The World Watches

 

 

The conflict between Israel and Palestine enters its 25^th day with a failed 72 hour humanitarian ceasefire. It didn’t even last 12 hours. This occurs one day after the news that Israeli bombing had killed 19 women and children seeking shelter in a UN school.

 

United nation officials have condemned the behaviour, calling the attack on the school a disgrace to the world. So harrowing are the images and scenes on the ground that one UN official broke down in tears during a live interview with AL Jazeera. Officials have also stated that the Israeli military knew they were targeting a school that housed refugees as the co-ordinates had been provided to Israeli officials 17 times in the past three weeks of the conflict.

 

A recurring theme emerging from all reports from the conflict is that innocent Palestinian children are suffering. Jon Snow recently recorded a short piece on his experiences whilst in the Gaza strip reporting on the conflict. This YouTube clip can never be aired on channel 4 news because he talks passionately about the young children he saw maimed and killed by Israeli bombs. Snow speaks out to the public, baring his opinions to all and calling on the public to speak out for these innocent lives that are being needlessly destroyed.

Yet despite the outcry that the violence has caused the world looks on: officials decry the violence and try to broker ceasefires but that’s it. No sanctions have been threatened unlike the sanctions that are currently in operation with Russia nor are Israel’s allies applying any pressure to try and stop the conflict. The US and UK condemn the actions but never directly blame the Israeli army, instead stating that each incident needs further investigation, even when over whelming evidence exists of Israel’s unprovoked attacks.

 

The lobbying powers that Israel friendly groups have in the UK and US have a massive impact on both these countries actions. It has been noted for some time that to be pro-Palestine means you are automatically declared anti-Semitic, particularly in the US. Both countries have continued to supply and replenish Israel’s ammo throughout the conflict despite the growing numbers of dead Palestinian civilians: a number currently sitting at roughly 1360 on my last check. Instead the UK and USA rhetoric is focused around Hamas as a terrorist organisation that Israel is defending themselves against.

 

Yet with the odds so thoroughly against them it’s not surprising that many young men and women in the Gaza strip do join the radical group, Hamas. This group provides a place to vent anger and to defend themselves against a bully. That’s all Israel is in this situation, a larger bully who needs to assert its dominance over the weaker state by pummelling it into submission. With the international backing that Israel receives it’s unlikely that they will stop this bullying any time soon.

 

Russell brand found his YouTube hits growing quickly when he dissected an interview on Fox News to discuss the Palestinian and Israel conflict. He pointed out the blatant biased and aggression that the interviewer treated the Palestinian guest; not allowing him any time to respond fully to questions or justify Palestinians actions. Yet he gave the Israel representative uninterrupted time to promote the official view, that Israel is defending itself from terrorists and Americans hate terrorist.

 

Bolivia recently took the brave stance of declaring Israel as terrorists. Previously it had cancelled a visa agreement with the state but they have taken it one step further this time in making their opinions clear on the actions of the country. This extremely brave action shows a small country that is willing to stand up against unjust violence and support the oppressed Palestinians instead of being bullied into justifying Israel’s actions.

 

The situation has went on for so long and both countries are at fault but with the world becoming a smaller place and the international community wielding a lot of power it cannot be allowed to continue. Generations should not be brought up in such environments, in either side of the conflict. The world needs to look beyond the media representation of the conflict and get to the heart and the truth of it in order to prosecute any of those who have committed these heinous crimes. Only then could the countries move on and start to rebuild themselves and provide a better future for these children who currently have no future at all.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu3lYK6OmMI  – Al Jazeera interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_m98GAdqKM – Russell brand

http://www.channel4.com/news/the-children-of-gaza-jon-snow-video – Jon snow

 

Why should we conceal who we are

 

Tattoo concealer is a relatively new product on the market but is growing fast with a wide range of brands existing from those made by professional makeup artists to those sponsored by famous tattoo artists (Kat Von D). Tattoo concealer is a thicker type of make-up created for the sole purpose of covering up tattoos although some brands also promote the use of it to hide scars and skin pigmentations/defects. The ease in which it can be applied and removed (most last for about 24 hours) makes it popular for those who either cannot afford or who do not want to go through the process of permanent tattoo removal.

A darker interpretation of the popularity of this product is that although more of the population are tattooed, their visibility in certain circumstances or occasions is still considered taboo.  Most of the brands selling tattoo concealer boast of the ability to ‘cover up’ for ‘weddings, job interviews or smart events’. The insinuation or assumption that tattoos are inappropriate for these situations perpetuates the traditional stereotypes associated with tattooed individuals; that they are low class, unprofessional or ,in the case of women, for ‘slags’.

