Welcome to the PC Helps table at the Tyler Village Welcome Center!

 

Please feel free to post about our move and any other thought that may cross your mind!

 

It sounds like we need our own area to express our thoughts and ideas as Tyler Village becomes our workplace! I just thought I would get it started...Enjoy!

moderators: maybe this would be better suited for the City Discussion page?

 

Browns Fan, great to hear the UO is providing a place for new Tyler inhabitants to communicate.

Question.  Why are there so many PCH people moving back to Cleveland, many that have been in Philly since last summer?  Didnt they just anounce the opening of the Cleveland location at the beginning of April? 

Yep, this is a good fit for City Discussions. Carry on! :-)

Question.  Why are there so many PCH people moving back to Cleveland, many that have been in Philly since last summer?  Didnt they just anounce the opening of the Cleveland location at the beginning of April? 

 

I applied for the Computer Consultant position back in January, in the information they referenced the Cleveland location.

 

And I just now figured out why it seems to be taking so long... got a call a couple days after I applied and they had asked if I were willing to relocate to the PA offices. I told them I couldn't, and would like to stick with the Cleveland offices. Makes sense, from what Smitten said:

 

We've been in the process of moving there for over a year (obviously). We were hunting space and also bringing people from the area here to Philly to get them trained so that when we did open, it would flow smoothly.

 

Dang! Should have moved to Philly and got all this pre-job stuff over with already. :D

Hey Browns fan! Curious, what's your association with PC Helps?

 

I'm so pumped for the move, and to know more about the company. Being a newbie has its ups and downs, it's awesome to receive the warm welcomes but scary to know nothing of what's ahead.  :|

Radeona,

 

I'm a technical consultant (the same position you're going after) from the Cleveland office.  Moved to Philly in July of last year and it's been a good experience out here but I'm anxious to get back.

 

The company is a very good one to work for.  It's doing very well obviously with the expansion to Cleveland, and the Cleveland office is going to be great.  A lot of good people work here as well.

 

It can be a busy, hectic, stressful job, but it can also be very rewarding when grateful customers shower you with praise.

 

You learn a ton about computers and software here.  I mean a ton.  It's a constant learning experience and people who've been with the company for 10+ years still learn new things every day.

 

There's not a whole lot I can tell you more since you've only applied (sorry!) but I don't think you'll have much to worry about.  You've done well on the assessment tests and your enthusiasm will be a tremendous help to you landing the job.

Yeah.. what he said *grin*

Question.  Why are there so many PCH people moving back to Cleveland, many that have been in Philly since last summer?  Didnt they just anounce the opening of the Cleveland location at the beginning of April? 

 

PC Helps began hiring people from Cleveland in July of 2007. they wanted us to come to philadelphia and train on this job for "6-9 months", and work here until the cleveland office is opened.

 

Among those of us from cleveland and soon going back, some of us got here last summer, some of us have only been with the company since this january (or sooner), etc.

 

 

Most of us here are technical consultants - I think Mr. Chips is our boss, everyone else is a consultant.  We answer the phones and answer customers' how-to questions and solve their computer problems.  We also help one another out by providing tech assists to one another.

Mr Chips is da man. One of our bosses.

I have to throw this out there.

 

Mr. Chips is the most awesome name ever.

LOL

 

Reminds me of some character in an after school animation or something.

Hey Browns fan! Curious, what's your association with PC Helps?

 

Hi Radeona, I am a Consultant that made the journey to Philly last summer. I am really excited to get back to the North Coast! I will be coming back this weekend and plan on visiting Tyler after the holiday.

 

I'm so pumped for the move, and to know more about the company. Being a newbie has its ups and downs, it's awesome to receive the warm welcomes but scary to know nothing of what's ahead.  :|

 

When you get to the Training portion you will have the ups and downs of learning more about software that you ever thought possible! The best part is that if you need help, it's there for you! The resources here are tremendous!

 

Just remember that every Consultant that is in this forum today was in your shoes at one time!

One thing that always made me curious in a call-center situation is this:

 

What if you get a call, and you really have no idea how to solve the customer's problem? Do you transfer the person to someone else? Do you try and figure out the problem yourself?

All the consultants who aren't currently on a call are available to assist you, plus you'll learn how to find answers you have no clue about on your own as well.

