Snow time like the present to look for customer service jobs

The snow may have given many of you excuses to put on hold that New Years resolution to find new customer service jobs, but now the novelty is wearing off it’s time to start hunting. If you’re looking for customer service vacancies in London, Glasgow, Cardiff or, for that matter anywhere in the UK, be aware that recent icy experiences will probably loom large in the minds of potential employers. Questions regarding how you’d overcome the problems presented by extreme weather may well be a feature of any interview for a customer services job.

The weather’s arctic effects have been felt right across Britain and people in customer service jobs have had to listen to more than your fair share of complaints about it. Or at least you would have if you were actually able to make it into work. It’s reckoned that half of all the country’s workers were unable to get to work on Wednesday 6th January 2010, costing our great (though not very snow-savvy) nation an estimated £690m.

Workers who triumphed over snow and ice to do their customer service job possibly felt a bit dispirited that their efforts were met by few thanks from a larger than usual amount of disgruntled customers. Those that couldn’t get in may well have had fun sledging, but may also feel worried about how much sympathy they can expect from their customer service manager. Job contracts rarely state that staff should be paid if bad weather prevents them from getting to work. Some may be expected to take snow days as holiday or unpaid leave. However many employers feel there is much to be gained in goodwill by not doing this – so fingers crossed you were with one of those companies.

As the snow melts and things return to normal, it’s a time for those in customer service careers to take stock and assess what went right or wrong during the freeze. What was the effect on customer loyalty, staff performance and morale? Lessons need to be learned and contingency plans made in the not unlikely event it should happen again soon.