Unexpected Culture Shock!

This afternoon, I went for an interview with DBS for the position of Customer Service Officer (CSO) at their call centre. Initially, I had the impression that it was a customer service job, but through the phone calls with Job Street, I came to realize that it was a pure call centre job scope & work environment. But nevertheless, I decided to give myself a chance to learn & experience something new by going for this interview.

Upon checking the Street Directory website, I found out that this DBS call centre was located at Chai Chee, just 4 bus stops away from my house! I was elated, but decided to keep it cool first… distance to the workplace is a good factor, but there are many other factors to consider. And this is by far, one of the most ‘interesting’ interviews that I have ever gone to.

Putting on my white shirt, blue tie & black pants, I walked to the bus stop at Siglap Centre to wait for bus 40 to arrive. It was a rather long wait & I was beginning to sweat, since I had walked about 10 minutes from my house to get to this bus stop. But I reassured myself that it is only 4 bus stops away, so don’t too much about the heat. The bus should be coming…

Alighting from the bus stop, I started to look around for directions to get to this particular office block. Walking around, I realized that there was no office block… for this is an industrial estate & all around were flatted factories! I thought to myself – nevermind, I have worked at Tai Seng before, so it’s nothing new.

Upon reaching the block, I started to walk around to search for the lift lobby to enter the building. As I walked around, I saw big parking lots which were too big for regular cars that travel on the road. Then I realized – these were parking lots for trucks, lorries & pick-ups… not cars. Nevermind, continue looking for the lift lobby…

The compound around was rather shabby looking, but I kept reassuring myself that Tai Seng wasn’t that nice looking either. Although the thought kept bugging me that Tai Seng area weren’t all flatted factories… there were several office buildings too, e.g. DHL, StarHub, etc.

I passed a rather dilapidated lift lobby & turned out to be a cargo lift which passengers (especially visitors) are not allowed to take. How did I know? There was a printed sign that told me so. So I hunted around until I finally saw a decent looking lift lobby & walked towards it. Aha! This is the passenger lift lobby!

I pressed the button to go to the 4th level, cautious about whatever scene or outlook that would await me. When the lift door opened, I stepped out & looked around. Okay, just a plain looking corridor. Turning left, I saw that it was the Gents… so I decided to relief myself & put on my tie.

Upon stepping into the toilet, WOW! I realized to my horror that it was the presence of a huge strong pungent smell enveloping my nostrils! Argh! The toilet area looks rather clean & without the water or urine splashes that I see everyday at my previous office at Tai Seng… but the Gents at Tai Seng didn’t have this pungent foul smell! It was confusing! A relatively clean & dry toilet floor, but bursting with horrendous ‘fragrance’!

I psycho-ed myself to quickly finish urinating, wash my hands & put on my tie. A 2 seconds scan through of my printed sheet of interview questions & answers… & off I went… out of the toilet! It was definitely a refreshing breather outside, even though it was an industrial estate.

As DBS occupied the whole 4th floor, I entered the first office door, asking for Clarice who was supposed to interview me. “Wrong office” was the answer that I was given… so I proceeded further along the corridor before entering another office door. It was the right office, but this time… this placed looked weird to me.

Remember – I applied for a job at a bank & my assumption was that banks are rigid & have a strong sense of discipline in terms of attire & mannerisms. But as I approached the reception desk, I realized that the receptionist is dressed very casually! She also had colored spiky hair & spoke with a hoarse voice resembling Sharon Yeoh from church. I smiled to myself… this receptionist was quite a loud spoken person, chit chatting & talking in unladylike mannerisms to those staff who were going in & out of the call centre.

After being asked to sit down & submitting a filled-up job application form, I began to observe my surroundings & found that to my horror, I was the most formally dressed person in that whole office floor! All around, there were people dressed in very casual attire, e.g. t-shirt & jeans. To me, they are looked like they were working as temp staff at this call centre! I was taken aback. Isn’t this supposed to be DBS bank? I know that it’s not a typical DBS branch office, but surely there should be some form of discipline in conduct & behavior?

