BPO/call centre experience:

[rohit_s_r]

ya but the big question is my friends is it worth working in a bpo along with 18 yr old just outta skool kids???
secondly will it add any valuve???specially if you are an engineer????
more importantly will bschools valuve what u learn there????????

most importantly whats will be ur ans when bschool guys u in interveiw that y u did a low value job(and it has happned to one of my frns) after ur engineering???

if anybody has been in same boat please do reply your exp can surely help others cya ppl

[lypha]

Originally Posted by rohit_s_r

ya but the big question is my friends is it worth working in a bpo along with 18 yr old just outta skool kids???
secondly will it add any valuve???specially if you are an engineer????
more importantly will bschools valuve what u learn there????????

most importantly whats will be ur ans when bschool guys u in interveiw that y u did a low value job(and it has happned to one of my frns) after ur engineering???

if anybody has been in same boat please do reply your exp can surely help others cya ppl

rohit,,
just chill out dude,, at the end of the day how you face the interview panelists will count..you can always defend yourself about working in a BPO. just tell me one thing. what do those s/w engg do in the name of coding.as someone in this thread have described, it is a glorified BPO job . just have confidence in yourself ..
if you are too embarrassed of working in a bpo ,, wait for some more time and get a @lucrative offer for yourself in a s/w firm..
cheers

[hiteshchadha]

Hey Guys I would like to share another wonderful article which I read on coolavenues.com For all future BPO aspirants and specifically Rohit_s_r please go through this.

BPO - The Next Stage for Management Graduates

No denial from here that BPO involving call centers, back office processing, etc., has made a major impact in urban India. Cities like Mumbai, Kolkatta, Bangalore, Delhi, Pune and many others are zooming with the BPO buzz 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Employing millions of Indians and the curve is still on an up trend.
No, I am not heading towards the anti-BPO outcry in US and the implications of those in India. My concern is a bit educational.
Since we have a big business, an entity of the service industry here contributing to the country's GDP, thanks to the huge pool of English speaking graduates who generate revenues by servicing clients in the US, UK and other countries. We also need to look at the other side of the coin where the issues related to this industry needs to be addressed. Young guns easily making 10K+ as salary but have no clue whether they are spending the money rightfully. Are they shaping a career for themselves or simply getting exploited by the inexperienced management team in many BPO organizations? Many managers are simply unable to earn the respect of the title, which they have got not because they deserve it, but simply due to a crazy number pressure game played by the Human Resources team of many BPOs. Today, if the people are not managed with strategy, time is not far where India might lose the competitive edge to another nations. How do we manage and groom this industry and take it to the next level?

Management graduates and aspiring MBAs, you need to look at this question very carefully, as there is an opportunity with a huge responsibility. B-school deans and curriculum developers for all management courses, don't you think its time that our courses should be designed to meet this industry's requirement?
There is a desperate need for good managers to stabilize the middle management in these organizations where they can give a direction to the youth jumping onto the BPO bandwagon, not only to achieve targets of the organization, but also to bring in values and ethical practices. The case study approach is an excellent tool, which if modified keeping the BPO firms in mind, can develop managers of caliber for the future. An excellent pay package involving flexible work hours is a definite attraction.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) plans to introduce by this year end a common certification in terms of skills and knowledge, that matches industry requirement for youngsters aspiring to enter the booming BPO industry. Nasscom President Kiran Karnik said the certification, which would be universal across the country, was being planned in consultation with the BPO industry. He said the certification would help both aspirants and industry in terms of quality people, and it would be spread across the country so as to reach talent more widely.

Karnik said another certification, for those currently employed within the BPO sector, was being planned, which would enable them to move up the ladder in handling people. Nasscom was integrating existing certification practices for the BPO industry in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerela and make it universal. He urged the media to look the BPO industry beyond call centers, as within the call centers, there were areas, which required more skill and specialization, and Indian firms were proving in this sphere.

Beginning
This May' 04 vCustomer, a US-based provider of offshore business process outsourcing services, call centers and technical support services, has hired 25 graduates from elite business schools across India. Beginning this month, graduates from the Indian Institutes of Management, Xavier's Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi; National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE); and the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, will join the company's operation teams at its facilities in Delhi and Pune.

