agent

installer

account manager

trainer

customer service representative

Caption Call

I love parts of this job, and it could be a GREAT job... but they do a really good job making it somewhere you just can't stay. Some of my favorite people have left after giving so much to this job and it not giving enough back. 

Key Points:
-This can be a really easy part-time job and if you're lucky it can also be quite flexible. Just know it's getting difficult to change your schedule so if you're a student don't expect to be able to change every semester. 
-Most everyone is really nice, but like most jobs if you get in too deep you see the cracks and there are some doozies.
-You can color, surf the web, or watch videos between calls. Just know you wont have time to.
-Since there are like 8 centers, you can trade with anyone online provided their center is open at that time. PT can also give away hours indefinitely and work 0 hours if they pull it off. FT needs to stay at 40 and can't give away a shift and cover it with vacation time. Likewise, part timers can give away a shift if they're sick, whereas full time has to either trade or just call out and take the infraction. 
-You cannot switch from FT to PT. Once you realize you've made a mistake and 40 hours of the exact same thing is a little much, it's too late. You have to quit and reapply in a few months. 
-You can feel good about this job, and it's super nice that you don't have to communicate with customers. The downside is you aren't allowed to warn them about scams or help in emergencies in any way. 
-Realistically, about 90% of the calls you take, the user won't even look at the captions. You'll get jaded and start to feel useless, but the company wants those billable hours and you get paid either way, so... grin and bear it when you must. 
-It's a nice job for introverts, and there aren't a lot of those around
-Be wary if you're disabled, the elevator does go out with some frequency.
-They do activities monthly, usually something like bingo or coloring but it can be really fun to help you get through the monotony. There are some super talented peeps there!
-You are not allowed to do ANYTHING on a call. Phones you can't have out or on. You can be on hold listening to hold music for an hour and a half and if you break out a crayon to color, you can get written up. If you have another browser window open, you can get written up. I want to stress again, there is very little time between calls. 

Pay: 
-What you see is what you get-- the raises are so awful that you might as well ignore them. They cap out for CAs at 1% a year (so think max 10 cents, but don't count on getting the full amount) and 2% for Team Leads. They did finally add a tenure bonus of like 25 cents an hour every 3 years. Too little too late. This job will not keep up with inflation, and you're essentially working backwards the longer you stay. Going FT is a pay DECREASE from 11 to 10.50 an hour, and *that counts as a promotion so you don't get a raise that year*. 
-Management will actively discourage you from discussing pay. Which is not only a red flag that they know it's bad, but also just sketchy in general. Know your rights; employers cannot actually prohibit you from discussing it. Transparency is important. 
-There is a 10% differential on weekends and the first part of graves hours, and 20% for the early morning graves hours, so that actually is a nice perk. They will likely want you to work at least one weekend day. Graves can be hard to get on just depending on staffing needs. 


Positions:
-The main position is the Captioning Agent. You dictate calls all day every day. You're expected to be on phones at least 91% of the time, so don't let your 15 minute breaks go over. There is a mandatory half hour lunch for shifts over 5 hours, which is unpaid. There is very little time between calls, and it just gets worse every month and year. You have 15 minute meetups with a team lead once a month, which is time that comes out of that 91% without adjustment... so skip a break. If you go under your 91% expectation, you may have to sit down and talk to your boss... without a time adjustment. Fun cycle. There used to be monthly team meetings which did not count against your time, but I went over a year without one.
-Mentors take calls and also assist in testing, training, etc. They get a 50 cent pay raise but only during the hours they are doing mentor duties, which is bizarre and a paltry amount. Your schedule will be more restricted and trading will be harder. They want the mentors to seem more professional so they have tried sometimes to have them dress a little nicer, like not wearing jeans, or not havimg colored hair, etc.... for 50 cents more for a couple hours a week. 
-Team Leads make a little chunk more, starting at 13.50. They have to be on the phones at least half the time too, and when call volume is high they have to be on the phones a lot more. This realistically doesn't give them enough time to do their actual duties and they have to secretly use breaks and lunches. Management says it will get better. It probably wont. Also note that TLs are not given any sort of budget, so if you have a team meeting with snacks, or they're giving out prizes, that most likely came out of their paycheck. Same with the supplies they use, minus printing and paper. Some of the TLs are expected extra work that does not change their job position or pay. 
-Management has very high expectations but they do not cut a lot of slack. I'm not sure what they think will keep employees loyal. They really push positivity culture and shame you for having criticisms instead of rolling up your sleeves and working above your paygrade for months on end with no payoff. The raises are bad, management is flaky and will blame the team leads for everything instead of fixing problems, they arent consistent, they'll tell CAs their job is easy and literally send out emails telling us how to open a door or accusing us of vandalism because 2 toilets can't handle 400 people in a 24hr center, they definitely don't trust us, and they don't listen to input. They even banned pushpins, which feels like it would be unnecessary if they could hire and retain decent employees who don't sit there and tech swearwords into the desk but they can't, the turnover is just too high because of issues they will not fix. 

