Sunday, March 6, 2011
Interview: More Tips
1. More questions...
Expect some questions that are regularly repeated in many interviews. These questions form a base for the interviewer so that he can form a chain of questions from the answer you give.
Let us list such questions, which we call Base Questions.
1) What are your strengths and weaknesses?
2) Why do you want to join our organisation/institute?
3) What are your future plans?
4) Who is your role model and why?
These questions form the base for further questions. Let’s take an example scene:
Him: What are your strengths?
You: I am honest, hardworking and reliable.
Him: What makes you think you are honest?
You: I have never cheated with any person or never have lied to anyone.
Him: If suppose, you have to do a wrong stuff for the good of someone, then would you do it?
You: If it benefits someone then I won’t mind doing it.
Him: So this means you can break your honesty!
You: If only it benefits someone. Helping someone is a virtue and not a crime.
So, you see that the first question formed the base for the other questions that came up. The interviewer derives these questions from your answer. So think and talk. Never fall in the trap where the interviewer surrounds you with blames. This usually happens in a Stress Interview. So, prepare thoroughly for these questions and expect them coming towards you in an interview.
2. Dressing up
Sometimes, your dressing style can get you a job. However, this seldom works. But your outer appearance does make the first impact, which can make the interviewer have a preconceived notion that you are the one for the job. But I do not guarantee this will get you the job. Also, you cannot neglect it. Organizations like Convergys, Accenture, Wipro, etc. pay huge emphasis on your dressing. They prefer their candidates to come in formals.
Some companies are liberal with their dress code. In these companies you can go in jeans or any informal wear.
To get a good idea of the dress code, visit the company a day before your interview and get to know the work culture there. If there is a dress code, ask someone about it. Dressing does help and it is gives the first impression about you to the interviewer.
3. Your conduct during an interview
Before entering the cabin, ask for permission. Like, ’’May I come in Sir?’’
After entering do not directly seat. It is bad manners. Let the interviewer ask you to seat. If he doesn’t then keep standing until he says the relieving words, ’’Please have a seat’’.
When you are seated, your legs should be firmly pressed on the ground. Your hands should not be on the table, and not folded. Have them on your laps. Seat erect and not bent.
Keep a smile going throughout the interview. This gives a suggestion to the interviewer that you are confident. The smile also reduces your stress and you feel comfortable. Try it if you want.
Never play with your hands or your pen or your tie. Be seated like a statue. Avoid clapping of hands. This is a sign of nervousness. The interviewer will quickly pick up your body language. And if he or she does not find you confident enough, they will just ask you to leave. So, never show sign of nervousness.
Always look at the eyes of the interviewer. Do not let them shift to something else. It should always be An eye for an eye. You get our point? This is another sign of confidence.
Do not stammer while speaking. Be fluent. The interviewer wants to see your chain of thoughts. They should keep coming one by one and in a continuous manner. Your voice should not be very loud, or very light. Speak as you speak regularly. Just be yourself. Do not enact anyone else and throw away your inferiority complex. You too are good like anyone else in the room. Have faith in yourself and God.
4. The most important document
Your resume or bio-data or curriculum vitae is the most important document. It should reflect your abilities, and should be true to very of its words. It should start with your name, date of birth, address, phone number, E-mail address. Nationality and Marital Status can follow. Some company would like to know your height and weight. Give your height in Centimeters and weight in Kilograms. Then give your language capabilities. Then comes education. List all of them starting from SSC and ending up with the latest one. Write down the computer knowledge or any other professional education you had. Then comes experience. Give complete details of them by giving the duration, name of the company, location of the company, name of your designation, job description, salary last drawn and reason for leaving. You can also state your expected salary range. Feel free to write your figure. Then comes the reference. Give atleast two. Then you can put in your interests, hobbies and achievements. Put in a photograph of yours. Add your signature at the end to ensure the authenticity of your resume.
A complete and comprehensive resume is a very handy tool.
5. Expect the unexpected
Sometimes you won’t directly go in an interview. The company would have planned a short listing method. So, you can expect a group discussion or a listening comprehension test, or an aptitude test prior to the personal interview. You can also expect some really weird questions. Some may ask General Knowledge questions. I confronted such an interview. My first question was, ’’If you were the Prime Minister for a day, what would you have done’’? This was rather unexpected. I wasn’t prepared for such kind of a question. But then too I managed to speak through.
I also appeared for a Group Discussion whose topic was very vague. It was ’’Death’’. We have to speak on this topic for five minutes at least. You can also have topics like ’’If’’, ’’But’’, ’’We can’’ or ’’Sky is Blue’’. Yes, friends, such topics have really come. The only advantage with these topics is that you can speak anything you want; if you can prove your stand. There is no right or wrong in these topics. So, expect the unexpected every time you step in for an interview.
