government ought to get these systems in, because those so called “good folks” in government at their call centers are about the most worthless, un caring folks I have ever seen. And many of their supervisors need to be axed for their attitude. Apparently they have completely forgotten the customer.

Do you get satisfaction from helping others? Are you great with kids? Are you one of those rare souls who has a knack for gently yet firmly getting your point across? Those strengths might make you an excellent elementary school teacher.

Teachers guide and nurture children through the learning process and often have a strong influence on a child’s future goals, dreams, and self-esteem. Becoming an elementary teacher requires a bachelor’s degree from a teaching program and a license to educate. Those who teach private school still need a degree, but may not be required to be licensed by their state.

In 2008, an elementary school teacher could expect to make a median salary of $49,330, according to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Are You a Math Whiz?

Do you have the uncanny ability to add numbers in your head? Do you calculate sales tax with a glance? Are you capable of balancing your checkbook in only a few easy minutes? A career as a bookkeeper could keep you properly challenged.

Bookkeepers are responsible for maintaining the financial records of a business. They prepare reports, keep track of deposits and financial statements, and sometimes handle payroll or make purchases for the company. A high school diploma may open the door, and career training continues on the job, but many businesses require their bookkeepers to hold at least an associate’s degree in business or accounting.

As reported by the BLS, the median salary for bookkeepers in 2008 was $32,510.

Is Your Love for Video Games Beyond Compare?

Do you relish finding all the tricks and hidden codes in video games? Are you the go-to expert who can fix problems with video game systems? All that video-game savvy could pay off if you decide to become a computer software engineer.

Computer software engineers design, develop, and test software, including video games. They might work alone or as part of a team, depending upon the project requirements. Those with a bachelor’s degree in computer science are more likely to get the job, and relevant experience opens the door to advancement. In 2008, the BLS reported the median salary for computer software engineers at $85,430.

Does a Unique Dining Experience Thrill You?

Do you have a taste for the finer things in life? Are you the first to test out a new restaurant? Do you have well-thumbed stacks of food and wine magazines throughout your house? It might be time to throw on the white coat and become a chef.

Executive chefs are responsible for running the kitchen, developing menus, and, of course, preparing delicious meals for patrons. The executive chef might supervise a small team of cooks or be the head of a major restaurant chain. Many chefs opt for career training programs at culinary institutes, and some pursue associate’s or bachelor’s degrees in culinary arts.

According to the latest BLS statistics, executive chefs made an average of $38,770 in 2008.

Do You Love to Talk?

Do you enjoy the media and love to follow the top stories? Do you like to talk to anyone and everyone? A job in public relations will get you up close and personal with the movers and shakers.

Publicists are responsible for crafting and maintaining the public image of a celebrity, organization, or business. They draft press releases, talk to the media, and organize both public and private events. The publicist uses every form of media to get their message across, and does so in a timely manner.

Many publicists begin their careers with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, public relations, or a related field such as advertising. Excellent communication skills are a requirement, and further career training comes through on-the-job experience. The average salary for a publicist in 2008 was $51,280, according to the BLS.

Personality and Career — a Winning Combination

By choosing a job that fits your personality, you’ve taken the first step toward career happiness. Your hard-earned degree can be your second step toward turning your strengths into a steady paycheck.
by Shannon Dauphin

Civitelli and other experts offer these questions for assessing the health of your network:

1. How many former co-workers’ contact information do you have?

Focus particularly on your peers and people above you in the organization.

The more people you’re in touch with, the better. If you need to beef up the number of people in your network, a tool like LinkedIn can help, both with searching and with keeping up with former colleagues’ job moves.

2. Does your network include a handful of people who could serve as references?

These people need to be willing to recommend you — and they need to know your work well. “References can’t be vaguely positive,” Civitelli said.

If you can’t think of four to six good reference candidates, you need to step up your networking to make sure people you work with know about your achievements.

3. How many of your contacts have you communicated with in the past six months?

This is a measure of your active network.

“You don’t need to talk to everyone in your network every three minutes,” said Richard Phillips, owner of Advantage Career Solutions. But you should check in regularly, even if you just send a brief email saying you hope all is well. That way, when you do need to ask for job-hunting help, it will be “emotionally much easier” to make the contact.

4. Have you had lunch or coffee with someone from your network in the past month?

Make a point of meeting in person with a former colleague or another professional connection every few weeks.

5. Have you attended a professional event recently?

Attending professional conferences will help you expand your network beyond former colleagues. Becoming active in a professional association will also boost your resume.

