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N.S. Vageesh

CHENNAI, June 16

IT was one of those interviews for a call centre job. The pay - Rs 8,000 per month. And the educational qualifications were not demanding - a graduation in any discipline was preferred but not insisted upon. Those with a 12th Standard pass and with ability to speak fluent English were encouraged to apply. The response in terms of applications was rousing. So, was recruiting a cakewalk?

One got an idea of what happens in these interviews after talking to the Human Resources Manager of one such centre. He relates how one of those interviews went.

Three questions into the interview, the HR Manager, casually popped this one (the kind that books on `how to face the interview board,' tell you, is designed to put you at ease) - "At what time do you go to bed daily?" The candidate replied: "I go to bed at 9.30 p.m. sharp." The interview was terminated immediately. It had lasted 95 seconds. Puzzled?

Now, get a keyhole view of what happened to the next candidate. The candidate had barely taken his seat, when the HR manager went straight for the jugular. He asked "Are you ready to work night shifts?" The candidate replied with enthusiasm "Yess Saaar!" The HR manager's rejection was swifter this time. The duration of interview was 45 seconds! Confused?

Although apparently contradictory, you can make sense of the HR manager's response, if you knew what he was really looking for.

Early to bed and early to rise might be a good axiom to live by - but not if you want a call centre job. There, it is your ability to stay awake late in the night (with insomniac tendencies) that might tilt the scales in your favour. The ability and the readiness to work "night shifts" is a "knockout criterion" according to Mr E. Balaji, GM, Staffing Solutions, Ma Foi Consultants Ltd, a Chennai-based manpower consultancy organisation. If the applicant is not ready for night shifts, he is straightaway out of the reckoning for the job, he says.

Then why did the second candidate in this story get rejected? In a word, it was his "accent". Although there is a large body of English speaking manpower (a key point in generating more business through (BPO) opportunities in India), many of them carry the strong influence of their mother tongue in their accent. An "Yess Saaar!" from a prospective recruit would be a dead give-away of nativity and become a self-destructive response.

"Accent neutrality of voice " is what recruiters desire but seldom get. One HR executive puts it bluntly - "I can teach a chimpanzee, programming within 15 days. But even with two years effort, I won't be able to teach him that accent!"

The problem is so serious that recruiters say rejection rates are in excess of 90 per cent. Mr Balaji says that in his experience, "Only five out of every 100 applicants make the grade."

Says Mr Karthik Thiagarajan, a former HR manager with Ajooba Solutions India Pvt Ltd, who has looked at over 1,500 applicants in a month while recruiting for their call centre: "I would prefer a candidate with an impish streak or someone who still has a bit of prankster in him. Why? Because they can pick up the accent quickly - they are the ones who like to imitate other voices and make fun. They grasp the requirements of this job faster."

At the same time, having a vibrant personality - some one with a wide range of interests or having leadership qualities, can be a negative point for this job. It's okay for one in ten to have this quality, but if you belong to the other nine, you are better off without it, if you want to land the job, says the HR manager. Mr Balaji says that recruiters look for a critical attribute in call centre applicants - their comfort level with monotony. Can they sit and work in the same place for 8 to 9 hours at a stretch - handling similar types of queries? If the applicant wants challenge and diversity of experience, perhaps his future lies elsewhere. And the search continues. It's time to see the next candidate.

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