But there was almost none. Almost everyone was casually dressed, spoke casually & it was a very relaxed atmosphere. Too relaxed, I would say. It didn’t even look like an office environment!

Not before long, I began to catch a tinge of the noise that was rumbling inside the office. There were many voices & I realized that they were all call centre staff talking on the phone! I couldn’t guess how many people were there inside, but it was surely a lot of rumbling of noise.

After some time of wait, Clarice came over to casually introduce herself & brought me to a small room with a PC inside. She told me that I had to take this typing test whereby I had to listen to this conversation between a customer & a DBS call centre staff & key in the correct information into the list of combo boxes & blank spaces in the database as shown on the PC screen. This audio test will last about 5 minutes & points will be calculated at the end of this test. There was a pause function that I could click to pause, but points would be deducted each time I use the pause function & it also depends on how long I paused it. After the first screen’s information has been said over the audio, the next screen will appear, so I have to key in fast & accurately within that short period of time. There will also be information such as ‘gender’, ‘salutation’, etc which will not be mentioned over the phone, but I’m supposed to update it concurrently as well.

This listening test proved to be quite stressful, but I managed to pass it quite well. In fact, Clarice mentioned that I scored a high average in this test.

Next, I was brought through the masses of call centre staff working in this entire office area. I was stunned… It wasn’t a typical 30 or 40-person call centre… but there was nearly 400 call centre staff talking at the same time! The volume of the rumblings got louder, but I did my best to block it out & tolerate it.

Clarice got me seated at a table at the centre of the call centre office, handed me a DBS brochure, ear phone set & told me that I have 10 minutes to go through & understand this brochure before my role-play simulation test begins! One of the call centre managers will call up, acting as a customer & will assess how I would respond to the call. Clarice mentioned that this is a test of information search, quick thinking & under no circumstance am I allowed to seek help from anyone around me.

The 10 minutes passed very fast, as I did my best to browse through this brochure with many pages, from areas such as gifts for women, to gifts for men, to holiday travel, purchase of gadgets, restaurants, etc. Clarice passed me a piece of paper & I wondered why she didn’t hand me a pen too. But nevermind, so I took out my own pen & made a few notes like the promotion duration, etc. Then I tore out strips of paper & wrote words like ‘Food’, ‘Men’, ‘Women’, ‘Travel’, etc, so that I could place them in-between those specific pages of that brochure, to aid my information search when the call comes in.

“Droo… Droo Droo…”… the switch board phone rang. I was shocked coz I didn’t expect the call to come in so fast. I panicked, stared at the switch board & waited 3 seconds before answering. Then I spoke with a very cautious & worried voice, “Hello…?” Wah! That was it! The manager on the other line was stunned! He didn’t even know how to react or say a word for about 2 full seconds!

I supposed he was expected something basic such as, “Good afternoon, this is DBS, Matthew speaking. How may I help you?” Instead, I gave him this shocking first impression by uttering a shaky & nervous “Hello…?”

I told my Mum at night & both of us laughed & laughed & laughed… Hahahaha…

This role-play scenario testing carried out, very abruptly at first, with the manager trying to sound me out concerning some of the promotions that were stated in the DBS brochure that was sent to him. I knew that it was all a test, so he’s bound to play some tricks & test me for patience, information accuracy & my ability to relate effectively with the caller.

True enough, this fella began shooting questions, asking this & that. But the problem is that his questions were vague, e.g. he wanted to find out which restaurant offers nice Christmas season food. There were several restaurants mentioned in the brochure, so I named a few.

Next, he asked about getting a gift for his girlfriend & stopped there. So I had to follow through by asking what kind of gift does his girlfriend like. He replied jewelry, so I told him two jewelry shops that have promotional discounts if he uses his DBS credit card to pay. He wasn’t happy & asked why his preferred jewelry shop isn’t in the brochure. I said that this jewelry shop is not under the DBS discount scheme, & he demanded for the number to call & ask the marketing department why DBS promotion doesn’t include this particular brand. I told him that I can find out & call him back.

Then he challenged me & asked what time would I call back. I told him that I would call back in an hour’s time. He said okay, and then spoke angrily over the phone, saying “So what are the issues that you need to get back to me on?” So I told him & he put down the phone.

