If Customer Service Is Your Thing, We're Hiring!
So here we are already at the end of September. It's just amazing how quickly time can pass. We have a bunch of things cooking right now but first and foremost we desperately need to hire a full-time customer support rep to replace Victoria who left us last month to move to the Big Apple (We're gonna miss you Vicki! Keep in touch). Our 4 reps, Amy, Sara, Kelly, and Erin are firing on all cyclinders trying to keep up with the over 200 emails and phone calls that are coming in on a daily basis. They could really use some help! But the thing is – we don't just want to rush and hire the first person who comes along. It's critical that we find the right candidate.
So who is the "right" candidate?
Well first and foremost we need someone who is fluent in all things Internet. I don't mean that they need to know HTML. I just mean someone that can surf the 'Net with ease. Someone well versed in using sites such as FaceBook and Twitter. Someone who knows their way around iTunes and YouTube Someone for whom the internet is second nature. Why is this important? Because GigMasters is first and foremost a website. And not only that it's a website that has lots of performer videos, audio and photos. Part of our customer support rep job is to help the performers grab videos from their website to be uploaded to GigMasters, helping them crop photos, explaining to them how to get audio from a CD to an MP3 sample, etc. So finding someone who just feels comfortable in the web realm is important.
Secondly, we want someone who embraces the idea of working for a start up. This is not your parent's company. We're not IBM. We're not a bank. There's no HR department, no parking garage, no company health club. We're just 10 people working in a pretty cool office in Redding, CT – all trying to make GigMasters a better website. Working for a start up definitely has its advantages. You can dress casually. You don't have to put up with any corporate bureaucracy. Hardly any forms to fill out – ever. But on the other hand, when your waste paper basket fills up, it will probably stay that way until you empty it. And if the printer runs out of ink, it might stay that way for a while until you remind one of the owners to go to Staples and get more. So its definitely different from working at a large corporation. But for the right person, it can be different in a good way. We especially like refugees from large corporations who WANT to be at a start-up environment and appreciate the benefits.
Thirdly, we need someone with at least some prior customer support experience. This might seem kind of obvious but you'd be surprised at some of the resumes we get. We just want someone who has prior experience working with customers - the angry ones as well as the happy ones. And I'll say it again -- someone who is Internet savvy.
So what does the customer rep actually do day in and day out?
Emails, Emails, and more Emails - That's a huge part of it. We get 200+ emails per day. We get emails from performers asking how to add video. We get emails from performers asking how they can get 5 stars. We can get emails from clients asking if Sunny The Clown is available for their daughter's birthday party or if Elvis might drop by their father's retirement party. The emails come in fast and furious – especially on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Mercifully things quiet down a bit toward the end of the week.
Phone Calls & Live Chat – While we don't yet have live phones, we do get a fair amount of incoming calls that need to be returned promptly. Sometimes these can be complicated issues that would take too long to explain in an email. So part of the day is spent returning these calls and getting to chat with some of our very interesting and unusual performers as well as customers. In addition to phone calls, the reps do live chatting which is sort of half way between an email and a phone call. We actually think Live Chatting is kind of fun and there are plenty of interesting conversations to be had.
Video/Audio/Photos – As I mentioned a lot of the questions from performers are regarding 'multimedia' - audio, video, and photos. Video is especially tricky because our site converts video into flash and this occasionally has hiccups (which by the way our techies are working hard to improve). That's why I mentioned that Internet fluency is important because you will be working with lots of video files – downloading, converting, uploading, etc. Same goes for audio and photos.
Social Media – More recently, our customer service reps have been taking the lead on our social media marketing efforts. This includes helping to maintain the company blog, the GigMasters MySpace page, the GigMasters facebook page, and our company twitter account. I don't want to give the impression that this is the main focus of the job. It's more of a side thing, but nevertheless it's a great chance to add some marketing skills to the arsenal, and of course to take a break from the emails for a few hours a week.
I will say that even though we're a start up, we do offer all the normal benefits that you'd get at a larger company. We offer full health insurance (currently HealthNet) as well as dental, vision, and a prescription plan. We also have a 401k plan with matching (a decent selection of Fidelity mutual funds to choose from), paid vacation, and we might even get you an iPhone if you stick around for a while.
