If palipat-lipat ako ng BPO company hopper na ba ako?

"Magiging TSR ako!" Yan ang sinabi ko sa sarili ko during our Career Days nung 4th year college ako. Since I am studying Computer Science at medyo technical na tao ako, Technical Support Rep ang gusto kong trabaho. Sana ay huwag ninyo akong pagtawanan or husgahan.

Bakit ko gusto maging TSR?

Nagpunta ang mga taga Convergys sa school namin, sa Iligan Capitol College at nagiencourage sila na magapply kami sa company nila. I felt like the girl talking was an American. Grabe ang galing nya mag-English. Siyempre, sa sobrang mangha ko naencourage ako mangarap na magtrabaho din sa isang BPO company.

After graduation, nagpaalam ako sa lola ko (Siya kasi nagpaaral sa'kin nung 4th year college ako, kaya tumigil ako sa pagiging student assistant) na pupunta ako ng Cebu para magtrabaho sa Convergys. Hindi sya pumayag kasi sa Maynila niya ako gusto tumira para makasama ko ang mga pinsan ko'ng mga taga Iligan din.

Naging Manila girl na ako....

First time ko sumakay ng eroplano papuntang Manila, halos nakapikit lang ako sa buong byahe. Although nasa Manila na ako, bumalik ako uli sa probinsya kasi namatay ang papa ko. Two months ako'ng nasa Iligan and finally bumalik na uli sa Manila para magtrabaho. Ang unang job ko was administrative clerk ng LandMark sa Makati. Nakakatawa kasi hinostage ni Trillanes yung Manila Peninsula at dahil dun naglockdown ang LandMark. Si probinsyana di alam kung paano umuwi kasi binago ang rota ng mga bus pauwing Sampaloc. Buti na lang nakayanan ko ang araw na yun.

To make the story short, di ako naregular sa LandMark kasi nagdeclare ako na may kamag-anak ako, kahit di naman by blood dahil ayaw ng may-ari ng nepotism.

Nagtry ako'ng magapply sa ePerformax, dahil kailangan ko'ng suportahan ang sarili ko sa paghahanap ng trabaho. Grabe, wala akong pambili ng napkin or shampoo kaya pinatulan ko yung offer nila na 150 a day para matustusan lang ang needs ko. Yung training nila is standard, as in magiging natural American accent ang communication skill mo pagkatapos ng training. Pero kahit ilang beses nila akong sinali sa boot camp, ligwak parin si ate girl mo. Di ko talaga alam kung ano'ng gagawin ko nung sinabihan nila ako'ng I failed the training. One thing I knew is that I learned so much na di kayang bayaran yung knowledge na nakuha ko sa ePer at dahil dun ay super thankful parin ako sa kanila.

I tried applying in West Contact Services and to no avail. Time was running out for me, my wallet is drying up soon. Buti na lang masipag ako magcheck online ng mga job or career expos kaya nung araw na 'yun nalaman ko'ng meron sa Trinoma. I felt that it was my lucky day.

I was right, pumasa ako sa isang non-voice application at laking-tuwa ko nang sinabi na for job offer na ako the following Monday. Ang sahod ko ay 12,000 pero feeling ko nanalo ako sa lotto at kaya ko na tuparin lahat ng pangarap ko. TSR ba nakuha ko'ng trabaho? No, but it was the first step in the realization of my dreams, tsar.

Please say "Hello" to my team, Team Perth!

Ang team na'to ang pinakauna ko'ng team at eto ang pinakauna naming team building sa pambansang team building city ng bayan: Laguna. BPO virgin ako or newbie kung tatawagin at first time ko maranasan to'ng ganito'ng klaseng outing. Di ko makakalimutan, kasi kinagat ako ng maraming langgam dun sa puno na inakyatan ko. May picture pa nga ako, hehe.