Cheers
Hitesh

[vijayvivek]

Originally Posted by rohit_s_r

hey guys i have a question please do reply i need help urgently,

i couldnt make it to a good bschool this year and do not want to joing a low rung bschool just for heck of a mba.i would prepeare for 2006 because only option i have this yr is **** and i guess its better to sit home doing nothing than to join that one.

now that i have deceide to give cat in 2006 my problem is what to do in one yr.

now the the thing is can i join a call center(i know this may not be a good option but thats what i got.) as techical suppor(voice based) (convergys)
the sal is good(20k+incentives) so i can save aprox 1.5-2 lac for my mba as well.

big question is will it effect my chances of addmission in a good bschool next year.????can it negetively effect me.

any of you guys who have been through this plz help.

what should i do plzz help. thnx in advance.

hey frnd.
i've got same type of prob. i too want to join a bpo since i didn't scored well enough last yr. so i plan to appear cat 06 and join a bpo but in a state of confusion regarding it as people say u'll only ruin urself in a bpo. so if u've any suggestions please feel free to pm me or contact me @ vijayvivek2001@yahoo.com
hoping a nice reply from u, since more or less we both are in a same state of prob.
take care
VijaY

[vijayvivek]

Originally Posted by rohit_s_r

ya but the big question is my friends is it worth working in a bpo along with 18 yr old just outta skool kids???
secondly will it add any valuve???specially if you are an engineer????
more importantly will bschools valuve what u learn there????????

most importantly whats will be ur ans when bschool guys u in interveiw that y u did a low value job(and it has happned to one of my frns) after ur engineering???

if anybody has been in same boat please do reply your exp can surely help others cya ppl

Hi rohit
me also in a state of confusion as i also want to join a bpo since i didnt scored enough well last yr and do not want to join any low ranked b school and want to earn sumthing as i prepare for cat 06.
But for me, a work is a work. every work, what so ever it may be, requires full dedication and enthu to be the best out of u. so never mind, what interview panel will ask u regarding ur exp in a bpo. there is always an appropriate reply if the work is done with zeal and dedication. and as far as learning is concerned, process is more imp, not the place where u learn. and U cant expect learning business just sitting at home. so if u feel like working in a bpo, just go forward and grab it.
Bcoz it will pay, one day or the other
TOO MUCH GYAN????????? chalta hai na yaar.

Any way keep in contact and dont 4get me if u have any valuable suggestion since i m also facing the same prob as urs.
take care and keep posting
VijaY

[harshg]

Originally Posted by rohit_s_r

ya but the big question is my friends is it worth working in a bpo along with 18 yr old just outta skool kids???
secondly will it add any valuve???specially if you are an engineer????
more importantly will bschools valuve what u learn there????????

most importantly whats will be ur ans when bschool guys u in interveiw that y u did a low value job(and it has happned to one of my frns) after ur engineering???

if anybody has been in same boat please do reply your exp can surely help others cya ppl

Note some important facts of life
1) Indian Army also has 18 year old just out of college kids... so working with young people can not be a disadvantage.
2) Value is a percieved notion.. your workex in BPOs would add value to your resume but the value packet is a direct function of how much have you done in the BPOs -- not how long have you worked.
3) the question which your friend was asked was " was your BPO job a low value job / does he think that his job in the BPOs was a low value add job" ; your friend did not get admitted because (probably) he dinged the answer to this question..... understand that the adcom tries to look at your past and your perception of future to lay credence to your reason for doing an MBA. And if you are not able to emphasize the value of the workex you already posess and the fact that the MBA would actually augment it you would present a very poor case.

your friend's not getting selected for an admission to your B school of choice can be because of a lot of reasons including his workex ... however the reason why people get dinged on the workex front is because they are not able to show one of the following:
1) sustained growth
2) value addition
3) logical progression ( this my coinage; means the logic behind the planned transition from your job to acads in future and the transition from your acads to your job in the past) and these reasons would present themselves to everyone -- someone who is a Collections agent in a BPO can get dinged as also can an engineer who is translating code or fixing bugs in a network.

If I am asked a question about my workex; I was while I was shopping for a MBA program and was discussing the PGP for Executives at MDI Gurgaon; I talk about the three above and give examples. I did not join the MDI Gurgaon becuase I did not write the CAT this year ( I woke up at 1300 hrs that day)

Vijay / Rohit.
If both of you are planning for a CAT-06 and have joined a BPO in interim ... I am assuming here, if you are trying for a good CAT score you will need to prep full time for about 3 months --that leaves you only 6-7 months of workex, I would call it a little too less -- and you would both be at a slight disadvantage in front of the interview board unless you project that you are more than an average candidate because you joined a BPO with a plan for an MBA (this shows maturity and career planning) and have managed to stick to your plan shows that you have both dedication and determination.

