Marie is currently studying for her BA (Hons) in Leadership and Management with the OU.
How long does a telephone campaign last and what hours do you have to work as a caller?
The telephone campaigns tend to last between 2 and 4 weeks depending on the type of campaign. The hours typically involved are 2 evenings in the week just for 3 hours a night and then one weekend day. It is really flexible and you can work as many or as few of those as you like, it’s great.
You currently work full-time so is this is an extra job?
Yes, I have my own business in insurance so because of the hours with the business, the evenings are really good to earn some extra pocket money.
What was your main reason for applying for the role of telephone caller?
I’ve been studying with the OU on my BA Hons degree since 2009. In my first year I had a lot of support financially because in your first year in business there isn’t much money coming in. I really wanted to give something back to the OU because without it I wouldn’t have been able to get onto the path of studying. I do telephone calling a lot in my job and wanted to do something that was making a difference.
Is there a lot of training involved to become a caller?
You have to be competent and have a certain level of confidence to go on the phone for the first time. The first training was over a weekend and then refresher training tends to be half a day to a day after that. So it’s not a lot of training but they do make sure you’re confident and you’re happy to go on the phones. It’s also on going during the campaigns as well.
Is it difficult to ask for donations? And does it get easier?
I don’t find it hard to ask for donations because you’re having a conversation with somebody who studied with The Open University and if you can really have a good conversation with them it’s just a natural progression. At first you are thinking ‘oh gosh I have to ask for money’ and as you get more confident I wouldn’t say it gets easier but you do get better at handling any questions should any arise. It’s not particularly hard to start with as long as you do what you’ve been shown the training is there to make it easier for you.
What kind of questions do you get asked?
You get asked if you’re a student yourself and what it is you are styudying/studied. So it’s good to have a recap of the courses you’ve done. You’ll often get asked where the money is going (that’s a big one) although you’ll explain campaigns to them. They want to know what their money is going to do. Is it going to go on just admin, does it pay the callers or does all of it go to the causes?
Do you have crib sheets to help you?
Yes you have prompts so if for example someone says “I already give to charity I really can’t do something how do you expect me to find the money?” There are ways of being able to reassure people. And we get asked “how do I know you are calling from the OU?” and there are ways of managing that as the information we have only the OU would know.
How would you sum up your experience as a caller?
Working on the first campaign really changed my life around. When you work on your own or just have a team of 2 or 3 people working remotely for you, you don’t have a lot of human contact so it’s really easy to become quite cold and icy towards people. Being on the calling team formed me. It helped me to be more personable and made me remember why I went into business in the first place. I’ve got a lot more confidence. From a study point of view I’d taken a break after a particularly difficult 2010 and it gave me the little push to go back and study again which I’m doing now.
Has doing this role changed the way you feel about the OU? (If so, how?)
The OU always in my mind has always been unique but the campaign has reinforced that it’s just a really amazing community to be around and it is unlike any other form of studying. There’s nowhere else you can go to be able to keep doing what you’re doing and still work towards a degree. If you need help it’s there. So it’s just reinforced my belief in the good work that it does and especially with everything changing in the next year how important that is going to be because without the OU there would be hundreds, thousands of people who wouldn’t be able to get a degree.
Why do you think those in the OU community should give calling a try?
Find out more:
- Telephone campaign: become a caller
- Giving to The Open University
- BA (Honours) Leadership and Management