15 June 2010

Based outside the UK and want to be a researcher?

Posted by: Bill Batchelor

Most of 63336’s researchers are from the UK, but we’re always looking for more applicants based in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the US and Canada.

As with most employers, 63336 see recruiting overseas researchers as an opportunity. It is an opportunity because it is always useful for a service that operates 24 hours a day to have researchers from different time zones as part of the team and because these researchers bring a different perspective and vibrancy to our answers.

It’s not easy to apply for a job in a different country, but overseas researchers complement the excellent researchers we have in the UK.

What will you get from it?

This is a great opportunity to work for the UK’s most popular text Q&A service. If that’s not enough, you work from home at hours that are convenient to you and we’ll pay you for every question that you answer. Your performance will be reviewed regularly to ensure you meet our high standards. Yes, you can stay in bed, start work when you like and earn money doing something challenging, diverse and interesting.

If you are starting to think this could be ideal, you’ll be interested in ‘So you fancy a job with 63336′. However, if you have never visited the UK, it is well worth spending some time to appreciate some of the cultural differences and potential pitfalls.

What are the differences?

It doesn’t matter where you live, submitting a successful application is difficult. During the process, applicants are asked about their experience in the UK and this is an opportunity to make it clear why you would be good at answering the UK’s questions.

One Australian applicant was keen to point out that visiting the UK was like going back “to the 1980s”. Thinking the UK is stuck in the 1980s is not the best approach. After all, there have been some advances and it’s not all ripped denim, shoulder pads, shell suits and big hair.

Also, speaking English doesn’t always guarantee an understanding of questions from the UK. There are many differences and you need to acknowledge this. Sometimes these are obvious, sometimes much more subtle. They include spelling variations, currency, weights and measures, sport, travel, TV and many more things in everyday life. It can be confusing and, without recognising some of the cultural idiosyncrasies, it will be hard to succeed in your application.

Some of these differences are highlighted at every stage of the application procedure. Here are some examples:

Q: Glasgoe Knorich train
A: The Glasgow to Norwich train ride is 314 miles and 506 kilometers. There is a train rout that goes from Glasgow to Norwich. Bring a book along!

Q: Which cost more debenhems or boots for make up?
A: Debenhams has a wide selection of boots and make up products. Boots can run as low as 25 pounds. Whereas, many make up products are less expensive.
or
A: Debenhams can cost over 400 pounds, so boots would be cheaper right now. It is a great look, but who knew it could be so pricey?

Q: How long is a Smartie’s tube to the nearest millimetre?
A: The length of a Smarties tube is between 755mm to 760mm but only Smarties have the ‘real’ answer!

Q: Hi! Can you pick me a fantasy football team for The Sun’s competition?
A: Choosing a fantasy football team can be tricky. Try watching football live. It’s so much better than pretend.
or
A: Sure, Try playing against the Spectacular Zebras, heard they were good this year, 17-0.

Some applicants aren’t in touch with the type of questions people are asking, but others offer a different perspective and sometimes mix it with flashes of brilliance and humour. And remember, it’s humour not humor.

Getting the customer’s perspective

One recent test question highlighted many of the difficulties more than most:

Q: Will Saints be promoted from League 1 this season?

To some this will seem a relatively straightforward question about Southampton FC (Saints), but to others it conjured up images of the NFL, Super Bowl XLIV and answers asking: Who dat?

Many of the answers given by applicants were intelligent and showed a genuine interest and knowledge of football (not American football), and an understanding of the UK is clearly an advantage.

It may be a step too far to claim Sean Payton’s time with the Leicester Panthers influenced the outcome of the Super Bowl, but it is always easy to have an idea, make an assumption and run with it. The best approach is to put yourself in the customers’ shoes. If the difference between Southampton FC (Saints) and New Orleans Saints is still unclear, a quick look here may help.

Making a difference

Our answers rely on great content, accurate British English, opinion and humour to maintain 63336’s unique identity. It is this style that builds recognition and customer affection.

If you can see this and understand there is more to the UK than being a “good place with all the climatic conditions”, then you may be exactly what we are looking for.

If you feel you can make a difference and want to become a 63336 researcher, we want to hear from you. One applicant claimed an “ability to think of my feet” would help in the role. More important is fluency in English and excellent writing skills. We do provide computer systems that will help, but you also need to be able to use your own knowledge, and internet search skills, to create brilliant answers to wow our customers. So, if you’re not busy thinking of your feet and think you’re good enough – you should apply. Just click here for details.

N.B. All the examples and quotes used above are from real 63336 application forms and tests. Follow us on twitter for latest news, questions and humour from 63336.

