Working for Spark - Customer support / Contact Centre

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goodfox

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

# 204998 26-Oct-2016 08:55

Hi guys,

Completely new to this forum, and I am not sure if this is being posted in the right place, or has previously been discussed. If so I apologize in advance!

I see Spark are currently hiring for customer support reps, and was wondering if anyone has worked in their contact centre currently or in past?

If so what is the work environment and progression opportunities like? Is it a good company to work for? Are there regular sort of social events etc?

Is there anyone who compare the role to something similar like at Slingshot, 2 Degrees, Vodafone etc?

Any insight working in their contact centre would be great:)

I have previous experience in the telecommunications industry both with customer service/tech/provisioning and some management, so I believe I would be suitable to go for the role.

Due to my experience however, I would definitely be aiming to move my way up again as fast as possible, but also want to work for a company that treats its employees well and has a good social aspect.

(Have posted something very similar in some of the the other telecommunication companies as well, as they are also currently hiring for the same position)

Thanks

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9 posts

Wannabe Geek

# 1658169 26-Oct-2016 14:00

The role is based Auckland CBD I believe.

old3eyes

8198 posts

Uber Geek

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# 1658216 26-Oct-2016 14:49

I heard yesterday that Spark was going to have another big slash and burn of staff before Xmas.. Surprized they are taking on anyone..

Regards,

Old3eyes

quickymart

4672 posts

Uber Geek

# 1658482 26-Oct-2016 19:18

One person supports this post

Where did you see this advertised? Link?

kornflake

404 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1658490 26-Oct-2016 19:37

One person supports this post

Well if Spark cut any of the call centre staff out @jasonparis might as well just put the gun in his own mouth, that said they really need to sort out their agents skill level as most of them are nothing more than note takers.

goodfox

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

# 1658491 26-Oct-2016 19:39

Saw it on Seek under a third party recruitment agency

https://www.seek.co.nz/job/32042725

dejadeadnz

1562 posts

Uber Geek

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# 1658526 26-Oct-2016 20:34

It's good to see that Spark's lack of professionalism extends to their recruitment practices. This ad was placed on the 14th of this month and the indicative start date is the 25th (yesterday). Now bear in mind that we had Labour Weekend and that 14th was a Friday. This means that even if Spark started shortlisting candidates on the Tuesday (18th) and giving interested candidates less than two working days to apply (which would hardly be ideal HR practice) and assuming that all interested candidates could attend a Wednesday interview and verbal offers made on Wednesday, I would still be highly suspicious that Spark had sufficient time to run MoJ checks for the successful candidates.

This is because even if services like CVCheck were used (and they pay to get MoJ checks done through them prioritised), results are typically not available for at least two to three working days. So one would hope that during the course of initial training (if the successful candidates did start on the 25th), these people had no access whatsoever to customer's private information or the opportunity to view their colleagues' or trainers' screens and exposing customers to the risks of identity theft or stolen information by people who were likely not yet properly vetted.

And even if you don't care about all this, what about candidates' right to have sufficient time to consider whether to accept employment and/or take advice on the terms offered? This is something that any semi-responsible entity will respect. And on such tight timeframes, you are reducing your candidate pool to the currently unemployed or desperate. That's hardly conducive to excellence in customer service.

Anyone at any reputable, publically listed entity (Spark perhaps excluded) engaging in such recruitment practices would be acting in blatant breach of company policy and should be looking at a disciplinary hearing. In places that I have worked in (I have been in senior risk/commercial management roles), the likely outcome is Group Risk getting very angry in conjunction with a senior HR manager and the person involved is staring down a final warning or even dismissal. The risk to the company and, more importantly, its customers is intolerable.

goodfox

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

# 1658541 26-Oct-2016 20:50

Thanks for your reply. You definitely correct in what you are saying regarding the dates and their hiring processes. I wasn't to sure about Seek ad possibly having incorrect dates by accident, or weather they would tell the successful candidate the dates had changed?

I have no experience with Sparks work environment, just familiar with the services they provide.

I am hoping to jump into a position even if it is just customer care / technical support before Christmas as I know most of the HR and recruitment teams are all off around that time, and generally first start recruiting again next year.

I have just arrived back from overseas, hence trying to get as much information as possible about some of these companies.

dejadeadnz

1562 posts

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# 1658542 26-Oct-2016 21:01

goodfox:

Thanks for your reply. You definitely correct in what you are saying regarding the dates and their hiring processes. I wasn't to sure about Seek ad possibly having incorrect dates by accident, or weather they would tell the successful candidate the dates had changed?

I know a couple of people (that I trust and respect) who didn't have very complimentary things to say about Spark as an employer. But they were in areas very different from the helpdesk.

If the dates had changed, someone should be updating the ad. I'll be blunt: people who can't be bothered doing the right things when hiring usually don't make for very good employers. If you have other options, I recommend looking elsewhere.

Talkiet

4201 posts

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# 1658583 26-Oct-2016 21:50

13 people support this post

I'm going to jump in here just to say that as far as I am concerned Spark have been an excellent employer in the hostile regulatory environment that the industry in NZ finds itself in, and has been subject to more artificial external pressures than any other company in NZ I can think of. Being forced to move from a monopoly providing what was seen originally (when it was built) as effectively a public good service as a natural monopoly, and having to move unbelievably quickly to a genuine retail provider operating in a market with a great deal of competition has not been easy and there has been pain along the way.

