A lot of people look down on call centers. I think that's wrong. I
think there's dignity in the work that people do at call centers. I
think that people pick up so many transferable skills. Call centers
are great at helping people learn how to deal with difficult people.
Call centers teach people patience, because people can't yell at
customers online (even if they're being really dumb!). Call centers
teach people how to deal with stress. Call centers help people learn
how to communicate, and that's probably the most important skill in
today's world.

I firmly believe that tech graduates should be exposed to customers
and trained to communicate even if they're eventually going to go into
deep systems hackery. There might be better ways to learn these
things, but a call center job isn't a complete waste of time. If
people learn how to make the most of even their call center
experience, then they'll be much better off.

If people think that call centers are a dead end—well, that's _our_
fault! Are we building the companies that provide opportunities for
others? Are we offering interesting challenges and competitive
salaries to attract and retain people? Or are we just sitting back and
complaining about the lack of real opportunities in the Philippines?