Outsourcing is driving an industry that even fresh-out-of-school youth can make the most out of.

It’s more than just picking up phones and giving solutions. The BPO culture is thriving and flourishing, with more and more young people opting for a career in outsourcing seriously.

Quick money

Challenging and dynamic, BPO jobs are attracting younger crowds and more people are joining the bandwagon of earning quick! Pocket money never seems to suffice, as lifestyles change from hanging out with friends to partying out late! “Most people that join these call-centres are fresh out of school and are just looking to make a quick-buck (for obvious reasons), but there is a class of people that depend on call-centres for their livelihood too. High schoolers and undergraduates have it easy as eligibility criteria for these jobs just border on fluency and accuracy of language,” says Noel Barrow, process developer in GE, who joined as a graduate. Nihal Gesudraz, a plus-two pass out says, “I want to buy a bike and I don’t want to pester my parents for it. A job with a BPO will help me earn some money quick. So why not?”

Professional course

Capitalising on the scenario, CBSE has taken an avant-garde step by introducing a professional competency education option at the plus two level. The stream, Financial Marketing Management (FMM), runs parallel to other conventional streams like science, commerce and arts. Constituting three subjects, financial accounting, financial markets and business process outsourcing skills, the course aims at providing better employability in financial markets and BPOs.

Sunder Ramachandran, Managing Partner, WCH solutions, has helped form a course book. He says, “The course was initiated in the year 2007, keeping in mind the vertical mobility. This course is on par with any other conventional courses available at the plus two level, but FMM is more specific in nature. It is officially called the Employability skills initiative, aimed at students interested in working right after their 12th std.” Kapil Chandra, an undergraduate trainee at Satyam BPO feels, “This course should have come in earlier. I would have definitely opted for it; the very fact that it generates such good inter-personal skills and offers conventional opportunities, is great.” There are also many young people who seem undeterred by this frenzy like Niranjan Swaminathan, a first-year bachelors’ student who feels, “The money might be good, but a career that has me working at odd hours and resetting my biological clock is not one I am looking forward to.”