Benefits:
-There is a 401k with match, BUT they are not transparent about a couple things you should know. As I understood it, you need to make enough hours in the year (I think it's 1000) and then you get your match all at once in January the NEXT year. It's really quite nice if you're sticking around, but kind of shady if you were told "401k with match and you're enrolled right away" but didn't realize the match wouldn't apply for like 18 months. 
-The health plans get a little worse each year, which is kind of par for the course with a lot of companies right now. They have been helping offset that a little by offering a few different plans. The copay to see a specialist was like $60-70 the last plan I was on, so if you see an OBGYN or endo, be aware. 
-They do offer dental and vision, and those plans are actually pretty well priced, I feel. Very worth taking advantage of if you use them. 
-Full-time gets PTO. It's three months of of full time work before you can use any vacation time. Vacaction for FT40 is 10 days. Sick time is about 5 days. It's nice they have them in separate pools rather than a flat 10 days. Know that if you use sick time it will be an infraction and could lead to a writeup, unless you have a doctor's note. I'm not a big fan of clogging up the medical system and paying to see a doctor just because your employer doesnt trust you. Needless to say sickness spreads around quick; people come in sick all the time.
-There are paid holidays. You get time and a half if you work them, and if you get time off instead you still get your hours without needing to use vacation time. That pretty nice. 
-You will not get Christmas off. You can apply to get Christmas 2020 off in November 2019 and you will be on the waiting list for a year and then be denied. The exception is if you have very high seniority-- a good 5 years. Mothers day is similar, but know that mother's day is NOT a paid holiday. 
-Sick time will not pay out if you leave, so don't horde it just to feel like a good employee.

