sales representative

customer service representative

service à la clientèle

strategy manager

account specialist

Telus

a typical day at work included taking phone calls from customers, making sure their profiles were uptodate with current address, phone numbers, while keeping sewcurity measures in place, understanding the customers issue- where it was system issues or physical issues, then making sure the system was preforming at optimum measures troubleshooting the customers problem with strict procedures and practices, making sure the customer was well informed about the action that were being made as well as documenting each action that was taken. making sure the customers issues were resolved either by everything working like it should, or sending out a technician or transfereing the customer to the cvorrect department to fulfill their needs. then actively following up with the customer to make sure their services are working to their liking. 

what i learned from this job was to be extremely patient with every customer, how to manage my emotions as some customers could become aggressive and rude over the phone. i also learned how to multi-task efficiently as we had alot of programs that were running all at once and we had to make sure everything corresponded with one another. i also learned how to manage my time carefully as customers were not very patient and wanted their problems resolved very quickly. i alo learned how to be thorough and communicate to others the steps i had taken to resolve conflicts in a way that every other agent would be able to follow and understand my work and actions taken.

the management was very little at the position because it was in an office call center, the manager would check in with us on a need to know basis or if there was an issue with customer serveys. the only time you really got to sit down with your manager was when they would do call listenting and even then you only spoke about your performance on the call and things you could improve. otherwise it was working with little to no management

i cant really say that i had co workers as i didnt really get to interract with anyone unless we were not on a call. the people around me were fairly friendly when they were not on calls. the people that i worked directly with such as tire 2 support were sometimes rude and spoke down to you, but others were generally helpful and knowledgable. 

the hardest part of my job would have to be the multitasking and being thourough. if these two things were not mastered then the job would definitly be very difficult. the customers would be very judgemental, and impatient if the calls took to long, and if your not able to multi task thouroughly then alot of mistakes would be made, and this job has absolutly no room for mistakes. another hard part is trying to resolve customer complaints and leaving your emotions out of it. it wasnt a common occurance but thrre would be atleast two customers a day that would be very rude and demeaning because of their frustration with their services and they would take out that anger and frustration on you because you are the first line of support. 

the most enjoyable part of this job was being able to talk to customers about life outside of troubleshooting and getting to know people while waiting for programs to load or refresh as we worked with the alberta and british columbia customer base.

I worked at the call centre in Calgary for the mobility dept.  I had started 3 yrs ago and quit near the end of last year. When I started the training was excellent as well as paid which is a plus because it is quite long.  The one issue is that they don't train you on what to do when policies suddenly change which affects clients and more so those who have been clients for a long time and expect a certain way things are done.  Policies for example which were the types of things you were trained on in the first place.  This causes a lot of dissatisfaction and drives a lot of calls which in turn makes the job quite stressful as you will have no control and gain limited mastery while retaining some, but not all by any means, very angry/demanding clients.

A second problem, which is most likely part of any large company, is that each dept. working with each other had no idea what the other can do or is able to do...compounded by policy changes again.  It's almost like the analogy of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.  In the job however it is more like an octopus and each of the eight had no idea what the other was doing, or was willing, to do.  This caused animosity between depts. and to some extent within our own which caused further but unneeded work stress.

The pay and benefits were quite good but I was full-time so unsure if part-time is quite so compensated.  The pay/benefits were the best part of the job so take that as you will.  

Work life balance is illusory in a call centre as shift work is the norm and Telus is no different. Start times could range from 9am-1pm with end times ranging from 5pm-9om.  The schedule is rotational and you will generally have no say as to when is the best times for you personally.  If you're a parent and need evenings off, you may work until 9 pm some weeks because you will have no say and asked to find a shift trade on your own.  It is best to consider this.  Days off are not always together and could be mid-week, weekend, part weekend part mid-week etc. Again, not good for families or single parents I would imagine or people juggling 2 jobs.

Team managers were hit and miss personally as with all jobs but all are generally supportive, professional and never demanding or confrontational.  Management above them however was more top down and basically said what was expected and employees are expected to do it.  Call targets are determined mainly by the previous month's profits I think but we were never really told and always kept in the dark as to why certain things changed. If it's not in your pay grade don't look for answers.

Stats were not too difficult to meet most months but at times due to the constantly changing direction management decided to take almost every month 'coaching' is weekly and seemed almost scripted from a 'How To Manage People for Dummies' book.

Overall, like I stated, good pay but was far too stressful, schedule is rigid and take it or leave it, atmosphere is youthful but disengaged and upper management's view of cost/benefit in terms of pricing is lost in terms of their tenured clients expectations in my opinion.  A good job for students but little advancement opportunity unless you want more work for the same pay and more stress.  And despite what other reviews may imply in other depts..lateral promotions out of the call centre are not generally offered from what I saw.

