My first article - BPO

BPO--The Boom. The industry, which made India one of the leading outsourcing destinations in the world. I always wanted to be a part of it, and today I am glad that I am a part of this booming industry. Starting off in an organization with a 5-figured salary made me and my family proud.

Challenging work, something new everyday and most importantly the learning experience makes this job more exciting for me. One thing I like most about BPOs is the working environment. I still feel I am in my college with my colleagues being almost of my age and my boss looking over my job as my professors did. I do get more free time, so that I can indulge myself in other activities. I was afraid I would loose my hobby of poetry writing, but today I do get time to pen down few lines, which confirms that the hobby is still alive in me.

This job helped me enhance my communication skills and made me aware of the corporate environment. Now I know how things are handled in a corporate environment. In a way I am learning managerial skills.

But as it is said, "There is no free lunch", there are few things about BPO which needs to be given a serious thought. Firstly, BPO defies the law of nature, which says, nights are to take rest. It is difficult to accept that when most of the population is under covers and staring at the roof of their house, I am staring at my computer screen, tapping a keypad and clicking a mouse. Reason: Earth is spherical.

It is equally hard to accept that this industry in India is at the mercy of few other developed nations, which questions the security of my job. It is difficult to meet the client expectations. It takes limitless hard work, consumes lot of time and requires tremendous patience to gain the confidence and trust of the client. As more and more countries gear up to provide better services, this would equally raise the quality standards, increase customer expectations and the competitor count.

After all, survival of the fittest is what this industry is all about and I am happy that it is surviving the way it should, in India.

Sometimes I keep thinking where would I be if I was not in BPO, maybe working in a government office, waiting for a tea break or maybe working in a small private firm struggling to get a pay hike or maybe browsing through classifieds searching a better job or maybe reading one such article written my a satisfied BPO professional.

First Interview

"Tell me something about yourself"...

However smart a candidate is, the first interview of the life is usually difficult to crack. Our most well prepared responses go on a break when they are required. Words freeze and we land up blabbering.

It is sometimes difficult for a person to tak all good about himself and expect the other person to believe it, especially if the other person is an interviewer. I used to be nervouc by default if someone asked me that question. It is impossible to collect hundreds of "universally accepted" best human qualities in few sentences... that was challenging.

Not that I wanted to lie about myself, but maybe Iwanted to have those qualities in me from that point onwards. Maybe I succeeded... maybe I am yet learning.. maybe I will never reach there..