customer service technician

customer service representative

program technician

technician

program specialist

Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles

What is the best part of working at the company?
Paid training and holiday pay.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
During my year as a Customer Service Generalist at the Virginia DMV, I gained valuable insight into the realities of public-facing government work, but ultimately the experience highlighted several systemic issues that made it an unsustainable environment for me.

Training was limited and often insufficient for the complexity of the responsibilities we were expected to manage. As a result, many employees—myself included—were placed in situations where we were underprepared, which made daily operations more stressful than necessary.

Support from leadership was inconsistent. Communication frequently lacked transparency, and despite expressing understanding, management decisions around attendance and accommodations did not align with that support. This created a work culture where it was difficult to feel genuinely supported or heard.

Additionally, navigating major statewide changes such as Real ID significantly increased the workload without improved training or guidance. This shift made the environment even more challenging.

During this time, I was also managing personal medical challenges and coordinating a long commute using a shared vehicle. Although I communicated openly, provided documentation, and sought reasonable flexibility, the response I received did not reflect care or compassion.

Ultimately, my experience taught me the importance of effective training, empathetic leadership, and a supportive work culture. While the role started positively, it became clear over time that it was not the right environment for me. I’m grateful for what I learned—and I’m excited to move forward into roles where employee well-being and professional growth are prioritized.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I believe the actions taken by management at my CSC location involved:
* Failure to properly consider documented medical absences
* Inconsistent and misleading communication from supervisors
* Disciplinary actions that contradicted verbal assurances
* Lack of reasonable accommodation related to my epilepsy diagnosis
* Improper reliance on “attendance” during a medically documented condition
* Inadequate training and support during Real ID implementation


What is a typical day like for you at the company?
The workplace suffered from inadequate training, especially during the Real ID transition. Senior staff discouraged questions, and employees struggled without proper guidance. These issues affected both morale and performance, and they contributed significantly to the challenges cited in my statement.


1. work 7:30 AM to  5:30 AM. Cannot leave at 5:30 if there are customers waiting. - If you have to travel long and face traffic, please don't stress your life. Every day is a torture from manager, if you stuck in the traffic.
2. Learning is very interesting at DMV. You can learn every day, every hours and sometimes every transactions you process has something new to learn.
3. MANAGEMENT: 
- has no vision, no knowledge of laws and regulations,
-some of them" sit and  just watch what an employee they have targeted is doing"- Get rid of the video camera for the manager please. 
- if you are not one of the "yes man" you never get promoted. Knowledge doesn't matter.
- they lie to the customers and employees.
- they DON'T ALLOW YOU TO TAKE SICK LEAVE, if you call out; they start torturing you verbally and and then write you off. 
- they WANT YOU TO WRITE DOWN AND SIGN WHEN YOU MISUNDERSTOOD POLICY OR LAWS, BUT THEY NEVER COMMUNICATE IN WRITING WHEN THEY HAVE TO DO AGAINST THE POLICY AND LAWS.
-Once you are old, have diabetes, blood pressure and needs some accommodation in working at DMV-VA(specially North District where I have witnessed veterans getting stressful work environment), they try to force you to quit. - That was the reason I decided to search for another job. 
Organization is never bad, you can reform it. A gang in VA DMV is very autocratic that you can not say no to their ORDERS. 
4. Workplace Culture: Like a jail. Prisoners love each other. Team members(non-managers) are unforgettable. 

5. Hardest part of the job:  unnecessary stress and complains from the management. No employees' voices heard !

6. The most enjoyable part of the job:
Wow, meeting lovely citizens with different issues and problems. The most pleasant time of the life would be when you actually help a citizen to process their transactions at DMV and they thank you. Every thank you was a reward for my entire 8(EIGHT) years, 

Suggestion to the Commissioner:
- Please let employee talk to your employees without manager interfering them. You Get the solutions. 

I loved the the agency and encouraged all my friends and families to apply for the DMV job, but now I am sorry for them. 




I’d like to share my experience working at the Virginia DMV, particularly for those considering a position here. While the training was thorough and initially instilled a sense of confidence in handling calls, my overall experience has been far from positive.
One major aspect to consider is the pay rate. At $19 an hour, the compensation does not reflect the level of stress and workload expected in this role. 
Additionally, the 12-month probationary period differs from typical industry standards, potentially leading to uncertainty regarding job security during the initial months.
The time-off policy is quite restrictive. To have your time off approved, there must be sufficient coverage on the day of your absence. This means that if others have already taken time off, you might find it challenging to utilize your own accrued time. As a result, I have found myself with significant unused time off, as it often goes unapproved due to these constraints.
The workload is intense, with back-to-back calls that leave little room for respite. Many days, I find myself eager to clock out as soon as I clock in. The mental toll of the job is substantial, and it can be draining.
If work-life balance, mental health, and spending quality time with family are priorities for you, I would advise considering other opportunities. The environment can be stressful and may not be conducive to maintaining your well-being.
Moreover, transitioning from full-time to part-time requires resigning and reapplying after a three-month wait, which can be discouraging if your circumstances change.
In hindsight, I wish I had carefully reviewed employee feedback before accepting the position. While my training was promising, the reality of the role has proven to be quite different.
For those who prioritize personal well-being, I would recommend exploring other options.