6. Last words of wisdom
Usually, interviews are conducted in English. So never use any second language. Enjoy the moment, instead of getting stressed out. Be yourself. Be natural and normal. Show pleasing and graceful manners, sufficient politeness and verve. Speak more. Do not complete your answer in a sentence. Increase the quantity of your answers. This will impress the interviewer and he will think that you really know.
Always be relaxed. I know that being relaxed during interviews is difficult. But try to reduce your tension. Always keep in mind that the person who will be taking your interview is a HUMAN BEING just like you. He is not going to eat you up. So maintain a calm head. So, we wish you all best of luck for whatever interview you were going for.
Just stay calm and focused. For the rest, leave it to the others.
Congratulations! Your brand new spanking CV has just landed you that much awaited job interview call. Your heartbeat increases, your brow sweats, you are confused, and words fail you. Sounds familiar? Take heart, facing an interview is not such an Herculean task as it may appear at first provided you do your homework and to some extent class work well enough. An interview is generally the final and most important step of the hiring process by a company. It offers both the potential employee and the employer an opportunity to meet one another, exchange information and come to tentative conclusions about working together in the future.
Interview: Commonly Asked Questions
Here are some commonly asked questions:
* Why are you here?! (never say ’’to attend this interview!’’. Say something like ’’I’m here to seek the position of.....in......’’)
* Tell me something about yourself (always asked. Never say what’s already mentioned in your CV. You may talk about your birthplace, your family and your personal interests. Keep the entire answer to 5 or 6 lines maximum).
* What are your strength and weaknesses?
* What is your work objective?
* In one sentence, tell me something about your personality.
* When do you get angry?
* How quickly do you react to a decision?
* Tell me something about your earlier company and your role in it.
* Are you willing to work night-shifts? or in a shifting schedule?
* What is a BPO? or what is a call center?
* Distinguish between inbound and outbound calls
* What does ’’customer-satisfaction’’ mean to you?
* Give me an instance when a customer appreciated your service.
* Why do you want to work in a BPO?
* What is the biggest challenge facing the BPO industry today?
* What, according to you, is the most important requisite of a call-center agent?
* Why do you want to work in our company?
* Why should we employ you?
* What do you know about our company?
* What will you do if you’re not selected for this job?
It’s always better to be prepared.
Regularly practice mock-interviews before the mirror or with your friend. You’ll be able to notice your flaws and correct them instantly.
Are you over 40? Single, divorced or married? Think this BPO stuff will reject you because you are ’old’? Relax, chill! There are so many like you working in call-centers today and enjoying. Convince the interviewers that you are deeply motivated to have a career in this fast-rising industry for ABC reasons. It’s usually the young who perspires the companies because they are more prone to job-hopping after just 3 months. So, you stand a better chance to get IN.
Interview Steps
The Oxford Dictionary defines it as a face-to-face meeting, for the purpose of assessing the qualifications of a candidate for jobs or admission to educational institutions or for the purpose of obtaining statement or opinion of any respected person.
Nowadays, several success formulas have come out to see your victory during these stressful moments of an interview. But they would fail if you do not prepare yourself beforehand and practice. These are not any difficult tasks. They will require just 30 minutes of your 24 hours. So, read my points and tell me whether they did come to your aid.
Nowadays, several success formulas have come out to see your victory during these stressful moments of an interview. But they would fail if you do not prepare yourself beforehand and practice. These are not any difficult tasks. They will require just 30 minutes of your 24 hours. So, read my points and tell me whether they did come to your aid.
’’The BPO industry is booming’’ boasts yesterday’s newspaper for the nth time.
Industry sources say that 750 candidates are being recruited every day (actual figures are more than that). So, this industry is here to stay unless an Armageddon happens.
Over the past few years, I had the opportunity to show my attractive resume and attend interviews at reputed bigwigs like Accenture, Convergys, Stream, Aegis Peoplesupport, and etc... These are the usual steps in a call center job interview:
Industry sources say that 750 candidates are being recruited every day (actual figures are more than that). So, this industry is here to stay unless an Armageddon happens.
Over the past few years, I had the opportunity to show my attractive resume and attend interviews at reputed bigwigs like Accenture, Convergys, Stream, Aegis Peoplesupport, and etc... These are the usual steps in a call center job interview:
STEP 1 - Voice/Passage Reading
You will be given a passage or a simple topic to speak on.
Required - Excellent fluency in English. Remember, the keyword is ’’excellent’’.
They look at your ability to converse easily without much grammatical errors, stammers, stutters, & other pauses. Don’t put on a fake foreign accent to impress them (you can be rejected on-the-spot). On selection, they give you the requisite accent training. So, simply speak in a neutral accent without excess MTI (Mother-tongue influence).
