Ekos Research Associates

Call-Center which makes outbound calls to obtain public opinion research (telephone surveys).

EKOS Mgmt (3rd Floor & their Human Resources Mgmt Specialist), should take note & more care when appointing new supervisors... The recent, shiny new supervisors have no people skills, are overly critical and seem to enjoy it when they 'catch' someone doing  something they "think" might not be within the rules.. THEY MAKE UP NEW RULES, (And, THEIR OWN RULES), FEEL THE NEED TO REMIND EVEN VETERAN INTERVIEWERS, OF THE RULES,  ON A DAILY BASIS!! No exageration!!

**I GUARANTEE, IF, 3RD FLR MGMT. WOULD CONDUCT A STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL ""SURVEY"" OF THE CALL-CENTRE (INTERVIEW) STAFF, GUARANTEEING NO REPROCUSIONS, THEY THEMSELVES WOULD BE SHOCKED (OR MAYBE PLANT AN OBJECTIVE SOMEONE IN THE CALL CENTRE TO NOTE WHAT GOES ON, STAFF TREATMENT BY SUPERVISOR'S, ETC.) If EKOS Mgmt would take some care, and, make some changes (re: supervisors) the high staff turn-over they experience would be much less.  (who wants to work in such a negative place???)..

In the call centre, the inexperienced, new supervisors unfortunately treat you like you are in kindergarten, and, as if you have no intelligence what-so-ever.  You DO NOT THINK, you ONLY DO... Supv's are unreasonable most times and over micro-manage and mico-supervise, making it very much like a 'work-camp' environment. IF they overhear you speaking to another interviewer, you are going to get "checked", chastized, and most likely told to "get back to work.."..  - no matter WHAT you might have been discussing...

Look out if supv's don't have enough work to keep themselves busy, as you will find them constantly pacing the floors, standing behind you, listening and watching to see what you are up to!! (they startle/scare people out of their wits half the time!!). THEY SEEM TO WANT TO FIND MISTAKES, GAFF'S, SLIP-UPS, ETC. AND SEEM TO ENJOY CORRECTING THE INTERVIEWERS.  They seem to feel that the rules MUST be enforced, vs. using common sense and the rules as a guide...  (heard one supv. tell a lady to cover her shoulders one day, when, technically her shoulders WERE covered, (she was wearing a short sleeve shirt, which she tried to tell the superv. that she wears to church!!!  BTW, it was 45 with Humidex that day.... OH Yeah.. and, for call centre interviewers: told NO sandals or flip-flops - yet, it's a different set of RULES for the supervisor's - THEY wear them regularly!!???   REALLY....???

NO positive reinforcement, no positive remarks EVER, only negative, we must FIX YOU remarks, constantly.  There is a lack of any leadership experience or abilities.  Mgmt should send them off on supervisory skills courses - they need it.  They don't seem to realize that being positive will actually help to make people more productive.. Newp.. criticize, stifle and enforce the rules makes people more creative?.. NOT!!!

Even if you're a great/successful interviewer, with years of work experience elsewhere, chances are you will be sitting across from a student (2 weeks out of high school), who is making MORE than you are, because they are bilingual... So much for pay equity there!!

Very unreliable work schedule.. Very difficult if you need to make a set amount of money. You never knew if you'd be working or not  - you must call EKOS each & every day, after 3:00pm, to know/ask if there is work THAT DAY!!!  Hours can go way down to 3 > 6 hrs per week. They say they bring in their top performers to work (just another example of positive reinforcement by EKOS!!)...

So, it's a great place for a first job, they will whip you into shape in a hurry - that is, if you can take the criticism...

Good luck if you decide to work there.

It is a pretty nice job for a student or for a first time job. You get paid 11,25$ (and 12,25$ if bilingual). 

You decide for your own shifts, however it is not guaranteed that there is work every day. You should always call the centre at 3:00 pm to know if there is job for today (which I find annoying). Like you never really know if there is work. The hours are okay, but sometimes you will do only 3 hours for a shift (which is nothing if you need money). Even though it's not always stable, it's pretty an okay job, because you get paid well and you decide your own shifts.

