I would assume that there is more to a job at AT & T then just answering phones.

This is for the customer service position

Being a CSR is not hard, you have to be polite and be able to read a computer screen. Handle unruly customers that have been on hold for 30 minutes. Not hard

i know from working in customer service before that there is mor eto it than just that. employers have the right to not hire someone without a GED or diploma. if someone wants a better job, then they need to get one. just as if i wanted a better job...i could go back to college and get a degree. there are requirements (whether the requirements are low or high) to get a diploma or GED. Unless you cheated of course, then you are only cheating yourself. why is it wrong fo a company to want to hire someone with at least those requirements?

Yellowrose you miss the point all to together. We have plenty of qualified workers in this country, why should we go to India for our consumer needs

This was due to the lack of unqualified people in the US without high school diplomas


that is what you said...is it not?? maybe the company feels that there aren't qualified people based on that. do you have a link to the article?

Maybe being an Insurance agent didn't seem hard to me. I thought it was a piece of cake

I shall looked it up on CNN

bunny...i do respect what you say but i do understand the other side

i asked about a link because that helps to support the post so people can check it out themselves and to back the poster

but i do ty for putting your topic in your own words...to me it's easier to read

http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/2005/02/lou_dobbs.html

sorry yellowrose

this what I found online, but I orginally heard AT & T while watching Lou Dobbs live, thought it be good for spirited debate

oh i agree...it is a good topic. just wanted to give you a heads up to support it with a link to a source so someone can't say you made it up or changed it etc

plus people can view it for themselves.

Ahhh, yellowrose is wise and good, thank you

can i quote you on that if i use the link???

JUST be prepared for bashing...as with any topic

i'm not talking about answering phone, i was speaking in general. and i already agreed they shouldn't be outsourcing jobs over seas. but in my line of work and the businesses i own it does require a little more then a high school education. i have been known to hire bums off the street rather then go looking if i thought they could do the jobs. i would never hire and illegal no matter how qualified they are simply cuz they have no rights to work here if they come over illegally. but other then that i will hire whoever is the most qualified and who ever is going to show up everyday no matter what country they come from or if their native born or not. if americans want to keep american jobs i think the least they could do is at least go to school for the jobs that require it, i don't think thats too much to ask....

I know where everyones coming from. There are a lot of young high school grads that would be perfect with proper training from the company to acheive this. However, our current administration, plus congress, has made quite the mess of things. So, here's my proposal, it stops now.Companies who have sent jobs overseas that americans could have fulfilled should be levied a tax. Not a small one, but the one that really hurts. No grandfathering either, no boohooing, the company can't make it, come bails us out BS. Of course, this would be so nice in my own little world.

I can handle it, I sold and handled personal lines in New Jersey during the MTF, JUA era

Just to be clear, Lou Dobbs said, I believe it was 3 days ago that AT&T chairman said they won't hire americans because lack of high school diplomas. Now, I'm trying to find this quote on line. I'm prepared for the abuse, bring it on!

Because of no diploma? Sounds like a bunch of BS just to answer a phone!I've called At&T customer service as well, and it is almost always a foreigner handling the call. Not only that, I get sales calls from my credit card companies wanting to sell me something else, and those folks barely speak English, but it sounds like they are reading from a script. You need a high school diploma for THAT? Puh-leeze...........

I did not read through all of the responses but I wanted to say that I worked for a company that handled at&t's customer service and help desk calls . Just before I left all home networking and home user support was sent to a call/chat center in India . Only business tech support was handled in the USA . It is not really AT&T that sends the jobs to India or other countries it is the company they have outsourced to do the job for them .
There are also call centers in South America , Canada & Mexico that take these calls .

You must have a high school diploma to work in the call centers in the USA or atleast say that you do . They don't run background checks or require drug testing .

Another thing during the transition both USA and overseas call centers took calls and chats . Overseas customer service scores (from customer surveys as well as monitors) were on average 20% higher than the US call centers .

Oh and yes there is ALOT more to working in these call centers than just answering phones .

The turn over in these places is outrageous . The pay is good but the STRESS is really high .