30 March 2010

Escaping call centre queues

Posted by: Stephen Williams

“All of our operators are busy. You are held in queue and will be answered shortly.”

Call centres across the country struggle to deal with fluctuating customer demand. A quick search of the internet reveals many lurid headlines setting out customer service woes. The BBC reported that “Alex told a familiar tale of woe with trying to install her Talk Talk package – and the lack of service available from their helpline”. And the problem is not just confined to businesses. Public service organisations are often the worst offenders with headlines like “44 million calls go unanswered at HMRC.”

Surely there is a better way?

It seems strange that all of these organisations struggle on in the same old ways and still use traditional telephone call centres to answer all of their customer questions. They employ row upon row of permanent staff, working shift patterns and are then unable to gear up to meet peak demand. No wonder their customers are “held in queue and will be answered shortly”…or maybe not at all.

As an alternative, it makes you wonder why they don’t consider using a text based service to complement their existing call centre activities.  This isn’t to say that text can fully replace the call centre and answer every question, but  a text system could easily be used to triage questions, by answering the first tier questions directly and filtering those requiring a different type of response. Texts are easy to manage, they help frame questions into short, manageable segments and they are the communications method of choice for the younger, Facebook and Twitter generation. Even better, the person asking the question can get on with their life whilst they wait for the answer rather than listening to Bach as they are held in a queue.

A solution not to be sneezed at

Whilst a text might not be appropriate for everyone and every question, it would certainly deal with a high proportion of the typical questions sent to call centres. Take the swine flu helpline as an example. “Swine flu helplines are flooded with panicked callers” proclaimed headlines back in 2009. Yet the Evening Standard explained how just 52,000 calls over seven days “overwhelmed” the Swine flu helpline. By comparison, at 63336, we regularly answer double this volume of questions over a week and some of our recent TV adverts were generating 300 questions per minute.

We are not suggesting that every call to the Swine flu helpline could be answered by text. However, many people called the swine flu helpline to find out where their nearest Tamiflu centre was or to get a unique code to pick up their batch of Tamiflu. Pareto’s principle would suggest that 80% of these calls could easily and more satisfactorily have been dealt with by text.

Why work in a call centre?

We set up 63336 as a home based working model. All our researchers work from home using secure links and databases. This offers a number of advantages over the traditional call centre model. We have very low fixed costs as all our researchers work from home, provide their own equipment and they are only paid for the questions they answer. This home based policy means we attract a highly intelligent workforce from across the country and across all age groups and, as a result, our researchers don’t have to succumb to the tyranny of a daily commute, or the requirement to live within reach of a call centre in the UK or even India.

It is not just about texting

This is about doing more than simply offering a text service alongside a telephone service. This is about embracing a much wider cultural change.

Call centres have certain structural problems that can’t be fixed. They have huge fixed costs, they have fixed locations and they tend to have a narrow range of expertise. This makes them wholly unsuitable for managing surging demands as they can’t suddenly ramp up staffing at short notice. The fixed and relatively high labour cost means that many are outsourced to India with all the incumbent and well documented cultural problems that brings.

A home-based researcher pool solves all of these problems and helps to keep well remunerated jobs in the UK.

Embracing the new digital age

The government wants to improve opportunities for the most socially excluded members of society and thus set up the new Digital Inclusion task force led by Martha Lane Fox. Reports last year showed that some 40% of the population still do not have even basic internet access . However, the government appears to be overlooking the most common and easily understood piece of technology, the mobile phone.

Digital inclusion doesn’t have to be difficult. Just embrace some of “new” technologies already in place such as SMS. People already use and understand it and have easy access via their mobile phone. Everyone has a phone with text capability.

The way forward

At 63336 we have begun exploring with companies to help put in place new ways of answering questions from their customers. We share their desire to get the best answers, in the most effective way, using our mobile technology and our highly skilled answering team.

8 December 2009

When search engines are not enough

Posted by: Ian Sturrock

63336, of course, gets asked questions all the time.

There are two questions that we staff members get asked time and again, though, when we describe our work. Most people only ask one or the other:

“How do you answer questions, then?”

or

“Why would I want to use 63336, when I have Google on my phone already?”

Perhaps surprisingly, the answers to these two questions lead to the same place. We do use Google, and other search engines – not as the first place we look when researching a question, and not usually as the last place, either. Search engines provide facts: they don’t answer questions.

Often that might seem a subtle distinction, but it’s an important one. With some of our questions, it’s not even subtle. If a customer types “Should I leave my husband?” into a search engine, she’ll get a number of agony aunt columns & advice websites attempting to answer that question for specific individuals and situations – which don’t include the customer, or her situation. If she texts us the same question, we have access not only to some fairly smart and sympathetic researchers, but also to all of her “question history” – the other questions she’s asked 63336, which often give us more than enough info to offer her an educated and well-balanced recommendation.

