Building Your Career In The BPO Industry

BS Call Center Agent or

Commerce major in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

Is there such thing?

None.

All person in the BPO industry didn’t took up a course on Call Center to become one. All of it where learned within the industry itself.

All has different college degree.

So, no one would ever brag that he or she is the best in this industry. But you will be the best once you have a solid foundation of the industry.

First, if you are a “fresh graduate” admit to yourself that you are a “society outcast” for taking up this job. If you are a “Registered Nurse” chances are, hindi ka makahanap ng trabaho sa hospital thus you shifted in this industry. If you are a MassCom graduate, hindi ka pumasa sa audition sa ABS or GMA or hindi ka ganun kagaling magsulat kaya hindi ka naging Columnist or Reporter. Which means to say that somebody else is better than you in your chosen profession that is why you are in this industry. There’s nothing wrong with it. Reality bites as they say. You have to endure the pain to ease it.

Second, if you are a “career shifter” huwag ka mayabang. Forget about your past life in another industry. So what? Kung dati kang Flight Attendant? So what? Kung dati kang Engineer? So what? Kung dati kang Manager ng Jollibee? All of it doesn’t matter. Pakialam ko! Pakialam namin! All of us are on the same footing now.

Third, you are in for a new start in this industry. You are starting all over again. The best thing about this industry is that it doesn’t chooses any profession nor any age group. For as long as you are nocturnal by nature, knows how to use the computer and proficient in English then you are in.

For sure you applied for this job with the job title:

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE (CSR)    

Customer Service Representative is a broad category. It could mean in the hospitality industry as in Concierge or Hotel Receptionist. It could mean in the Real Estate industry like Real estate agent. It could also mean in the Banking Industry as in Bank Teller.

But Customer Service Representative in the BPO industry means you are working in a call center either taking calls or doing back office job.

A Call Center is where you are working. This call centers are all connected through the internet any place in the world. To simplify it, call centers are like contractors. They sign contract with another company to do the job for them at a reasonable price. Philippines being one of the largest English speaking country in the world where standard of living is low is a destination of choice for this contractors. But why do companies has to sign with a contractor to the job for them? There are a lot of reason behind it. One of it would be the cost of maintaining a high volume of staff in a particular area. Example, a person working in the United States might cost $5 per hour whereas if the job will be done in the Philippines, it will only cost $2 per hour and that would be a big discount on the part of the company which will translate to higher profit. Remember, that businesses exist for profit. The opposite of business is charity which exist for donation.

Any job or service that can be transacted over the phone via the internet can now be done through a call center and that’s where you are going to enter the scenario as Customer Service Representative.

Before you become a Customer Service Representative, there are certain qualification that needs to be considered. Call Centers doesn’t just pick up “employees” on the street and let them wear headsets and take calls right away. And I say “employees” here not “applicant” because you might see “headhunters” on the street offering a job in the call center. That is just part of the recruitment process.

What are the checklist then for you to be considered in this type of job?

(1)          At least a College education

I like the way Accenture presented their qualification for the job and let me borrow it from them:

At least College Graduate or

3 years in College + 1 year Call Center experience or

2 years in College + 2 years Call Center experience or

1 year in College + 3 years Call Center experience

Of course, all of the experience should be in an International Account.

(2)          Proficiency in English language

Customers calling in a Call Center are all English speakers. Those English speakers either came from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada or Australia. It all depends on what account you are profiled to.

Proficiency in English is being gauge through interview. In doing the interview, you should be able to express yourself fluently. You don’t need to have an “American accent” to be in this job although it’s an advantage. You just need to have “neutral accent”. And by neutral accent mean a not so obvious local accent. 

There is also the so called Versant to assess your intonation but I just don’t find it accurate.

(3)          Commitment for the job

This is a job not a hobby. You cannot report to work on days when you feel like going to work only and be absent on days when you feel tardy. No amount of assessment would gauge commitment because it is an inherent characteristic of an individual molded by time, values and discipline. The greatest mistake of most call center is to associate “commitment” with the duration of time on applicant’s employment history.