I knew it was all a test, so I wasn’t angry, but inside my heart I felt that I didn’t like to work in this kind of environment. Looking around, everyone is just looking at a database screen on the PC & talking with the switch board. Then I asked myself – how will working in a job like this be of relevant working experience for my future jobs?

I began to feel upset, coz here, call centre staff are all so shabbily dressed & don’t even portray a professional image of DBS at all. I know it’s a call centre environment, where staffs do not meet customers face-to-face, but surely there should be some sort of work ethic or regulation? This fatty who was sitting near me was wearing his old grey army sleeveless singlet & answering the phone! Shocking! Although I don’t really fancy wearing formal attire everyday, but this wasn’t something that I expected from a bank such as DBS. To me, it was a totally uncouth culture & I really didn’t like the work atmosphere there…

While reflecting on how badly I had answered that simulated customer phone call, Clarice came up to me & ushered me to sit & wait at the reception area, while she went to ask for the manager to have a face-to-face interview with me. Oh well, it was another long wait for me, with the Ah Lian looking receptionist coming up to me & asked whether I’m done with my interview & I replied that I’m waiting for the manager to interview me. By then, I had already been there for 1 & ½ hours & feeling tired from the stressful tests. But I put on a fake smile when the manager walked towards me.

At first, I thought he was one of those easy-going staff working there. When he introduced himself with his Chinese name which I can’t hear clearly, I was taken aback by his attire. He was dressed even more casually than Clarice! Blue t-shirt & rough pants…

He brought me into another small & cram room which I noticed was labeled ‘Latte’. I smiled & commented that their meeting rooms have interesting drink names, remembering that the earlier small room that I did the computer listening test was labeled ‘Chocolate’. What a culture! I couldn’t take it anymore… Bank leh! *Faint*.

As this manager conversed with me, the same old usual questions, I noticed that he had a strange look at times. Sometimes he would give this smile that I’m not sure whether to classify as cute; other times he would look very stern & serious. I couldn’t make out his facial expression... or was he just faking it? I knew I was faking my tone & smile too, coz I knew that I didn’t feel right & comfortable working in a place like this.

The interview carried on & eventually ended. *Phew*… Finally, I could leave this place. I was in utter confusion. If selected, should I just take this job out of a need for basic ‘bread & butter’? Or should I listen to my heart & move onto another job?

I spoke to my Mum at night & told her the whole story in more elaborate details & hand actions. Both of us didn’t like the environment at all & the nature of work didn’t seem fit for a graduate. In fact, my Mum also told me that my Dad quietly told her that he isn’t happy that I do such a job. Plus this working experience isn’t going to relevant for future jobs, be it marketing, business development, fitness training, human resource, or whatever. This job basically pays someone to sit there, answer / make phone calls & key information into the database system.

Plus, if selected I will have to go through 2 months of training, whereby there would be tests every week! Boy, I hate tests! And these tests are not really useful knowledge, but how to answer phone calls, how to speak to customers, as well as the rigid ways that staffs are supposed to speak to them. How can I take such a nature of work?!

Btw, I will only be confirmed as a staff after passing all these tests… which means that if I fail eventually (especially since I’m already unhappy about it), I would have just wasted 2 months of my life. And if I pass, I would have to sign a contract of minimum 9 months, all the way to September 2006. How can I take all these?! No way!

My parents also know that I’m the kind of person that speaks my mind, of course in a diplomatic manner, unless it’s a fun occasion. I’m not the kind who likes to stay rigid & do rigid things! This is worse than a pure admin paper-work job! In addition, all phone conversations are taped for the whole day & everyday, so as to monitor for improvements to be made. PLEASE LAH! NOT ME!!!!

And seriously, looking at this place, my Mum also agrees with me that there is very little prospect to work in a pure call centre environment. Worse than the time when I was working as a temp staff at Cuppage! This time it is an entire floor of 400 tightly squeezed tables & fish-monger-like rumblings coming from everywhere! No no… this is definitely not the job for me & my Mum totally agrees with me. I’ll go find something else! Disgusting! Urgh!