It’s surprising to find that the Philippine call center industry is booming and on the verge of being a frontier for various careers for Filipinos these days. It initially started out as simple providers of email response and managing services, it had industrial capabilities for almost any type of customer relations, ranging from technical support, travel services, financial services, education, online business to business support, customer care, and even online business to customer support. The dynamics of a call center are divided into two types which is inbound and outbound. The inbound calls are made by the customers to obtain certain information, report a technical issue, or ask for help and directions about a specific service or product. These kind of calls are essentially different from doing outbound calls because this is where agents place calls to potential customers with the main intention of selling a product or service to the person. There are times when inbound and outbound calls are combined, this depends on the service that a call center has.
It is also important to note that the revenue that this industry brings to the Philippines is billions every year and there is market growth and differentiation in the coming years. Many clients and call center companies from abroad most especially US and European BPOs invest in the potential that the Philippines has, some of the factors that contribute to this is the relatively affordable and least expensive labor and operational costs. Last 2007 the Philippines stands as a top BPO destination for the $150 million BPO industry. Another factor that makes the Philippines a viable candidate is the English proficiency of many Filipinos when speaking over the phone and the versatility of developing natural accents and eventual fluency. Our foreign counterparts also find that Filipinos are very trainable in different call center tasks as well. You can definitely find careersin Philippine call centers these days thanks to the information provided above.
Typical Call Center Recruitment Processes
Take not that this process pertains to those potential applicants for the common call center agent position.
a)Phone Screening – The first stage determines the voice quality of a potential applicant over the phone and how he/she responds during the call.
b)Initial Interview – The second stage of the recruitment process tests the applicant’s speaking skills, confidence, attitude and how the applicant responds to various questions. This is administered by the Human Resource Department or an outsourced staffing firm.
c)Examination – The third stage engages the applicant in aptitude tests, computer-based call simulations, and EQ (Emotional Quotient) tests.
d)Final Interview – The fourth stage assesses the applicant’s technical skills, sales skills, and customer service skills.
There are different ways wherein one can apply for a call center job and get a good career out of it. The most common way is to apply directly to the call center company’s main recruitment office and do a “walk-in” application. Another way is to get online and take a look at the latest job posts and openings, the applicant will then submit his or her curriculum vitae to an online kiosk and then wait to be contacted for an initial screening. Another way to get hired is by way of referral system wherein an existing employee refers a potential applicant which will be then instructed to have an initial screening and interview.
There is also a myriad of expertise and fields that you can excel and be a part of in different call center companies in the Philippines. It is important that you stress what field that you want to be in your application. You can count on growth in careers in Philippine call centers:
Business Development
Sales and Marketing
Accounting and Finance
Quality Assurance and Control
Human Resources and Recruitment
Information Technology
Medical Transcription
Telecommunications