6. Have you added any professional contacts in the past month?

Your network needs to grow in order to stay vital. Try to add new contacts — either by getting back in touch with former colleagues or by meeting new people — frequently.

7. Are you networking “outside the box” — that is, making connections beyond your former colleagues and friends?

Job opportunities can arise from unexpected sources. Marianne Adoradio, a career counselor in Silicon Valley, recommends expanding your network to include some people outside your industry and at different stages of their careers, who can tell you about trends and opportunities you might not otherwise hear about.

8. When your professional contacts get in touch with you, do you answer?

“People just kind of steer away from you if you’re not responding,” Adoradio said.

What if a contact is asking for job leads and you don’t have any? “You do have the ability to offer something of great value,” Phillips said: encouragement. This will also increase the chances that that person will help you sometime in the future.
by Margaret Steen

Nonprofit organizations are always looking for volunteers. For Mark Goodman, a former vice president of business development for a small wireless consulting company who decided to change careers to work in Web 2.0 video production, volunteering meant having a supportive environment to brush up on his filming skills. He stepped up at SCORE Chicago, a nonprofit that helps small businesses.

“One of the great things about volunteering is the fact that everyone is very supportive of doing new things. When people are paying you, many times they want things done a specific way. In a volunteer organization, if you are willing to help, they give you quite a bit of creative freedom,” says Goodman.

Experts say that volunteering is a fantastic way to build skills — and boost your resume, too. “Put this in your resume positioned as actual experience and the impact you had in that role,” says professional certified coach Karla Robertson, the founding CEO of Shifting Gears Business Coaching and Consulting of Howell, NJ. “Don’t just laundry list the organizations you volunteered for — take a real look at what skills you honed as a result of your volunteer work and the outcomes and value you contributed.”

Skill Booster #2: Hit the Library

You’ve probably seen the “Dummies” and “Idiots” guidebooks, which often provide a broad overview of topics. They can be a good start to familiarizing yourself with industry terms and basic knowledge. Rather than buying the book, hit the local library and check out the whole section devoted to whatever you want to learn.

Reading up on your new skills is an important element in learning, says Dr. Debra Condren, a business psychologist, coach, and author of “Ambition Is Not A Dirty Word.” “Number one tip: read everything you can get your hands on, including industry and popular publications, the business section of a national paper and also your local newspapers, and top books on the subject,” she adds.

Skill Booster #3: Web Classes and Podcasts

The Internet is a treasure trove of knowledge just waiting to be accessed. There are webinars, podcasts, white papers and more, all available, if you just look. Looking is what Satya Colombo of iEnvision Media did when she needed to learn to build a website. Colombo was a reality television production coordinator, but when work dried up after the writer’s strike and the economic downturn, she created a business that does Web design and interactive strategy, skills that she learned for free online.

“When I first decided to create my own website, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing,” explains Colombo, who designed her website herself after a designer failed to meet her expectations. She used her background in media production, which she said gave her a sense of “what looks and feels right,” and learned online how to design for the Web. She found that there were many designers and experts happy to share their knowledge online.

Skill Booster #4: Continuing Education

If you are looking for something that might require more formal training, continuing education programs at area institutions can be another option for developing new skills. “For recent and mid-career college graduates facing a difficult job market and a troubling economy, continuing education certificates are becoming an increasingly attractive way to transition to employment areas that are in demand,” says Henry DeVries, director of communications for UC San Diego Extended Studies and Public Programs.

But universities aren’t the only place to look for certificate or degree programs. Local community colleges and even park and recreation departments in your town often offer skill classes that can help you learn whatever you need. And, if you’re looking to apply new skills at your current place of employment, say in a lateral switch, you may be eligible for tuition reimbursement.

The construction industry suffered the largest number of deaths. Its fatality rate per 100,000 full-time workers was only 9.6, less than a 10th of that of people in fishing, but that added up to 969 deaths in 2008, no less than 19.1% of all U.S. workplace fatalities.

What about those Wall Streeters? People in finance and insurance actually had the lowest fatality rate of any occupation — 0.3 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers, or just 24 people across the nation.

Top 5 Deadliest Jobs

Fishers and related fishing workers
Logging workers
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers
Structural iron and steel workers
Farmers and ranchers

Step-By-Step Money Making System

The pink elephant in the room

If you don’t say it out loud, perhaps no one will notice that you’ve got someone on the team who isn’t pulling his or her weight. You can hold back on projects, reassign some of their duties to others and even do some of the work yourself. Managers will do just about anything not to upset the apple cart. Surely no one will notice you’ve got a non-performer on your hands.