(4)          Amenable to shifting schedules and dayoffs

There is a so called “hours of operation” or “HOOPS” in a call center. The hours of operation is the number of hours the “store is open” to put it simply. It could be that the shift will open at 9pm and closes at 9am. In this situation the hours of operation for your account is 12 hours. But do you have to go to work for 12 hours given that the HOOPS is 12 hours? Of course not. It could be that your shift will start at 9pm and ends at 6am. It could be that your day off is Friday – Saturday this week and next week your shift will 11pm to 8am and your off will be Saturday – Sunday. Just always remember that it is always 40 hours a week. Whatever in excess of that is considered overtime.

There are also different types of schedules:

(a)           The 8 by 5 (8 x 5 = 8 hours a day / 5 days a week)

For this type of schedule you only have 30 minutes break + (2) 15 minutes break. This is good if you live in a far place because the one hour excess as compared to 9 x 5, puede mo pa itulog yon!

The disadvantage of this schedule is kung mabagal kang kumain or yung tipong nauuna yung daldalan kesa sa pagkain or the pantry of the call center is mabagal mag–serve, palagi kang ma–o–overbreak.

(b)          The 9 by 5 (9 x 5 = 9 hours a day / 5 days a week)

For this type of schedule you will have 1 hour break + (2) 15 minutes break. The advantage of this schedule is you wouldn’t rush to eat your lunch. The disadvantage is kung mabilis ka naman kumain, palaboy ang labas mo especially if the call center doesn’t have enough facility for siesta.

(c)           The 11 by 4 (11 x 4 = 11 hours a day / 4 days a week)

Like 9 x 5, you will still have 1 hour break but (3) 15 minutes break. The advantage of this schedule is tipid sa damit, tipid sa pamasahe because you are working 4 days a week only. The disadvantage of this schedule is that it is draining, pudpod ang dila mo especially if the site has large volume of calls.

What’s in it for you to know the hours of operation of your account?

The answer is you will be able to schedule other commitment. In fact, puede kang mag–part time job sa labas if you wish to or get back to school. Kung alam mo na ang closing ng shift is 9am then don’t commit yourself to other things within that window. You may perhaps enroll to school at 10am to 2pm. The only thing you need to consider aside from knowing the HOOPS is the “post–shift huddle.” I’ve known one call center at “EDSA Crossing” na pipigain nila yung 7 hours and 30 minutes shift mo for calls and never sila nagpapa–plot ng “team meeting” within the shift. Kuripoooooot!!!

In order to solidify your foundation in this industry, you need to know a lot of account. Just like in equestrienne game, you need to ride different horses for you to be able to adjust your hop.

In solidifying your foundation, you need to be able to experience four of the largest account in the call center industry and that is the: Telecommunication account or Telco, Media account (which is cable, internet and phone), Healthcare account and the Financial account. Whatever is not classified in here, it would be easier for you to cope up once you experience this four accounts.

Say for example you are a former Nurse abroad who came back to the Philippines. Technically, you know how Healthcare account works. Kung yung practical side nun eh alam mo, yung virtual side pa kaya di mo malalaman? Which in return makes you exempted from having Healthcare account. What you need to concentrate now is on Telco account, Media account and Financial account. However, because you have been abroad for quite some time, you were able to know what some of the investment utilities are and you also happen to use credit card so you know the mechanism of action of a financial account. The greatest check for those who are in financial account is, Are you financially independent? Baka mismong ikaw eh financially troubled so how can you give expert advice to your customer?

Here are some of the possible combination in designing your career in this industry:

Bachelor Degree in Commerce or Accountancy or Political Science

+ 8 months CSR in a Telco Account

+ 8 months CSR for Media Account

+ 8 months CSR for Healthcare Account

Next career path: TL Internship / Mentorship for Financial Account or Postpaid Telco Account after 1000 phone hours or automatic TL post for those with more than two years supervisory experience in Banking & Finance prior to joining BPO.

Bachelor Degree in Sciences (Biology, Nursing, Medical Technology, Physical Therapy, Pharmacy, etc.)

+ 8 months CSR in Financial Account

+ 8 months CSR in a Telco Account

+ 8 months CSR for Media Account

Next career path: TL Internship / Mentorship for Healthcare Account after 1000 phone hours or automatic TL post for those with more than two years supervisory experience in Healthcare prior to joining BPO.

