Contact Centre staff
Working in a DWP contact centre gives you the opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives.
Is this job for me?
No formal qualifications or experience required – training is provided.
You will need:
- an ability to communicate effectively with customers
- enthusiasm, motivation and a commitment to learn
- punctuality and reliability.
DWP has over 80 contact centres throughout the United Kingdom.
What’s the work like?
You will deal with a wide range of customers over the phone.
Sometimes these customers may be difficult to understand, anxious, upset or angry. They may have just lost their job and be confused about what to do next. Or they may be be phoning for someone else and may not have all the facts. You may deal with people who have suffered a bereavement or illness. You will need to show sensitivity to all our customers’ needs.
The pace of work can change – often there are busy periods followed by periods with fewer calls.
You will have a target for the number of calls you take and your work will be checked.
What’s in it for me?
The salary range is £14,270 – £17,600 (national scale at 2007/2008 rates). Check adverts for the salary range for individual jobs.
Training includes:
- developing your customer service skills, for example communicating with a wide range of people and handling difficult customer enquiries
- using the computer system to input and check information
- using a headset so that you can talk to your customer and use the computer at the same time.
You will have the opportunity to work towards an externally recognised qualification, such as an NVQ.
We offer a range of working patterns – opening hours vary from between 8.00am to 8.00pm Monday to Saturday, so where possible we offer flexible working, part-time hours, part-year contracts and job sharing. However, sometimes you may need to work set hours to meet business needs.
Contact centre selection tool
Fill in our questionnaire to give you a better understanding of working in a contact centre and help you make an informed decision about whether to apply. Although there are various roles within centres, the scenarios are intended to show typical examples of what the work can be like.
