CAREER GROWTH
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE BPO INDUSTRY IN THE PHILIPPINES
JUNE 28, 2020
KEY POINTS
- There are many misconceptions about the BPOs, causing a lot of people to be afraid to work in the industry
- Customer support roles are not the only jobs available and there is room for growth and development, despite what most believe
- Work schedule is often misunderstood, and people often think the work is easy
- Continue reading for the most common misconceptions about the industry
The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry is a fast-growing industry in the Philippines contributing a large percentage of our GDP. However, BPO employees are often the subject of scrutiny and judgement from people who may not completely understand the industry.
These are some of the most common misconceptions about the BPO industry in the Philippines.
Customer Support is the only available job
A quick search for BPO jobs will reveal that Customer Service or Customer Support jobs aren’t the only available roles in a BPO. You can find different roles like Documentation Specialists, Team Leaders, Quality Manager, Expense Analyst, and even a variety of I.T. and marketing roles.
Customer Support can also be broken down further into voice, and non-voice, which means those pictures you see of BPO employees all wearing a headset and talking to customers all day is only a portion of what the industry is really like.
It’s a call center
Call center services are actually only a small part of the larger, BPO industry. BPOs involve many aspects of business processes (hence the name), such as back office services, service management, and even other services such as web development or digital marketing. There are hundreds of BPOs out there and each of them have their own set of service that they provide, not just limited to call center.
BPO employees did not finish college
This may be true in some cases, but not in all. Depending on the role that you are looking for in a BPO, a Bachelor’s Degree might actually be required. Yes, most roles in a BPO don't require a degree, but holding a degree doesn’t automatically make you more productive, more intelligent, or even more hard working.
The BPO industry is highly results-based, so it doesn’t matter if you graduated from a top university or not. What they look for are reliable, hard-working individuals who take the job seriously. Skills and proficiency will also be developed over time with experience – this is something the BPO industry understands very well.
The job is really easy
A lot of people think that the only thing BPO employees do is answer the phone and talk to customers. While there may be days where everything goes smoothly, there are also really challenging days – just like with any other job.
Imagine how stressful and even depressing it can be to be yelled at by customers all day, explaining policies or processes over and over again without losing your patience. Working as a customer support/customer service representative requires a great level of communication, a high sense of EQ (Emotional Quotient), and superhuman patience to get through the tough days.
All jobs are night-shift
One of the most common misconceptions is the schedule of BPO employees. Not all employees work at night since schedules vary for different reasons. Yes, majority of jobs are at night since accounts are often overseas like in the US, however, there are many companies where the work schedules are morning or mid-shift when they cater to accounts in similar time zones as the Philippines - like Australia. It all really depends on the client and the account you will work on.
It is a dead-end job
Many people think that once you enter into a BPO, you will end up just working as an agent forever with no chance of growth or success. There are plenty of success stories in the world of BPOs to prove otherwise. While most will start of as an agent, you can rise through the ranks just like with any other company or job in any other industry.
Final thoughts
The truth is the BPO industry has gotten a pretty harsh reputation over the years, but the industry is important to our economy and the labor market. As of 2017, the sector contributes 9% of the country’s GDP growth, and this will continue to increase as the industry expands rapidly. In addition, millions of Filipinos are employed by BPOs, helping our countries overall employment.
JUNE 28, 2020