Imagine our surprise to learn that there is one area in which graduates are currently outstripping supply to regular job-seekers. In new research published this week it found that for every three employees at a UK contact centre, one of them is a recent graduate from university or even more highly-educated than that.
UK call centres are experiencing an increase in job applications and interest from graduates in 2010, according to new research by the recruiting expert Hays Contact Centres, in conjunction with the Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service.* The survey reveals that 55% of call centre managers received more speculative job applications in 2010 compared to 2009, and 72% have seen an increase in applications for advertised jobs.
One article stated that the ‘blooming’ number of graduates is made up of candidates who are quite highly skilled too. Many of them have MA’s, or a Masters in business administration. But what kind of personality profile are these people, and why do they seek out a contact centre as an employer in particular?
And despite long-held beliefs that contact centres are generally shoddy places to work with poor pay on offer, generally, contact centres provide a large amount of security to a prospective employee. Employee benefits are generally quite strong, with many having contributory pension schemes, a company lunchroom and other perks like full medical and dental benefits.
Are you surprised at all by these findings? Do you think a customer service contact centre is a good place to start your career, why or why not? Please sound off in the comments below...
* The research was carried out by Hays Contact Centres, in conjunction with the Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service, a benchmarking initiative created to improve the performance of call centres and instil best practice across the industry.
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