Only 3 of every 100 graduates pass Call Center jobs

Someone sent me a link to this old article from Manila Standard Today about me recent article on call center jobs in the Philippines.

The article mentioned that only around 3 out of 100 fresh graduates in the country are hired by call centers. The survey must have been done in 2005, where only 11,526 applicants or 2.89 percent of the total 400,000 new graduates are accepted in BPO companies and call centers.

However, the 3% mentioned here seemed misleading since there’s no way all those 400,000 college graduates applied in a call center. That means the passing rate is not actually 3% which I think is really very low. Nevertheless, it supports my previous assumption that new graduates aren’t qualified enough to make it thru the rigorous hiring process of these call center.

Is the claimed 94% literacy rate of the Philippines over-estimated? Is the world’s 3rd largest English speaking country not providing enough qualified workforce for the BPO and call center industry? I guess so.

The number one reason? Less than half (could be even way less than that) of these applicants can speak straight conversational English. It’s not just literacy we’re talking here, it’s proficiency.

I really think these call centers should lower their passing requirements and use those tons and tons of money they saved from outsourcing and invest on training new (and semi-qualified) hirees.

[tags]call center philippines, business process outsourcing[/tags]

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

25 Comments

taorist says:

19 years ago

Another proactive/long term option could be, that the educational system upgrade their English language teaching.

I just recently administered a Language exam on four Grade school students with high overall marks. Just one passed–barely.

I really hope this changes.
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Diong says:

19 years ago

Better yet… instead of English, these companies donate(invest) to improve Mathematics and Science teaching… I’m not saying call centers are not good but imagine if majority of Pinoy “kick ass” on those two…
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Manas K says:

19 years ago

Here, people are given call center jobs with basic english skills.
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JR says:

19 years ago

3 out of 100….very hard to believe.
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Mike Abundo says:

19 years ago

I’d like that number to get lower. Call centers are a brain drain.
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TeleDevelopment says:

18 years ago

We bring in 10,000 resumes a month. We hire 1-2% of these applicants. Our standards are high.

The good new is that if you are a good salesman, and can write a decent cover letter, you have no competition. I get only 50 of 10000 resumes with a cover letter that makes sense and has the right grammar, caps and punctuation.

A call center cannot take a poorly qualified college grad and turn them into a proficient English speaker. Call Centers will invest in someone who has a solid foundation and only needs a 30 day refresher course.

The schools need to do a better job.
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Anja says:

18 years ago

Hey,

everybody who is looking for a callcenter job please send me following details to anja_antip****@****.*** and I will refer you and they will call you! We need people for english, german and french for starting this march!!!

First Name:
Last Name:
Course:
College Graduate or Undrgraduate:
Home#:
Mobile#:
Best Time To Call: AM or PM

Do you have any sales, Customer Service or Callcenter Experience?
Please reply asap, they are looking for people to start this March!!!
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angel says:

18 years ago

Hi!

I was once called by one of the staff of a known Call center in Makati. I was so very surprised but then suddenly become upset because once they call, you must go and attend their invitations for a “job assessment”in just one day. When I read your blog, I don’t think I gonna go there in makati just to waste my time and money, because I also read a blog that they demand a high standard. I know that there are lots of good english speaker than me and I know if I will go there, It’s a vivid “BIG COSTS” and a piece of crap!!! I decided to continue my freelance job where I earn money while at home using my skills in fast typing and data entry.
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ForYourEyesOnly says:

18 years ago

About the current educational system in this country, I must admit it’s a lot of BS. I do not look down upon my countrymen, but I greatly despise this crumbling system that we have. For example, do you know that there’s lots of college students in the 1st or 2nd years who are unable to EVEN PUT A CORRECT SENTENCE in English even if it’s just like a common, day-to-day dialogue or line?

Call centers are a temporary solution to (hopefully not) an everlasting problem with the broo-ha-has and the mockery that is the Philippine politics with our congressmen, senators and EVEN the president bickering about money like candy among children. How immature it is! How incompetence is greatly shown which is a disgrace compared to that of Korea, Vietnam and Japan!
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Ban Ren Guei says:

18 years ago

Call centers would be a more viable long-term solution if it was easier for people to actually get into the call centers. As it is, even companies like Ascend Asia and TeleTech are very strict with their standards and a large percentage of the unemployed do not qualify the requirements to become agents.
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