But don't kid yourself. It's a TOUGH job – I'm not going to sugar coat it. We need someone is ready to work, work, work. Are you this person? Do you live within 45 minutes of Redding, CT? Do you have a bachelor's degree and some prior customer support experience? If so, fax your resume to Kevin Kinyon (he's the president) at 209-370-9793. That's his eFax number so it will go to his inbox. Hurry!
So who is the "right" candidate?
Well first and foremost we need someone who is fluent in all things Internet. I don't mean that they need to know HTML. I just mean someone that can surf the 'Net with ease. Someone well versed in using sites such as FaceBook and Twitter. Someone who knows their way around iTunes and YouTube Someone for whom the internet is second nature. Why is this important? Because GigMasters is first and foremost a website. And not only that it's a website that has lots of performer videos, audio and photos. Part of our customer support rep job is to help the performers grab videos from their website to be uploaded to GigMasters, helping them crop photos, explaining to them how to get audio from a CD to an MP3 sample, etc. So finding someone who just feels comfortable in the web realm is important.
Secondly, we want someone who embraces the idea of working for a start up. This is not your parent's company. We're not IBM. We're not a bank. There's no HR department, no parking garage, no company health club. We're just 10 people working in a pretty cool office in Redding, CT – all trying to make GigMasters a better website. Working for a start up definitely has its advantages. You can dress casually. You don't have to put up with any corporate bureaucracy. Hardly any forms to fill out – ever. But on the other hand, when your waste paper basket fills up, it will probably stay that way until you empty it. And if the printer runs out of ink, it might stay that way for a while until you remind one of the owners to go to Staples and get more. So its definitely different from working at a large corporation. But for the right person, it can be different in a good way. We especially like refugees from large corporations who WANT to be at a start-up environment and appreciate the benefits.
Thirdly, we need someone with at least some prior customer support experience. This might seem kind of obvious but you'd be surprised at some of the resumes we get. We just want someone who has prior experience working with customers - the angry ones as well as the happy ones. And I'll say it again -- someone who is Internet savvy.
So what does the customer rep actually do day in and day out?
Emails, Emails, and more Emails - That's a huge part of it. We get 200+ emails per day. We get emails from performers asking how to add video. We get emails from performers asking how they can get 5 stars. We can get emails from clients asking if Sunny The Clown is available for their daughter's birthday party or if Elvis might drop by their father's retirement party. The emails come in fast and furious – especially on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Mercifully things quiet down a bit toward the end of the week.
Phone Calls & Live Chat – While we don't yet have live phones, we do get a fair amount of incoming calls that need to be returned promptly. Sometimes these can be complicated issues that would take too long to explain in an email. So part of the day is spent returning these calls and getting to chat with some of our very interesting and unusual performers as well as customers. In addition to phone calls, the reps do live chatting which is sort of half way between an email and a phone call. We actually think Live Chatting is kind of fun and there are plenty of interesting conversations to be had.
Video/Audio/Photos – As I mentioned a lot of the questions from performers are regarding 'multimedia' - audio, video, and photos. Video is especially tricky because our site converts video into flash and this occasionally has hiccups (which by the way our techies are working hard to improve). That's why I mentioned that Internet fluency is important because you will be working with lots of video files – downloading, converting, uploading, etc. Same goes for audio and photos.
Social Media – More recently, our customer service reps have been taking the lead on our social media marketing efforts. This includes helping to maintain the company blog, the GigMasters MySpace page, the GigMasters facebook page, and our company twitter account. I don't want to give the impression that this is the main focus of the job. It's more of a side thing, but nevertheless it's a great chance to add some marketing skills to the arsenal, and of course to take a break from the emails for a few hours a week.
I will say that even though we're a start up, we do offer all the normal benefits that you'd get at a larger company. We offer full health insurance (currently HealthNet) as well as dental, vision, and a prescription plan. We also have a 401k plan with matching (a decent selection of Fidelity mutual funds to choose from), paid vacation, and we might even get you an iPhone if you stick around for a while.
But don't kid yourself. It's a TOUGH job – I'm not going to sugar coat it. We need someone is ready to work, work, work. Are you this person? Do you live within 45 minutes of Redding, CT? Do you have a bachelor's degree and some prior customer support experience? If so, fax your resume to Kevin Kinyon (he's the president) at 209-370-9793. That's his eFax number so it will go to his inbox. Hurry!
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