It took about a week from submitting my application to getting an interview. During the application process, you will select your preferred work (PT/FT) and schedule (all options include a weekend day).
During the interview/assessment, I went in and was taken to a cubicle. There I was given a typing test and was told I needed 40 wpm or greater to pass. Following a passed typing test, I was given verbal test and was told I needed an 88% accuracy to pass. I put on the headset, and to allow the voice recognition software (Dragon) to adapt to my voice, I had to speak a paragraph until it closed, letting me know it was ready. After that I was given the verbal speech test. The audio clip was called "Love Seat". The conversation, much like live calls, was one sided. Meaning, you only hear the voice of the speaker you will be captioning, a.k.a. you are only hearing what the customer would/can hear. (Punctuation is not required during this test). Both of these tests are quite easy and you can simply practice beforehand with online typing tests and with nearly any podcast. Which I did and highly recommend.
Upon passing both tests, I was taken to the waiting area and told I would be meeting with a manager for my interview. (I was kept waiting for quite a long time.) The interview went well overall. I was asked to describe myself a bit, briefly touch upon previous work and then the manager went into explaining the depths of the position. It was explained that it can be a lonely job, but that during the training process, it can be the opposite until you graduate training and are out on the floor.
During the interview I was also informed that PT offered a 401K and that I would be paid at the rate of $10.50/hr during training and on the call floor until I passed a test call (yet there has been no mention of how long until a test call may be given). Upon passing the test call on the main floor, I would then be increased to a rate of $11/hr. By the end of the interview, I was given instructions to execute a drug test and background check. This process took only a couple of days, perhaps shorter had the main center in SLC not been experiencing tech issues on a Friday and the following Monday.
Once given my offer letter and upon accepting, I was given options of when I wanted to start training.
As I was told, the length to which training may last will vary per person. This depends upon how quickly you adapt to learning this new skill and other variables.
Training was M-F 9am-2pm MST. My training lasted 8-9 days and on the 10th day I was out on the main floor taking live calls. Upon graduating from training, I was given my company badge with my picture ($20 replacement fee if lost/stolen), my own headset ($30 replacement fee if lost/broken) and a full size candy bar of my choosing. Note, that if your badge or your headset are left at home and you are on your way into work, you will need to drive back to retrieve them. Temporary badges are not issued. During this time, a training mentor came to me to explain some internal company topics for my location and did a short tour to explain about the cubicles (this by the way was all incredibly quick and rushed... and created a bit of stress after everything that was already being thrown at me during the end of training... like the scheduling, time off, breaks, chain of command etc.)
I was very nervous (I suffer from anxiety) and excited to transition to the main call floor, mostly for the autonomy and freedom of being on my own. What I was most discouraged about was finding a cubicle. As had been explained to me upon completing training (very very quickly and briefly), our location has more employees than cubicles. Therefore, you need to go to a seat board, grab a cubicle number, walk to find that cube, hang your little tag and remain at that one until you clock out for a 30 min lunch (if you have one scheduled). When you return from your lunch, you will need to repeat that process and find a new cube.
On my second day of being on the main call floor, a meeting for 20 minutes had been put into the start of my schedule. I was notified by no one of what it was for or where I needed to go. This, caused me stress, frustration and anxiety. The morning before I went in, I emailed my assigned Team Lead Supervisor, or TLS (whom I had not yet met), and asked what this was for, if I needed to clock in under a different code etc. When she replied to me that same day, she informed me that it was with her, to go over some company policies and for her to meet and get to know me. While I understood that and it made sense, it seemed incredibly unprofessional and sloppy to schedule a meeting, that alters a brand new employee's schedule and not immediately send them an email with information as a heads up as to what it will be in regards to and where to go. As a new employee, I should not have been the one to contact her asking for information about something she had scheduled.
The job itself is good. Perfect for someone like me who suffers from social anxiety and is very very introverted. You take calls for people who either can't hear, or may not hear well. Most can hear, just not well and will refer to the captions if necessary. There are some small details about different types of calls and how to process/handle them accordingly that can take a little bit of time to learn, but that is what training helps with and there should always be reference sheets hanging in each cubicle, notating those processes.
I think my biggest challenges with the calls is A) captioning people who have thick accents, B) captioning people who speak very fast, and C) captioning for a conference call and multiple people are speaking at once (this is just outright nervewracking and nearly impossible to capture all of the dialog).  These are some of the reasons why I say the job can be Fast-pasted and Slow-paced. It can really depend on the speed of the speaker, type of call and also call volume. Some days there are only seconds between calls (usually during the daytime on weekdays), wheres during the nights it slows down and there are usually solid minutes in between.
Other than that, the work is mostly easy and sometimes fun. 
***Do note, that cellphones, smart watches etc. are absolutely NOT allowed on the call floor. The policy is that not only must they be completely turned off, but they must also be put away and out of sight. These are FCC regulations and in place to protect the customers.*** Also, any sort of activity (book, knitting, homework, writing, skype communicating (unless in regards to the current call with a TLS), internet surfing etc.) are not allowed DURING a call. This is referred to as "activity while on call". These are fine in between calls, but not while you are on a live call and dictating for a customer. Your "object distraction", however, is permitted.
As a disabled veteran with severe anxiety, who hadn't worked in over 7 years, this job has been like a new chance for me. I felt it was a great start to ease myself back into the workforce with minimal social interaction, which is what I needed. It has allowed me to gain back some self confidence in the knowing that I am capable of doing something that makes a difference in other people's lives and in my own.
If you are considering a job with CaptionCall, I highly suggest giving it a try. Especially if you are shy/quiet, introverted or living with anxiety. Once you get through the training process, the job is enjoyable and relaxed overall.

i had been working for this company for almost two years. it was my first job so i was pretty excited, but as i spent more time there i realized how terrible the company was.  they definitely love their customers much more than their employees. 

i was part-time. the base wage was $10.50 which included paid training. after you were hired and took a test you needed a 96% to get a 50 cent raise. luckily i am bilingual and was able to do bilingual captioning. with this, i got another 50 cent raise making my pay $11.50 an hour. however, there were not many advancement opportunities besides the bilingual thing for me. 

only a few i could think of is a MA rotation position where you would be able to train new employees or a team lead supervisor. the MA position would pay the same amount i was making as a bilingual agent if you were PT. If you were full time you would make $10.50, which is the same amount for captioning agents who started out. they claimed to do it to match the state wages, but no one can live off that lol. and this was done to full time captioning agents too. so part-time was making more while full time made less. anyway back to the MA position. this was only temporary for most employees, hence the rotation. this means that once the rotation is over, you were back to making $11 as just an english CA. the company also loves making false promises to people as they had promised a permanent position to someone i knew and then, later on, told them that they did not need anyone anymore. the team lead supervisor position wasn't common to get since there has got to be less less than overall CAs, but they made a few more dollars more than we did.