Sometimes search engines are wrong, or at least misleading, too. One recent survey indicated that most people who use Google don’t realise that the top three links on a search results page – the ones Google calls, in rather small, pale text, “Sponsored Links” – are advertising, rather than the actual search results. You get what you pay for. Google needs ads, to make a profit, even if those ads compromise its usefulness. If you text 63336, you’re paying for impartial fact; we don’t take money to promote certain businesses or services over others in our answers.

What happens when your search engine results contradict each other? If you want the true facts behind global warming, a search for either “global”, “warming”, and “facts”, or “global” “warming”, and “truth” gets you (if you know to scroll past the usual “sponsored links”) a mixture of pages that fully support the global warming hypothesis, and pages that supposedly refute it, as well as news items about the current scandal rocking the subject. The “facts” search term gets you 9 sites that accept global warming, and only one anti-global warming one; but for the “truth” search term, the proportions are very nearly reversed. There are a lot of opinionated and even biased sites out there on the web, and search engines don’t usually make a distinction between which ones are accurate and which aren’t.

That’s only on the first page of the search engine results, too. It’s not unusual for us to find the right answer ten or more pages in. Ideally we’ll work out what search terms to use to bring the result we want onto the first page, but sometimes that’s not possible, and the more old-fashioned research approach, of just sifting through dozens and dozens of possible results, is the only one that works.

There are two advantages we have over every search engine.

The first is our lean, mean powerhouse of a database, all algorithms and answers, regularly improved and updated. We’ve answered over 20 million questions so far, and they’re all in the database, ordered and searchable, ready to be picked out, altered if necessary, and re-used. Most of the time, there’s already a database answer that we can use, either just as it is, or tweaked and updated. There’s also the customer’s question history, as mentioned earlier, to give us context for each and every question.

We don’t automate our answers, though. Our other advantage is our staff. There is still a human involved, selecting the best answer, making sure it’s still accurate, and tailoring it to the customer, or completely re-writing it if necessary. Most of our staff have degrees, & many have postgraduate qualifications, so when we get a tricky or technical question, we can usually do a lot better than just re-wording the closest vaguely relevant Wikipedia article. In some ways, Wikipedia is more reliable than most search engines are, though several studies indicate that its accuracy falls down considerably on highly technical subjects, and even its own management recognise that it suffers from systemic bias. 63336 researchers probably suffer from some systemic bias, too, but it’s a British cultural bias that’s actually pretty handy for answering questions from fellow Brits.

If there’s no answer in the database, there’s quite often no answer online, anywhere, anyway. Still, most of our researchers are exactly the kind of quick-witted polymaths you really don’t want to be up against in a pub quiz. If I don’t have a rough idea of the answer to a question, I probably have a book that covers it, somewhere in my house; if I don’t, then another researcher probably does. It’s a little old-fashioned, in these days of eReaders, but sometimes the best way to store and refer to a couple of thousand reference books is a load of bookshelves and a sharp mind. Likewise, if there is an answer available online, our researchers usually have a good idea of which sites to look at directly to get the answer, rather than going via a search engine.

So — why use us when you could just Google it on your phone? Maybe you shouldn’t. If you enjoy using Google, for fun, and get a deep satisfaction out of answering questions, and can do so quickly enough to impress your friends, as well as assessing your search engine’s results and spotting all the times when they’re just plain wrong, and then further wow your friends by picking up the most interesting snippet of fun or entertaining info on whichever website you found… well, maybe you should come and work for us.

If sometimes, though, you get frustrated that Google isn’t enough, or isn’t accurate enough; or if sometimes you just want the sheer luxury of having a minion scurry off to answer your question for you while you concentrate on your pint; or if you’ve tried us before and know that we don’t just give you raw data but an entertaining and accurate answer; or if you need an answer that computers aren’t good at, like “what is the meaning of life” or “what should I say to the cute platinum blonde making eyes at me across the bar” – well, you have our number.

2 November 2009

So you fancy a job with 63336?

Posted by: Bill Batchelor

And why wouldn’t you? It offers:

• Home-based working
• Completely flexible hours
• A truly diverse working day
• And a fascinating insight into the nation’s psyche

All this, AND you get paid!

But first you have to pass a rigorous selection process, designed to ensure that you can impress, delight and wow our customers.

Are there any vacancies?

Check for vacancies here

If there are no current vacancies then bookmark the page and return periodically to check for updates.