I'm not going to debate ancient history, and I'm not going to address individual points because in a company our size over such a period of change there will be bad things. Instead I am again going to offer my experience with Telecom/Spark after the earthquakes in Christchurch.

After the September 2010 earthquake I had several colleagues and managers get in touch with me on the weekend to make sure I was ok and didn't need anything. We were given extremely quick clarity about what was expected of us, and everyone else in the company (with management support) rallied around the Chch employees by covering for them as we were all given leave to sort out our living arrangements and family issues. Of course, that was just a small hint of what was to come in February 2011.

After the Feb 2011 quake where our buildings were damaged and several employees suffered severe injuries and the loss of friends, Spark stepped it up. Again within hours I had colleagues and managers on the phone, offering anything we needed. (As it happened I was in Wellington on business when it hit - in a meeting with ALu actually - we felt the quake there and I walked out of the meeting to see a TV with pictures of the broken cathedral). Spark immediately changed my accom and flights to get me home as soon as possible, and for others in Chch they offered food, water, assistance with transport, phones... basically ANYTHING. At no time was there any suggestion that they would try to recover any of the cost from us, and they gave everyone in Chch that was normally housed in an affected workplace leave with pay for as long as it took to find a workable solution. I was variously working from home, on leave, and working from a rented hotel and an exchange building.

So many of the complaints leveled at Spark I ignore because I know I am biased, and complaints leveled at the services or pricing don't really worry me because I know how well our network works and I know our pricing is reasonable for what we provide. I also often choose not to jump in to defend things to avoid stepping outside of what I am allowed to talk publicly about...

But when you attack the behaviour of this company that demonstrated an unbelievable level of concern for employees welfare and their families, and backed that up with actions at significant cost while also handling the business and network impacts one of the largest modern day natural disasters in NZ, then that pisses me off and I don't give a damn if I get rapped on the knuckles for speaking out of turn.

If I were made redundant tomorrow I would be upset, not so much for losing my job, but for losing my job with Spark. I'd still keep them as my mobile carrier and ISP, and I'd try to get back in at some stage.

Spark aren't perfect, no company is, but as someone that has seen the bad and the best of Spark/Telecom, it seems so petty and small when what may turn out to be a confusion over dates is held up as an example or some sort of systemic lack of professionalism.

Regards

Neil Gardner

Please note all comments are the product of my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

dejadeadnz

1562 posts

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# 1658598 26-Oct-2016 22:13

Talkiet:

it seems so petty and small when what may turn out to be a confusion over dates is held up as an example or some sort of systemic lack of professionalism.

Let's charitably grant that someone just got the date wrong and flesh out what that entails:

1. This someone and other people who should be having some managerial control over the person (someone must have supplied the approved draft of the ad to Hudson) didn't even bother to proofread such a small piece properly.

2. There were insufficient controls in place to safeguard against what is obviously a pretty embarrassing public display nor continuing monitoring of job adverts. After all, if people took the ad literally, it would be very likely that response rates would have been unusually low. Surely someone should have noticed.

And frankly I doubt it was a mistake. Once the riskiness of the behaviour has been exposed, whoever is confronted will undoubtedly claim that he/she made a typo. But as someone who makes his living thinking daily about mitigating risks, legislative compliance, corporate social responsibility, and protecting customers' data (amongst other things), I (and many, many others) care about employers respecting prospective employees' right to take time to think about an offer of employment, customers' data not being accessed by people who can't be properly vetted, and a corporate purporting to care about its customers to do enough workforce planning that it does not try to hire permanent employees inside 9 days. If this is petty to you, you and I are on different planets.

As for your subjective experiences, I can tell you that many other employers offered the same to staff in Christchurch, include a previous employer of mine that I otherwise thoroughly despise.

Talkiet

4201 posts

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# 1658601 26-Oct-2016 22:16

One person supports this post

Talkiet:

I'm not going to debate ancient history, and I'm not going to address individual points because in a company our size over such a period of change there will be bad things.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are the product of my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

dejadeadnz

1562 posts

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# 1658603 26-Oct-2016 22:21

That's your prerogative but this is a discussion board. You don't get to get on a one-way attack and order others to shut up unless you are the site owner.

Talkiet

4201 posts

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# 1658606 26-Oct-2016 22:25

5 people support this post

dejadeadnz:

That's your prerogative but this is a discussion board. You don't get to get on a one-way attack and order others to shut up unless you are the site owner.

I respect your opinion and you're going to accept that I stated clearly that I wasn't interested in getting into a debate about individual points.

Cheers- N

Please note all comments are the product of my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

marpada

308 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1658642 26-Oct-2016 22:52

Worked for Spark around 9months, left this year because of personal reasons, unrelated to the job. In my experience they're an extra wonderful employer. My manager was always very kind, generous, concerned about team well-being and encouraged career development through training and certification programs. Even when I announced my resignation they were always supportive and understanding with my situation and even offered help to secure a new job. This is obviously anecdotal evidence so your mileage may vary.

kornflake

404 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1658646 26-Oct-2016 22:56

Noted that there are very intelligent and helpful people at Spark, Neil you are one! yes things move slowly in big companies and just like any big company there are a few not so good people, I get that, but Spark need to upskill / further educate their offshore front line support or give them more access to diagnose and get things fixed/resolved in shortest period of time possible.

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