they did not care about their spanish speaking employees and i know this because i was one as well. they only had one spanish speaking supervisor that would oversee all spanish CAs. until one other spanish speaking supervisor came in which made it to two of them. one of them left and it was one again until another one replaced the other one. and then the other one left which left us one spanish speaking CA again, confusing, but what i am saying is that there were barely any spanish speaking supervisors. at one point i had to be put with an english CA who could not assist me with spanish until they finally moved me to the only spanish CA again. my new spanish speaking supervisor's schedule was also really different from mine so i barely saw her until i changed my schedule. but anyway, there were also limited spanish stations (which were also english stations) and a lot of english CAs would sit in them and so when you would come into your shift you had to either go downstairs or tell a supervisor to get you a seat. it was annoying and i don't know why they couldn't just make all the stations bilingual.

the managers are annoying and there is no personal connection between you and them. not even a personal greeting when you first start with them. not to mention the fact that i have switched supervisors and managers so many times. you only really have a personal relationship with your supervisor. but even with that i just think it’s funny for a company that says they “care about their employees” to have the managers not know the people they manage or not even introduce themselves when you are first brought to their section. keep in mind that there are multiple managers too. 

the work in itself is super boring since it’s mostly old people you are captioning for. but get this, the majority of times customers don’t even use the captions, so many times you are captioning for no reason!! yet they still expect you to caption word for word. some of the calls are annoying, stressful, and frustrating and again, the customer isn’t using the service. so at times call volume would be super high and we would be understaffed so it was super stressful. they company would never tell their customers to turn off captions if they weren’t using it though. so the employees were the ones suffering.

operations were also annoying since they were in charge of making sure if we were staffed accordingly. but like i said, a lot of times call volume was high and a lot of the times it is because operations would let people get off early that way the company didn’t have to pay people because they claimed we were overstaffed. and when they did let a lot of people out early, you would notice because the people actually working would barely get a break between calls because of high call volume. the amount of times i was on spanish calls and then i would get a message from operations to switch to english calls because call volume was high, as if they didn't do that themselves. annoying.

for days that is was extremely busy, the company would have lunch waivers that would take out the required 30 minute UNPAID lunch out so people could work during that time. my location wasn’t allowed because of state laws, but it’s very funny that they would do that. we know that they wished the law hadn’t been there for us though lol. the fact that it was only 30 minutes for a lunch break and unpaid too... 

going back to pay though. i almost worked there for two years and besides that one 50 cent raise that i earned from completing an exam with a certain score plus another 50 cents i got from being a bilingual agent, i only received a 20 cent raise in 2020 since they introduced that they would be doing that. only 20 cents though. which is what everyone got too if they were making the same i was making before which was $11.50. those who were only english CAs making $11 got a 50 cent raise. and i was left wondering that if new bilingual CAs came to be would they only get a 20 cent raise instead of a 50 cent one i got? it kind of annoyed me. 

for the way they handled coronavirus was also pretty bad. i mean they tried to get as much people to work from home, but a lot of people didn’t qualify so they had to risk their health coming into work. no sick paid leave either at least for part-time employees at least. i don't know about full time. and again call volume was super high for the sole reason that the company won't tell customers to turn off their captions when they aren't using them. so what happened?? at one point the center i was in was super packed during the beginning of the pandemic and they shoved employees into a small conference room together to take calls since there were no more stations!!! during a pandemic!! so that was great!!! people already at that place were unhygienic but imagine having a whole bunch of people cramped in one room during a pandemic. they never gave us a raise either. just flat rates at certain times (which was like $2 added to your hourly pay if you worked within a timeframe) and then, later on, added a small bonus. but never a raise even though they told us they appreciated us.

but yeah lots of things about that job annoyed me, but take what you will with this information. if you want some positive stuff about the job then i guess the pay is better than most jobs but not enough in my opinion. you can surf the web and watch netflix when you’re not on calls but sometimes it’s annoying if you’re watching a video because times between calls are short a lot of times. and lastly, they are flexible with your schedule for the most part.

i mean if you're someone who likes easy work and minimal social interaction then this could be for you. or a starter job. i do gotta warn you that the work gets boring after a while. i felt that it was unproductive since many of the people aren't even using the service, but the company loves telling you that you're doing something good. sometimes i was, but not enough times to be honest.

