Being laid off during the COVID-19 Pandemic is one of the most stressful and disheartening experiences of one’s professional life. Aside from the obvious financial anguish, the stress of losing a job can affect relationships, take a toll on one’s mood, and one’s physical and mental health. Many people around the globe have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. While the unprecedented and widespread nature of the crisis means that the person who lost their job shouldn’t feel an ounce of shame regarding the situation.
Such is the story of Chithra, a 25-year-old collection executive for a Nationalised bank’s channel partner who used to work in Chennai. Hailing from the interior parts of Tamil Nadu, Chithra’s shift to the big city of Madras was celebrated when she had gotten the job, two years ago. She was one of the first among her community to have finished her education and to have gotten a job out of their hometown. And now after being laid off, Chithra had to return home, overwhelmed by the uncertainty of the economy recovering and the unpredictability of being able to find good work again. In addition to coping with the stress of unemployment, she had to worry about paying the bills and supporting her family, financially.
She waited for three months to see if the situation would get better but it only got worse. That was when she learned about certain companies that were ‘hiring’ during this time. She went onto LinkedIn and tried various hashtags until she found exactly what suited her best even without her knowing it at the time. The hashtag was ‘remote work’ and the company she discovered that was hiring, was ‘VOIZ’.
Despite having no experience in remote work, Chithra still went ahead and signed up on VOIZ as a professional. She was surprised at how easy the whole onboarding process was. She got through completing her ‘bio’ in no time. Being a first-timer at remote CX work, she was apprehensive about the hardware requirements but even that she was surprised to see that all she needed was a laptop, smartphone and internet connection. Being the only youngster in her household, she was required to help her elderly family members out during the day which now suited her very well because of VOIZ’s flexible slot timings. She chose to work Tuesday through Sunday by picking the 16:00-20:00 slot. In her own words, “VOIZ allowed me to not only experience remote work but also the joy of working at my own time and pace”.
Chithra had applied for outbound and inbound voice processes and was on the lookout for collection-based projects. Despite not having any experience in the customer support field, she was shocked to see the plethora of gig opportunities she was suddenly faced with. Having been unemployed for over three months, seeing the endless possibilities of CX work was like food for the hungry. She applied to projects that suited her and she particularly liked how transparent the whole job application process was. She was aware of the job role, process type, and salary from the clear display of the same while applying for these jobs. She thoroughly enjoyed the onboarding and application process and compared it to a field day where everything was easy and didn’t require too much time.
Chithra kept an eye out for her notifications and in less than two days she got selected for two projects that she had applied for! The hiring manager of one of the projects got in touch with her and set an appointment for an interview. For Chithra, this was also new because any job she had applied for previously, required her to go to that particular location for the interview which would most likely be in another city. At this point, she had contacted the agent helpdesk with support regarding the preparation for her interview. Our representatives at VOIZ assured her that her experience in collection processes is a bonus. This interview did entail a test that would require a minimum pass percentage. She took her time to prepare and schedule the interview at her convenience, which was yet another first for her. Her interview took place over video call and her results reached her within three days. She was in! Her manager got in touch with her regarding her training period after which she will be fully made part of the process. She completed her 7-day training by showing up every day, after which she was made to go live!
Chithra had waited three months to get an opportunity similar to her previous workplace. But she ended up getting something even better which allowed her to stay with her family and work from her zone of comfort with limited to none corporate politics or the monotony of a 9-5.
VOIZ happened to her when she really needed it the most and she now completes a month with VOIZ.
Being laid off during the cusp of the COVID-19 Pandemic is one of the most stressful and disheartening experiences of one’s professional life.. Read on to know more about how Chithra navigated her employment journey through VOIZ.
Very well written! Love this piece.