In our case, if you don't know the answer you have plenty of options.  You can call anyone else who is qualified in the application for assistance - you can find them pretty easily with our phone system; if you're totally stuck, you can call them and pass the call over to them so they can take over; if nobody is available and you're desperate, you can park the call and it will be given to the next available consultant; and you can always break with the customer, research the problem, find a solution, and call them back.

 

Your support structure at PChelps is truly excellent.  It's part of our unique style :)

Just remember that every Consultant that is in this forum today was in your shoes at one time!

 

That's so nice to hear. :)

 

Again, thank you, everyone for your help and advice. If you treat applicants with this amount of kindness and respect, I can't wait to be apart of the team!

 

...It's part of our unique style :)

 

Unique...

 

that's the nice way of saying we're a bunch of quirky computer geeks :P

Who here is really good at math? (Say, advanced algebra and up)

 

To help the discussion make more sense, i'm learning more about Excel, and math is not one of my favorite subjects ><

Thanks to all who find my name so intriguing!  To be fair, I didn't come up with it, and I'm not sure exactly who did (I just showed up to my desk one day to find my new "nametag" posted  :-))  I decided to use this moniker instead of my real name because I figured "captain sexypants" wasn't very professional  :evil:

Radeona:

I love your enthusiasm!  To give you a pretty good idea of what's required for this position, consider that we do all of the required training in-house.  True, we look for applicants who already have a good base-level of knowledge, but you by no means need to be a technical "expert" to get hired (though believe me.... you'll be an expert once you're done training!)  Much more important to this position is customer service skills, which are immensly more difficult to train you for.  In this regard, I would say that we are looking to hire experts.

 

Of course, I don't mean to imply that all the testing we put you through is not important!  Definitely study hard for the Excel test, since we do require a certain level of knowledge to progress through the application process.  But if you can get your score within range, we will mostly be concerned with your ability to assist customers with what we consider to be the PC Helps brand of service!  (Which, of course, we attempt to describe in detail later on in the application/interview process :-))

 

Good Luck!  :-D

I can feel my hands become clammy! Mr. Chips is talking to me!  :-o

 

Ah, only joking. Hello Mr. Chips! Thank you so much for your encouragement and support, it really helps to know what's ahead and what to prepare for. It feels a little bit like cheating, but since I do have the support here from you and the other PC Helps employees, it wont be as nerve-racking when that final interview comes into play. Seems like i'm already a part of the team! Thank you all, very much.

 

Right now i'm studying Excel and brushing up on Word; I know a bit about Power Point as well, so hopefully the testing will go smooth. Even if I don't know everything (and here comes the infamous speech) I will still hold the quality of customer service skills with the highest responsibility and care. Wish that didn't sound so text-book, but I really mean it. :)

 

Oh, and my name is Rachel Mattheis. It's nice to meet you all!

Thanks to all who find my name so intriguing!  To be fair, I didn't come up with it, and I'm not sure exactly who did (I just showed up to my desk one day to find my new "nametag" posted  :-))  I decided to use this moniker instead of my real name because I figured "captain sexypants" wasn't very professional  :evil:

 

maybe they call you Mr Chips because of the whole.. "Anyone want these chips?" thing... :P

Happy Memorial Day to all my PC Helps co-workers, and to all UO members.

Thanks Irish! :)

 

had to work today, lol

I got to see Tyler Village from the inside for the very first time two days ago, and just wanted to say that you guys has such a unique spot.  Good luck on everyone moving there in soon, and enjoy it! 

I have to throw this out there.

 

Mr. Chips is the most awesome name ever.

 

Suck-Up ALERT!!  :-D

Oh no! ><

 

Was being honest on how awesome the name was, lol

 

-And i'm going to take a drive down there this weekend to check out the place. Wonder how much more they've gotten done :)

Quite a bit!

 

I was walking around the office today with Mr. Chips, Loreleif and family.  We've got an extremely cool office space to work in - brand new, very comfortable, spacious, well-lit and really great furniture :)  The only thing we don't seem to have is telephones.

 

Yeah, still working that one out...  :?

Today, June 2nd, is our first day at this new office.

 

we are not completely moved into the new office yet; There are inspections pending before we can move our computers and phones into our office area. For this week, we have all our computers in a different area of the building, temporarily, and we are working on getting some stuff done.