I started out knowing it would be temporary, because I've worked at a call center before and I know how that is. I figured that for the time being, it wouldn't be so bad to make $11 to essentially sit there and do nothing. And it was so close to home. I'll start with the pros of the job, which is mainly the fact you have to exert very little effort to work here. You don't have to think, see people, look good, or wear uniform. There was free food and the coworkers that you barely ever saw were friendly and polite. You never have to prepare to go to work. Another pro is that, on rare occasion, you'll get calls where they say "I'm reading off of my caption phone." so you know that the person is actually reading your captions. And it feels nice to know that you are helping someone and they are able to communicate because of your help. For part time, it's easy to get shifts covered and traded. If something comes up, you can easily put your shift on the trade board and almost be guaranteed it will get covered.

The cons are everything else. First of all, there is no time between calls. 5 seconds on a good day. You can't do anything while on calls, and there's really no time to do anything between calls either. If you're seen IMing or on any other screen for even a split second while on your call, you get in trouble. They enforce it so heavily that you will always be on edge. You can't put your feet on the chair.  You can't move a puzzle piece or write. I started to feel panicked if a supervisor walked by, even if I wasn't doing anything wrong, just because of how nit-picky they are. If you work here, you cannot do anything other than sit up straight and stare at the screen. 

Second, it's depressing. The calls you listen to aren't deaf people. They are hard of hearing. And who makes up the majority of hard of hearing? The elderly. Be prepared to constantly hear about medicare, colonoscopies, death, appointments, and sickness. The calls are depressing and draining. 
Third, management and supervisors are extremely condescending. They have meetings with you, but usually consisting of them telling you everything you do wrong. They make you feel like the worst employee ever instead of explaining why what you did is an issue. They are even strict on dress code, no shorts or ripped jeans. There is no lenience, and be prepared to feel terrible after getting called in for anything. They also view themselves so much above everyone else. Always on the look out to find you doing something wrong. When you get "coached" on something you did, you're put into an empty meeting room while you sit across from your supervisor as they tell you what you did in an overly stern way. It's incredibly awkward and unnecessary. 
Fourth, you are not allowed to get off calls unless it is for your 15 minute break. If you do, your login percentage/adherence will drop and you will be called in to be belittled. But you will see TLS standing around talking for an hour at a time. You will see TLS doing activities on calls. You will see managers brushing their hair and doing nothing. Supervisors are only on calls for four hours a day, so they don't remember how draining it is to take calls for 5-8 hours straight. They complain about being stressed, but all they do is talk with each other, show up late, and find things to yell at you about. 
Fifth, the system they use sucks, you can correct a phrase 100 times and it still will not print out correctly. 
Sixth, the time inside that building is warped. 1 minute feels like 20 minutes. It's a trap. 
All in all, this job isn't worth it. It's easy but there is no enjoyment. Easy money isn't worth it to do something so miserable. You will feel small and unappreciated. The only thing you will see is a cubicle and supervisors walking around with a clipboard so they can write down the name of every person doing literally anything wrong. No job is worth being treated like you are the bottom of the chain. Do it if you need quick easy money, but do not get trapped into working here for more than a few months.

Do you like being micromanaged?
Do you enjoy being paid the absolute minimum wage the government forces companies to pay so people can almost eat?
Do you LOVE it when Corporate America tells you that you cannot use the bathroom without permission?
Do you enjoy being tested almost daily without any notice whatsoever and then told that you are wrong, wrong, wrong?
Do want to work where you NEVER get a raise even after a year?

If you answered "YES" to any of the above questions, then CaptionCall is the place for you!
Yes my friend, you too, can make the lowest possible wage in the country...oh, and the lowest paid people are the FULL-TIME people!
  That's right my friend! Part timer's make more money that the dedicated full-timers earn! Wow!  Just think!  You too can earn less than a part-timer!  You too can feel like you have no value here at CaptionCall!

But wait!  There's more!

You can have all your human dignity removed too!  All you have to do is have the need to go to the bathroom!  But don't worry, here at CaptionCall, they will "schedule" your potty breaks for you!  That's right! You never have to let your body tell you again when you need to go the bathroom!  Yay!!! And, if you forget that your should listen to your body and you happen to go to said bathroom, then CaptionCall will gladly pull you aside, talk to you to remind you that they are in control of your life, your body, your mind and your SOUL.
 
They will send you lovely emails will a follow up notice of "infraction" for not adhering to the bathroom breaks.  
But don't despair future robots of CaptionCall!  You will have the opportunity to be tested every single week!!! YAY!  They will test your caption skills for accuracy.  They will test and monitor your calls.  They will hover over you during your calls!  The manager will even come into your cubicle and plug in their headset to the computer and literally watch you work, and work and work as you mindlessly take call, after call, after call.  You have the super duper long break of a whole 3 SECONDS inbetween calls to write or watch YouTube or spend your whole 3 seconds of downtime however you please!!!