The training period was fairly comprehensive with a competent facilitator, and the following ride-alongs with senior technicians are usually beneficial. But once you are cleared to work as a technician, almost everything from there on is extremely flawed. The job scheduling is very erratic, the jobs are often under-quoted ("SWT'd") for the time needed to properly complete, and the dispatchers can often spring jobs on you even if you have no time for those extra jobs. And then once you receive the jobs on your job board, they are often missing proper information, contain information that has nothing relevant to that particular job, or are just created because an angry Telus customer coerced the phone agent to create the ticket.

The tools and vehicles provided by Telus are often sufficient. But if you require assistance from the Cable Repair team or Network team - who are vastly under funded for the scope of the operations - you and the customer can both be stuck waiting for long periods of time to fix the problem. Likewise can be said for phone supports offered to technicians - it is all off-shored, and though the agents are often very helpful, it is just like dealing with any large company over the phone. Except you are trying to squeeze these calls into an 8 hour day, where you usually have 2-4 other jobs to get to still.

The metrics system that Telus employs to grade their technicians is no better. You are expected to install products (and also fix problems with the very trouble prone products and infrastructure), but this accounts for very little on your scorecard. The technicians that excel and that are praised the most are the ones who are selling the most new products and services to customers, even though there is no real formal training given for this requirement (and in my case, there was only a few sentences in the job description that stated this was a requirement). In the grand scheme, if you are not selling enough new products and services - or billing enough customers for extra work done (even though its often not required for things to work properly) - you are constantly talked to by management and told to pick it up, with no real collaboration on how to do so in a concrete manner.

The actual physical work, on the Telus infrastructure and security systems, can be fun and rewarding, especially since most of the senior technicians and cable repair crew are super fun, nice, and helpful to work with. Even in my case, my direct field manager was great and managed to deflect a lot of the sales push off of their technicians, and focused on what we were actually providing in the quality of the service itself. The managers are usually very understanding about work-life balances, and the benefits and vacation are good too after the probation period. But for all the stress that is taken on from scheduling, dispatch, work time quoting, and angry/difficult customers, I did not find it nearly worth the pay that they offer. I'm sure if you can stick it out there and try to change departments and gain more experience in the company, it could be a lot better. But it just wasn't worth it for myself. Best of luck.

TYPICAL DAY at WORK
Pickup physical & geographical information in the field.
Design and survey:
 underground support structures on public right of ways and private property.
 support structures for crossing, railway, pipelines, bridges and rivers etc.
 draft design for consultant drawings.
 inside building support structures.
 building entrance support structures.
 drawings.
 communication cable and pole line requirements.
 TELUS Lightguide Transmission (fibre optic) System; Vancouver, BC to Jasper, Alberta.
 transmission loops.
 178 river crossings.
 20 bridge crossings.
Draft :
 specifications for high density building construction.
 tenders.
 specifications.
Right of Way Acquisition, public and private property.
Obtain Permits from Approving Authorities.
Prepare contracts.
Tender projects.
Cost Analysis & award tender.
Review contract prior to issuing.
Scheduling of manpower and materials.
Liaison: with approving authorities.
Ensure a professional business like approach and provide support between developer, contractor and company forces.
Coordinate construction with approving authorities, consultants and other utility companies.
Inspect projects as to compliance with design, specifications and tender requirements.
Authorize:
 design changes.
 force account work.
Process contract payments in a timely manner.
Invoice processing.
lssue letter of completion.
Compile information for As Built Drawings.
Write off and and close work orders and projects.
Administer 480 km of ROW (Jasper,Alberta to Hope, BC.)

WHAT I LEARNED is that for every situation and challenge their is a solution and comprimise and that and that every job can be done safely and right the first time. The challenge of of doing the job right the first time and leaving/protecting the envioronment always left me with pride, integrity and self fulfillment.

MANAGEMENT and CO-WORKERS were there to help, provide input, asissit and that everyone has something to contribute.

The HARDEST PART of the JOB was when situations/projects went wrong because of glitches in the sytems.

The MOST ENJOYABLE PART of the JOB was when after puting a long day the satisfaction I got from providing answeres, solutions and designs for everyone involved with a project wither they were contractors, suppliers, equipment manufacturers, approving authorities and company work forces.

Courage to Innovate

Creative
Awarded certification of Excellennce at Road show for consistently contributing and exceeded productivlty, quality and attendance.

Risk Taking & Implementing
I am able to plan and organize my work load daily making it effective by priortize what needs to be completed and when. ie With many of the toll free winbacks there is a customer expectation to have these services switch to TELUS network and specific times.

