By Roark Masbad
Ateneo de Davao University

THEY say it's the easiest job you can get these days. They say it's something you can do with your eyes closed. They say it's a job to get if you want easy money streaming into your wallet. I say they're wrong.

The job of a call center agent is an underrated job. I have been asked by so many of my friends why I even chose to be in that industry. They tell me it's not fulfilling. They tell me that it's just not something that fits me in terms of my skills. I tell them they do not know what they're talking about.

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They say it's an easy job. I say no.

When you're on the phone for the last couple of hours constantly being argued upon, berated, cursed by a customer on the phone all because of an excess charge of a dollar on their credit card, it's quite taxing.

If you think that's hard, go through that ten or twenty more times for the next eight hours. Do you get the picture? Now you know. It's hard.

Here's another thing they tell me. They tell me it's a job that anyone can do with your eyes closed. If that was the case, I say you're one of Stan Lee's marvelous characters with super powers.

The only power we had was multitasking. And that was not even a mutant factor for us. It was learned. It was practiced.

We researched for a solution to a technical problem while keeping our irate customer on the line from exploding and at the same time listening to our coach provide tips and tricks to try and solve the problem.

We did those with our eyes wide open. No closed eyes for us. That's just one phone call that will probably last for about 15 to 20 minutes. And your work shift has just started; you have about seven more hours to go.

Easy enough? I don't think so.

The only point I can agree with my friends is about the money. It's a fact that most call center agents earn more than the average. It's a constant stream of Ninoys and Escodas. We, call center folks, couldn't be any happier than that.

Unfortunately, there's a thing we all call tax. The reality here is that we all need to pay the government our dues. In an automated company, your big stream of Ninoys and Escodas turns into a little stream of Roxases, Osmeñas and, God forbid, Quezons.

The call center job is underrated. If you think it's easy, think again.