14 call center applicants earn “near-hire” status

OF the more than 200 applicants for the Skyes job fair held September 14-15 here, a good 14 or about 7% of them were considered near-hires, a step off their dream of working in the techie world of business process outsourcing (BPO), fair documents bare. The 14 Bohol applicants now await a US phone patch, their final validation interview in the process. The near-hires would then be endorsed to a ”polishing” course at Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) through accredited schools to enhance their English Communication Skills. The near-hires could also avail of the TESDA implemented President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Training for Work Scholarships Program (PGMA-TWSP) in accredited training schools, a TESDA source said.

The PGMA-TWSP awards to qualified applicants either full or partial scholarships in the business process outsourcing industry training. This could also be a venue for training in voice or non-voice services that include call center operations, medical and legal transcription, animation, software development, and other industries with critical skills requirements. It may be recalled that a week ago, Cristal e-College here has been pre-accredited by TESDA to handle in Tagbilaran City the call center polishing courses. Now, the school can accept the training for scholars, sources add. “Another good news is that the Bohol average is a good 2% higher than the national hit-rate at 5%,” fair authorities said.

The applicants who were graduates from Tagbilaran City schools and neighboring municipalities and provinces who came to the fair at the Governor's Mansion Grounds, boosted the claim that Bohol rates a good chance for providing capable manpower resource for call center operations. Sykes, Cebu based call center facilitated the fair with the provincial government's Bohol Employment and Placement Office (BEPO), Bohol Investment Promotion Center (BIPC), Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), TESDA and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). In further efforts to spread out the word on the miracle industry, Bohol is scampering to run information technology (IT) road shows to enhance outcome of job fairs. The IT road shows would run in five growth centers here: Tubigon, Talibon, Ubay, Jagna and Carmen and then to towns with tertiary schools. The road show aims to disseminate information and increase awareness among students on the challenges and opportunities of the BPO and the information-communication-technology enabled Industry, DTI sources explained.

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