Flashbacks: Stellar Chapter

After I received such fantastic email last Friday, mukhang relieved na ko. For now. Hahahaha I’ll explain that later. Anyway…

Time was fast this year, of course.. I won’t forget yun previous work ko which was very unexpected of it. Kinda liked it perhaps kung di lang talagang mababa ang pay. Hehe Anyhow, where do I start.

Around Oct 2012, I applied sa Stellar, hoping to pass sa Jetstar account, which is an Aussie Airline company, or even the big bucks sa IP Relay nila. Unfortunately, mahigpit sila from accent, diction and the likes, so they offered me a back office work na lang at this kinda low rate. I told to myself, since that time eh kailangan ko cash temporarily, I accepted the work. One of the lowest rates since ePLDT days. Hahaha It was low that I did not receive an allowance sa work na to.

I planned na nga pag palpak to, hahanap na agad ako ng iba. It turns out na I stayed for one and a half years, quite fast ha at it was a fun work. Interesting too, lalo na yun mga last months that seems time really flies fast at maraming nagagawa after.

I started sa Midshift handling simple billing then up to 5am shift handling well, first time in my vocabulary, middle of house. Or better yet, escalation request. Kung baga, kahit simple or complicated yun request, kailangan tapusin asap. Mabuti na lang may account reconciliation na kasama. Hehe Never done that before.

A first handling an utility account, what’s more shocking eh kung gaano kaluwag at regulate sa Australia ang power industry. Sana talaga ganito sa atin. Hehe San ka naman makakakita na 3 months ang billing ng kuryente at may discount pa pag maaga nag bayad. Pumapatak as an average eh 7k-8k ang charge nila per quarter. Mas mura kaysa dito na umaabot kami at least 8500 in 3 months. Pwede pa madelay yun bayad na hanggang 6 months, lalo na pag di nakuha yun billing. Although sa system billing siya pero di siya automatic generated. Kung na auto generate na agad yun bill, malamang may mali. Hehe Kami ang umaayos nun.

Grabe at may solar offer pa sila na minsan eh yun company pa nagbabayad sa customer para sa excess credits. Gagawin carry over or kung buenas, refund! Grabe. Hahaha Well, di gaya dito na di nagoffer ang Meralco ng solar feed in, or kahit off peak rates, what more sa delay payment ng bills. Isang linggo lang ang delay dito, putol na tayo. Nakakatawa nga, pumunta yun CEO ng client dito to offer the same gaya sa Australia kaso mukhang mahihirapan niya gawin dito. Pero sana in our lifetime, eh ganun din dito ang billing ng kuryente, tubig or well gas. Nakalimutan ko yun gas ha. Mas mura din di hawak sa quarter billing.

Tama na yun client. Haha As Stellar naman, hmmmmm First of all, ayos ang location, I mean, sana sa Cubao lang sila, kaso bus terminal na kasi yun location nila, lumipat sa bagong MDC 100. Ok yun location, kahit 5 mins na lang, nahahabol pa. hahaha Di naman ako nalate lagi. Benefits, hmmm masaya kasi VL is not cancelled, SL eh madali lang kaso may bonus kasi pag di nagamit ang SL eh convert lahat! Ginawa ko LOA, pero di naman kadami. Kaya SL conversion ko sulit! Hahaha Madali lang magrequest ng documents pero may allowance ka dapat at least 1 week which is ok lang.

Gamit na gamit ko yun sleeping room. Hehe Sarap matulog. Saka Eastwood lang so dalawang sakay bahay na ko, basta maaga na umalis. Maraming kainan from mezzanine, to brown paper bag at kalburger. Hehe At yun masarap na manok na may gravy! Intrepid pala yun place tapos may ministop pa. Kung mayaman, Tropical Hut or Mcdo. Hehe

Dito ko din naranasan na pag holiday sa Aussie eh holiday din dito, although di lahat, pero pag major holidays, diyos ko, sure na! hehe Yun medical benefit gamit na gamit din, dalawang salamin kaya nakakuha ako libre. Hehe Reimburse kung baga. Saka vitamins pa! Kaya yun mercury at watsons, ayun.. hehe Resibo lang kailangan.. Medicard ang gamit namin, although papalit palit every year which is kinda weird, eh sulit din.