Here’s the problem. It’s not a secret and your employees are all talking about it. Everyone is waiting for you to make your move. The longer it takes for this to happen, the more time they have to question your leadership. Before long, people are no longer staying late and they certainly aren’t volunteering to pick up the slack. Your staff no longer respects you.

Take action when an employee has a performance problem. It may simply be a matter of providing more training. If you feel you’ve made a hiring mistake, part ways before you invest more resources into a situation that you know will never work.

Customers stop complaining

Isn’t it great when customers stop complaining? Yes, if it’s for the right reason. But often times it’s because they simply don’t care anymore. They’ve given you feedback and you haven’t made any changes. They still have the same account rep, who can’t seem to bother returning their calls. You know how difficult it is to find good sales people so you decide that the one you have is better than anyone you can get. Too bad your client doesn’t feel that way. They are shopping for a new vendor while you are off replacing the last major customer that got away. Oh, and by the way, they are letting everyone know how dissatisfied they are with your firm.

Stop the vicious cycle. Everyone knows that it takes more energy to find new clients than it does to retain the clients you have. If someone stops calling, don’t assume that everything is all right. Pick up the phone and follow up with them to make sure things are fine. Delight your client or they will find someone else who will value their business.

If you are keeping employees who are not customer focused then you are damaging your firm’s reputation. Do you still think it’s better to have someone than no one at all?

What’s a little more work?

If all your time is spent doing the work of your subordinates than how can you possibly have time to work on the strategic pieces that will move your company forward? Before you decide that you will do something yourself, ask yourself why you are making this decision. If it’s because you don’t believe anyone else can do the task, then step back and assess each member of your group. Provide them with resources so they can come up to speed and then hold them accountable. If it’s because you have a difficult time giving up control, then set up an appointment with a professional who can help you work through this issue.

Things have changed. Stodgy boilerplate phrases in your resume today mark you as uncreative and “vocabulary challenged.” You can make your resume more compelling and human-sounding by rooting out and replacing the boring corporate-speak phrases that litter it, and replacing them with human language — things that people like you or I would actually say.

Here are the worst 10 boilerplate phrases — the ones to seek out and destroy in your resume as soon as possible:

Results-oriented professional
Cross-functional teams
More than [x] years of progressively responsible experience
Superior (or excellent) communication skills
Strong work ethic
Met or exceeded expectations
Proven track record of success
Works well with all levels of staff
Team player
Bottom-line orientation
You can do better. What about adding a human voice to your resume? Here’s an example:

“I’m a Marketing Researcher who’s driven by curiosity about why people buy what they do. At XYZ Industries, I used consumer surveys and online-forum analysis to uncover the reasons why consumers chose our competitors over us; our sales grew twenty percent over the next six months as a result. I’m equally at home on sales calls or analyzing data in seclusion, and up to speed on traditional and new-millennium research tools and approaches. I’m fanatical about understanding our marketplace better every day, week and month — and have helped my employers’ brands grow dramatically as a result.”

You don’t have to write resumes that sound like robots wrote them. This tool( Download ) is useful– try it!

Mislabeling Your Resume

Brittney learned the hard way that a resume on your hard drive must be labeled BrittneyJonesResume.doc or some other simple and obvious name when it’s sent to employers via email. Even better is to label each resume with your name and the name of the employer it’s going to, a la BrittneyJonesResumeAbbottLabs.doc. That way, if you tweak your resume for different job openings (and I hope you do) you’ll always know which version of your resume you’ve sent to each employer.

The Shotgun Approach

A resume that starts out “Objective: to make a contribution to my next employer in any Marketing, PR, Product Management or Operations role” is bound for the trash bin, whether the job in question is a Marketing, PR, Product Management or Operations job. These days, you don’t go to the print shop and order resumes in boxes of 100 anymore. You can and must customize your resume as often as needed, and very possibly for every job you pursue. So why would a prospective employer want to know about your qualifications for jobs you’re not applying for? Take out the extra roles and focus your resume on just the job you’re applying for today.