You will LOVE working on every single holiday!  Who needs to be with mom on mother's day?  Heck, if you ARE A MOM, then you will LOVE the fact that CaptionCall doesn't care about your family if you have a sick kiddo.  They will remind you that calls come first!  And after a year of this fun...well, you are rewarded with a candy bar and a little note saying, "thank you for working at CaptionCall"  and you will not get a raise because the candy bar is the raise!  YAY!!

But wait, if you act now and bring a friend along to the interview, then you get a big smile thrown your way!  See, CaptionCall has a HUGE turnover.  The turnover is so great that they have job fairs weekly and beg you to brings your friends along!  This is the perfect way to lose your friends!  Not that you need any friends here at Captioncall.  You will be alone the entire time except when you start thinking again, and start listening to your body telling you to "go to the bathroom and take care of your human business" that's when the TLS (your supervisor) will show up in your cubicle with her clipboard and pen for you to sign your next infraction. 
 You too can have such joy!  Apply at CaptionCall today and feel devoid of a soul, and any ounce of dignity you have left. Act today! Work for minimum wage here at CaptionCall!

I would like to preface this with the awareness that how businesses react during these times says a lot about the culture you will experience during your time here at captioncall. 
Beware if you decide to apply here. During such an uncertain time where various states have mandated lockdowns and the president has said to limit exposure to less than 10 people, you walk into the building and there have to be at least 300 people sitting in one floor, crowding in all conference rooms with laptops just placed around the tables and no division or means of maintaining social distancing, while the managers get to sit in their office with their doors closed and notes hung up to email them if we need them. 
Don’t be fooled with the signs that claim they care for their employees. We generally pass illnesses to each other on a regular basis, and during a pandemic that still is likely, only it now has raised anxiety in many of the employees. You share computer stations with everybody but they will limit the sanitation wipes to two measly squares. The other day all of the hand sanitizer was removed, granted they may have been refilling them but I did not see them throughout the day. They have the option to prove right now that they care about their employees JUST AS MUCH as their customers by allowing us to go remote, however they still claim it's only a possibility and we need to still report to work while asking for MORE people to come in. We are by all means already OVER CAPACITY and they are still trying to swindle to get more bodies in one confined space. People are clearly still sick but if you call out and you are FT you better have sick leave otherwise even through all of this, the sick employees still come to work because they have no other option to. You will be told “you can’t fall under hours” everytime something extenuating comes up. 
With so many elders working in the center and how many people we are exposed to, you would think they would consider the major benefits of allowing us to work from home. People more willing to pick up OT, to apply, and to continue to help giving back so that the hard of hearing can have GUARANTEED service with a piece of mind that we would not be catching any illnesses at all but that we would also risk bringing something home to our families. 
Besides all of this, if by all means you are desperate this job is always hiring. But keep in mind they do not keep track of how many people they do in fact hire it seems as it is a daily procedure to see people waiting to get lucky with someone leaving their station. Executive orders for ordering in food for your employees does NOT negate the potential dangers you are forcing people to go through for a job that could be done at home. Pay is decent with FT being at $11, PT is at $11.50. Benefits that come with full time is the reason for the 50 cent decrease :) 
They will say they are flexible with your schedule but if you want a schedule change it could take a couple weeks to a month for them to update your schedule, otherwise you post your schedule to a trade board where every other center that exists also puts their shifts up for people to grab. 
To be completely honest, as a college student you will feel stuck here and I would only recommend applying here if you don't need the money and would be happy staying PT. As someone who is in college and needs a job that pays more than $8.50 an hour, everyday I reconsider working here.
Dealing with the customers (meaning those who ACTUALLY NEED our services) will feel rewarding but all too often you get people who abuse the phones and our services and you are still forced and expected to caption fully for them.

This place is advertised as a job for introverts, but it smells like an anime convention and no one knows how to socialize normally or bathe. I've almost had to walk out multiple times because the stench is so bad coming from multiple call agents. 

The micromanagement is demoralizing and dehumanizing. You're punished for literally everything, from taking bathroom breaks outside of your 15 minute breaks to missing a word on a test call (which you're never warned about, you only get a message with your results after a manager sits in on your call and points out every single mistake you make). Being a grown adult and having your bathroom breaks scheduled for you is humiliating. I've had to explain to managers a few times that my stupid login score was lower one week because I used the bathroom a few times, because I'm human and not a capitalism machine with no bodily needs.

