Do not take Call Center/BPO as short term career.

Call center or BPO industry which started growing in early 2000’s has been able to maintain growth since it’s inception. BPO industry has been a beginning job opportunity for fresher, graduates, under graduate people as it does not require any technical or specialized skill for call canter or BPO industry. But some people see call centers as short term career option and there are some myths about BPO industry. So I would like to share my views and opinions about call center industry and also I would like to share my fifteen years experience in this industry.

Till 2000’s, finding a job was a biggest challenge for Indian students and there were very few options for non technical and arts graduates, college drop outs. After 2000, one industry flourished – the telecom and cellular phones industry and to provide services to the customers all telecom companies established contact centers or call centers. As the mobile companies aggressively expanded it’s customer base, so call center too hired number of Indian youths to cater to it’s human resource requirement.

This was the beginning of the flourishing period of call center industry. Not only Indian companies but some companies from overseas also preferred India to establishing their contact centers. Many companies emerged in that period which outsourced all the operations related to customer care, sales and technical support, so BPOs came into existence. Today, all major industries whether it’s telecom, banking & finance, production, E – commerce, consumer goods, FMCG, automobile, IT peripherals or software, all have their customer care and support centers to assist and provide information to existing customers and potential customers. So it’s beyond imagination that how vast is this industry and same vast opportunities are there for people who are employed with this industry.

As I mentioned above that there is no technical or specialized qualification required to be part of this industry. All a candidate need is to possess good communication skills in English or any regional Indian language. Some companies who serve technical queries process prefer to select candidates with some technical knowledge but hire non technical people as well. All employees are trained for the customer services, communication skills and for specialized product and services related specifications. The entry level job title is executive and there are numerous growth opportunities in call centers. There is a hierarchy in all departments. The major departments are – Operations, Administration, Facilities, HR, Quality Assurance, IT, Maintenance. So, one has ample opportunities to achieve provided working with dedication and maintaining the performance. Some people feel call centers to be very hectic job and do not see long term career in it. But in reality, there is very fast growth in call centers and within a call center a person can get growth in multiple departments which I just mentioned. Patience for some time and dedication towards work will definitely yield good results.

Apart from salary, there are many other benefits like PF, gratuity, medical insurance which are given to the employees. So, you may hear many myth and negative things about call center but there is no industry which gives chance in any fresher or non technical person, but BPOs do so. Once you make entry in BPOs, explore growth opportunities and once you explore these, persistently make efforts to achieve it.