 

I do understand the desire to hide tattoos in some occasions, a common occasion being a bride wishing to hide them for her wedding. I myself did not cover mine  at my own wedding and recently it has become a fashion to incorporate tattoos into the theme of the wedding; the most published one being a couple whose bride had a large peacock back piece so they used this as inspiration for the wedding.  However, with the concealer market sales increased by 32% in the last year, brides cannot be the only consumers of this product.

 

According to research carried out by the Pew Research centres in the USA in 2013, 17% of those with tattoos regret them with 11% of these people either looking to get them removed or have already done so. In the UK figures are similar, with the Huffington Post reporting earlier this year that four out of ten people with tattoos regret then and just under a quarter of these individuals want them removed. Some link these figures to the rise of tattoos as fashion accessories promoted through the ‘celebrity tattoo’. In situations such as this having a cheap, affordable alternative to tattoo removal can be a great relief, particularly if the tattoo is small or in an obvious place such as on the hands (in the fashion of Rhianna) or the face (such as Kat Von D).

 

Tattoo concealer can clearly be used for different reasons but I disagree with the assumption made by the marketing teams of this product that tattoos should be hidden in certain circumstances. Brands such as Tattoo secret, veil Cover cream, tattoo camo and Kat Von D Lock-it tattoo concealer, to name a few, all to some extent promote the assumption that there is certain occasions where tattoos are inappropriate. This conservative stance is what allows some employers to insist tattoos be covered as they are deemed ‘unprofessional’. The wording of the marketing promotes old, outdated ideas of tattoos that have been getting broken down as new generations accept tattoos as an everyday part of life. Younger generations are more likely to be tattooed and to view them as art or an expression of themselves rather than as the mark of a criminal or an outsider from society. Young professionals are now adorned with tattoos ranging from traditional Japanese art work, watercolour designs, anime and old school American style.

 

One brand of concealer ‘Tattoo Secret’ boasts of its reviews in the Daily Mail, Sunday Times and The Express. All of these newspapers are known to hold conservative views around tattoos, often describing someone as ‘tattooed’ in order to conjure negative images of that individual. These opinions should not be forced upon a new generation but instead should be allowed to progress to become more acceptable. Tattoo culture has come a long way from what it was with professional salons existing now whose highest concern is with hygiene and high quality work.

It is good that alternative measures from tattoo removal exist and the option to hide tattoos in some circumstances can be a blessing but the decisions as to when they are hidden or shown should be a personal preference and not dictated, however subtly, when they are appropriate or not. The more we see tattoos, the more normal they become and perhaps there will eventually be no circumstances where they are considered inappropriate.

 

First interview – part 1

Interview 1

 

First of all can you give me an overview of your experience of working in call centres?

Well  worked in call centres on and off for about ten years, I’ve done outbound cold calling, outbound leads, inbound sales, customer service, retentions, banking…..pretty much every type of job you can do in a call centre. Done a bit coaching. Bit of everything really.

Ok. So first off I’d like to ask about your experiences with training. What sort of things does training consist of and what did you think of each training you’ve done?

Pretty much every training group I’ve done is, as near as it makes no difference, identical. Like the in the structure in it. Some places its five minutes listening to someone else on the phone then on you go but that tends to be more outbound side of things. Where you’ve got barely limited knowledge just enough knowledge to sell it and system knowledge then do. You don’t really get taught any soft skills or anything like that because you don’t need them your selling, they teach how to sell.

But usually, generally, when you’re going into an inbound role the training structures the same. The first day is this is company, this is building, tells us a bit about yourself, make a poster. Or three. Then telling you a bit about what training will consist of. Then the first week kinda slowly it’s more to do with the company and the work the company do then it goes into products and systems and soft skills like how to deal with customers and complaints etc.

So what things have you done in training specifically?

You make a lot of posters. Trainers in some places are put through loads of training courses. There’s one company I worked for, for example, where their trainers aren’t trainers they’re neuro-linguistic programming specialists. They are called trainers but they have qualifications in low level psychology. But it all amounts to the same thing the places spend a lot of money on trainer departments, making sure their trainers know what they’re doing. They don’t spend any money on the training systems or anything like that because it’s a waste of money in their eyes. Trainers, however, are important. They’re the first impression you get of a company, when you come into a job they’re who you meet first. So it’s the trainer’s job to sell the job to you. To ensure you stick out the training and stay in the role. So they invest a lot in their trainers. Trainers get paid stupid money too.

You said there that they put a lot of money into trainers but not a lot into systems. Do you think they need to change that?

