nakatago wrote:Wind In My Hair wrote:I stopped watching the clip after 30 seconds when she said "IIT may be the most important university you've never heard of." IIT was already well known 15 years ago in this part of the world.
Reminds me of the TV series Outsourced, with the A team and B team Indian call centre operators. IIT grads are the big-time real world A team.
Nowadays when I call IT helplines, I'm relieved to hear an Indian voice on the line. It always means my problem will be solved quickly and usually on the first attempt, unlike many clueless helpline staff elsewhere in the world. And these aren't even the elite IIT grads, just the average IT savvy ones.
Why would an IIT grad work in a call center when they know they can work in a high-prestige R&D center or financial institution? Our former R&D HR manager here mentioned that he doesn't bother scouting for IIT grads because they're "high-flyers" (his words). And this manager is Indian himself. No offense to call-center employees.
And BTW, call center agents in the Philippines actually undergo accent training to mask their true location. I'm pretty sure a similar practice happens in India.
PS: Outsourced FTW!
A lot of call centers are moving out of India due to increasing and unpredictable costs. Also moving because staff are willing to jump for a few more dollars per month, creating very high turnover percentages.
I've done a number of call center implementations for managed services. I've yet to see accent training... this is not something you can change in 3 or 4 weeks. Instead, applicants are screened for 'acceptable' accents and approach.
Maybe they do this in non managed services applications but it usually takes 4 to 6 weeks to bring an agent with IT experience up to speed in tools, processes, and bespoke software.
Finding good Japanese and Korean agents outside of their respective countries is particularly difficult... it's not only the accented language, it is the mannerisms and deference that also count... things that non Japanese/Koreans are usually not aware of.
I have seen Philippine data centers with big screen TV's on the wall, tuned in to major sports events in the US... part of the script and patter was to include references to sports scores.
PS: Many in the US cringe when they hear an Indian accented voice... the early attempts at Indian outsourcing were not particularly successful, and like the old adage of 'cheap, inferior Chinese manufacturing', this one continues to stick in spite of improvements.
(No offence @ milieu but you know what I mean)
