How I Survived the BPO Explosion

  

LIKE GOING TO WAR On a combat mission inside a BPO office 

THERE WERE ALREADY CASUALTIES EVEN even before I arrived on the scene. I have been told before my application that I needed to be ready before my interview as if their questions were like grenades being thrown at strategic points. But this war has since been fought within the BPO community for more than two decades now.

I went on with my plan, nonetheless. My strategy was to go out there and answer their inquiries as truthfully as possible, and straight to the point. I figured, if there’s indeed a war out there, I might as well divulge everything, and see if I could be of any help to them.The strategy worked. Two days after my interview, they gave me a call and advised me to get ready for my first assignment.

I was thrilled, of course, but nervous at the same time. I may have an idea of what to expect as soon as I’m out there in the field, fighting my way through against this enemy at the other end of the line, but these were all fears out of such high expectations.

The first few days on board were quite brutal. You have to memorize a lot of your ammunition for you to find a specific target and bring down an enemy. Physically, you have to be out there, attentive, resourceful, disregarding drowsiness and hunger, since most of the battles happened all through the night, not to mention the ogling eyes of your Team Leader, watching your every move.

But there were also light moments within the BPO struggle. Your team will carry you through the day, with most of you sharing the same fate, and sharing the same meal at times. In most cases, you live and die with your team, night in and night out.

I doubt if you’ll get immune fighting your way through that BPO war zone, Besides, getting nervous comes as a necessary adrenaline before receiving these calls. But every team has its M.O. before setting out to fight, and over the years since I started doing my rounds from Monday evening ‘til early Saturday morning, three things stood out as its ultimate strategy, that is, get some off-duty sleep, deal with your task head-on, and try to calm down when you’re at it.

If you have this seemingly simple strategy with you, chances are, you’ll be able to see the light of day, regardless of how grave the fighting had become.

The explosions within the community are still at it. The war of words between the agent and that jerry at the other end of the line rages on, even as Team Leaders and Operation Managers continue to bark directives a few meters away from your ears.

But if you’re disciplined enough to follow those three simple strategies, fighting your way through in that trench warfare wouldn’t be that of a stretch.

They say that the BPO experience is a kind of calling, literally at times. But more than that, your commitment to your task is as important as your calling might find you. My survival on that battlefield has since been on the edge many times, but with that three-fold strategy, the rest, as they say, comes with the territory.




*BPO - Business Process Outsourcing