A Whole New World: August 14, 2012

Immediately the next day, I went to Insular Life building for my Communications and Culture Training (CCT) day 1. For a total of 10 days (only 9 for me because my supposed day 1 was the day when I got hired), we will study (or rather review) our English communication skills and learn about American culture. I was excited because I would always dream to speak English fluently. 

We started the day with the usual introduce yourself. However, the instructor already gave topics to discuss while we introduce ourselves:

Name, 3 Interesting Facts about You, Last movie you watched, Dream Job, Expectations from the class and  the trainer, Expectations from the course/training itself.

When I was called, I started (of course) with my name and how wonderful it is. Haha. My 3 interesting facts include: I am a dancer and that I've been in training and performing regularly since 2007; I am a fan of Ian Somerhalder and The Vampire Diaries (and many other American series); and I already forgot the last one. Haha. I also shared that my dream job is to own a dance studio and a restaurant real soon. The expectations part, I won't mention anymore because it's just blah. Haha

For 9 days, we went to the class in the mid shift (2pm-10pm) and while doing that, we fixed our requirements in the morning. The training was really fun! Aside from the English training, we learned about US time zones and memorized state abbreviations. We had learning games and the losing team performed (that's us haha) Since I am a grade conscious person myself, I really studied hard to get good grades and made sure I'd pass. 

At the end of the class, I got an 88.5 and placed 4th overall. Hahaha. It was fine because the class valedictorian got 89 something. Weeeee! Happy me!

Best of all, I got 18 new friends! They're all crazy and we'd often tease each other but we will never get angry. Here are my best buds from the class:

(L-R) My mentor Ed, Cla the singer, Jane and me

The whole class with Dre, our trainer:

Standing (L-R) Mars, Gayle, Steph, Jane, Meg, Dre, Janine, Me, Bambie, Cla, Anne

Sitting (L-R) Nick, Eric, Mark, Kocci, Josh, Ed, Nikko, Cesar, MJ

As I write this down, we are on our last week of PST (Product Specific Training) and we are already in the graveyard shift of 9pm to 6am. The group is still intact but we are about to go on different schedules by next week. Sad but we'll still see each other in the floor (hopefully) I'll make another entry solely for PST because it's a whole new experience and we have the best and craziest trainer. 

Everything is going well for me. I still believe that this is God's plan that is why I am still going for it. After a few months, let's see if I'm going to change my mind. :)

A Whole New World: August 13, 2012

On this day, I decided to take a very important step in my life.
I applied as a Collections agent for Convergys G5.

I went there not knowing what will happen, all I knew was this is God's plan for me. It came at the right moment, to say the least.

At about 11:30am, I had my initial interview. It was funny because we were 5 in the room and while waiting for the interviewer, this person was really talkative. He was trying to calm us, thinking that we were so nervous that's why we were not talking much. He began asking questions and talking about his life. And so the other 3 began talking to him as well. For me, I was trying to concentrate on my "describe yourself" spiels,  (I already knew that that will be the interviewer's question.) that's why I was really quiet. But of course when he asked me, I answered.  After 30 more minutes, the interviewer arrived and began the session.

It went really quick. After all of us have spoken, the interviewer gave tips and improvement points on diction, stress, subject-verb agreement and stuff. I thought no one passed from our group but as she bid the group goodbye and thank you, she said, "Sabrina, I want you to stay." Wuhooo that's it! I passed the interview!

After that, I took an online exam. It was not a pass or fail one but they just wanted to know what do I know about the call center industry. Then, they had me take lunch and when I came back, I had my final interview. After about 15 minutes, contract signing. Pretty fast, huh? That's one of the "features", I could say, of the BPO industry. The hiring process takes only one full day. The next thing you know, you already got a job.

They asked me if I could start early, or even ASAP. I said yes, for sure. I don't have anything to do so I said yes.

The next morning, I woke up relieved and really excited. Aside from it was already my first day of training, I'm really excited because I knew I'll meet a lot of new people and I will learn something new from that day forward. :)

How to process your NBI Clearance online

Waiting in line is such a pain in the ass so hey, here's a really really quick way to get your NBI Clearance! Trust me, I got mine through online as well, I just went to the main office to get the print out. It took me just 15 minutes! Here's how:

1. Pay the NBI Clearance fee through G-cash. You can send your payment directly from your phone. Just type *143# on your mobile phone and select GCASH then SEND MONEY. Or, you can pay over the counter at your nearest Globe store. Fill out the Gcash form and pay at the counter. NBI's Gcash number is 09175638052. You NBI clearance fee depends on the purpose of getting the clearance. Just add P20 for the GCash transaction fee to your NBI Clearance fee which are as follows:

After the payment, you will get a Gcash reference number (written at the receipt) that you will need to register online.

2.  Proceed now to www.nbi-online.com to register. Fill out this part of the window and wait for it to process. 

3. After successful validation of your reference number, you will be now lead to this window for you to fill out other pieces of information that they will need.

4. Click UPDATE INFO once you're done. Now, you will be given a QR code which looks like the photo below that you will need to print. You will present this QR code at the NBI Clearance Office along UN Avenue. 

5. Now you can go to the NBI Clearance office along UN Avenue to have your clearance printed out. Proceed to the 4th floor and enter the room with the "E-Clearance" sign. Have your photo taken and finger prints recorded. In a few minutes, they will give you a piece of paper with a note "Ok for release". You can now go straight to the releasing section (ground floor), present the paper and wait for it to be printed! 

Well it will be as fast as mine if you don't have the same names as the others. Also, I advise that you go to the office at around 8 or 9 am so that there will be no lines for E-clearance. When I went there at 8:30am, there were about 3 or 4 people waiting. I just don't know the situation for the whole day. Another tip, you can also book an appointment with them if you really really want to make sure that your day will not be wasted. Text BOOK(space)Reference #(space)Location(space)Date of appointment in mmddyyyy format(space)Exact time in hhmm format(space)NAME. For example: BOOK 37831123 NCR  09182012 0900 Juan Dela Cruz. 

(If you want to book for an afternoon schedule, the time format must be in 2400 hours. For example, for a 2pm sched, use 1400 in the booking text message.)

Send the data to 09175638054 and wait for their confirmation number. 

So are we good? I really hope this entry helps especially those super busy people. Til next time! :)