by Lorie Ann A. Cascaro
The growing number of call center industries, as well as other business process outsourcing (BPO) companies, in Davao city promises an increase in employment and local revenues. It is reported that there are 17 call centers, three career centers and five training centers in the city. However, there is still a need for Dabawenyos to equip themselves to be able to grab such job opportunities.
Admit it or not, Filipino students, even graduates, still have a long way to go to reach the quality standards of English proficiency. Most job applicants fail in their interviews simply because confidence comes along only with good English communication skills. Thus, training centers and local schools create programs that best suit the needs of aspiring call center agents to be employed.
USEP
The extension office of the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP) in Obrero, Davao City, has responded to the influx of call centers in the city. It has a unique training program entitled The Accent Training and Call Centre Basic Tutorial Program (ATBCCTP). It was designed to teach participants the basics of call center education and intensive accent training to make trainees more employable in the call center and BPOs.
“As long they are at least 18 years of age and have passable grammar skills, they can take the program. If they have the “ear” as we call it in our industry, then we give them extra coaching,” Katherine Du of USEP extension office said.
For as low as PhP1,500, one can take this three-week course from Monday to Friday, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The ATBCCTP training modules are divided into different areas but the two integral parts are the Accent training and Call Center Basics. The trainers prepare different modules to properly address the needs of the trainees. The first phase of the training program is the Accent training to neutralize the regional accent of the trainees. Their trainer is Jacquiline Lumain, an English professor from UP Manila and a graduate of UP Diliman.
The second part is the Customer Service Training. It was contextualized based on the industry training centers and taught by the proponent of the program Katherine A. Du, who has a Maed Edad with actual hands-on call center experience from two leading call center industries in the Philippines.
Accommodating 20 to 25 students per class, ATBCCTP has had 275 finishers since 2008. Most of them are already deployed in different call centers. “We have students working in Concentrix, Sutherland, 6-11, NBSI, Callbox, Western Watts, among others. We aim for 80-90% employment rate because 20% of the later batches enrolled for enhancement of their accents,” Du said.
“We train and coach the trainees to make them more employable in the market. We offer job assistance to our trainees and our employment rate is 85% in every batch,” Du said.
Graduates of ATBCCTP were given the University certificate since the training program was installed in USeP Obrero Campus through the Extension Program of the College of Governance, Business and Economics.
Du said their program is highly effective and in fact, their enrolees increased by 10% every month since May 2008. “Affordability, high employment rate and teacher-student ratio, that’s our edge,” she said.
JIB e-Academy and Solutions
Located at Mabini corner Araullo St., Davao City, JIB e-Academy and Solutions, a pioneering call center and English language school in Mindanao, offers one hundred hours finishing course for call center agents. This course is designed to be completed in 25 days at four hours a day.
The first and second weeks are alloted to basic communication skills, specifically review on grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary, as well as building confidence of the students. The third week is for navigation skills, teaching students basic computer skills. The fourth week is for fundamentals in call center operations such as call flow, proper attitudes in the workplace and in handling clients. Aside from simulated calls, students practice handling actual calls in the school’s sister company, Six Eleven call center. The fifth week is career week, in which students are taught how to pass interviews and prepare resumes.
Marisa Diploma, the school director, said they have partnerships with 22 call centers in Davao City, Iloilo, Cebu and Manila. Representatives of these call centers conduct interviews with the school’s graduates upon finishing the course.
Handling 100 to 150 students in a month, JIB e-Academy and Solutions has had 9,000 graduates since they started in 2006. In 2009, they had 1,500 graduates and 75% of them were employed, and this year they already have 800 graduates.
The course costs PhP5,000, including materials, counselling, TESDA certificate and miscellaneous fees. Diploma said they accept students as young as 15 years old, but they assist for employment those who are 18 years old and above. Interested students should take assessment exam before they are accepted for the course. The school also gives remedial class or refresher course to their graduates for free, especially when there are upcoming job fairs.
Diploma said the school has the best facilities: air-conditioned classrooms, latest software, audio and video lessons. They promote fun and productive training which is highly interactive because according to Diploma, it is easy for the students to retain the lessons through interactive learning. This means they have more hands-on, role playing, coaching, drills and exercises. Lectures are only 40% of their methodology.
DIGOSTECH
Believe it or not, there were students from Tagum City, Davao City, Kidapawan City, Bansalan, Sta. Cruz, and Padada who went to Digos City to take the 100 hours course for call center agents at DigosTech.
Digostech, located at 3986 Rizal Avenue, Digos city, has had 130 graduates since June 2008. Eighty percent of them have already been employed in Davao City. Catering to as few as six to 15 students per class, this school lauds its personalized training which attracted students who were even from outside the city. The school’s application for TESDA accreditation is on-going.
For as low as Php1,700, the students are able to get basic grammar and pronunciation exercises in the first week; accent neutralization and conversational English in the second; call center basics in the third; and, interview preparation and resume writing in the fourth. What makes Digostech unique is its extra service of accompanying students to Davao City for actual job-hunting.
Emmadel de La Cruz, head trainer, said the school continues its counselling service to its graduates even after employment. “Some of them ask for advice on how to deal with their predicaments in the call centers where they are already employed,” she said.
De la Cruz said they have a graduate who became the officer-in-charge in a small call center in Tagum city after taking their course. Another graduate, now in Qatar, told De la Cruz that their training on handling interviews helped the former in taking the job. A top agent in Concentrix in Davao City also had taken his training from Digostech.
Concentrix Institute
Concentrix Corporation, the pioneer BPO in Davao City, now offers English language proficiency program through its Concentrix Institute (Cxi) Center for the English Language. It has a finishing course for call center agents which will ensure that trainees have a better chance to land on a promising career. For those who want to pass IELTS exams or to enhance their English communication skills, Cix Center for the English Language designed a program advantageous for working trainees. From 6-9pm daily in 6 weeks, one can enroll in this course for PhP2,500.
With internationally calibrated curriculum, competent English instructors and state-of-the-art facilities, Cix Center for the English Language customizes its proficiency program to suit individual or corporate needs. Students who have completed their course offerings are prepared for successful careers in the vibrant Philippines contact center, BPO and IT industries.
Concentrix Institute has training rooms that can accommodate up to 150 students and a fully-equipped laboratory with hardware, peripherals and networking devices from different vendors, as well as modern contact center equipment, all for use during hands-on activities. It also serves as the community’s vital link for knowledge outsourcing by being the local alternate venue for management workshops and seminars that are normally held in Manila or overseas.
Interested go-getters can visit Concentrix Institute at Bldg. 2, Damosa IT park, Lanang, Davao City, or call 235-5099, or send email to ci_info@concentrix.com for inquiries or registration.