If there are vacancies in your country of residence, follow the instructions on the site. You will then be sent an application form and a short test.

So I just fill in these forms and the job’s mine, right?

WRONG!

These candidates tried that approach:

“I am a very thorogh and detailed worker, putting a lot of effort int attention to detail”*

“I have always been taught the importance of accurancy”*

“I also have the excellent English read and writing skill”*

They didn’t get offered a position.

Oh. How should I tackle them then?

For the test, the most important thing to do is read the instructions before you start. Thoroughly.

You will have 12 diverse questions to answer, via any appropriate means, and you’ll need to adhere to rules about content, spelling, grammar and length. The application form is self-explanatory, but yours will still be scrutinised to ensure you’ve filled it in correctly and demonstrated a good command of the English language.

Sounds simple enough. What can possibly go wrong?

63336 has very high standards – only 1 in 10 applications is successful.

The most common reasons for failing the test are:

Not reading/following the instructions ; Poor spelling, punctuation and grammar ; Answers are too long or too short;  Insufficient research

Q: How many Mister Men characters are there and which is the best?
A: Very interesting question? I will research and let you know*

Q: Which Charles Dickens novel should I read, and why? Not Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Little Dorrit, Christmas Carol or David Copperfield.
A: To be honest, I have no idea as so far I have only read Oliver Twist*

Failure to provide a decision/prediction

Q: Cafe Rouge or Pizza Express?
A: Well that depends on what your in the mood for. Do you want Pizza or do you want something else? The choice is up to you.*

Q: Who will win Wimbledon this year?
A: The person who wins Wimbledon this year in the male section will be the one who wins all his games and the same goes for the female winner.*

Misinterpretation of the question

Q: How many points will I get on my licence for going through a red light?
A: Unfortunately dear, you will not get a point driving through the red light because it is against the driving rules.*

Not answering the question

Q: Explain how the US elections work.
A: The U.S election process is baffling to both voters and candidates alike, it seems to be that you cross your fingers and hope for the best person to win.*

Simply getting it wrong

Q: How many paper planes laid end to end would reach from London to Pluto?
A: It would take 95 paper planes to reach from London to Pluto.*

Understood. Now, where do I find the answers?

The test has a variety of questions, some of which require research and others simply an opinion, a decision, an estimate, advice or just creativity. For fact-based questions the obvious source for answers is the internet, but be aware that not everything online is valid or accurate. Other useful reference sources include dictionaries, thesauruses, newspapers and maps.

Do I have to get them all right?

Not necessarily.

Some questions will have no right or wrong answers. For those that do, the correct answer, though important, is not vital, as long as both the research process and the written English are of the highest quality. That said, you won’t pass the test with several incorrect answers.

Is there a time limit?

No, but if you can’t find an answer within 20 minutes, then move on. Remember it’s the quality of the answer that is key, not the research time.

Anything else I should know?

Yes. 63336 is a human service and, when appropriate, its answers are witty, humorous and elicit a “wow” from customers. When completing the test questions, make your answers stand out by giving consideration to these factors:

Q: Which cartoon character do I resemble?
A: With your big black ears, bulbous nose, fixed staring eyes and red pants, you strongly resemble that most popular of cartoon characters – Mickey Mouse.*

This applicant was offered a position.

Both the following answers are also acceptable, but the latter will not only get the applicant past the test, it will delight customer and recruiter alike. An answer such as that will ensure an incredibly positive relationship with 63336 from the outset.

Q: Is the world run by lizards?
A: No, unfortunately the world is not run by lizards although sometimes the world would be better if it was run by lizards.*
A: Although some refer to world leaders as cold-blooded, they wouldn’t be genetically classed as lizards. However in 1400 BC, dinosaurs did rule the earth.*

OK. I think I’m good to go. Please remind me of the key points.

• Read the instructions carefully
• Make sure you answer the question
• Check the answer length
• Sanity check the answers
• Ensure your grammar, punctuation and spelling are perfect
• Add that wow factor

So, what happens next?

Once you’ve sent off your application pack, it will be scrutinised and you’ll hear our decision within a few days.

If successful, you’ll be sent a conditional job offer and a contract. On receipt of your signed contract, we will contact you to arrange an introductory session. Following this, you’ll have to complete a batch of questions to confirm that your answers are up to 63336’s exacting standards.

And that’s just the beginning.

Your performance will be monitored regularly to ensure that our customers will be consistently delighted with your answers.

And everybody lives happily ever after.

The End

* From real 63336 application forms and tests. (If you think you’ve spotted all the errors, email them with your address to info@63336.com. If you’re right, you’ll get a copy of our latest book, and you should try applying – you’d be in with a good chance of success.)