[vijayvivek]

Originally Posted by harshg

Note some important facts of life
1) Indian Army also has 18 year old just out of college kids... so working with young people can not be a disadvantage.
2) Value is a percieved notion.. your workex in BPOs would add value to your resume but the value packet is a direct function of how much have you done in the BPOs -- not how long have you worked.
3) the question which your friend was asked was " was your BPO job a low value job / does he think that his job in the BPOs was a low value add job" ; your friend did not get admitted because (probably) he dinged the answer to this question..... understand that the adcom tries to look at your past and your perception of future to lay credence to your reason for doing an MBA. And if you are not able to emphasize the value of the workex you already posess and the fact that the MBA would actually augment it you would present a very poor case.

your friend's not getting selected for an admission to your B school of choice can be because of a lot of reasons including his workex ... however the reason why people get dinged on the workex front is because they are not able to show one of the following:
1) sustained growth
2) value addition
3) logical progression ( this my coinage; means the logic behind the planned transition from your job to acads in future and the transition from your acads to your job in the past) and these reasons would present themselves to everyone -- someone who is a Collections agent in a BPO can get dinged as also can an engineer who is translating code or fixing bugs in a network.

If I am asked a question about my workex; I was while I was shopping for a MBA program and was discussing the PGP for Executives at MDI Gurgaon; I talk about the three above and give examples. I did not join the MDI Gurgaon becuase I did not write the CAT this year ( I woke up at 1300 hrs that day)

Vijay / Rohit.
If both of you are planning for a CAT-06 and have joined a BPO in interim ... I am assuming here, if you are trying for a good CAT score you will need to prep full time for about 3 months --that leaves you only 6-7 months of workex, I would call it a little too less -- and you would both be at a slight disadvantage in front of the interview board unless you project that you are more than an average candidate because you joined a BPO with a plan for an MBA (this shows maturity and career planning) and have managed to stick to your plan shows that you have both dedication and determination.

thanks for the advice
i need to work in bpo for workex as well as 4 my own expenses.
i do not feel that working in a call centre is too bad. that is a work and no work is bad. More over i will have to justify for the gap i took preparing for CAT. and i dont think prep for cat sitting @ home will leave a good impression at the interview.
As far as bpos r concerned they wont be giving bucks for free.
one has to work there. i have presently 0 workex. so i think in my context this is justified.
Afterall that is justified only if i score good enough to get a call from an IIM.
What do u say?????


keep posting

VijaY

[harshg]

Please do not send me a PM and post the same question/response on the thread... a PM is if you want to carry a conversation in private.

[harshg]

Hey Vijay.

You will get a call to an interview based on your CAT or GMAT score... this is the easy part unless you are planning on a IIM call which means you will need to score in the 99th %ile range(What is difficult is converting the interview to an admit.)

wrt CAT a higher score is almost always an advantage because most of the people who apply after CAT share the same demos (less workex more acads and very little extra curricular achievement) wrt GMAT a high score is good but then again the colleges concentrate on your ability to get employed post qual -hence they look at your workex and the total skillsets you posess which would effect your post qual employability.

if you plan to work and study for CAT-06; ( in my opinion ) it is difficult to do that while you are in a BPO especially so during your first 6 months changing shifts and night shifts make it very difficult to stick to a routine... your peergroup and you would also be newly rich and would try and find every opportunity to spend (if you do not do that you should get a psycho checkup done).----- Together all these reasons make it a more fun less padhai scenario.

Bringing my point once again, if there are 100 seats for a top 50 college which admits via CAT then the competition is amongst the people who have scored in the same %ile range... (all other things being equal) the higher you are the better your chances for an admit. On the flip the colleges have a perishable commodity (seats) which would expire once the admissions are thru, hence they try and admit even the real dull cases --So what you need to really think about is

a) should I give a CAT-06 while working and risk a low score and then risk getting an admission to a rung 2 B school which would get me low paying entry level job which is at par with or worse than my BPO job today ?-- or

b) should I continue with my workex for more than 1 year then prep and write a CAT-07 and aim for a high score? --even if I have to quit my job 3 months before the CAT date. This is more logical because you would stand to lose very little; 1 year does not get you promoted and your quitting your work at the entry level and then joining back after 3 months at the same entry level does not effect your resume or your seniority by too much.

Think about it.

[virgo]

This is just to let you know that highest domestic offer at IIM-A for 2006 is from a BPO(Genpact).

Source- Rediff.com
Disclaimer:I don't take the responsibility for authenticity of this information.