Embrace and Initiate Opportunity

Deciding

Taking quick action for a customer I was able to turn around an angry customer and show that even though he had service he wanted by going through a dealer, TELUS was there to listen and do everything possible to provide better service.

Initiating

My high productivity shows I look for opportunities to help Off Shore colleges and peers whenever I can.

Adapting

Many things change often and I am open to trying and doing everything required. ie. When sox errors
effected quality scores I and my peers got together to adapt the additional expectations to get TLC ebams. I stayed positive through these types of changes which also helps my peers.

Passion for growth

Learning
I took on learning how to do toll only orders ie: learning that hold codes used for toll free did not work for LD orders and sharing that information with my peers. I also shared this learning with my peers.

Driving Results

Every order I do and each new thing I learn shows how I contribute to win in the marketplace. I have delivered to our brand promise – the future is friendly. Making sure winbacks are completed, by helping Off Shore Collegues and Peers when possible and being available for after hour cut over’s for toll free winbacks.

Developing Team Members

I provide support to a new team member when she needa and this helps improve on her skills. I am positive and supportive while she is learning I share my knowledge.

Spirited Teamwork

Collaborating
I collaborate daily with my peers on workload and often help them keep orders up to date, We share knowledge and have strong working relationships.

Demonstrating Integrity

ie. A customer was paying to obtain toll free numbers from a company in the US Doing the right thing by suggesting a better way, Taking forward to manager . I am supportive of everyone and understand everyone has different ability and learn at different pace instead of pointing fingers I offer help.

Sadly, as time goes on and Telus has to provide constant growth for it's shareholders/BOD...it means slowly but surely stripping away at benefits, pay and even jobs on shore to outsource call centre work to the Philippines, and to contract out good paying, skilled jobs to the lowest bidding contractor available. (most of my job was cleaning up super sloppy/unsafe contractor work)

Culture has become so toxic because of all the changes that have taken place over the last few years many are leaving in droves. (which just means that Telus wins...) The Union is a joke, it has no power and won't protect you or help you. This isn't any specific person's fault, but the overall complacency and inability of the workers to stand together as a whole.

Make no mistake - if you take a field job - your main role is NOT to provide/fix services, your main job is now to SELL SERVICES while you are in the home in front of customers. And if you don't do this, or can't do this - you will be reprimanded formally, and eventually fired.

No ability to move up in the company as they do not want union members to succeed/grow with the company. They want to break the union and get all of those workers out.  (to save on benefits, full-time pay and pension contributions)

The current director for Calgary is a smooth-talking "car salesman". He'll present and tell you one thing, to avoid conflict in the moment, but he'll do things completely the opposite to keep his seat at the management table. He is ruthless and heartless and does NOT care about the people. He only cares about numbers and getting his bonus. (makes sense, he knows where his bread is buttered)

Middle-Management is so busy and stressed looking after paperwork and analyzing "metrics" that there is no time for development of their people. Make no mistake - you are a number on a page, with metrics to hit. That is ALL they care about because their bonuses are tied to your performance. So if you don't hit your numbers, you get reprimanded and eventually fired.
If you LOVE being micro-managed then I suppose this is a great fit for you.

It's really sad. I used to think that this would be the last job I would ever have. Great pay, AMAZING benefits and overall great people to work with. But changes to the business and overall changes in economic times have turned a once honoured trade into little more than door to door salespeople. (oh, you'll be expected to do that too!) 



Telus will give you the experience you need to get started in a sales career, however, do not expect to move forward in a true career unless you're prepared to swallow your morals. In the year of 2025, all retail employees were left without raises regardless of tenure or performance. In the last few years we have watched our pay gradually decrease as painful reworks have hit our commission structure. The best part of the job is the people you work directly with. I love my coworkers, we all get along very well and are happy to be around each other. The worst is that as a sales rep, you are simply a cog (not a very important one) in a machine that will happily out turn you if you aren't willing to push the grey zones in ethical sales practices. If you're lucky, your direct management team will be great. They will support you and genuinely care about you as a human being. The management above them however, will like see you as another body meant to generate revenue, and if you aren't meeting their expectations, will happily see you go.

If you can sell well, and are a rather social individual, this is a great job for a transitional position before you start a major career. If you're looking for a career right now, look elsewhere.

A typical day: you will come into work, do your regular tasks such as checking resources to see the daily changes in prices, plan, devices etc. You will sell to customers and try to convert non customers into customers. You will make outbound calls during downtime to encourage customers to purchase over the phone. These calls will increase as call centres get closed down due to company "restructuring" to save money.

