Patrick Sherwin
ENG 111-81D
October 5, 2002 

Jane 

Jane and I have been working together at our company’s local call center for three and a half years. We started out working in the Rapid Response Department troubleshooting our customer’s equipment to avoid having to send a service technician onsite. I actually met Jane through mutual friends a few years before I started working with her, and I had no idea that we would ever become coworkers. Jane worked for our company two years before I started working with her, so it was nice to actually know someone at work when I started. Jane and I quickly developed a friendly competitiveness that helped propel us to the top of our department. Although we are both very conscientious workers, we have very different styles at work. These differences have become even more evident after our transfer to our current department, tracking new customer orders.

One way that we are different is our productivity at work. We are currently measured by the number of outbound calls we make to customers, and Jane is always at the top of the ranks. She likes staying busy making calls to customers; it keeps her from getting bored with the monotony of our job. She immediately calls another customer as soon as she is done with one, only taking infrequent pauses. I, on the other hand, have given in to the monotony of our job and my call volume has decreased since transferring to our current department. Although my productivity used to be as high as Jane’s while in our former department, I have gotten lazy. I frequently find myself lethargic and lackadaisical, taking frequent pauses, sometimes between every call.

            Another way we are different is how we handle customers. Most of the time I have a pleasant telephone voice and I handle customers well.  Sometimes however, customers get the best of me, and the non-pleasant customer service representative side of me takes over. I frequently find myself speaking with a very firm tone, as if my tone could make the customer say what I want him to say to me. I also sometimes say sarcastic comments that are best left floating around in my head.  Jane, on the other hand, maintains her sweetness in any situation. She always has a pleasant voice and is always nice to customers.  She also has the unique ability to wish the customer “have a nice day” after they were rude to her.

            A third way we are different is how we feel about our jobs. I have gotten to point where I really hate going in to work. I dread reading the same monotonous script over and over and over again. I sometimes feel like the little robot that couldn’t. I go to work and say the same thing over and over. I rarely have to think. I think about quitting on a daily basis.  Jane, on the other hand, likes her job.  She enjoys the interaction with customers, and also enjoys the medical benefits.  Being in a wheelchair, she is worried that she wouldn’t be able to easily find another job. She sometimes dislikes her job almost as much as I do. But instead of letting her bad attitude affect her work, she keeps it hidden and she remains a courteous and efficient worker.

Despite our differences, we are both well respected at work. Our manager likes us both for our hard work. Hopefully my work will not degrade to the point where my manager starts to wonder he can trust me to remain a hard worker. I will also be cutting my working hours in January so I can concentrate on going to college full time. Perhaps spending less time at work will help improve my attitude so I can be more like Jane.