Joining IBM Daksh on 20th June

[ilugd]

Hey, friends, this is the first time I am posting a new thread in chit chat. I attended an interview last week at candor services in Malviya nagar in Delhi and got an offer for ibm, gurgaon for techsupport. I join on 20 june. I am just a wee bit worried on what all i can expect in a bpo, since i have worked for over 3.5 years in non-profit organizations. I am quite capable of holding my own and am looking forward to the work, but i know zilch about ibm's work atmosphere and stuff. Anyone working in ibm and specifically in gurgaon? maybe we could swap numbers and get in touch.
Any other advice also would be good.
I have noone else to talk to about this, since my present employers are not too happy and most of my friends are not too knowledgeable about bpos. I am also feeling a bit lonely, discouraged and nervous. (man, i haven't even updated my blog since the interview) Some words of encouragement would be nice.

[xbonez]

hey, don't worry. changes are always fir the best. and u're moving to IBM man, what more could u want!

[ilugd]

thanks xbonez. I would still like to get to know someone who works in ibm so I can have a talk. I think most would be on duty right now. Maybe someone will reply in the morning.
By the way, is IBM that good?

[Pathik]

well IBM DAKSH is one of the best bpo and kpo centres.. Btw wat post do u hold there?? And congrats..

[ilugd]

i think kpo means knowledge process outsourcing?
I don't know anything about bpos. I am not even sure if ibm has outbound processes. I assumed during the interview that all processes are inbound. My designation is executive - operations. I don't know what that means.
I have my fingers crossed. Lets wait and see.
It was a quick decision I had to make and so i didn't do sufficient research.

[Pathik]

well from ur designation it seems that u wont hav to take calls and stuff.. But instead manage the operations and the staff.. Do u hav night shifts?? Did u sign any bond binding u to the company?? Also take care abt the pay they offer u.. Generally its ctc(cost to company) and not the actual pay u get in hand

[subratabera]

Generally its ctc(cost to company) and not the actual pay u get in hand

@pathinks, can you please clarify it a little bit more....

Congrats @ilugd for getting a job in such a company....BTW I am also trying to get something similar here in Kolkata...Can you please tell us how much they are offering you (if you don't mind)...

Regards

Subrata Bera.

[kumarmohit]

Originally Posted by pathiks

well from ur designation it seems that u wont hav to take calls and stuff.. But instead manage the operations and the staff..

He says he is recruited for tech support, and Executive - Operations is an L1 calling job alright (Mine was the same). He will be taking calls.

@ilgud

I had been selected in IBM DAKSH, I worked for some time like a month. You are going in from Candor, which is a consultant, I am sure its gonna be tech support, incoming calls - (Never heard of non calling recruitment from a consultant), well for the first week when you have the induction, which will be a lot of paperwork, and it will be time consuming say 10-12 hours a day. Then they will throw you in training and after training you get to work means call.

One word of advise, if you are joining in calling Do read One Night @ the call center before you go any further.

As for the work env - I cant tell you much considering I ran off in a month but a friend of mine who is an assistant mgr in IBM DAKSH says its cool enuf. I am in delhi and am pming you my cell number. call me if you want.

PS - I ran off in a day from GE (Sorry)

[ilugd]

hey thanks everyone. Thank you very much for all the encouraging words. It does put my mind at rest. I will respond to the posts one by one.
I didn't sign a bond. We are on probation for 6 months and then the offer will be finalized. I don't know if there will be night shift or day shift, but since they were interested in accent interviews, i presume that it will be for serving the west and is voice based, so it has got to be the night shift. I didn't enquire all these stuff during the interview. I regret it now. But i assume that i will be getting inbound technical support queires from the us or uk and i will be responding and solving those queries.
I don't mind telling how much they are offering me but their document says that i am supposed to keep that confidential. It wouldnt do me any good if any one trolling this forum finds that out. Maybe i will pm you, ok?
Basically I was selected because of my technical skills and my english was above average. My accent sort of sucks.
The HR Head mentioned something about Band III executive or something, I now remember. Wonder what that means too.
I have my induction on 20th June. Training is for one month. I don't know the work load and stuff. By the way, what paperwork is there to do? Do they teach how to enter reports and stuff or is it working out the HR papers and stuff?
I am also concerned about whether the training will be tough and if it is difficult to "hit the floor" as my friends call it. I think i can make it easily but i would like some inputs on what all they teach in the training and how they evaluate.

I have already read one night @ the call center quite a few times over a year ago and I think it is just a glossed up version of something the author has heard. He has not really done much research into the industry. It is too innocent. But nice reading anyway.

[esumitkumar]

If you really wanna go into call center ilugd..then only go ..i will here list some pros and cons

Pros

- Big bucks and good salary
- Free dinner etc .

Cons

- Your social life ..like everybody sleeping at night ..u working at night..whole biological clock of body changes.

- Erring customers ..even sometimes some videsi people give u gaalis etc..racist etc ..

- difficulty in switching to software industry after BPO

I have heard and read this all abt call centres..

so just give a thought before joining ...

[ilugd]

i am not worried about the first two cons, but is the third one true?

[esumitkumar]

Yes third one is true until unless you are able to give strong reasons why in the first place u joined BPO and wanna switch to IT ..

[kumarmohit]

There is a better way, since you are doing MCA and wont continue with bpo once its done, the software company need not know you worked for BPO, the continuity gap will be patched by MCA.

[ilugd]

thats right, kumar mohit, i can be quite frank about my present needs and why i needed to switch from an ngo to a bpo. Most people understand, once i explain.

[saurabh kakkar]

though i cant help u much but CONGRATS from my side

[ilugd]

thanks man. But I am damn nervous.

and in this nervousness, am not a bit interested in checking my mail, visiting any forum or even updating my blogs. Waiting with fingers crossed for 20th.