 

As for the office, It currently has: Carpeting, wallpaper, and cubicles all completed. The lobby and the break room are also close to complete. We basically have everything we need to work, except our computers and phones, which will be moved in after the inspections clear and we are given the "Go To" to start conducting business.

 

Unfortunately, Due to Corporate Policy, I am not allowed to post any pictures of the office. But if PCH ever decides to place them on a publicly available resource, I will post a link to it.

I'm soooo jealous.. I want my house sold and the rest packed and I wanna be there!!

let's call it a soft open

anything's better than a non-open

So guys, how are things there today?

Smitten,

 

One of our inspections is going on as I am typing this, as far as we know.

 

We still have our PC's in the temporary holding area and are doing "learning objectives". If all goes well, we may be able to move the PC's to our actual office today. However, itll probably be another day or so before we get online.

 

Hope you guys are surviving back in philly.

 

 

Smitten,

 

One of our inspections is going on as I am typing this, as far as we know.

 

We still have our PC's in the temporary holding area and are doing "learning objectives". If all goes well, we may be able to move the PC's to our actual office today. However, itll probably be another day or so before we get online.

 

Hope you guys are surviving back in philly.

 

 

 

Surviving.. yes... that's what it's called...surviving... well we havent sacrifcied any of the managers or team leaders yet, although I do see a few of the young ones rolling in a cauldron and some wood.... so.. things might take a turn for the worse :P

Cant give much of an upgrade. Still awaiting the results of our inspection. A few members of PCH Mgmt are currently up there..... tying up loose ends, i suppose.

UPDATE:

 

all of our equipment is now in the office, and everyone has their workstations all set up. Our phone systems are set up, but with internal connections only (we arent able to get an outside line yet).

 

We probably won't have access to the "call-record system" until tomorrow. We should have complete internet/network connectivity tomorrow.

 

As far as when we can actually start taking calls, we're thinking monday.

 

I apologize for not updating sooner, getting any wi-fi here is spotty at best.

 

 

You guys need to get that phone system up and running ASAP. It's been a busy week here in Philly without you.

You guys need to get that phone system up and running ASAP. It's been a busy week here in Philly without you.

 

Yeah..what Gilch said :P

You guys need to get that phone system up and running ASAP. It's been a busy week here in Philly without you.

 

Well Gilch, why don't you send an email to GS? lol.

 

I don't exactly know everything thats going on at this point. But As far as I know, the vast majority of what yet needs to be done to get us online, is out of our hands. We're waiting to hear from our techs in Philly, to get access to the call records system, and we're also waiting on word from another source about getting the phone system completely running.

 

In my last post, I said we're thinking we'll be taking calls on Monday. A more appropriate word would have been hoping. Monday may be a bit optimistic at this point.

 

I apologize guys, but getting a new office up and running doesn't exactly happen in 2 hours. (lol)

So... we'll give you three....

 

*smirks*

 

Thanks for keeping us updated though

 

ohhhh and try to have it up and running by the 16th.. that's when I'm a-visiting. :-D

Yeah.. what she said.. that's when we'll be there.. though.. i could use a few days of "learning objectives"

we've had plenty of time to do LO's here.... still awaiting network connectivity for this afternoon.

 

 

I am really looking forward to seeing the new location. While not contiguous in span, of the people going to Cleveland, i am the longest running person in the office (for a few months before Smitten)

 

It's been fun looking at the drawings and even going over some of the "fun" ideas with KW...

 

anyway.. can't wait to see you all

As of 5:30 PM last night, we still did not have network connectivity. We may this morning however.

UPDATE:

 

Our phone system now has external connectivity, for sending and receiving calls from outside sources.

 

However, we are still unable to take calls due to lack of network connectivity (and being able to connect to the systems we need to track and support calls).

 

I wish I had details as to what is delaying us getting access to the network, but I dont.

 

We might be able to start taking calls monday, but dont hold your breath,

aww darn

i was hoping if i held it long enough they could shoo me off to the hospital on a stretcher again

Hope all goes well in the next couple of days for the move-in. Wish there was something I could do to help! Being the newest suck-up and all. :P

Are there pictures of the Philly PCHelps offices? Just curious to see what you're moving from.