For those of us who want to be cautiously optimistic about the nation’s recovery from the latest recession, there seem to be some signs that companies are looking at hiring more agents for call centers. There is good news about call center hiring regionally as well as nationally. But many of the call centers that have been hiring have been looking to fill small numbers of vacancies. There hasn’t really been a call center looking to hire as many as 1,000 agents, that is until now.

Convergys, a company that provides call center services for clients such as DirecTV (News - Alert), Macy’s and Cigna, among others, is looking to hire 1,000 call center agents in Texas. It is scouring the Rio Grande Valley area looking to more than quadruple the number of agents in its 24-hour facility in Pharr, Tex.

This is, of course, great news for residents of this part of Texas, as the company is planning to fill as many of the jobs as possible with local applicants. The company reportedly received more than a hundred applications on the very first morning of the announcement as a line of hopeful jobseekers stretched down the block. The plan is to hire 120-150 workers per month until all of the positions are filled. New hires will then undergo a nine week training program.

Recruiting manager Jason Moreno explained the type of agent that Convergys (News - Alert) is seeking, telling The Monitor, “Right off the bat, the main thing we’re looking for is a passion for customer service. We can teach everything else. It takes a special person who can be on the phone all day and keep the same energy level with customers.”

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