Sitel Work at Home Jobs in Customer Service

Sitel Work at Home Jobs for Telecommuting WannaBes

Finding a job is hard – finding a job that you can do from home, that also offers benefits can be even harder. I hear from other moms all the time that they need to go back to work because times are so hard, or their husband has gotten laid off, their company down-sized – different reasons and scenarios – but all have the same outcome – not enough money to get through the month. I understand this all too well.

Though I love my website and I love being an Avon rep – recently I was finding that money was getting too scarce by the end of the month. With a child now in college, tuition, books, car insurance (for a teenage BOY no less) has really raised the stakes for us financially. It was time for me… after 11 years to find a job. And though I blog about finding work at home – and HAVE worked at home for 11 years… I wanted to find something with benefits too. That puts the job hunt on another level and slims the selection down.

I looked at several customer service telecommuting type positions – but many were part-time only and offered minimum wage and no benefits. There are several good telecommuting companies out there though – and they all should be looked at if you're searching for something that can be done from home and offers REAL employment.

Most Asked Questions Regarding Work at Home for Sitel

Let me get the most asked questions out of the way because I get a lot of emails about the company and they seem to always be the same questions.

Question: Does Sitel drug test for work from home positions?

Answer: Yes. You'll need to do a drug test at a local lab. And a background check too.

Question: Does Sitel hire work from home jobs in California?

Answer: Sitel hires work from home positions in all states except California, Washington, and New York.

Question: How much does Sitel pay for work from home positions?

Answer: Sitel's work from home positions pay range is $10-$12 an hour. Checks are issued bi-weekly via direct deposit or through Sitel's total pay card (debit card) program.

I go into more depth regarding some of these questions below. But I wanted to give these top questions a spotlight since they are the most asked.

Discovering Sitel and Their Work at Home Employment Option

I've known there was a Sitel office here in the Asheville area for years. I have a friend that works there. He's in his 70's and loves it. He and his wife, like us – just found that the money coming in, wasn't enough for what needed to go out — at least not “comfortably”. So he applied — and was hired. At that time… when he started, I don't think Sitel had a large work at home force or even offered work at home positions.

They do now. So I checked it out.

Sitel Offers Genuine Work at Home – Decent Pay and Benefits

When my friend told me that Sitel was moving much of their workforce to a home-based workforce and that they were hiring for these positions – I figured it was worth checking out.

I was really pleasantly surprised by what I found.

Sitel is a 36-year-old company with 80,000 employees in over 26 countries. They are a leader amongst call center companies, twice winning Datamonitor’s annual Black Book of Outsourcing survey. Impressive.

But what was more impressive is that they offer full time and part time work at home, with pay starting at $11 an hour. Now just think about that for a minute. Maybe right now, if you're lucky enough to have a full-time job making say… $13 or $14 an hour – think about how much of that goes to gas, car repairs, time, lunches, clothes (I won't go into daycare.) You probably end up making $11 an hour or less, after all, is said and done.

Sitel also offers benefits. FULL benefits. They offer medical, dental and vision insurance. You can also opt in for 401K. This was something I desperately wanted and needed. At 46, I have NO 401k because I have worked for myself and I don't really make enough to “set aside” money for savings. My husband has a great 401K and it's money we have never missed – I wish I had the same, but it's never too late to get started. Continuing to save nothing on my part…. well, begets nothing. They also offer paid vacations, even for part-timers.

Sounds great…
So what's the catch?

I Applied and Got Hired

I applied three weeks ago and within about 9 days I received an email saying I would have a phone interview. This initial interview was very basic, discussed the job, pay and benefits and I was asked a few questions. If I passed that, I would be asked to do a second interview. However, my interviewer received a call from her supervisor during my interview and I was asked to proceed directly to a “scenario” and pretend I hadn't gotten a call from a customer (there will be different scenarios for different hires – just depends – they will tell you the opportunities they currently have).

I was hired on the spot after the scenario. GO ME!

After that, I received another email regarding an online orientation, documents I needed to have filled out and notarized, and a computer readiness class that walks you through equipment set up. (I could not attend this class – so I ended up setting up everything on my own – it is NOT hard. They provide everything but a computer monitor.)

I begin my training this week and I could not be more pleased. I have the comfort of knowing I have a well paying, full-time job with benefits – and I can do it all from home.

**I did not enjoy the account that I was training for with Sitel. It was AAA. For some reason learning maps in states, I'd never been in and dealing with people in emergency situations wasn't for me. I asked both my trainer and my HR person if I could switch to something different or if I could apply/get hired as one of the virtual interviewers — I never received any response. I had no choice but to discontinue. It was really disappointing because I know I would have been a valued employee. I'm a hard worker and college educated with tons of professional experience. I think they are a great company – hopefully, I can interview with them again for something that's a better fit for me and them. Update: I went on to take a position with another smaller company that is work at home in tech support and have been so happy. Yes, I do have to talk to customers all day long via phone, chat and email — but it's for software support and worked out to be a perfect fit for me. Do not get discouraged if your first customer support job is not a great fit!

Drawbacks with an At Home Sitel Position

I can't see any so far – but I have worked at home for 11 years – so it's not a new concept for me. Neither is setting up tech-y stuff and troubleshooting any issues. However – they DO offer the computer readiness class and a tech support hotline. So I am sure there are many employees that had no experience with this technology that with their class and tech support were able to be up and running.

No co-workers.
If you like being around people and having office buddies etc – you're not going to like this. You are ALONE. Not on your own, no help to figure out how to do your job…. but there is no one there next to you. You are prepared to do the job because they offer 4 weeks PAID training – but it's not going to be like working at an office.

You will also need to have a QUIET workspace. Might sound like a great job if you have little kids – but understand… you can't have junior asking you for a cookie or crying about his BOO BOO while you're taking a customer service call. BIG NO. The same goes for TVs blaring, dogs barking, music playing…
NO NO NO.
QUIET. That's just common sense.

An Extra Perk

Sitel offers a $200 bonus for referrals. Yep. Plain and simple. If you work for Sitel for 90 days and you refer someone else and they work for 90 days – you get a $200 bonus. Even referring one persona month could end up being a nice little extra stash of cash. Of course – they have to stay for 90 days after training – hopefully longer – but it is a nice little incentive that the company offers. You might also want to check out a job that involves just interviewing customers.