Ignoring the Job-Ad Instructions

I wrote a job ad that said, “Please send me an email message that answers these three questions.” Then, I listed three questions that job applicants should answer in a paragraph or two. Oh dear! Of 95 applicants, only a handful answered the questions. That’s an easy way for employers to screen out candidates, so it’s worth your time to read and re-read the job ad carefully, and respond to it in the way the ad specifies. No sense being dropped out of the pipeline before you’ve had a chance to shine!

Failing to Customize

When a job opening gives you a chance to write a cover letter, write a good one! Take 15 or 20 minutes to research the employer online (visiting the company’s own website and news sites, for starters) in order to say something company-specific in your cover letter. “I am interested in the job because it sounds interesting” doesn’t cut it in this job market. Try, “Given your recent acquisition of Sun Microsystems, I’m guessing that the IT Integration Specialists you’re seeking now should be folks who’ve been through data-integration projects in the past, as I have. At IBM, I …” and so forth.

Drowning in Boilerplate

A good 2009 resume or cover letter is strong and human-sounding, not dry and full of corporate-speak fluff. Take out the “strong team orientation,” “results-oriented professional,” and “bottom line focus” before you send another resume into the market. Replace that awful stuff with mini-stories that point out your best qualities, like “At ABC Graphics, our team won the President’s Award for on-time delivery.”

Don’t let a basic job-search error slow down your job search!
Free Job Search Tool

I spent many years as an accountant and will admit that I was one of the two-thirds that hated my job. But I stuck it out for several years thinking that it would get better after whatever project was over, after the beginning of the year, when someone was hired, or whatever other excuse I could come up with. Then it came time to really face it – I wasn’t happy with my career and needed a change. So that’s just what I did. And here’s how you can too:

1. Create a picture of your dream job. If you could do anything in the world, what would it be? If money were no object, what work would you do and why? Be very specific when creating your picture. Include details like what you would be doing in that job, what your coworkers are like, what your office looks like, how the company treats you, or how your life would change. The more specific you are the better.

2. Acknowledge your true feelings about your current job or career. Do you love the work you are doing? Is it challenging? Is it personally fulfilling? What is it that is making you unhappy? Make a list of everything you like and don’t like about this job or career.

3. Assess your skills, strengths, and weaknesses. Honestly evaluate what you are good at and enjoy doing. Focusing on your skills and strengths can help you determine your direction. Get an outside opinion on your skills and strengths by asking people that you can trust and that have been exposed to your work. Often, people see us differently than we see ourselves. For an unbiased opinion, try a career or skill assessment test. There are many of these tests available online for a nominal fee. Many life and career coaches offer assessments and can help you evaluate the results.

4. Take action! If your current job does not match your dream job, see if there is anything you can do to bring them closer together. That may mean finding a different job that more closely resembles your ideal job. If you have found that you are in the wrong career altogether, determine what steps you need to take to get into the new career. Do you need additional training? Can you use your professional or personal contacts to help you transition into a new career? How can you move yourself toward this new career? Take action on it and make it happen!
Step by Step Money Making System

Business executives and managers are constantly dealing with problems. Most of the time, they have not recognized that creating a job position or replacing a current employee who is not performing satisfactorily could solve a problem. Sometimes, the decision maker has thought about creating a new job, but has not firmly decided to do that yet. Even after deciding in their own mind, some decision makers will delay in letting others know about the job.

STOP! – Take a moment to consider everything you have read above. Now, think about how much your chances of getting a great job would be increased if you can get decision makers to meet with you before they have advertised the job!

Your chances increase even more if you can meet with them before they have realized that creating a job will solve a problem they have. You know that they have problems and, in many cases, you know that you can help solve at least one of those problems if they hire you. So, you know that a potential job exists.

THIS IS EXCITING! – You might be the only person who knows that there is a job! That includes the decision maker that you are meeting with! Talk about limiting the competition! Of course, you can’t just come out and say, “Hire me and I can solve this problem.” You must approach the decision maker is a way that makes him realize that he should hire you.

Step #2 – Present your talents, abilities, skills and knowledge in such a manner that a decision maker has to read it and think about it.

Many resumes and cover letters end up in the wastebasket or in the “rejection letter” stack. Job Finding Formula reveals a powerful technique that forces decision makers to read your resume and think about what they have read. By making use of “Step #3″ below, you can make executives and managers want to meet with you! This may cause them to realize that hiring you can solve a problem that they have or that someone else they know has.

Step #3 – Use the principles of human behavioral science to achieve steps 1 and 2 above and to get referrals to other decision makers. Scientific studies have revealed the basis for human behavior. These principles have been tested and proven over many years.