There are unrealistic requirements from employees. Administrators are pushing and pushing and pushing for staff to get the customers in and out quickly, they’re running reports for every second of the day and adding stress about how quickly we can process without considering other factors like ill prepared customers, poor computer systems or customers who don’t speak English. The required level of knowledge far exceeds the pay scale.  They pay us like we’re entry-level receptionist, but we are expected to handle transactions ranging anywhere from transferring vehicles of deceased persons to new owners and identifying the appropriate required paperwork, to issuing drivers license for international customers and recognizing a slew of immigration documents, to administering road test with new and inexperienced, and sometimes incapable drivers. There are occasions when staff is required to testify in court against customers breaking the law. With the current governor holidays are not holidays anymore, weeks that have a holiday mean that all hands on deck are required for every other business day that were open (can’t take any leave on those days on those weeks).  Attendance policy has been modified so any sick day without a doctors note equals an occurrence and seven occurrences in a year could get you fired.

I worked at the DMV with DLQA, basically doing CDL testing for about six months. My job was fairly easy and straightforward, and I was always able to strike a nice work life balance while there as well. That being said no one is in a hurry to get things done there or solve problems and this was very frustrating for me. It took almost three months to finally get the tablet I needed to do my job and I wasn’t able to clock in on my own until about six months into my time there, my supervisor had to let me log into his. For six months countless calls and emails were sent before anything was finally done, same goes for the tablet and many many other issues. If you make one small mistake there you spend weeks trying to find someone to help you fix it, no one is in a hurry to do anything. You’ll play phone tag with about 20 different people spread out all over the state, and fill out endless forums to correct one small mistake. Then there are the Karen’s who work at the main offices who have been given power for the first time in their lives and love using it. Then there’s the Geniuses in Richmond at HR who insist on running your life from 200 miles away and letting you know how much smarter and better they are than you. Basically it’s an easy job, but it comes with massive bureaucracy and toxic personalities.

When I started DMV there was ac different commissioner and I was under a different manager. Within the last year, everything went from great to horrible. The expectations became unrealistic. It did not matter if you had a medical issue, family issue or need to go to the hospital for a near death situation. If you can’t be there, they will write you up. They want you to take care of the customers multiple needs in an unrealistic time frame which actually destroys the opportunity for authentic customer service. There’s no empathy or sympathy from anyone. I had a major death in my family and was threatened with termination if I was not back to work in three days. I had a medical procedure that required me to be out for just one day and I would recover over the weekend. I reiterated this to management and even provided them with notes. They still expected me to clock in that same day AFTER the procedure. There motto should really be “ do all the work we expect you to do, but don’t expect to have everything you need to get it done so do the best you can and if it doesn’t work out, that’s on you.” At this time I would not recommend to anyone. Don’t even consider a wage or part time position. There’s no pto offered and you run the risk of not qualifying for company raises. They don’t tell you that prior to getting the position. 

I enjoy working for the Department of Motor Vehicles because it allows you to meet and greet a diverse group of people and learn about the culture while examining their document for a driver's license. A typical work day would be prescreen customer documents to verify they have what is required before the issuance of driver's license and titlework is completed. The management coach and mentor staff members who maybe new to the field. The co-workers are delighful to work with because they all work toward a common goal and help each other with the workload. The hardest part of the job is turning down a customer who does not have the proper documents to assist them further with issuing a driver's license. The most enjoyable part of the job would be having a strong support staff to assist you day to day operation. I would like to progress and find employment to expand on the knowledge of review immigration documents and hopefully land a job with Homeland Security to further my knowledge and skills and abilities to assist with security of the United States.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I would say working with some of my coworkers, meeting good people (whether co workers, customers, people from other departments or offices, etc.) and doing new and different things (I enjoyed road examinations).

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
 Customers who are lazy, entitled, unprepared, belligerent , rude and unpleasant, good management that can do nothing, bad management content to do nothing, The current Virginia governor (22-23)/  or any elected official(s)  making demands without supplying the resources and manpower to fulfill the request, lack of a proper wage (especially to live in Northern Virginia) and no if any regard to the internal customer (worker/clerk) are the most stressful things. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Fast paced, efficient-oriented, bottom line driven. Policy will change frequently. Co-workers can be good,  frequent turnover.
Very stressful. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Very busy, things have to happen immediately. It is a fast paced environment, times are monitored and frequently.
It is tense and very little comradery.

The management teams seem helpful upon entering the company, but once you're out of training, you see the attitudes and messiness. Calling the assist line, typically manned by supervisors, came along with questions like "Oh, you don't know this?" and being talked down to and them answering like they hated their job; no warm, friendly tones. There were times where I believe other tenured agents worked the assist line; they always sounded like they were willing to help. The knowledge base system and policies were filled with outdated and unclear information, making it hard to provide customers with the correct information in an efficient manner to ensure that Call Handling times were met. There was very rarely morale boosting activities for remote agents. The pay did not sufficiently cover the amount of work being done, especially as you went through different levels of training.  Occurrence policy unreasonable especially if you're dealing with sick family. FMLA isn't an option for classified employees in their first year.

Customer service for issuance of Virginia Driver’s licenses, vehicle titles, registrations and verifying applicants’ eligibility by complying with Immigration policies. The position included conducting computer aided driving performance evaluations to determine  examinees knowledge of Virginia DMV minimum level of skills and knowledge required to operate a motor vehicle; administering and scoring vision tests. Working knowledge of DMV programs and operations, principles and practices of office management including customer queue-matic along with compliance resolution for driver licenses. The  most difficult part of the job and assisting customers with requirements for documents. Management supports you in learning process and always available to assist. The most enjoyable part of the job is your coworkers. Fun to work with.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Customer service technician 146 salaries reported	$19.86 per hour
Customer service representative 21 salaries reported	$59,926 per year
Program technician 4 salaries reported	$46,279 per year
Technician 17 salaries reported	$49,691 per year
Program specialist 4 salaries reported	$61,890 per year

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