The calls you get are terrible. I've had to take hour long calls about old men wanting to cut up LGBT people with swords, about how gay people can't be saved, religious fanatics, extreme racism where the n-word is used upwards of 20 times. When the calls aren't blatantly offensive they're all about disease and death because out clientele is in their 80s and 90s. Having to listen to people talk about diarrhea and colonoscopies for eight hours a day gets to you. You're not allowed to hand off a call until it hits 20 minutes and you're about to go on lunch or break. But you also get punished if you do over five handoffs a week even though you have no control over the calls you get and how long they'll be. AND if you decide not to hand it off and take your lunch late, you're punished by following your schedule to the exact minute which affects your adherence rate! There's no winning.

The atmosphere here is like a high school computer class. Managers are always milling up and down the aisles making sure no one has a browser page up while taking a call, which is asinine because some calls you will be on hold for an hour. You're expected to stare at the screen blankly with a stress ball for entertainment.

The time between calls is less than ten seconds most days because the clientele is too huge for the company. They keep giving the phone to people who don't need it or use properly. Having to repeat things five times because the customer keeps screaming "WHAT?!" at the person you're dictating makes you feel insane, like you're doing all this work for absolutely nothing. Either that, or the customer hears well enough to not even need it and they're responding to the person before you even have time to get everything down. This also makes you feel useless.

The pay is crummy. We should be making at least $15 for the amount of attention we have to give to the job and how we're constantly tested on our skills every week, you only get paid $11 an hour fulltime and $11.60 part time. You literally get a pay dock for going fulltime, which I've never heard of. I don't make enough fulltime to pay bills and have to have my mother help me with groceries. 36 hours a week and I can't afford to live off of my measly paychecks.

You also have to work every single holiday. Yes, this includes Christmas. 

If you have to work here, have it be temporary while you look for something better. This is nothing but a temporary job that you shouldn't stay at any longer than a few months.

I am actually surprised reading some of the really negative reviews about this company. I've been here less than a year and there are a lot of positive aspects but it really depends on your own attitude and what you are willing to see. Every job has places of improvements and this job is surpassing most places I've worked as far as keeping up with improving systems.
I saw people upset about managers and I have only interacted with my manager 1x in person but a few times via email and have had great experiences as well as great experiences with my Team Lead.

Many jobs I have been at Micro manage you to where you feel like you know nothing and they don't trust who they hire. Here, they trust you and equip you. Great training of two weeks at least minimum with ongoing training. But YOU have to do the work to reach the goals.
You can figure out ways to achieve your goals and utilize the resources the company has provided to achieve them.

I used to make $2 less an hour for pay where there was WAY more involved and multi tasking. This job is not hard but can be maybe the first month as you adjust. Ask questions, take initiatives, and the job isn't as hard because you are seeking out information and growing in your job. 
What call center isn't boring in between calls? They have to follow laws and restrictions. This doesn't make the company bad for following legal requirements.
I think people are often petty and find something to be mad about so they can feel good about leaving a job. There are so many actual bad companies out there and this isn't one of them. I have worked in those jobs and this job has brought me some relief of knowing I am in a safe environment and can work independently.
Challenges:
Calls can actually be quite emotional if emotionally connecting to the content. I have to make an effort to disconnect emotionally as I can start focusing on what is being said instead of just translating info for the purpose of the reader. Something that I have to constantly keep myself in check about.
I have also worked at a physically demanding job that paid only $1 more an hour and I had lots of previous background in that job. This job pays fair, is flexible, dependable, has opened a new facility almost yearly. Gives FREE coffee and hot cocoa ( a perk not a necessity), 1x a month seems to give free food or do something fun, praises you in emails and encourages. Money is great but so is a safe environment and quality of environment. This is that job. 

They offer a huge amount of food choices in the break rooms and even have apple pay available, technology...! yay. Also they DO NOT make you work during lunches as that is illegal but opted an option to work if you sign a form saying you agree to if asked to. It isn't forced as I opted not to. So people twisting that to make it seem like they force you is wrong.

Please consider working here and give it a chance as some people's bad experiences may not be the company's fault but a result of their own bad experiences in life they haven't overcome yet. Just saying.

Be sure to show up 10 min earlier to your shift for parking as it can get congested at times depending on your shift times.

Pros:
- You can be very antisocial. Easily my favorite part about this job, not having to talk to customers directly, and only having to talk with management a few times a week at the most.

- The night shift is incredibly easy going, simple and slow work. I've worked plenty on the day shift as well, and it has its own pros, especially if you get bored or sleepy easily, but the grave shift is certainly my preference.

