Tony's Profile - Mortgage Professional
I work part-time as a member of the mortgage servicing team. My main role is to help customers with any queries they have about their mortgages.
This could involve anything from helping them change the direct debit for their mortgage and working out mortgage repayments to explaining to
customers in basic terms how their mortgage works.
I also refer customers to specialists if they have a query that requires more detailed information. For example, I might pass them onto our
customer options team who can provide detailed advice about all the various mortgage products we have, or the further advance department who talk to customers interested in borrowing some more money against their mortgage.
I spent four weeks learning about the phone system and the different products and services - in my case it was all to do with mortgages. Towards
the end of the four weeks I spent a day listening to a few calls to get a feel for the sort of things I’d be dealing with. Then I joined the mortgage
servicing team for real.
These days, new starters are given more time to learn how to deal with live calls. They spend three weeks in the Contact Centres development centre,
which is a separate training area, where they can call on the expertise of their trainers if they get stuck.
The support you get is fantastic – there’s never a time when you have to deal with something on your own. Plus the more you do it the more confident
you are and the better you get.
"The brand name was definitely a big draw."
I’d have to say one of the biggest benefits for me personally is the hours I can work. My current shift is 9 to 3 Monday to Friday and one Saturday
every two weeks (for which I get a day off in the week). I used to work full time but wanted more time to spend with the kids.
Plus as part of the Flex benefits package, I get the opportunity to buy extra holiday out of my salary, which is great for the summer holidays.
All in all when you take into account the hours I work and the fact I can take that extra holiday I think it works out that I get the equivalent of
8 weeks holiday a year. Not bad eh?
It was four years ago when I saw Halifax advertising for their contact centre - and went for it. The brand name was definitely a big draw and I’d been
a customer of theirs for years and always liked the service. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.