Topic awaiting preservation: Looking in

old battered, barely got my feet wet back in the day, skillset of 1999... a hack by 2011 standards... scary enough, it is all I can do other than the mindless call center work I currently do for 9 bones an hour. even now i write this from a netbook sitting on a couch which is also my bed as I have nowhere to live. the netbook cannot run my software I used to use, when I had a place to plug my tower into, which has been in storage so long I fear it will not run when I finally have a place to plug it into. did I pick the wrong "field"? even in print, without a piece of paper or a hefty ammount of experience under ones belt... you're stuck in a call center calling people while they try to eat, asking them questions about what food they eat. How do I get around not being current with standards, particularly with ps, flash, i know no php whatso-ever, also do not know actionscripting, javascript, and so on. my css skills are intermediate, hackish as well... i hold no degree as well. I am good with going from ps, to html and css to match the prototype. giving it brains however, requires someone with brains, which is not me.

realistically... I am screwed, right?

(Edited by JAlan on 05-03-2011 06:09)

Keep on keeping on JAlan. Change the things you can change, learn to live with the things you can't.

Nobody is screwed as long as they can still use the most important tool that they possess - their brain.

Now, you say you do not have the brains to do the kind of work that you would like to?

Then get cracking!

Develop the brains - the internet is full of all the information that you need to get started.

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

As someone who worked in a call center - allow me to share my experience. What started as a "get me by while I search for a job in my field" position on the phones has led me to where I am now: Managing the infrastructure for a call recording application that services over 25,000 users with a Fortune 500 company.

It's been a long, interesting journey. I don't have a degree in a computer-related field. I started out on the phones and was dying of boredom. I asked my supervisor for work to do between calls. They started with having me work on compiling some reports for our site - the output initially was fairly rudimentary, but I was always challenged with producing something a little more sophisticated. Each step of the way, I was a little out of my depth but taught myself through some wonderful sites on the internet and a couple of "For Dummies" books. Over time, I moved to the Quality team, spent some time doing evaluations & coaching while continuing the reporting work. That experience eventually led to the foundation of an enterprise wide scorecarding application that myself and a partner built. All based on what we taught ourselves along the way and being persistent in our search to do more than just be another agent on the phones.

I have since moved on from that company to where I now work. I started in corporate quality and continued to search for the next challenge - which turned out to be working for call center tecnnology. I work with databases and servers, desktops and end-users. It's been rewarding, challenging and interesting. And, the paycheck isn't too bad either.

Don't give up hope and accept that the rest of your life is going to be spent tethered to a headset and concerning yourself about talk-time and script adherence. If you have any experience with websites, reporting or app development - graphics - anything... talk to your supervisor and see if there's something you can dip your toes into. It doesn't necessarily matter if your skills aren't completely up-to-date - but if you have time between calls that you can spend on a project you can learn. Use the opportunity to get paid to broaden your skillbase. Call Centers can be a great place to get your foot in the door for higher positions in the company. A significant percentage of the folks I work with have done their time as an agent. If you can find a way to make yourself useful, the doors can open.

Good luck and stay positive!

MD