Bachelor Degree in Engineering or Computer Science or Information Technology

+ 8 months CSR Financial Account

+ 8 months CSR / TSR for Media Account

+ 8 months CSR for Healthcare Account

Next career path: TL Internship / Mentorship for Media or Telco Account after 1000 phone hours or automatic TL post for those with more than two years supervisory experience in Communications Engineering or IT post prior to joining BPO.

You will notice that in the above example, the minimum time frame I set forth is 8 months. It is because by that time, chances are pag alam mo na yung account, mabuburaot ka na! Provided also na perfect attendance ka for that 8 straight months. Also, in that 8 months period, a lot of things already happen. Let us see the typical life cycle here which most call center fails to see:

First month                         –          Product specific training

Second month                    –          Abay training

Third to fifth month         –          Production

Sixth month                        –          Regularization

Seventh month & up        –          Continuous passing of metrics 

In this life cycle, you will notice that before you could even reach the 8^th month, you already surpassed a lot of ordeal. Pumasa ka ng product specific training, pumasa ka ng Abay, endorsed ka to production, na–regular ka at pumapasa ka sa metric.

If you are a Recruiter and you fail to consider this aspect, you don’t deserve to be in that position.

With the above life cycle the only question now is, “Why did you leave your job? It is also with the above life cycle where you can find the answer. If the resume shows up to second month only then hindi pumasa ng Abay. If the resume shows up to three months only then na–endorse sa production pero di type ang management style ni TL or di type ang environment ni call center. If the resume showed up to five months only then hindi na–regularize. If the resume shows sixth month above, pinagtiyagaan yung account or pinagtiyagaan si TL or yung call center for the sake of the experience. See the picture!!

Hopper is the term oftentimes use in the call center to name those who are shifting one job to another. There is a new group of people I have just discovered and I will name them, Hunters. Hunters are those who are shifting from one call center to another without finishing one year. One of their unique characteristic is they are highly efficient, fast learner and reliable. But as hunter, they just want to experience a lot of account.

At face value of the Resume, Hopper and Hunter may be the same but the unique thing about hunter is that the length of time he or she is staying in the account is progressive. In one account, six months; in another account, 8 months, in another account, 9 months and so on.

The thing with both hopper and hunter is that mapapagod din yan sa kaka–hop and kaka–hunt. Mapapagod din yan sa kaka–apply ng NBI. Maiinitan din yan sa pagbiyahe–biyahe. The only question now is, were they able to tolerate something on your site that is non–tolerable at other site? Will your site be the hopping ground or the hopper’s ground? I’ve known one applicant before wherein on his seventh call center, dun siya nagtagal! I’ve known one applicant also wherein in just one year, nakaapat na call center na siya. His fifth call center was our site and nagustuhan niya yung account at dahil bakla siya at gwapo yung magiging TL niya, todo effort ang bakla. Unfortunately, he was not certified kaya super–disgusted ang bakla! In this situation, the call center knew from the start that he is a hopper but still he was given an opportunity. In this situation, the agent already like the account but the account doesn’t like him.

With all the “attrition risk” assessment, attrition is still high in call center. Actually, it’s a matter of “trial and error” for both the employee and the site.

Now that you know how to solidify your foundation in this industry, eh ano naman ngayon?

The answer is that it will give you leverage in all aspect of this industry. The great thing about this industry is that it is free–style. What works in one call center may not work in another. And as I have mentioned above, walang course na ganito sa mga university.

There are also instances wherein if you become a Team Leader, you may want to transfer to another call center for a higher salary. The risk of transferring to another call center once you are already in a managerial position is that there is a possibility that you may not be regularized. If you are not regularized, anong mangyayari sa’yo? Balik ka sa pagiging agent in order to bring food on the table? The trick is, you can hop to as many call center you want while you are still on a CSR or TSR position then when you apply for higher position, stay on that call center for the rest of your fucking life or if you will be transferring to another center and that center happens to be a site where you were once a CSR or TSR then alam mo na yung kultura dun and alam mo na rin kung paano makisakay sa mga buwitre!!!

If you know how to run this industry then you can do it better than any other country and if you can do it better than any other country then our country will be the outsourcing destination and if our country will be the outsourcing destination then you are creating jobs and if you are creating jobs then you are contributing to the economy of the country and if you are contributing to the economy of the country, your blessing will file up in heaven!! As Confucius says, “A person who secures the security of others has already secured himself.”