Jawed:
I have over 16 years experience in Saudi Arabia as a Procurement Manager buying goods from USA and Europe. I also have a MBA degree. I would like to return to India. Can I get a job in a BPO in my field in Chennai or Bangalore. If so kindly advise and name the good BPOs in these cities to approach. Thanks a lot.
Ans: Jawed, you can definitely get a job in a BPO company. However, since you have
many years of experience in the area of procurement, you may want to look for opportunities
in that area. Almost all major companies (both Indian and foreign) would have requirements
in their procurement teams. If you want to be in the BPO area, you can still leverage
your experience because Procurement BPO is catching on (please click here ). Many large companies (both captive
and third party) will have processes In the BPO area, you can look for jobs in large
companies such as Genpact, Accenture, IBM etc. Accenture has a procurement solution
in its BPO business (click here ). Perhaps you could look
for opportunities there.
Rudradip Roychowdhury:
My name is Rudradip.I m working as a TL in a tech support process. I am
going to complete 1 year as a TL within two months. The salary that I am drawing
now is not sufficient, as I am married and have a kid and dependant parents. I am
presently working in Hyderabad, but my house is in Kolkata, so eventually I am staying
in a rented house.
I am very satisfied with my present employer with whom I am employed for last 2
and a half years and thats what my experience is in BPO.Prior to this I have worked
in hospitality industry for 13 years.
I am 36 years old and have done dip. In hotel management, but did not do graduation.I
am in need of more money and this is the age wherein I should save wealth.
Please suggest what I should do to earn more wealth in this industry.Definitily
I will seat in the promotion exams of the present employer, but there are lot of
ancillary verticals that work on these exams its not your performance always.
After judging all nooks and corners I have found, leaving the present employer is
the right option just wanted to calibrate my judgment with yours, so that I take
the right move in carrier.
Ans: Rudradip, your ability to earn more completely depends upon
what skills you build. When you say that promotions are not always based on performance,
perhaps it would be a good idea to look at what you define as performance. For example,
I may be very successful in my current role (i.e. my performance is great), but
I may not have demonstrated the skills I need for the next role. Therefore, even
though I have performed well, I may not get promoted. Untill I demonstrate these
skills, chances are that I wont get promoted in any company I join. As of now, the
growth in the BPO industry is slowing down. This means that options to move companies
are going to be limited. The best option you could have is to stay in the current
company and grow. You already have a track record. All you have to do is to demonstrate
that you indeed have the skills to move to the next level. Here are some suggestions:
1. Have you been focusing only on your team or have you contributed to the improvement
of the overall process?
2. Have you gone out of your way to help other team leaders?
3. Have you offered to take some load off you manager by volunteering to do some
of his/her mundane work? This is a great way to know what is required at the next
level.
4. Have you made yourself visible by writing for your companys news letter?
5. Have you taken some special projects voluntarily to improve something in the
company (could be process related, people related etc.)
As you grow higher, the management will look at your ability to influence others
to get things done. Take efforts to develop those skills. If required, spend money
to attend classes to gain these skills. It will be worth it.
Ananth Kumar:
I am from chennai, and I am running a call center. It's a outbound call
center for canada. And its an marketing campaign. So I find it to be much difficult
to continue with the process. I like to hear from you, whether there is any consultant
firm available to get other semi voice or voice based inbound process.
Ans: Ananth, you would need to invest in sales and marketing to
get more business. It may be a good idea if you were to get someone to handle your
operations, while you (and possible some other people you hire), focus on contacting
more companies and selling your capabilities. You could also look for sub contracting
work from companies such as Lason, which is based out of Chennai. You may also want
to contact Firstsource, which could outsource some work. I hope this helps.
Ashit Kalra:
Hello, I have 9 years experience in Healthcare BPO for US doctors as well
as insurance companies. I have been in the Ops Mgr position with a span of 150 people
now for more than 4 years. I have recently got an offer from a US-to-US tech recruitment
& Project consulting company with $15m in turnover and office in CA. Would it
be wise for me to move from the KPO to a lead a Global Resourcing/Sales company.
What avenues would be there for me after 3/5 years.
Ans: Ashit, this decision will be personal. You have to decide
what do you enjoy doing most. If you are enjoying your current job, I suggest you
stay. The BPO industry has a lot to offer and there is still a lot of room for growth.
You are already in a good field and have developed domain expertise. While you have
not mentioned what your role will be in the new company, it could be related to
sales (i.e. Finding opportunities for placements and then finding candidates and
placing them). This is an entirely new business and requires new skills. It will
take you 1 to 2 years just to find your bearing. Also, the markets are currently
down and recruitments are slowing. Therefore, it may be all that much more harder
for you to succeed. My suggestion is for you to stay in your current company. However,
if you really dont enjoy what you are doing currently, then you may look at changing.
