anyone here ever worked for a telemarketer?

[pstokely]

nt?

[Kenneth ken]

1. I did once

for - oh - twenty minutes. what was I thinking?

I don't like talking on the phone
I dpn't like telemarketers

I needed the money, but apparently not that bad.
it was only going to be a pt time 2nd job anyway.

[rabid_nerd]

2. I did - DirecTV/Dish Network

a company that was a Primestar dealer.

We were calling Primestar customers to convert after Primestar went into a shutdown cycle. Called some other "leads" as well to "give away" systems, etc.

[greyl]

3. Of course. Why? nt

[TlalocW]

4. I did

In high school back in the early 90s. I sold the most stuff - magazine re-subscribes - in the group I was trained with, but they didn't like me and fired me. One time, I locked myself out of my car when I went in for a training shift, and I called my dad to bring me my extra set of keys. Dad stepped into the room right when the training ended, and the manager, "Goose," came over to give me a pep talk, which was basically his talking down to me. For some reason (he was in condescending mode), he ended with, "Okay, that's your father over there, and he's brought you your keys." I looked at him and said, "Goose... Believe it or not, I know who my father is, but gee whiz, thanks for making sure that I DID know."

Can't imagine why I was let go. :)

TlalocW

[LoZoccolo]

5. Not just a telemarketer but...

...a PUSH POLLER for the Republicans! No, I didn't take the job in an effort to support them, it was a real job that paid like six dollars an hour. And it seemed like that was the case for everyone there; no one real passionate about it, it was just a job. My brother and his friends worked there and I was coming home from college for the summer and they told me they did phone surveys (and they did do consumer surveys too) so it seemed like a neat job where I didn't have to work with food so I applied. It said on the application that they do surveys for Republicans but by then I didn't want to go looking for another job so I just did it. I wasn't so involved back then (this was 1994) but I still remember not liking the job.

The push polls didn't seem nearly as bad as the ones you hear about going around South Carolina during the Republican primaries for the 2000 election though. There was something about some guy being connected to an illegal video poker operation or something, but really they were pretty tame. Still, they'd call people up and say they were the "National Research Center" (the real name of the company was CampaignTel), so you'll know 'em when they call. Matter of fact they called my grandparents once when I was over there and I picked it up. I kept saying like "but this isn't a survey, it's a /push poll/!" and the girl on the other end was laughing. I kept asking her if they were still in Grand Rapids too (I've heard of other locations - I wonder if they locate themselves in Republican strongholds so that the chances of them hiring non-Republicans is lower) and she was laughing about that too. Told me she couldn't tell me that because that might bias the survey. "But this is a /push poll/!"

I Google'd for 'em not too long ago and I guess they shut down even before the 2000 elections, so I'm wondering how they pulled off the ones against John McCain. I just realized today that they'd have to hire all white people that are willing to spread racially-charged rumors, so they probably didn't use a firm (where they'd have a fair equal chance of hiring African-Americans or people that would get upset about it) to do it.

[carpetbagger]

6. Too bad you can't even find that job any longer.

The GOP's been outsourcing even it's phone banks abroad.

Waving flags cover things well for a while.

[JewelDigger]

7. Yep, I did

several years ago. I took the calls of people answering the 'cleverly worded' ad in the local help wanted section. I screened them on the phone (unbeknowst to them) and then the ones who could talk well, etc.....well, it was my job to get them to come in for the 'interview'. For everyone that actually showed up for the 'interview' I got $X - if they took the job then I got more - if they stayed longer than 3 mos. I got another 'bonus'. The whole thing was just really 'slimey'. I quit after 3 mos. or so (guess whoever hired ME didn't get their bonus ;o) But it was very fascinating to see how it all worked - much more info than what I've just said here, btw.

[Awsi Dooger]

8. Yes, I detailed it in jiacinto's "worst jobs you had" thread

I was hired as a sports handicapper for a Las Vegas sports service telemarketing firm in the fall of '87. The people in the office were great, in fact I keep in touch with a few. But the nature of the business forced the room manager, who hired me, to be aggressive and ruthless even though he was a nice guy otherwise.

Two incidents, virtually back to back, forced me to quit: a couple we had given selections to called in on Monday, separately since the husband was out of town on business. My boss intentionally collected a payment from both of them. Then an elderly widower who loved to chat sports was given the opposite side of my three best basketball picks, because the boss wanted to bury him so he would not call back. I walked out of the room and never returned when that happened.

[Maine Mary]

9. Yup. And I still do

I sell credit cards part time for a major credit card company. I bet most of you have one of them. I've been there over a year now and sad to say, it's the second best job I've ever had after 22 years of earning a taxable income. No one can afford to be picky about the work they do here in the woods of Maine.