STEP 2 - Written Test
Multiple choice questions consisting of English language, Numerical ability, Logical reasoning and Computer awareness.
English language - basic grammar, antonyms, synonyms and so on.
Numerical ability - simple Maths like selling price & cost price, ratios, percentages and so on.
Computer awareness - basic Internet knowledge and there may be a typing speed test too. Don’t fret if you’re average here. You will be trained after selection.
You will be given a passage or a simple topic to speak on.
Required - Excellent fluency in English. Remember, the keyword is ’’excellent’’.
They look at your ability to converse easily without much grammatical errors, stammers, stutters, & other pauses. Don’t put on a fake foreign accent to impress them (you can be rejected on-the-spot). On selection, they give you the requisite accent training. So, simply speak in a neutral accent without excess MTI (Mother-tongue influence).
STEP 2 - Written Test
Multiple choice questions consisting of English language, Numerical ability, Logical reasoning and Computer awareness.
English language - basic grammar, antonyms, synonyms and so on.
Numerical ability - simple Maths like selling price & cost price, ratios, percentages and so on.
Computer awareness - basic Internet knowledge and there may be a typing speed test too. Don’t fret if you’re average here. You will be trained after selection.
STEP 3 - Listening Test
A tape will be played once. You will be listening to a simple English conversation by 2 persons. You are given a multiple-choice question paper based on the conversation. For each question, tick the most relevant choice. You will not get another chance to listen to the tape.
A tape will be played once. You will be listening to a simple English conversation by 2 persons. You are given a multiple-choice question paper based on the conversation. For each question, tick the most relevant choice. You will not get another chance to listen to the tape.
Note – This is another very important qualifying round. Be very attentive and do your best.
FINAL STEP 4 - The HR Interview
This ultimate round can either be direct face 2 face meeting or via telephone.
Two of the HR (Human Resource) personnel will interview you, asking you about yourself, your earlier work experiences (if any) and your general views on BPO’s or Call Centers. Either way, please remember, your English will be checked. Keep a neutral accent and act confident.
Usually, they are of your age (25-30, not a grandpa). But, don’t let their youth fool you. They’re like hawks eyeing your body language and ever-alert to every word you say.
Dress light-colored formal shirts, formal shoes, and a pleasing smile.
Always wish the female interviewer first. After you are seated, stop the constant shaking of legs. Lean slightly forward & keep your hands on the lap (not on the table). You may use your hands occasionally to express a point.
When Person-1 asks the question, look at him first while answering, look at other interviewers occasionally and finally end with Person-1. Same applies to Person-2, 3 or 4. Avoid too many errs., stammers or pauses in your sentences.
If you’re not sure about an answer, say ’’I’m sorry. I don’t know.’’ outright instead of mumbling something silly or fake.
Be short & simple, without any complex vocabulary. NO question of theirs requires an essay. 4-5 lines are more than enough, or you might just say something to regret later. Instead, ask ’’Sir/M’am, is there anything specific you wish to know about....(whatever question they asked)?’’
Some questions they ask may tempt you to pounce & wring their necks! Again, they are just testing your attitude. So, whatever the provocation, be cool & permanently paste that warm smile!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Who Can Apply as Call Center Agents?
Filipino students are trained and educated to use English as a second form of language in school. With that, if they were able to learn, practice, and apply the English lessons, then it won’t be difficult for them to work in this industry. English fluency is a major requirement for those who wish to join the call center industry as call center agents.
Here are some of the qualifications or requirements:
- Good to excellent English written and oral communication skills
- College level or must have finished at least two (2) years in college
- Computer literate with basic knowledge in MS Office applications
- Willing to work in shifts
- Problem solving and analytical skills
- Highly trainable and a fast learner
- Typing proficiency (at least 30 words per minute)
- Ability to multitask
- Accuracy and attention to details
There is no need to worry if you have a little problem with your accent. It is understandable that some of us are affected by the so called Mother Tongue Influence (MTI). MTI is the effect of a person’s mother tongue (ex. Filipino accent) on any other spoken language such as English. Most call centers would provide English communication trainings to correct this glitch. You may also want to correct yourself by watching English series or movies at home and try to imitate the way they speak. By doing this, you are shooting two birds with one stone – learn and enjoy!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
List of Call Centers
The following are the call centers in Cebu:
Please feel free to comment if you have any updates or useful information to add. Thanks!
