I did this job 20 years ago before we called it a "call center".  I was a CSR in a gas company' s credit card center.  Here' s what these kinds of jobs are like:

1.  You are tethered to a desk.  You are wearing a headset (although these days that headset might be cord free).  You' ll gain 10-15 pounds there because you are sitting all day.  Getting up to go to the photocopier is an event. 

2.  You will take a large volume of phone calls, and deal with certain types of issues.  If you' re in the "incomming" group, you' ll be handing quick fixes and passing calls along to others if they require more attention.  When I worked for the gas company in our incomming department, our average call length was 30 seconds.  Multiply that by an 8 hour day.  You have to be just as polite and perky at hour 7 3/4 as you were at hour 1. 

3.  You will need to be very reliable.  These types of centers NEED you in your desk at the start hour.  Not walking in the building and stopping off for a coffee and a chat.  AT YOUR DESK ready to take that call.  Punctuality and perfect attendance are critical.  You have to show up the day after the holiday, stay the night before the long weekend, show up when you have a hang over... whatever, but you have to show up, every day, on time.

4.  You will probably have to work weekends, maybe evenings or even nights.  These crummy shifts may rotate or you may start on them and move to better shifts later.  You can expect MANDATORY overtime during busy periods.  When I did this, the day after a holiday we always started an hour earlier and ended an hour later.  You get paid for that, but you have to be there- no excuses.

5.  This is a very structured job.  Breaks are scheduled.  Hirearchy is absolute.  Rules are very black and white.  You may be told to have 10 file folders in your desk that exactly match the 10 file folders everyone else has in their desk.  Worker bees are allowed certain things, Supervisors and Managers are allowed certain things.  Rank will have its priveledges, when you start out, you will not have rank.

5.  On the plus side- they train.  They pay a lot better than KFC or McDonalds.  They are likely to hire moms returning to the workforce, kids without much (or any) experience and all kinds of other people that have trouble getting their foot in the door.  The work is not physical, you' re not hefting or toting.  As mentioned, they do usually offer benefits and many may have flexible work schedules that can fit around school or other issues (as long as you' re very reliable). 

6.  Yes, you can move up, and often quickly.  In many cases you can be the senior or lead person in a year because there is so much churn in these jobs.  If you can stick it out and do well, you can move up to supervisory positions.  You can post for other jobs within the company.  Many big companies have internal call centers.  You could start as a CSR in a bank call center and end up an Operations Manager for the bank 5 years down the road.

7.  You can build experience in the corporate world and take a good reference with you to something else later, even if it is another company.

So, if you set your mind to just do the job and do it well, a call center can be a very positive experience.  If not, don' t bother, you' ll crash and burn.