Is The BPO Industry A Wise Choice For Fresh Graduates?
Congratulations! You have now graduated and finished your 4-year worth of College education! Additionally, you now have the well-deserved Diploma that you have worked so hard for! Finally, you are now entering the next chapter of your life: existential crisis and unemployment. Gone are the days that you are busy with university and welcome to spacing out every day. Now, for these problems, you often think: is the BPO industry actually a wise choice and an effective solution?
BPO industry as an “easy” option
To be fair, it is not easy entering the BPO industry. There’s a series of interviews, examinations, background checks, and other obstacles that you have to go through before succeeding. However, as the demand is high, the number of people being hired is getting respectively higher as well. While some companies only require an applicant to be a College graduate to qualify, others still require work experience. Due to this, a wide variety of applicants are welcome to try their luck in the industry.
However, as a fresh graduate, experience is not always a handy thing you can provide. Unless you’re a working student, your Diploma does not and won’t come with a work experience that you can brag about and use for job applications. Luckily, you can try your luck out with the companies in the BPO industry which does not require work experience for college graduates. However, they mostly require excellent communication and work skills. It is unconsciously expected for College graduates to be outstanding performers at work. Yes, there’s still pressure after graduation. Shocking, right?
Then why do job hunters keep choosing the BPO industry?
Money, honey. As the clients of BPO companies are mostly foreign companies, the salary of BPO employees is quite competitive with other starting-level industries in the Philippines. This is the reason why even though it’s tiring to get shouted at by callers every day, people still opt to work in the industry. On top of that, fresh graduates need funds to venture into their actually chosen field. And there’s nothing more like the BPO industry to provide that, regrettably.
Undeniably, being able to be compensated even a slightly higher amount is sometimes enough to sacrifice one’s sanity. Above all, the cost of living in the Philippines is getting more and more unbearable for the Filipinos. Of course, anyone will choose to have a higher salary rather than their passion or dreams.
My two cents as a BPO employee and graduating student
I’ve spent two years of my time as a College student as a BPO employee as well. One of the questions I often hear about this is: “is it hard?”. To be honest, the word “hard” is an understatement. The first few years are still tolerable, especially since I’m not that tired from work yet. However, when my last year of being a College student started, that’s when the doors of hell opened (the gates are already open). There were days when sleep was a total option and oftentimes gets unchosen. I’ve also been doing school tasks at work… while doing work. Indeed, rest is a luxury, and school work was always prioritized over health. Most of the time, I always wonder, will all these ever end?
Now that I’m almost graduating, I’m often asked: “will you still continue working in the BPO industry? Or will you pursue your field?” Until now that I’m a few months away from graduation, my answer is still a clueless shrug. Pursuing my field as a soon-to-be Journalist is not easy, especially in the Philippines where media practitioners are very much free to practice their profession. Yet working in the BPO industry is not that stress-free as well. Maybe that only means being an employee in the Philippines is tiring in general, regardless of your field.
Choices are indeed hard to make but inevitable
Putting all the mental and physical health matters aside, it is indeed a wise choice for fresh graduates to enter the BPO industry after finishing school. With all the money and experience this industry can give, I can say that it is more than worth it to give it a try. Who knows? This might be a successful stepping-stone for you to move your feet in the direction you really want to take.
Indeed, it is a battle of surviving in life with a competitive salary and fighting for your passion and dreams—the choice is yours, make it count.
Congratulations, and welcome to the bigger part of the real world. You will do well, as you always did!
