My First Job !!

19th Sep 2004 is most important day in my life. Yes, that's when I stepped into Professional Life. This was my first day of my First Job. I was hired for Sutherland Global Services Ltd as Technical Support Representative and posted to Chennai based office. Chennai was my decision because my brother was already staying there. I was very excited about this job as I was about to begin a new chapter in my life and that is called Professional Life. It was my First day called "Induction Day" where all the joining formalities are handled and processed. We instructed to wear White Shirt and Dark Pant. I reached around 11:00 AM but was supposed to reach at 9:00 AM. As it was New City and was not aware of Roads and addresses. I was shocked when I saw more than 1000-1500 people like me sitting in open hall waiting for "Induction". It was very beautiful to see so many people "Boys" with White Shirt and Dark Pants.

After Induction we were put into Training for Soft & Communication Skills. They formed batches of 20 People and scheduled 6 Weeks training program. After training period we were evaluated and decided whether we are fit for JOB or not. Finally all of us cleared and was asked to report at Santhome Office for further process or for Project allocation. This was worst experience of my life. Not sure what went wrong in Company but I could sense many people were in deep trouble. Rumours were that the Suth Hired many people expecting a big project which was about to come to company but in final stages we lost it. Now biggest challenge for company was what to do with Freshly recruited people. They were not is Hundreds they were in thousand, there were around 1000 people who were hired for the same. We were asked to report at various office of Suth in Tidal Park, Santhome, Velachery etc. Every time we went there were only handful people who were selected and rest hundreds were sent back. This went on for 3 months from Sept to Dec. Finally we, group of Telugu boys decided to leave back to Hyderabad as it was not helping us in anyway staying without salary in Chennai. We decided to have a word with HR Head who was also from Hyderabad thought she can help in anyway. That meeting turned out fruitful and she asked us to report Velachery Office.

As instructed we group of People reported at Velachery Office and we were placed in HP Tech Support Process. They started the Technical training and for 2 weeks and on 27th Dec We pushed on floor for taking calls with out any Experience. We were told that they are taking us to show the Floor and will listen to live calls for couple of hours. Whole Picture changed when they asked to grab a Headset from Box located in corner of the floor and were handed over to our respective Team Leader. My TL just me to follow him and walked me to last desk in his row where a phone was free and asked to me connect my headset to phone. Once I connected the Headset, he just simply pressed some button quickly, Phone Rang and TL asked me to pick up the call. My Mind was like in BlackHole.... I was not able to think for some time... We were told that it is Just visit of floor... but they making us to take calls for which we were mentally Not Ready......

Taken while working on HP Floor in Velachery Office

On my behalf my TL press the answered button and said read the opening script. I was still not able to understand what to do.... In seconds My face and body was wet with sweat even though AC was running at 24 Degree C. My TL shouted again "Read the dam Opening Script, Customer is listening to you". That was True, Customer was saying... "Hello Hello... anybody there...". I gathered all my Strength and start reading the our HP Opening Script. "Thank for calling HP Total Care, Today its my goal to make sure that you are completely satisfied with our support, While I am helping you, please let me know if you need me to slow down or repeat any statement.... etc etc..." - Not sure if this was the correct statement... its more than 5 yrs now I have recollected it. Since this day I was WORKING in Company. Very soon I was comfortable in answering calls and troubleshooting issues over phone. While working I came to know the real CallCenter environment.

Photo taken while working with IHD Team.

Trust me it is not easy to work in CallCenter. For People it looks a very fashionable job but People who Work understands what is a Real CallCenter Job. In order to work in Call center, one need lot of patients, Should be able to handle pressure, should be able manage the him self, should be able work in Night which is most difficult
part. It was Christmas season which I started taking calls on Floor. HP had told that in Jan there will lot calls as Sales of computers increased in Dec due to Christmas. It turned out true and on Jan 1st and 2nd We saw call trend jumped 40% compared regular trend in last few months. Now Suth had to increase the staff so that this excess calls can be answered. They rolled out 6th Day Working Program for 6 Weeks to cover the excess calls. According to this process, associate who are willing to work on 6th day for 6 weeks, they will be paid 20K extra. Many of the
associates worked and made good use of this program. Even I did and with this 20K, I bought my First Laptop. Though Laptop was 30K, rest I converted in EMI. I bought Acer Travelmate 2304 laptop in Feb 2005 with set of Sound system of Adcom 2500 PMPO. This was like buying a Home Theater for our room. We (My Brother Ravi, Roommates Kiran, Jaypal and ____ ) were very excited.

Days passed and after 6 months of time, I planned to move to Internal Helpdesk Team hoping more technical work then being very limited in HP Process. I spoke to my Manager and Applied under IJP (Internal Job Posting) process. Finally I got through and started working for Sutherland Internal Helpdesk called IHD. It was also great team to work with and job responsibilities. While working in IHD I started feeling Home Sick as my brother also left Chennai and was all alone with my roommates. I started making up my mind to start searching a job in Hyderabad. I updated my Resume in Naukri and with in 1 week i got a call from Keane which turned out my Second Job !!