I interviewed Alissa Buth, a former Telemarketer
What did you do?
What did you do?
- I sat at a computer and I had a telephone with a headset. The computer would automatically dial someone, and I would see their name, city and state on the computer screen. I would talk to the person with a script that the company provided me. I would then try to sell the person something.
- I found it to be very hard, I didn't like selling people things and some people that picked up weren't very nice.
- The computer would automatically dial someone. When we asked for donations for charities, the computer database used a list of people that have donated before.
- No
- Yes
- Magazine Subscriptions, services like tax preparation services and donations for charities.
- Telemarketing Associates
- Herndon, VA
- My friends that worked there told me I could make a good amount of money.
- I wasn't very good at it I and I didn't make very many sales. I wasn't comfortable asking people for money over the phone.
- Some were nice, and yes, some people got very annoyed.
- Yes
- Minimum hourly wage plus a commissions on each sale.
- No, in fact some of my friends made up names or played a character, they would also use the name of their favorite football player or talk in a funny accent.
- Two months, but they were very long months.
- Three or four hours.
- Yes
- No
- That the person calling you is probably playing a character and not themselves. Unemployed actors make good telemarketers.
- At least 30 people per hour but most of them were hang-ups or no one answered.
- No, we were trying to sell to and a live person over the phone.
- No, most of the time it was straight out of the phone book that was on a computer database.
- I have no idea how much the company made. But I know the company made a percentage on all sales or donations.
- Yes
- I went in and filled out an application for employment. After about two hours of training, they put me on the phones.