Certificate in Call Centre Operations

Jane Potusa became part of the call centre team immediately. Picture / Fotopress

The course


Manukau Institute of Technology's Certificate of Call Centre Operations aims to equip people with the skills to work in customer service or sales in a call centre.

Students on the 17-week pre-employment programme at the Manukau campus learn in a simulated call centre environment, gaining theoretical knowledge and experience with the technology used in the industry.

A mock company, Manukau Fine Foods, is set up, marketing cheesecakes and cakes and students perform role plays and receive feedback on their performance.
Students on the level two NZQA course learn about contact centre technology and environment, customer service and telephone skills, selling, vocal and communication skills, time and stress management, and occupational health and safety.

They also visit calls centres to observe them in operation.

The course is run Monday to Thursday with about 30 hours of classroom time and Fridays are set aside for study to prepare assignments and to review work with the tutors.

Students are assessed through written and on-line assignments and assessments, and the role-plays.

Applicants need 10 NCEA English credits at level 2 or above and to be familiar with the computer keyboard and the Windows environment.

Otherwise they can sit a diagnostic communication assessment at MIT and they need to score 15 out of 20.

Every applicant is interviewed.

The course begins on February 21 and applications will be taken until the end of this week. Another course begins on July 25.

Course fees are approximately $2000, including GST.

Graduates can pursue further study through the National Certificate in Call Centre Operations (level 3) and the Certificate in Call Centre Management (team leader).

What graduates think


Jane Potusa, 27
Customer service representative, Cerebos Greggs, Auckland
Graduated 2003

"Doing the course was a personal thing for me - I wanted to get out there and get a job.

"I saw there were many vacancies advertised for call centres and I saw the course advertised too and thought that was probably what I needed to look at.

"The MIT programme has a mock company and having that means the teaching relates to being in the real business world so we learned based on that.

"We had phones in the class and computers which really helped and they taped our calls and everything. The way the programme was set up, with both practical and theory work, made it very relevant. I walked straight into this job and everything that I was taught was what I do. I felt I could be a part of the team immediately.

Sales, voice coaching and vocal articulation and all that helped.

"I wouldn't have this job if I hadn't done the course.

"We talk to many people each day and you have to have good communication skills so the customers get the response that they need."

What employers think


Rosanne Judson
Customer service manager, Australia and New Zealand
Cerebos Greggs, Auckland

"What sets this course apart from other courses is that it covers everything.

"In customer service people often think it is just about learning business letter writing, being computer literate and being nice to people. But it is a lot more than that. It is your tone of voice, the way you speak and the language you use on the phone. We take that very seriously here.

For the past three years we have won top consumer call centre in New Zealand and for the past two years we have won top call centre in New Zealand under 50 seats at the CRM Consulting awards.

"That has never been done by a fast-moving consumer goods company before.

"I need people in here who have the whole package.

"People who can work on the computer, write professional letters to customers, people who have chosen to be in this field of customer service.

"We need people who have nice voices on the phone and on this particular course they do vocal coaching.

"It is a very good course.

"There are so many jobs in the industry. It's a huge issue at the moment - the industry cannot get enough good-quality call-centre staff."

The qualification

Certificate in Call Centre Operations
Manukau Institute of Technology
Phone: 0800 626 252
Starting salary: $10-$17 per hour