Hoping for a "Stellar" growth….

Track: You Make Me So Very Happy by Blood, Sweat & Tears

in the beginning
man had only concept;
from his mind came
the shape of progress,
and progress was in
the shape of the vague;
then man said, "let
the vague be in the
form of warfare."
and warfare it was
to be, for warfare
it was intended to
be. Then man sensed that
something was missing,
it was getting lonely;
so man said, "let my
warfare have enemies,"
and took a bullet from
a barrel and shaped
it into his own image and
likeness.
        From the beginning
man had only concept,
from his mind came
the shape of progress,
and progress was in
the shape of what
the other possessed.

And they die quickly ever after.

Title: In the Beginning
Date: November 27, 1993, 12.47 am.

Finally got the chance to sit down and  write what's been happening lately. I finally resigned from work to join a start up company as a Team Manager. There are risks involved, I know, specially since I have been a victim of a call center that was doomed even before it started (I-Call, which was later bought by Epixtar). We are Wave 0 in my account - pioneer! So if this company ever grows to be a force to reckon with, the opportunity to advance is tremendous. 

The very process of choosing this new company is worth an entry here on my blog. And if you have time to spare, I surely have time to tell the story…

March I told my Team Leader I'm burnt out. I want a breather, I want to resign and probably find a new industry to join. I sent a resume to one company that also handles offshore calls for our program. I sent them an email telling them I'm still an agent and have been performing well and would they have a slot for me to fill in the manager position? They called me up, set me up for an interview and exam. Passed that and later was told to wait for a call for the final interview. Meanwhile, I told my Team Leader I wanted out!

She asked the Site Director, an American, to talk me out of it. He said, wait for two months and there might be an opening for a Team Manager position. In this company, a big call center that is really, really prestigious, you'd have to apply for a promotion and try to beat out ten or twenty aspirants. I agreed to stay since what the Site Director said about me flattered me no end..

He's the only one who ever had the guts to tell me I'm wrong.

Lesson, pay no heed to flattery! 

By April, there was an internal job posting for the position I have waited for. This will be my fourth attempt! Didn't make it. The Operations Manager who interviewed me at that time, newly promoted, was half-asleep! And the feedback I got was, "The agent was thinking in general terms." 

Nothing followed. Well.. weren't they guilty of that as well? They could've, at least, tried to be more specific. Anyway, as with my previous entries here, I transferred to the e-mail program for our account. There I met Miko and Shirley, Jennifer and Tippy! Great people and nice friends!  Tried to be happy there. And I was, since I met new friends. But I simply had to try to find ways to grow.

Around this time I found a blind ad for a Trainer for a Cubao-based call center. It said it was for a pioneer account. I sent my resume and within 24 hours, got an email inviting me for an interview. Problem is, the email is from the same company where I had a pending application for a Team Leader. I called them up, the recruitment specialist's name is Drew, and I told them, "I have a pending application for another position in your company. I have to regretfully withdraw my application." He said, "Ok." And I thought that was the end of it.

By June, I got a call from the same company again. (It gets better, so stick around!) I was walking down our street from work when I got a call on my mobile. It was for the trainer position again. Since I haven't heard from the same company with regard to my Team Leader position, I thought, well, might as well! I told them I can only make it on a Saturday and they said fine! I continued my walk home, smiling as this could actually be a start of something big. After 25 minutes, got a call from them again, same number. I thought, are they taking the invitation back?!?

It was for the same company but this time, it was finally for the original position I applied for. They had to ask me to take another battery of tests as it had been more than 3 months since I took the tests. I said no problem.  The only catch is I also said yes to the trainer position. I simply had to be honest with them and told them the truth. Jane, of Recruitment, asked me if I wanted to be a trainer or a supervisor. I told her I want to be in operations. 

"Okay, give me five minutes and I'm going to talk to them," then Jane said goodbye. After a full minute, got a call again from Jane saying it has been resolved already and I can come on Saturday, original schedule, but this time for the Team Lead position.

I passed that again, no sweat but after 5 days, I got a call and we just couldn't agree on the salary so I turned that down. This is Friday!

I just need to add here that my own company had another posting for a Team Leader Intern position. It's a promotion, alright, but it's a preparation for the Team Leader position. The Intern will handle 4-6 agents whereas Team Leaders handles about 20 agents. In my mind, I was just waiting for the first company to give me a push up the food chain! My new supervisor was in fact excited at the prospect of helping me out, again! Because while these were happening, I applied for a promotion again but was turned down!

The very next day, while watching a movie at SM Lipa with my partner, I got a call from them again and this time, for a Team Leader for a pioneer position. I told them what had transpired for the past few months and the lady at the other end of the line said, "It's ok, just tell Drew about this." The same Drew I called a few months back to say I'm, not interested! 

On Monday, July 30th, a day before the deadline for application for the Intern position, I talked to Drew. Cutting this short, I got the job! I liked the salary and while two months we need to be in Makati, as soon as the site is complete in Cubao, we'll  be Quezon City based. Next problem, how to resign without waiting for 30 days as first day in my new job is the following Tuesday. So when I got back to work the following day, my supervisor was surprised to see a resignation letter instead of a letter of intent for the Intern position.

My supervisor was supportive, yet very sad to let me go! I would like to believe that I served them well n my 20 months in that account; I never had a failing quality evaluation, never had a failing credit nor a dissatisfied customer in our Point of Service Evaluation! The Operations Manager talked to me and it was the same thing. He endorsed me to my former Operations Manager, she was asking me to stay for another two months! 

I told them I wish I can do that but in order for me to grow I had to make this very painful decision of leaving my friends. They endorsed me to the Senior Operations Manager, and although she said she won't try to "save" me, she did in fact drill down to me to not lose faith in the company. 

I told her, "I haven't lost faith in the company. But I just want to re-focus my faith on myself. If I don't do this, I might end up losing faith on myself!"

I made it clear to her that in February, when I had a chance to leave and pursue the other company, I agreed to stay as the Site Director had asked. I gave the company 5 months, in fact. Can't they just let me go immediately as I have given them enough time. She agreed and here I am.

Very happy and excited! Will tell you more on how I felt next time as the above is a linear recounting of the events! See you soon!