- 1&1
- 8th Floor, I2 Building, Asiatown IT Park, Lahug
- 123TEN
- Ground Floor, i2 PIPC Tower, Asiatown IT Park, Lahug
- 724 Care
- 3rd Floor RDT building, 488 Tipolo, Mandaue City
- 88th Floor
- 2nd Floor Sudeco Bldng. MEPZ 1, Lapu-Lapu City
- Accenture
- Upper Ground Floor, Pioneer Building, Cebu Business Park
- Aegis People Support
- e-office 1, Asiatown IT Park, Lahug
- AMPM Connect Call Center
- 4th Floor, Gilaida Bldg., 218-G Osmena Blvd.
- Bigfoot Global Solutions
- Ground Floor, Bigfoot Building, F. Ramos St.
- Biz Teldirect Inc.
- A. del Rosario Ave. cor. F. Rosal St., Mantuyong, Mandaue City
- Calltek
- JY Square Mall, Lahug
- Cebu Global
- 2/F Mango Square Complex, Gen. Maxilom Avenue
- Convergys
- Banawa and Asiatown IT Park
- Cordia
- 5th Floor, i2 Building, Asiatown IT Park, Lahug
- Eli Global
- Ground Floor, Bigfoot Building, F. Ramos St.
- Enabling Solutions Inc.
- Rm. 205 2nd Flr. Oftana Bldg. Capitol
- ePerformax
- JY Square Mall, Lahug
- Executive Boutique
- 12th floor Skyrise 2, Asia Town I.T. Park, Lahug
- Foxgate Solutions
- Piazza Elesia Center, Talamban
- Global Sky
- 5th Floor, Skyrise Building, Asiatown IT Park, Lahug
- Goldtelecomm Specialist Inc.
- 2nd Floor Suite 203-204 , The QC Pavilion Gorordo Avenue
- ICapital Inc.
- Suite 1201, 12th Floor Ayala Life FGU CENTER, Cebu Business Park
- iCatchIT Inc.
- Suite 5, Park Terrace Building, Nasipit, Talamban
- Icomm International
- Units 501 & 502 Skyrise I.T. Building, Asia Town I.T. Park, Lahug
- ICT
- Cebu IT Tower 1, Archbishop Reyes Ave., Cebu Business Center Park
- JP Morgan Chase
- Asia Town I.T. Park, Lahug
- Lexysoft
- Humabon Avenue, North Rec. Area
- Litnik
- Lopez Jaena Street, Tipolo, Mandaue City
- Live2care Inc.
- 5th Flr, Hyundai Bldg, A.S. Fortuna St, Mandaue City
- Live2Sell
- 5th Flr, Hyundai Bldg, A.S. Fortuna St., Mandaue City
- Live Service
- Basak, Lapu-lapu City
- One Core Business
- Suite #507, Danaque Building, Osmena Blvd.
- Pacific Global Outsource Solutions
- Unit 601, PDI Condominium, Arch. Reyes Ave., Banilad
- Qualfon
- Skyrise 3 Qualfon Building, Asiatown, IT Park Lahug
- Rounseville Global Solutions
- 8F i2 Building Asiatown IT Park, Lahug
- Stream Global Services
- Ground Floor, i2 Building, Asiatown IT Park, Lahug
- Supportsave
- 2/F Ma. Cristine Building, Fuente Osmena
- Sykes
- Synergis IT Center 4th floor, F Cabahug St., Mabolo
- Taking You Forward
- SLL Bldg. Lagon Technopark, P. Remedio St., A.S. Fortuna, Mandaue City
- Teletech
- Levels 1 and 2 Oakridge IT Center, 880 AS Fortuna St., Mandaue City
- Touch Asia
- Unit A 15th floor, Metrobank Plaza Bldg., Osmeña Blvd.
- Trends & Technologies
- 3/F Ongtiak Business Center, 65 General Maxilom Avenue
- Tricom Systems
- Machay Building, 30 Gorordo Avenue
- Vanilla Networks
- Cebu Business Park
- Vector
- Dakay Bldg.,72N Escario St.
- Virtual Telecare
- R Duterte Street - Floor 3
- Voiceville Communications
- Voiceville Bldg, 119 T. Padilla St.
- WebFocus
- M & E Building, 46 J. Alcantara St., Unit R-05
- Western Wats
- Mactan Export Processing Zone- 2 (MEZ-2), Lapu-lapu City
- Wipro
- G/F, Cebu IT Tower 1, Lot 7 Block 2, Corner Archbishop Reyes Avenue
- Workforce Systems Inc.
- 8th Floor, i2 Building, Asiatown IT Park, Lahug
- Xlibris
- 6th Flr., TGU Tower, IT Park, Lahug
- www2.xlibris.com
- Xsolus
- 2/F 90 General Maxilom Avenue
- Zzubo Systems Inc.
- 10th Floor, CIFC Tower, Juan Luna Ave., North Reclamation Area
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