I couldn’t really say that this is my first time to blog.
I’m no virgin at this but I must say the first post that I did wasn’t really
out of free will. It’s sort of a requirement or experiment when I was in
college. I’m not really sure why but I guess to check how confident we are in
terms of verbalizing our thoughts through blogging. Well it makes sense since I
took up AB Communications. Anyhow, enough blah about how I lost my
blogging-virginity. My intentions of starting this blog may not be so different,
except for the fact that this’ll make or break my professional career. A new
career that I’ve been meaning to take when I left my company whom I worked for
9 years. So forgive me if I tapped the snooze button for you.
I’m Patrick, 31 years old and I used to work for a BPO
company. I’ve been in the same industry for more or less 12 years. I know that
most people would say that working for a BPO company is a dead-end job but to
be completely honest, it depends on the person. I also had the same belief when
I started working for my very first BPO when I was barely 19, Ambergris
Solutions in Ortigas—well, technically there was another company but they
placed us on hold during training (Also, since we never got paid, that company
is very insignificant). I was assigned to work for Dell. Our initial training
was for customer service, where we dealt with existing customers’ issues
(billing, status of orders, updating of accounts and even complaints). I couldn’t
really say that I enjoyed working for that department since I don’t have
anything to compare it to. It was ok, but to be completely honest, it was
exhausting. I told myself that I’m not going to stay with this department if I’ll
be given a chance not to. After 5 or 6 months, my wish was granted. A number of
folks were picked to transfer to another department, sales.
I never really cared if I’d have to sell Dell products since
we were oriented first with the commission scheme. No more complains and more
money, who can say no to that? I became successful in selling Dell Home and
Home Office products. But, I got rattled when we heard a rumor that our department
will be removed. I was barely 20 and that was my first company, I didn’t know
what to do. So I joined some office friends in looking for another company. That
made me transfer from Ortigas to Makati. My second company was ICT for a
locked-down account, a financial account. Training was pretty intense, to be
completely honest it was boring. I stayed with the company for 9 months I think,
focused on providing customer service to existing clients. I left because of
all the heartache (a bit personal), office politics (a manager who threatened to
issue me a warning just because she didn’t like me, I think) and fake friends (I
had a friend who stole my cellphone and digital camera). I took some time off
after ICT.
After 6 months, I decided to look for another job. I kind of
got the hang of the ins and outs of the BPO industry so I decided to look for a
job in the same industry. I applied for CVG and I failed because I wasn’t
sale-sy enough. So I decided to not show up to my other interview and just hang
out with my friends when I got a call from PeopleSupport. I sounded a bit upset
when I answered to call. The girl conducted a short phone interview and invited
me for a personal interview. I kind of thought that I wasn’t ready for another
interview the next day so I asked for a schedule the following week. When the
call ended, I got really excited because I know that PS has no dress code and I
can wear whatever. Interview day came and just like what they promised in their
ads, the process was just one day. I was hired for a Travel account. The pay is
4, 000PHP less than my previous but I didn’t really care because I’ve been
wanting to work for PS since there are no dress codes (well except for tank
tops, flip flops and ripped clothes). I also know that because of this fact, I’ll
enjoy working for the company.
I actually did. I worked in the company for almost 10 years.
I started as a travel agent and worked my way up to becoming one of the
Recruitment Leads in Corporate Recruitment. The Travel account also gave me the
opportunity to relocate in Cebu where I developed my leadership skills and
became a Supervisor. The same Manager and Team also gave me the opportunity to
develop my people skills and made it easier for me to transition to
Recruitment. Which I never thought that would happen in a million years since I
don’t have any background and the only Psychology course I had was Psych101
during my 1st year in college.
So if you will ask me again, is working
in a BPO company a dead-end, I’d say no it is not. The industry will help you
develop a lot of skills. Skills that you can also use to any type of industry.
Just like what I’m starting to do. I’m building my own brand as a home based
professional. I haven’t really started looking for potential clients but I had
some attention already in UpWork. Wish me luck folks! I also hope that my next
post will be more interesting moving forward. I’d also appreciate constructive
comments.