[ilugd]

sorry for digging up this thread again, but just figured that I should let everyone know how it turned out. IBM sucks man, for all its name. They kept postponing the triaining and it seems they have not held one till now. In any case I was lucky since the company I worked for (and still work) gave me an excellent counter offer. As they say, it is only at the funeral that everyone remembers how nice the deceased man was. At the last moment they seemed to think I was irreplacable. In any case I am now the third most paid person in the office. But they are patching up now according to designations. Lot of hard feelings over here now. You should understand that I work in a church.
In any case, I gave the IBM Daksh offer a pass.
And thanks kumarMohit for your nice advice during the phone. Could you pm me your number again? I cleaned up my inbox and deleted the mail by mistake.

By the way, kumar mohit, do you change girlfriends like you change your job?

[kumarmohit]

PM ed the number

[prateek_san]

@kumarmohit

why did ya ran off from GE ???? what did they do to u ???

well im still working in GE capital past 2 mnths ..hasmt faced any problems till now .....

[Pathik]

@ilugd wat post do u have in a church???

[saurabh kakkar]

Originally Posted by ilugd

sorry for digging up this thread again, but just figured that I should let everyone know how it turned out. IBM sucks man, for all its name. They kept postponing the triaining and it seems they have not held one till now. In any case I was lucky since the company I worked for (and still work) gave me an excellent counter offer. As they say, it is only at the funeral that everyone remembers how nice the deceased man was. At the last moment they seemed to think I was irreplacable. In any case I am now the third most paid person in the office. But they are patching up now according to designations. Lot of hard feelings over here now. You should understand that I work in a church.
In any case, I gave the IBM Daksh offer a pass.
And thanks kumarMohit for your nice advice during the phone. Could you pm me your number again? I cleaned up my inbox and deleted the mail by mistake.

By the way, kumar mohit, do you change girlfriends like you change your job?

i have a mix kind of reaction after reading this post first of all i would like to

congratulate u for getting Ur previous job back and that to with good perk

but at the same time i feel that (personally) u shuld have waited for some

time more or at least asked the IBM people the cause of this late process

i have two of my relatives woking in IBM nd they to had to wait for a long but

after getting in the comp they told that that working in IBM means a lot .

even one of my friend who have been selected in arricent (HUGES) have

been told to wait for 4 months more .

though i have not yet entered into cooperate world nd may be wrong but

what

i think and get to know is that that stronger Rupee w.r.t US $ is the main

reason for this behavior by these companies nd they r restructuring there

plans nd deals nd that Y this delay

at the end i m happey that u got ur job back nd that to with good perk

plz dont dont take my points other way round

[desai_amogh]

i was working with GE- hyderabad over a year the work envirnoment was awsome.. evryone so helpful.. even the AVPs & VPs wud also talk to u like friends.. only the wrkload @ GE sucks.. very high work pressure..
BTW my roomate worked for GE for an year & then moved to IBM for HP tech support in Hyderabad. & he says IBM sucks more than GE ...
not discouraging ..
but just a fact.. they pay u big time.. lots of freebies & fascilities eith a huge work load..
lots of parameters to follow while taking calls ... it becomes monotonous after around 6-8 months & after a year u get bugged & switch to a diff company with a HIGHER PAY !!!

[ilugd]

^^ hey no problems man. But they should be clear. It isn't really easy for a person in the lurch to wait for them. It decreases trust. If I had depended solely on their offer I would be in serious trouble now. Of course I would have applied in another bpo and taken that offer, but you get my drift. The ethical way would be tell their consultants to put further recruitment on hold but they should honor their commitments. I know this is not how the secular world works, but just my 2 cents.

@pathiks In the church I don't really have a post. A year ago, I lobbied hard and got 'Programmer-IT' in my ID Card. So I guess that is my designation. However I am the IT Manager, IT Purchase Incharge, System and Network Admin, Techsupport all in one. There is only one person in the IT Department here and we have like 20 systems.
Additionally I am the personal assistant to the International Media Director. We broadcast christian programs in 103 languages 11 hours a day. I make sure he sleeps peacefully. All admin, logistics and human resources is handled by me. I am also the mentor for the three radio studio technicians in the Delhi Office.
Oh did I mention that I am the regional IT Incharge for the 8 states in our North West Diocese.
As one of the guys in hackers says, sometimes I do feel like God.

[desai_amogh]

btw tht book one night @ call center sucks.. 90% of the book talks abt nonsence which never happens in BPO's im working with US BPOs for last 2 years now..

[ilugd]

<smug look> I said so...

[saurabh kakkar]

hey buddy can u tell what package r u getting NOW ?

[ilugd]

9k, accomodation free, mess only 600.

i joined here with 2.5 k and self cooking in 2003. When I was thinking of leaving, I was getting 4.5k with free accomodation and mess 600.

Why do you ask?

[prateek_san]

^^ and what was the package u got at IBM Daksh ??

[desai_amogh]

9k is too low .. if its a international bpo.. they shud pay u somwhere around 12 atleast... i was offered 10k when i answerd my 1st interview after 12th.. u have such a wide experience ..

[saurabh kakkar]

Originally Posted by ilugd

9k, accomodation free, mess only 600.

i joined here with 2.5 k and self cooking in 2003. When I was thinking of leaving, I was getting 4.5k with free accomodation and mess 600.

Why do you ask?

i think u have't gone through my post i think 9k is bit low as compared to

what would u may have got in IBM but i will say IBM is a thing of past as of

now my blessings r with u may u go on top in this comp.

i dont intend to heart u if i have i m sorry