Kamal:
i am Kamal working in a IT company's BPO Business in Bangalore playing
senior grade team member role for past 1 & half years,everyone say that i have
professional personality quality conscious & am a regular engg.college MBA degree
holder completed in 2000 April, Initially i was in sales & marketing but its
not a formal employment i.e. i worked without papers for 2 yrs & i realized
that its just an exploitation & came out of that.No way, BPO is the only easy
gateway for me at that time to enter with out previous employment documents.From
2004 till now its 4 years completed in BPO.My manager & others they know that
i have a professional deg & good to hold a managerial job but they are not promoting
me,my manager is tit for tat guy,Two reasons i can't leave this job 1.iam married
& 2. it is a system's approach company (operates just like a big software company)
but what is the use ? if my manager is not promoting me because of his personal
feelings towards me.And most of these guys in call centers they lack professional
qualification but they come to managerial level & harass everyone.,people at
top level they give a lengthy speech about attitude but they are forced to promote
people who has only smartness but lack attitude.I have some computer knowledge like
java c,basic computer operations,internet,MS office etc.I did my UG in electronic
science(3 yrs) and iam 32 year old also interested in quality models like six sigma
ISO etc.Last but not least though they didnt give apt position to me in this 1
& half years period but I never failed to respect them.Iam getting 3 laksh per
annum, if I quit I need to get a good position in equal management which is not
immediately possible so please advice ...
Ans: Kamal, your dissatisfaction seems to stem from the fact that
you are not getting promoted in spite of doing good work and having good qualifications.
You also feel that your manager is being vindictive and hence your growth is being
stifled. At this point, you have two choices. The first choice is to quit and start
afresh elsewhere. The second choice (and my recommendation) is to analyze why are
things this way for you. If your manager is vindictive, there must be a reason.
Maybe it is a simple misunderstanding or maybe you really did something he did not
like. Either way, it is a good idea to have a frank conversation with him. During
this conversation, please separate facts from feelings. For example, it is advisable
not to say you are always vindictive towards me. Instead, it might be better to
say last week, you did not give me an opportunity to attend the six sigma training.
Is there a reason for that?. Your conversation should also include discussions
on how you can grow in the company and what you should do.
At some point in your career, your qualifications dont matter anymore. Its your
capabilities that matter. There are scores of successful people (including Bill
Gates) who did not complete college. So dont focus on what you have achieved in
the past. Look at what skills you need to move ahead. If you want to be a VP or
CEO in some company in the future, then you should know that you will face far greater
challenges in terms of people, their motivations, their idiosyncracies, their feelings
etc. At that point, you cannot blame anyone for your inability to grow. You will
simply need to understand why they behave the way they do, and change yourself accordingly.
There is no greater time than now, to acquire those skills.
Mayur Doshi:
I am currently working with Wipro BPO as a Team Leader (2 yrs exp) from
Aug 2004. Prior to the BPO experience have worked with a catering company for 5
years. Have completed B.com from Goa University and C-PGDBA (Specialization in Human
Resourse Management) from Symbiosis Center for Distance Learning in 2007.
I have a interest in HRM but do not know how do i get a start for the same. Will
my experience in Catering Management and BPO experience help me.Kindly advise what
should my next career advancement be.I am 30 yrs old.
Ans: Mayur, you could look at moving into the HR function within
your current company. Speak with the head of HR at your unit and ask what you need
to do to get into his/her department. In order to increase your chances, you may
also want to start volunteering your free time (e.g. The days on which you are off),
to help the HR folks on some routine tasks. This will get you more exposure within
the department. Your prior experience will definitely come in handy.
ASHWANI KUMAR:
I have been working with domestic BPO for last 3 years. Currently I am
working as Sr. Officer Quality. Should I change the job if I get more salary on
the position of Customer service Executive in other call center? I want to change
only if I get higher position or the same position with higher salary. But I am
confused because in international BPO, people are getting more salary even on the
position of Customer service Executive.
Ans: Ashwani, You should look at what you want in the long term
and the short term. If you want more money in the short term, then changing the
jobs may be a good option. However, you may forego growth in the long term if you
do this because you will need to start from scratch in the new company. It will
be take up to 2 years before you even qualify for the next promotion. If growth
is more important that money in the short term, then it is better to stay where
you are and look at growing. You already have a track record. You can look at improving
your performance and demonstrating your skills for the next level to grow. Of course,
this could take a few months or a year, but it will be shorter than the time it
takes to grow in a new company.