Also, every time you take a little break (ex: go to washroom) you should close your work period and the time is not cumulated... I never knew if they pay us that way or what, but I find it a little bit stupid. 

The equipment there is bad quality. You have old big computers, keyboards. The chairs are okay.They should really change all the equipment for some new!! 

The co-workers there are pretty nice, I actually met some people and I really had fun with the people there. Nothing bad to say. You can see people from all type which I think is pretty interesting.

The job is pretty much easy, you just read a script in a neutral way (that's pretty much all you do). Some people are grumpy on the phone, but most of the time it's pretty okay. I didn't learned much about this job, BUT it really made me improve my communication skills!!

So, a typical day at work is, you call at 3:00 pm to know if there is work and the time you begin. Then you go to work at the time you've been told to go (when you call at 3 pm), you log in yourself and you begin to do survey continuously. Then during the shift, the supervisors send you a message to tell you at what time you will finish and if you have a break. You are always watched by the supervisor, so you can't always talk with your coworkers. 

FINALLY, even though the negative aspects of this job, I enjoyed it pretty much. I thought the salary was good for a first time job and I liked how flexible the hours are and how you decide your own shifts. People were really nice there and polite. It's a good job if you are a student full time. They should just buy new equipment.

A good place to make some side money but it cannot be a career unless you are someone who is extremely phone friendly and takes nothing personally.  

The job involves calling people up and asking them to answer questions and the interviews are often just long and can be redundant at times so many people can stop mid way etc., not to mention never like the fact that you called them... so be ready for rejection and some nasty stuff thrown your  way. 

The difficult part about working at Ekos is how much of a pressure it is to "sell" i.e. meet the numbers/quota etc. which they do by controlling the number of hours you work. You can be told to stop your shift if you don't have a actual hit i.e. successful phone call within an hour or two of calling which while in my opinion does not take into account that the quality of an interview is often more important than just the number of interviews you do in terms of the final accuracy and data result of the Study; that being said... some seem to do it better than others and it is a job that pays something!

I never had an issues with the management and I did not find the place to be hostile which can be an issue if you are an immigrant in Canada. Safe and half decent place to work to make some side money. 

I enjoyed to work and coworkers were nice. The job offers flexibility as you determine how many shifts your want to sign up for in a week (must sign up for a minimum of 3) but it come with a pretty annoying con. You have to call the office everyday at 3pm  on days that you sign up for shifts to know for sure whether you work that day or not. so everyday you've signed up for a shift you live in limbo until 3pm  to learn if you work or not, and if you do work you then have 2 hours to prepare to go to work.

A waste of time and effort. Terrible hours and pay. It’s flexible but restricted to evening and nights. Management has had the same two-four projects for years no change. They are experiencing financial hardship and cannot afford to pay most of their employees more than 3 hours a day. Close to minimum wage. Most will only get one shift a week. Management is rude,  condescending,  disrespectful and unappreciative. 

Well to be honest, thanks to this job I learned to be very patient with clients, even when they respond with anger and with colorful words, I learned that respecting the clients will boost your chances of them agreeing to part take in what ever that it is that we do. Most importantly I've learned to strive under pressure, all in all this is a very good place to start if you want to be in a call center based career.

It was a great place to work. Very comfortable environment. The staff were always happy and enjoyed doing their jobs. 

Management were very kind and understanding and employees felt that they were appreciated and respected. I definitely enjoyed working at Ekos Research.

This company gives me an opportunity to improve my communication skills with the public. By providing surveys, I need to call randomly and ask permission for asking survey questions. It is a great experience to explain topics to others and listen their feedback and record them.

A lot of computer input data typing.
Learning how to input data into computers.
Nice management team.
Workplace culture very diverse.
Filling quotes at the beginning of the job for productivity levels.
Break time.

I had learned to work with clients as it was my internship during school time. I was working as a volunteer to get more skills and experience in this company and also it helped me to get some hours for university project

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