What do you do anyway?

I’ve had a couple emails lately, asking me about my job. Because I have mentioned working at home and working at home seems like a really good idea when you have to sell a kidney to fill your gas tank.

Working at home is cheap. Well, except for having to have a separate computer, phone, printer, fax, noise canceling headset and a sound-proof room for Riley. Fortunately all of that is deductible from your taxes. Unless you want the IRS sniffing around a whole lot and then you just figure it takes the place of filling the gas tank a couple times a week.

Working at home is easier than having to go into town. The nearest location where I could find a job that pays even close to as well as this one would be a 30 to 40 minute drive. I also don’t have to deal with on the job politics very much. I have a lot of flexibility as far as when I work and how many hours – this hasn’t been true of all the work at home jobs I have had, but it is right now.

There is a downside. I’m a contractor and my contract is open-ended which means I can be let go at any time. It is best to work for more than one company at a time and most of the time I try to keep two contracts at once. Even so, I have found myself without much work at times so it can be difficult if you are the main source of income. No benefits at all either, though in my case that doesn’t matter very much since we have them through the union with Larry.

But “what do you do???” Right now I am doing customer service. I have had quite a few different work at home jobs over the last 3 years, including tech support for a cell phone company, taking orders for a few different clients, setting appointments and facilitating constituent communications for lobbying groups. Most of it is pretty easy, not very stressful and pays surprisingly well once you know which companies are the best to work for.

Remember the last time you called customer service? You heard one of 3 things. An obviously busy call center. A person with a very thick accent who can’t understand what you want. Or a competent, interested person who knew exactly what to do to help and had absolutely no noise at all in the background. Those “no noise at all in the background” folks? They are all working at home. In their pajamas.

I benefit greatly from the backlash against companies who have off-shored their customer service. I know that people in India need a job too, but if I have to call customer service, I want the person taking my call to understand my problem and have the ability to convey to me what will be done about it. I’m not alone in that desire and as a result, there are far more opportunities for working at home than there were just 3 years ago when I first started.

I can’t tell you exactly who I am working for, because most companies require that we sign a non-disclosure contract, but it is a major retailer with a pretty good website and a whole lot of customers. Like many retailers, their response to the recent financial downturn has been to have a sale. A really big sale. This means that the whole lot of customers are all trying to order at the same time. Too many as it turns out and this has caused multiple system glitches. And a LOT of phone calls. Here, listen:

Me: Hello – my name is dlyn, thank you for calling the big wonderful company I work for, how can I help you today?
Caller: Are you having a problem with your website today?
Me: Y –
Caller: Because I was trying to place an order and first it looked like it would go through, and everything was fine and then I got an error message, so I am wondering if you guys are having a problem.
Me: We a-
Caller: Because this is a really important order I am trying to place and I really need these things and the website seems to have a problem right now. Do you know what the problem is?
Me: The w-
Caller: I can get these things someplace else if you think I won’t be able to order them. Can you just do the order over the phone? Because I really need to get this order done. I don’t see why your website isn’t working the way it should be. How are people supposed to get the things they want? Why don’t you just do the order for me? Hello?
Me: I am here. We aren’t able to do orders over the phone – all ordering has to be through our website. Our site is having a problem right now but the information that we have is that it ought to be ok in a couple hours.
Caller: So that is why my order won’t go through?
Me: Yes – it is because we are having a problem with the website.
Caller: So there is a problem then?
Me: Yes Ma’am, we are having a problem but they expect it will be fixed in within a couple hours.
Caller: So I can’t place an order right now then?
Me: No Ma’am – you should try again in a couple hours.
Caller: So, like 2 hours then?
Me: Yes Ma’am, you should try again in a couple hours.
Caller: And by then you are sure it will be working?
Me: We don’t have an exact time at this point. The information we have right now is that they expect it will be back up and running properly within a couple hours.
Caller: Well if I try in a few hours and it’s not working, I am calling back to have you put through the order through for me.
Me: Ma’am, our system is not set up to take orders over the phone. We expect the website will be working again later today.
Caller: Ok, but if it’s not working, I am calling back.
Me: Is there anything else I can do for you today?
Caller: I guess not. Unless you want to take my order right now.
Me: Just try the site again in a few hours ma’am. Thank you for calling and have a nice day.

Repeat that and variations on it by about 5000 calls and you have our day yesterday. The last I heard, not everything is working properly yet, so today ought to be fun too.

Of course the majority of days aren’t like this at all and for the most part, when it is all said and done, I love my job and the way it frees me to pursue other things I really enjoy. Right now though, I am going to make some more coffee before I sign in to work. Thank you for calling and have a good day.