(Hesitates) I’ve spoke to trainers, I generally get on well with most trainers partly because I’m experienced I’ve done it all so I’m only really there to learn the system and product. The rest I tend to not have much interest in, I do it because I have to but I tend to spend a lot more time helping other people in my group. I pick things up quite quickly so I talk to the trainers. A couple of them said they would like new training system that are up to date with the systems on the floor and work like the systems on the floor but companies wont put the money into it because they won’t get a return. It snot like on the floor they need to invest because the system effects the customer in training it doesn’t. When you’re buddying you’re seeing the system being used live and when you go live you’ve got someone there to listen and help out. Some companies when your buddying, towards the end of things you work the systems while the other person does the talking or maybe get you taking some calls. A lot of places the best way to learn the system is to get out and use it because the training system is useless but companies won’t invest in it because there’s no direct return.

How do you feel that affects the training experience?

I don’t see it affect me as much because I’m pretty confident now navigating different systems; I’ve used a lot of them. There are people when you go into training, like my last job, there was people in the training group when it was time to go live were not confident at all on using the system. Although most systems are simple when looking at them they look complicated. I think it must be a requirement when designing a system for a call centre is that it looks as complicated as possible while being easy. In * the system looked so complicated with four windows open but it’s ridiculously easy once you use it. Even there it was one of the best training systems I used but there was still a lot you couldn’t do so once on the floor, again, asking what you do if you get this call or that call. We get told we should have covered that in training and you explain you did but couldn’t see the system because it wouldn’t let us do it.

I can imagine that causes problems. So posters and training systems. Is there anything else you do at all?

You learn a lot of soft skills, things like how to build rapport and empathy, when to show empathy, the different customer types you get. Whether they are to the point or indecisive. You deal with different types of advisor and what type you are and work on getting you from an advisor that just does what the customer wants, what they call an order taker, to someone who listens to everything and all the background info and takes in what’s on the system in front of you and goes that extra mile for the customer. There’s a lot of work goes into that. Like I said these days trainers are low level psychologists, it’s not just about do you know the material and can you teach it its now about how you facilitate the people in the group, the different ways of learning. Teach a lot about high and low level language, what words are good to use and what ones are bad. A lot of unnecessary stuff in my opinion.

What do you think makes a good training experience?

For me what makes training a good training period, most training periods are 4 weeks and that can be too much and things can be dragged out. The best training is where what you’re delivered is concise, you know, to the point. Not dragged out over two hours when it takes half an hour to learn it.  And when things do get changed up so it’s not all, like if you’ve maybe got a day where its fact heavy, if it’s to do with legal stuff, if its broken up playing games or a quiz just something to break it up so you don’t get too bored. One of the things that was done at * which I’ve subsequently suggested elsewhere is things like standing in the circle and throw a ball and people who are left with the ball are asked a question. It gets everybody up and moving, get the blood and energy flowing and when your answering questions you’re still learning but you’re having a laugh too. It’s already stuff you’ve learned but it keeps it fresh because when you get on the phone you’ll be asked these questions so doing things like that helps you to remember things. I don’t like drawing posters, I don’t think they help. Some people might but I don’t. I get that they are handy to have up and refer to during training but they could be pre-made and stuck up already rather than us making them. I know we make them to help us remember it but going back to facilitating others learning methods, no everyone learns that way.

Do you feel training always accurately prepares you for your role?

No it never does. Training isn’t there to prepare you for your role, trainings there to ensure you have the knowledge you need to do the role. The only way to prepare for role is to do it. Even buddying doesn’t prepare you for the role.

In that case you said training can take weeks do you think that’s a waste if it’s not actually training you for the role?

Aye. It takes so long because again there are a lot of things they try to teach that might not be a lot of use. Like how to talk to customers. If you’ve never worked in a call centre before it can occasionally be handy but these days have worked in call centres or have dealt with customers in some capacity whether it be in a shop or clients with a business. It takes up time which could be better used spending the time in academy’s or grad bays where you’re live but with support n lowered targets.

Trained to Death

Training is an important part of any role but in call centres effective training is crucial. Every system is different and product knowledge is vital whether it be rates on credit cards to package prices on TV channels.  Every company conducts its training in different lengths of time but most follow similar structures or patterns.

Group exercises, role plays and power point presentations are the basic components of most training schedules. These are designed to appeal to the different types of ways that people learn but in reality they tend to bore and drag out information that could be taught in a smaller period of time. They are similar to methods used in school and therefore, in my experience, people tend to treat it like school, having a laugh and rarely taking it seriously causing problems for the trainer. These exercises are used to teach people for all ages yet tend to create an atmosphere where those being trained feel like children rather than equal adults.

 Using training systems that often do not work or cannot fulfil everything required on the phone are also common.  Although these are useful to show some aspects of the system they are not the most effective due to their limitations. The majority of learning in regards to the systems is done on the phone meaning customers are put on hold a lot whilst advice is asked on how to do something on the system.

Training is different for everyone. What was it like for you? Did you find it useful or not?