Some Nights @ the Call Centre

"Sameer, from what I've heard, I can definitely say that the call centres are meant only for sex!", said one of my childhood friends. And I felt like raped right there.

It was rather an irresponsible yet bold statement, which I couldn't just ignore, though I was perfectly aware of his typical small-town mentality. Still I did not find it important to indulge into an intellectual debate on a rather controversial topic. Afterall he was not the only one who thought that way.

Be that only for six months, but I do have a BPO work experience, and I really pity people who easily make foul comments about call centre employees, without having a slightest idea about this industry.

My friend's statement inspired me to write something about the life at the call centres, and focus on some truths and myths about this industry.

I am going to be as unbiased as possible while writing this, not making it sound favourable for anybody.

Normally there are 2 to 3 rounds of interview in the BPO selection procedure. An accent test, a personal interview, and an HR round. They are not difficult to crack for candidates with good English and a reasonably neutral accent.

The salaries for the freshers are not that great, but they do consider non BPO experience as well, eventually getting some business to the fake letterhead experts. . .

The educational criteria is graduation, or 12th pass, if the candidate has some previous work experience. Though I know people who quit education after 10th but are doing very well in the call centres. Getting a degree certificate done is not all that difficult, is it?

Initially there is voice and accent plus process training, and everybody has to go through it. You get to spend first one and a half months in the classroom. The trainers try their best to make the training enjoyable with intresting games and stuff like that.

A lot of the trainees abscond from the company after getting their first salary. This is the harsh reality of this industry, and nothing much can be done about it. The attrition rate is always a 'all time high'.

There are some nominal assessment at the end of both the trainings, and everyone clears it unless the person's perfomance is extremely unsatisfying.

But the things take a 180 degree turn once the agents hit the floor. They have to face irate, unhappy, angry and every other type of customers from the day one. God save those who have not taken calls before !

Working in a call centre can be extremely difficult and depressing for many. Continuously dealing with the frustrated customers is not a piece of cake, especially when the call flow is high.

People who are serious about making a career in this field have to work real hard. Those who do not succeed get frustrated with the extremely monotonous work.

Ambitions get narrowed down. Many spend years dreaming to become just a team leader or a quality coach.

There are a hell lot of perceptions, or may I say misperceptions, both positive and negative, about call centres in many people's minds. Let me try to answer some of them :

Anyone can easily get a job in a call centre : (This comment is mostly made by those who have pathetic spoken English).
Wrong. You need to have above average communication skills in English, which are not that commonly found in Indians.


People working in the call centres have extreme command over English, they speak like the British or the Americans do.
Wrong again. MOST of them have just above average skills in English, and they pick up the accent with the time they spend in the job. Some of them really suck with their basic grammar. So don't be surprised when you hear a call centre agent saying 'I did not went there', 'He said me he wants to do that', 'One of my colleague from that department' etc.

Call centre people are very rude and have a lot of attitude.
You cannot generalise this. Rude people are everywhere. So are polite people. Same applies for the attitude. But some of them are just too confident, and people take it otherwise.

They want only young blood in the call centres. You find only college crowd there.
Not exactly. Anybody below the age of 45 can apply for these jobs.

These jobs are very easy and you don't need much of skills for them.
Wrong. Call centre jobs are not at all easy. They require a great command over the process, and some of the processes are really vast and complicated. It takes at least a year to know such a process thoroughly. Continuously talking on the phone and working on the pc simultaneously can be very tiring, maybe more tiring than a physical task.

Call centre employees have all the freedom in the world.
Not at all. They work under high pressure and hardly have any freedom on the job. Most of the companies don't allow them to carry even their cell phones on the floor.

People join call centres only to have fun.
Only those who come to work for a month and then abscond. Coz call centre jobs are no fun. Normally it is a 9 hr shift, with exactly 8 hrs of login. The remaining 1 hr is divided into two fifteen minutes breaks and one thirty minutes break. You strictly have to adhere to these scheduled breaks. You cannot even attend the nature's call when you have to.

Once I exceeded my first break by 15 seconds and I was asked not to take my lunch break.

You get huge salaries in the call centres.
Call centre agents never get what they are worth. The salaries are still less, compared to other industries, and there is hardly something called 'appraisal' for the agents.

People get spoilt after joining BPOs. They get into many bad habits.
Totally depends upon the person's character. If the person is not firm with his values and morals, then he may get into bad habits even after watching a movie or reading a novel.

They booze and smoke.
Tell me an indusrty where they don't ! And this does not apply to everyone. There are people who have worked in the BPOs and haven't ever touched these things.

Call centre girls are prostitutes. They run flesh business in the call centres.
Yes, it is true. But only if you accept that your school was a brothel and your teachers were hookers.



I hope I've been unbiased while writing all this. Because I personally do not support any bad habits.

But we have to accept that though it is a 'call centre' job, it is something that provides employment in large number. Not everyone joins a call centre to have fun or chill out. Many join it to learn something different, to support their families, or to support their education. Everyone is not fortunate to receive a huge pocketmoney from his parents, and if he joins a BPO to support his own expenses, I don't think there is anything objectionable in it.

We have to stop looking at call centre people with a prejudiced mindset and we should be a bit liberal when it comes to discuss their job profile. Everybody needs respect and an equal treatment.


The intention behind writing all this is only to present a true picture of the BPOs, based on my experiences of some nights that I spent @ a call centre.

I do accept that there are many dark sides to this industry, but this not at all means that call centres are meant for sex in any way. Otherwise we would not have all these escort agencies and massage parlours flourishing everywhere in the city...