- Benefits aren't too bad. Average maybe, but options for someone like me who doesn't like working with people and hasn't gone to college are quite limited, so it's pretty legit.

Cons:
- Management, mainly. At least at the center I'm at now, they do not like to admit to or face problems. They don't listen to call agents or team leads about anything, and the more you try to go to them with suggestions for improvement, the more they point the finger at you for these problems and tell you to stop whining.

There have been issues with the program we're required to use for months, some for years now, and yet still nothing has been acknowledged or done about it. A simple mass email where they recognize the issues and say what they're doing about them would be nice, at the very least. But nope, absolutely nothing. As someone who actually cares about the quality of my work and improvement, it can get infuriating.

- Listening in on people's often times private conversations day after day can make you bitter. It really forces you to realize how selfish and messed up people in general are. And you have to actually repeat the terrible things they are at times saying.

- It gets very boring and stagnating being in a cubicle all day. Especially if you're someone who likes to move around and talk to coworkers (lucky for me I'm not), you'll lose your mind pretty quickly.

- On the day shift, the idles between calls are incredibly short. Less than ten seconds often times. Management likes to advertise being able to do things in between calls, like homework, but it's not very realistic and trying is bound to just make you irritated more than anything.

- The rules. Management treats call agents like robot toddlers. Oh, you want something to drink? It better have a closed top or you'll get written up, because we don't want you spilling stuff everywhere. Instead of, you know, making you just pay for it in the rare even that would happen. You want to use your phone on the call floor? No can do, even if you're not currently at a computer.

Also, you can't do anything while on a call. Can't doodle, can't even so much as stare into space unless it's at your screen. Even if you've been on hold for an hour or get a call where the other person does pretty much all the talking. Management doesn't understand that people work differently and that simple activities on calls can make people feel better about their job and get them more into the groove of speaking with rhythm.

Can't wear what you want, even though customers do not and cannot be on the call floor. Shoulders? Knees? Transparent sleeves? More than one piercing? (Weird but true limit by the way). No no, can't have that, how wicked!

They even keep trying to enforce a rule to not have bags or anything on the desks (for "security reasons" that don't make any real sense), and try to convince you the gross floors are the best place for your things, but I don't think that one will ever fly.

I can't believe I actually saw some reviews that said it was slow paced. That is a lie. Well, I guess it depends on what center you work at. In Utah, it is almost always busy. You barely ever get time between calls to even take a sip of water let alone catch your breath. But, I guess that depends on the time of day that you work also. They monitor you like you're a little kid.  You have to earn the right to watch videos in between calls you can't just watch them. You earn that right by taking the by weekly test for your dictation accuracy and if you earn over 97% then they will give you a video card. That card is only valid up until the next time you take the next test.  There are always temperature issues in the center I work at. There are never enough bathroom stalls. So you spend at least five minutes of your already tiny 15 minute break trying to find a vacant stall so you can urinate. If you plan on working here I suggest you bring a cold lunch or else you might find yourself spending at least 10 minutes waiting in line to use a microwave during your minute 30 minute break. At least one of the three microwaves (for a break period where at least 20 people are scheduled) is almost always broken. The food offered in the break room is ridiculously overpriced. They talk about appreciating each and every employee but when they bring "Free food", they don't care about dietary restrictions. Only what the majority of people will eat. Which is fair, because companies like this are all about maximizing profits and minimizing cost. Which explains the terrible $11 an hour salary. But, they shouldn't pretend that they care about each and everyone of us when we all know we are each just a cog in a ginormous behemoth of a machine. I'm glad that the service they provide helps people, but I wish they wouldn't pretend to care about the employees as individuals when I know for a fact that they don't. Last but certainly not least, the dictation software we use is horrid. It can be the most stressful thing about this job when no matter how much you train it and are careful to pronounce your words correctly, the dictation software prints it out incorrectly. God forbid it's on the day of your dictation accuracy test, now you look incompetent, and it wasn't even your fault. Imagine having that issue for 10 hours straight with barely any time to breath between calls, a cubicle that is either really hot and stuffy or freezing cold (bring a cardigan and plan on putting it on and taking it off regularly during your shift. It's great exercise) surrounded by coughs sniffs and sneezes that are relentless.  If you applied here, good luck to you. Don't let the four stars fool you. They are either great reviews from centers that don't get routed too many calls (in which case I'd also give 5 stars because it means I'm basically getting paid to watch videos) or management did it to bolster ratings and suck more unsuspecting people into their web of sub par employment.

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