Pros
- Working from home which cuts down commuting time and expense - Work/Life balance is good since schedule is set - Little or no supervision - Reimbursement on phone line
Cons
- No vacation, no holidays (preference is submitted and you don't know if you are off on selected holiday until the schedule is issued), no sick days, only unpaid time off - With the unpaid time off, you can't really get the days you need off because only certain hours can be taken off from interpreters and you don't know if allowed time off hours are included into you shift. If those hours are not in your working shift, you can't use your unpaid time off, which will result you to submit a ticket to get a day off with unexcused absence. - Temporary schedule change is possible, but it is almost impossible to change it due to "business needs" - Call after call, after call, after call. - Insurance benefit is given but very expensive, very limited coverage (useless) - Low pay, you can't live with the wage they pay. There is no room to increase your wage, no bonus. - No room to grow your career. HR has mentioned that there are reimbursement for interpretation certifications , but only to find out that such program has discontinued a long time ago - At your anniversary, you are given a hand signed letter from CEO. (If it was meant to be encouragement, the corporate has it completely wrong. It only made me feel as if the corporate is making fun of me - "OO! we don't even pay you all that much but we will give you a letter that our CEO kindly hand signed!! how exciting!!!") - No office supply given. Interpreters are required to take notes and write down all the phone calls received. It may not be a big amount, but interpreters are responsible for that cost. - Limited english speakers not only lack the linguistic ability, also they lack a lot of basic knowledge. Later on, language barrier isn't the only problem, rather the fundamental issue is that limited english speakers don't even understand when you interpret for them. - Angry limited english speakers will try to tell you (interpreter) about all their problems and try to say bad things about the client (English speaker) as if they want you to be on their side to defend them. At the end of the day, you don't feel like you are an interpreter. - No human contact. You are alone for the whole time you are working. You don't even know who are your fellow interpreters. A lot of times you need your colleagues to talk it all out and encourage each other, but you don't get a chance to meet or talk to others. - Lack of consistency in programs - some newsletter was supposedly sent every month, but that disappeared. E-mail accounts are given but is not used all that much. Inefficient training is given here and there. - Intranet will crash all the time when intranet is pretty much only source of communication with this company.
