Pros
The role itself can be meaningful, and you gain strong experience handling a wide range of incidents. Colleagues on the floor are often supportive and teamwork between call handlers helps get through difficult shifts.
Cons
The workplace culture can feel cliquey, and your experience often depends on whether a supervisor favours you. There is a heavy focus on performance metrics, with staff penalised for minor issues rather than supported to improve. Sickness is not handled with understanding, and staff can feel discouraged from being genuinely unwell due to the risk of being placed on performance plans. There is also a clear disconnect between management expectations and the realities of the role. The focus is often on figures rather than doing the job properly, which can impact both staff morale and service quality. Processes can feel unnecessarily bureaucratic (e.g. completing THRIVE assessments on grade 1 incidents where urgency is already obvious), adding pressure without clear benefit. Support from management is inconsistent, and asking for help can feel difficult unless you are already seen favourably. As long as targets are being met, staff wellbeing does not always feel prioritised.