Ang first BPO company ko ay ScopeWorks Asia Inc. or SWA. Ang tawag sa'kin nun ay V2T agent or Voice to Text agent. Pioneer team kami para sa isang pioneer na Australian account. Madugo ang labanan sa training kasi mataas ang passing rate. Dapat kada exam ay 90% ang marka mo, kundi "It was nice having you here" ang maririnig mo. Magtataka ka na lang the following day or week kulang na kayo. Yung iba nag-hop parin, kinuha lang ang unang sweldo pero kadalasan ligwak.

Napakagaling ng mga trainer namin, sobrang effective yung training methods nila na naimmersed talaga kami sa culture ng Australia. Aaaminin ko, nagnosebleed ako sa Aussie accent. Never ko naencounter ang accent na yan sa tanang buhay ko kaya sobrang sakit ng ulo ko kada training namin. Nanood kami ng Neighbours, yung longest running show ng Australia, tawang-tawa sila habang wala ako'ng naiintindihan sa mga pangyayari. Nakikitawa na lang ako, kunyari funny pero deep inside me gusto ko nang lamunin ng lupa.

Ang pinakapaborito ko ay yung advert song ng Telstra na "We are Australian". Napakatouching ng kanta'ng yun at hanggang ngayon ay alam ko ang tono at ibang lines.

So I survived the training, ang ginawa ko ay magaral nang magaral tungkol sa Australia at manood ng manood ng Australian shows. Unti-unti ay gumaling ako, yung mga QA scores ko palaging lampas sa standard. Yung QA score ko di bumababa sa 95 whereas ang kelangan lang ay 90 at dahil dun napromote ako as Escalations Manager. May increase naman kaya lang sobrang laki ng tax. I was really enjoying my craft and I was not aware of the politics inside the office. But one of my heartaches was tinalo ako ng kalaban ko sa kabilang team as "Escalations Manager of the Year" kahit mas mataas ang QA score ko at wala akong PIP or perfomance improvement plan. Pag may PIP ka kasi ibig sabihin mababa ang QA mo at pag di ka nagimprove matatanggal ka sa trabaho.

I moved on and then I found a job near my boarding house. Gusto ko kasi tipid sa pamasahe at oras kaya nag Sutherland ako.

My HMV UK Sutherland Team

Mahilig ako sa pioneer account, yes. Kasi nandun ang chances ng promotion.

Eto yata ang first day ng training namin. Here are my TLs, trainer at teammates. Ang account namin is a UK account so duguan na naman ako dahil sa British accent. I admit Sutherland is where I got my heartache. I transferred there kasi andun yung ex ko na bf ko nung time na 'yun. I was not a TSR but I was a consultant. Ang sosyal ng term. Syempre, mas malaki na sahod ko kung di nyo tinatanong.

Anyways, our speech communications trainer was Mr. George Mercado. Alam nya na meron same'ng di masyadong magaling sa communications, like me pero he was one of the most inspiring people I've ever met. He would correct us in a friendly manner and encourage us to speak better. His voice was out of this world, sya pala yung voice over dati ng ABS at GMA.

Ang isa sa di ko malilimuta'ng experience ko was, never ako nagcalls at yung call handling training namin ay isang oras lang sa buong duration ng training. Kakaiba, right? Naalala ko pa yung first call ko:

Ring ring sabi ng telepono.

"Thank you for calling HMV, this is Glessa, how can I help?"

Si customer "Hello, I want to....yadda yadda"

Hala, kinakabahan na ako, sa tindi ng kabog ng dibdib ko di ko na maintindihan si Ma'am. Hala, nagsup-call si Ma'am. Narinig ko pa sinabi nya na worst daw English ko, tsk tsk..

Sa trauma ko di ako pumasok kinabukasan, as in AWOL. Buti na lang may ka-team ako na ipinaglaban ako. Honestly, nagsinungaling ako. Di ko inamin na na-trauma ako but sinabi ko personal yung reason. Nakalusot naman ako.