Pay and benefits:
You are paid below minimum wage, typically starting at 14-15 dollars an hour, then paid commission on top. Don't worry though, if your sales commission does not pay you above min wage, you will be topped up to receive what your pay would have been AT min wage. 

As for benefits, this is the one area Telus excels at. You will have a great and modifiable benefits package covering everything from health, drugs, dental, and mental health, to life and death benefits. The company pays a solid amount toward your insurance package, meaning you'll pay very little per pay to nothing per pay out of pocket.

There is no real typical day although most have similarities. Most days I get in early so I can get emails done and be ready for any related team project, I manage a 48 HOUR turn-around mailbox with a high-volume workload within a deadline-driven environment, single Point of Accountability.
I Receive customer feedback via meeting request to meet customer demands,changes,updates within the customer signed agreements. My focus on the customer experience, to be engaged in identifying gaps, opportunities and recommendations for improvements in the Customer Touch Point assessment., providing valuable input/insight and providing recommendation for improvements.
Ensure that all orders have been completed. Attend Bi-Weekly Team Meetings (Update agenda Items to Team) set up meetings to ensure process delivery for new products launch,training documentation and process library updates.
Monitor and prioritize all escalations.
Buddy system in place for verifying CSR's per systems, and vacation coverage. I assist the Risk Management Team with all disputes as they do not have the expertise to quantify the disputes.
Manage workload on a rotational basis
Attending Product Management / Process meetings within TELUS in order to build relationships improve process, lessen errors.
Team lead “go-to” person for new reps and particularly challenging calls as one of the company’s primary mentors/trainers of both new and established employees.
Continue to work Product Managers team to provide recommendations, for process improvements.
Work directly with the related sales/CSE Engineers on accounts, to ensure product was being delivered. Provide leadership and technical insight into client's business direction and decisions.
Manage workload on a rotational basis
Team communications withing group to prioritize workload;Provide leadership and technical insight into client's business direction and decisions
Each person has a Team, within the team ideas are shared, and we have implemented life styles improvement in the business office.  
Constant sharing of information within the teams.

TELUS expects a lot of its front-line team managers, from coaching and development to working primeships (non-core role work). 

You learn very well how to coach individuals, and to a lesser degree how to support and develop front line team members. 

Your supporting manager is definitely dependent on their style and personality, I found with working two different ones there was one that was better for me than another, however this isn't to say one was bad. 

Work-life balance is decent, there is a ton of flexibility with your hours and when you choose to work. One is likely going to work greater than 8 hours a day, and you can get this back at another time, but overall look to put in 40+ a week almost always. 

Performance is measured as expected for a people leader, on your team's performance, however it is also based on your 'values' score, and this in relation to your peers, so you better step up and not only perform well at your core role, but do a ton extra because there are others doing that. Your yearly bonus is based on the combo of performance and values, so the more you do all year, hopefully this is recognized through both quality and quantity. 

Also, as a team manager your performance is heavily considered through team member engagement and your teams quarterly evaluation of you. Be sure if you take a role like this that you have a strong grasp of how to drive team engagement, as it is something considered with high importance. 

Overall, being a front-line team manager at TELUS is rewarding, and there should be a lot of opportunity to learn (this is dependent on your support person as well). I would really suggest this role especially to someone young and upcoming, and wants to expand their knowledge and skill set as a people leader as well as their business acumen.

What is the best part of working at the company?
1. Company Culture: A positive, inclusive, and supportive company culture fosters collaboration and camaraderie among employees, making for a more enjoyable work environment.
2. Professional Growth: Opportunities for career advancement, professional development, and continuous learning can be a major highlight, allowing employees to enhance their skills and advance their careers.
3. Impactful Work: Many employees find satisfaction in knowing that their work contributes to meaningful projects or goals, whether it’s helping customers, driving innovation, or supporting communities.
4. Work-Life Balance: Companies that prioritize work-life balance by offering flexible working arrangements, remote work options, and generous leave policies can significantly enhance employee satisfaction.
5. Leadership and Mentorship: Strong, accessible leadership and mentorship programs can provide guidance, support, and inspiration, which many employees find invaluable.
6. Team Dynamics: Building strong relationships with colleagues and being part of a cohesive team can create a sense of belonging and enhance job satisfaction.
7. Benefits and Compensation: Competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits packages, including health care, retirement plans, and wellness programs, are often mentioned as key advantages.
8. Innovation and Creativity: Working for a company that encourages innovation and allows employees to express their creativity can be highly rewarding and motivating.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Change Management: Organizational changes, such as restructuring or shifts in strategy, can create uncertainty and anxiety among employees as they adapt to new roles, expectations, or workflows.

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