Despite walang allowance, the best part eh over profit, so kung sobra kita ng LOB namin which nangyayari lagi at maganda stats, expect mo na jackpot sa end of month. Yun nga lang taxable. Hahaha The management wise, hmmmm yun open book policy nila, it is great. I mean I’ve never seen or very rare for a company that every process or money we make is monitored every week. What’s more eh sinasabi sa team meetings or kahit one on one na ganito lagay ng LOB, saka malalaman na kung may makukuha ka sa Over profit incentive. I worked with wonderful people. Kakatawa nga yun batch namin, despite sa mga trouble sa training at ehem pagdating sa floor eh magulo pa sa mga TL, ayos naman pagtagal. I’m blessed na napunta naman ako sa magagaling na TL. At marami din skils na tinuro kasi pag maraming split or queue, kulang na lang pati transfers at disconnection, kami na. hehe

Kakatuwa, although I failed, I had a chance to apply for QA kaso lintek na araw na yun, OT, walang kain. Test agad at mahirap ang excel exam! Bwisit.. Ubos oras kaya yun.. Di pinalad. Pero ok lang. Sarap lang ng feeling na irefer ka ng TL mo na magapply at motivate kang try mo. First time yun. What’s more, never join sa clubs before pero dito lang ako nainvite na magayos ng blog kaso di natuloy. Hahaha Sayang, paalis kasi ako nun, di naman umandar yun newsletter nila. Sayang. Maganda pa naman sa resume or skills ko yun. Hahaha

I had worked with fun team mates, although may mga nakakaasar pero di naman bad trip. I get along naman sa mga ganun. Nakakatawa everyday at kasama mo pa sa kalokohan minsan ang TL. haha First time, I’ve worked, ehem… Sobrang gandang TL! Hahahaha Kakainspire pumasok. Hehe Pag hirap ako sa tasks, makita nga si TL kung nasan, biglang alam ko na gagawin. Hehe Anyway, I miss yun events lalo na sa company events na as usual, Stellar is an Aussie company so drinking is required but I did not drink naman. It was very fun but abrupt.. =(

Of course, it’s not perfect. First one was despite mga efforts namin, the reason kaya naman di naman mareach yun maximize profit eh mas maraming fault yun client. I mean, despite numerous reminders and even memo to them, aba pasaway, wala lang. At worse, mabagal pa yun ibang party, gaya na lang ng distributors! Reads na lang di pa mabigay na actual! Bwisit! Hehe Alam na mga agents to kung ano pinagsasabi ko. Hehe Pahamak ang client, lalo na yun mga salesman na akalain mo, door to door pa pala. Gulatan kung baga sa customer na may bill sila. Hehe Basta, sana in the future, umayos sila. Sabihin na namin may fault kami, pero di naman dadami yun kung di dahil sa kapalpakan nila. Another thing, thank Lord na dati nung nasa Dell Libis pa ko, I dreamed or hope na magwork sa back office na umaga. Nabigay nga! Hahaha Actually Eastwood dati eh less traffic, around 5 years ago. Kung traffic, eh Friday to Saturday kasi gimikan. Pero these past years, dagdag mo pa ang higpit ng sakayan ng jeep, grabe ang trapik! Walang pinipili oras. Mapa punta ng Cubao or puntang C5/Pasig, diyos miyo.. Napaka tindi ng trapik! Lalo na pag holidays, araw araw na ang chaotic trapik. Parang Makati na nga siya, kaya mabuti ang sked ko di rush hour. Kung rush hour, naku po, mahirap na magwork. Lalo na ngayon, may stop light na sa Citibank. Patrapik lalo. Kaya di ako nagigimik diyan, sa Cubao na lang or North ave. hehe

Lastly, ah yun lang. Great benefits, yun rate lang talaga, mababa. I can’t believe I survived that long with that one simple rate. Hahaha Although I researched sa ibang BPO na outsource third party eh yun na daw highest. Hmmmmm so no choice kung hindi mag inhouse na pagkatapos. I tried pero wala eh, 2 years experience. Cut short. Pero ok lang… hehehe Minsan may buenas pa. Sana kung umabot or kung plus 2-3k lang, aba tatagal pa ko dito. Sayang yun ibang benefits and conversions. Hehe Saka eto lang pala pag mga first month mo parang contruction worker kung baga, very low rate, mukhang abono pa at every Friday pa sweldo. Talagang cost cutting sa training ha. Walang night diff or holiday. Hehe Mautak! I also survived that.

Well, I worked with a great company despite some setbacks but I enjoyed working. Definitely, as I approach the end of this searching for a stable career, eh malaki natulong nila even in that short time improving my analytical and other account reconciliation skills. Nakakatawa, dahil nandun ang ANZ eh may mga nakikita pa ko mga taga 24/7. haha

After I left them, there was a sudden shocking turn of events!

To be continued.. Delivered. =)