Lumipas ang panahon at bumalik ang kampante ko sa sarili. I received awards and recognitions from Sutherland. I lasted for more than 2 years. I was really touched nga kasi sa kanila nanggaling yung recommendation for me to have a leadership training kaya lang hindi pinayagan ng tadhana. I could have been a process trainer if I did not leave or a TL.

So I bade goodbye to Sutherland. Nagbreak na rin kami ng ex ko so I had to move on. Sutherland reminded me of the pains when I was with him..Bitter?

My 24/7 Customer Service Phils. Family

This is where I got my dream job: to be a Technical Support Representative. This is one of the most memorable and proudest moments of my career.

When I left Sutherland, I already got a hunch that I was pregnant so I applied 3 weeks after my hiatus. Buti na lang may stock knowledge ako about technical terms but I admit, I was not able to answer some of the interview questions. Medyo mahirap ang application process ni 247 but it was all worth it.

Mahirap yung training namin, we had to study technical terms and conduct line tests and to determine line faults. I almost failed the training, palagi ako'ng zero sa QA kasi ang hihirap ng mga concerns ng mga customers during nesting. Maganda kasi ang attendance ko kaya naabsorb parin ako and during the last days of training medyo nagimprove ako. I even got awards during the graduation. I told myself and the baby that I cannot lose this job kasi di ko alam kung saan kami'ng dalawa pupulutin at sinusuportahan ko pa si Mama sa Iligan.

I met my team, I forgot our team name but my TL was TL Bryan. It was a performing team kaya mahihiya ka talaga kung kukulikulelat ka. I have never seen a team with a lot of SMEs. Antatagal na rin nila sa company and I said to myself na this is where I want to be.

My first few months with the company was challenging. Di naman kasi ako magaling sa calls and I had a thick accent. I even had low CSAT scores, may comment pa ang customer na bad ang communication skills ko. My TL even planned to put me to language training again and to teach me English communications. I felt bad, despite the fact na second ako sa Communications training my job might be in jeopardy. I realized that I was doing poorly at work because my knowledge about the process was not good enough. I studied again, I would extend hours in the office reading our Knowledge Base and it paid off.

I came back stronger after my maternity leave. I was the top agent in the whole account for May and September, ang taas ng scores ko! Sabi nga ng SME ko, he never reached the top spot despite being in the company for years at ako na newbie lang made it. I am so happy that they were proud of me.

Yang nasa picture na yan, it was taken during our RnR sa Shangri-La Manila. Never in my wildest dreams na makakatungtong ako dyan but 247 made it happen at awardee pa'ko! The clients were so nice and so game sa mga pinapagawa sa kanila. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. I even danced! I was so happy to show my talent kahit ilang minuto lang, may sugat pa'ko dala ng CS.

It was just so sad because our account was pulled out and given somewhere else. I did not leave because of it though. I just felt so alienated with my new account so I decided to leave.

With my team in Tata, Team Agnes during our pizza party

Tata Consultancy is where I got my highest salary, pero di umabot ng 30k yung basic. It was alright though. I was not a TSR but a Senior Process Associate kasi may experience na kami sa BPO and I was on level 2 which gave me an edge in promotions.

Nagapply ako sa Tata kasi nasa BGC sya and I was living in Taguig, in Pinagsama with a friend. Tata's environment was kind of rough but I was lucky that I met good people in the team.

It was also a pioneering account but this time North America ang region namin. San ka nakakita ng skills training na 3 hours lang at sabak sa live calls agad-agad pagkatapos ng training? I don't wanna talk a lot about my experience in Tata because it was not worth telling.

I am just thankful na nagkaroon ako ng mga tunay na kaibigan sa katauhan ni Mei at Trixie. Sobrang bait din ng naging TL ko na si TL Agnes, and for that, I am thankful.

Sayonara Tata!

Napapansin ko na nagiging seryoso na ang pagsusulat ko siguro dahil 1:00AM na. Ang last BPO company ko ay Telus but I will write a whole article about it.

So, am I a hopper? Comment down below and I hope you will upvote and subscribe if you enjoyed reading my story.