Many of my young readers of this Blog ask me to know why should they opt for a job in BPO? What are the advantages & disadvantages of wo...
Many of my young readers of this Blog ask me to know why should they opt for a job in BPO? What are the advantages & disadvantages of working in a BPO industry? The reason why they asks is simple – since they are young, they still have the option to choose other career options.
Let me sum up my answer at the beginning of the post that a career in BPO is rewarding, provided you have the urge to develop skills continually as required by the BPO industry where you would work. But if you are a person, who would love to work nine-to-five, than a career in BPO sector is definitely not meant for you!With above cautionary information, let us go to find what are the advantages & disadvantages of working in a BPO industry.
Advantages of working in a BPO industry:
1.0 Low skill set required at entry level:
Yes, as you might already know – you can start on a BPO career with as little required skill as communicating in English language. No other skills are sought for, especially in the call centre segment of BPO industries. Hence you can start off very early in your life – may be as soon as you pass out of Class-XII, although most of the reputed BPO industry insists you to be a graduate.
After all which other industry says you that you do not need to have any prior job experience for the entry level?
2.0 On the job training:
Almost all the reputed BPO industries trains you when you are on the job – that means you get paid, even when you learn!
3.0 Very good career progression within the organization:
If you had gone through my previous post on this topic – How to find a BPO job, you must have come across that provided you upgrade your skill sets, you can cross all the hierarchy as given below:
Enter as level Customer Care Representatives.
->Become a Team Leader within one to two years.
->Become a Customer Service Supervisor within two or three years.
->Become a Shift Manager in about three to four years.
->Become a Manager in about four to five years.
Source: Times Jobs
4.0 Very good career progression outside the organization:
Yes, as soon as you have worked for a few years and have developed the required skills- gaining the experiences, your face value increases manifold. Than should you think so, you can join some other BPO industry, negotiating a higher pay package.
5.0 Opportunity to work overseas:
Reputed BPO industries, which has offshore offices, from time to time sends its employee to give an exposure to working conditions in the overseas office and also to meet manpower demand there. Thus you have a great chance to travel abroad as well as earn in dollars/euros!
6.0 Good Salary:
As compared to a Govt. job or a job in a ordinary public/private sector industry, BPO industries pays you well, as can be found from following data from Times Jobs:
Rs. 8,000-12,000 per month at the entry level as Customer Care epresentatives.
Rs. 12,000-16,000 per month (plus incentives) as a Team Leader.
Rs. 20,000-25,000 per month as a Customer Service Supervisor.
Rs. 25,000–30,000 per month as a Shift Manager.
Rs. 40,000–50,000 per month as a Manager.
Source: Times Jobs
These salaries are apart from other pecuniary benefits like: Free transport from/to place of residence, free tea/snacks in the office hours PF/Medical insurance etc.
Disadvantages of working in a BPO industry:
1.0 Odd working hours:
This is the biggest disadvantage of working in a BPO industry – you work in the time frame of a different geographical area – as you cater to most of the clients abroad. You work when rest of the people around you sleeps!
This odd life-style may affect your family life – if you do not have understanding family members. But if you are single, this is not a cause to worry at all!
It may also affect your health - sleep disorders, heart disease, eyesight problems etc.
However once you get used to working in shifts, your biological cycles adapts to the working schedule. Therefore you have problem only in the initial period of 2/3 months. Also, working hours for a BPO employee is not much – only 40 hours in a 5-day working week – that means 8 hour per day.
2.0 Abusive Clients:
At times, you may come across clients who picks up from your accent that you are from a foreign country. Now if this person is extra-patriotic having certain prejudice that jobs are being taken out from his country due to outsourcing, he may abuse you thinking that you are one of the person stealing the job from his country.
You have to deal with such a situation very tactfully. Have no doubt that the BPO industry you would work for would train you up for taking care of such things.
3.0 Negative social perception about BPO industry:
This is another grey area, because of which many potential BPO employee turns off from getting into a BPO sector. News are galore of sex & violence surrounding a BPO industry, because of which parents of conservative family prevents their children from entering a BPO industry.
Many of the times, such news are hyped up, just to increase the news value. Therefore you need not be very concerned about the same. After all, it depends solely on you how you conduct yourselves!
Most of the disadvantages stated above is only for call-centers, the major BPO segment. Therefore, as you might have gone through above discussion, advantages of working in a BPO industry far outweighs its disadvantages. So if you have the requisite skills for joining a BPO industry, may be you should consider joining it without any negative impressions.
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