Judith Beeman loves her job. Being a telephone operator is stress-free
and flexible. Well, pretty much stress-free.
"I answer both zero and directory assistance calls," says Beeman. "Working
over the phone is difficult when explaining to an elderly or confused person
exactly where such-and-such listing in the phone book is. If we were face
to face I could just show them visually."
Beeman likes not having to work 9 to 5 -- her office is open 24 hours a
day -- and "the fact that I don't have to take any job pressures home with
me."
Beeman says it makes her happy when she makes brief connections with people
who genuinely appreciate her assistance in looking up information or getting
a number.
But the really good part of the job, says Beeman, "are people telling an
extremely funny joke -- as compared to the many dull people who insist on
telling operators unfunny jokes."
On the bad side, telephone operators have to deal with obscene phone calls.
"They're an everyday occurrence and come with the job. Over the years I've
received a few calls that were just so unbelievably hate-filled and violent
that I was literally shaking after the call -- and I'm not easily upset."
Beeman's day shifts last seven and a half hours, afternoon shifts last
seven hours, and the graveyard shifts last six hours.
Bobbie Varney is a long-time operator who handles all types of phone calls
for the city of Enid, Oklahoma. She started out as a directory assistance
operator. She began in her current job after her company moved its operators
to Oklahoma City.
Varney has heard it all. "The hardest part is having patience with people
who don't know what they need, so I'd advise having what I call 'pleasant
patience' with callers." Most operators who work in corporate, government
or industrial settings work a straight eight hours, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Becoming a telephone operator helped Varney overcome her shyness. "It brought
me out of my shyness. I used to be bashful, but I learned to speak up."
But operator Burke Stinson warns that being a telephone operator isn't
a no-brainer job. "Don't romanticize the job. It's demanding work and often
the public under-appreciates your efforts," says Stinson.
"You need thick skin and you can't get ruffled easily. You'll get people
who are abusive at times, so telephone operators must be courteous people
who have regard for correct information and patience."
It's a busy job. "Nothing in life can prepare you," says Stinson. In fact,
Stinson estimates an operator takes thousands of calls daily, and that an
eight-second delay between calls is a slow day!
Stinson says that once a telephone operator is on the job, there is a lot
of informal training done by colleagues. "There is great camaraderie among
operators, and you develop a sense of 'I can handle anything.'"
Should a person decide to pursue a job as a telephone operator, Stinson
has this advice: "You'll be given high-tech, top-of-the-line training and
you'll probably talk with more people in a week than most people do in a lifetime.
From this you can learn the value of taking the 'high road' with people!"