Vandana has a secret dream, that of working in a BPO company. But so far she has never gone beyond the first round of interviews though she has attended more than a hundred of them. Quite naturally she is very upset. But she decided to do something about it, and set about finding out exactly where she was going wrong.

First she talked to friends who were already working in the field; simultaneously she started reading all that she could lay her hands on regarding BPOs. "It was then I learnt the importance of pronunciation, accent, good grammar, presentation, fluency of speech, and listening."

Working to win

She decided to take a short training course to rectify her mistakes. Good English speaking skills are not enough to get a job in the BPO, it is necessary to speak well without a vernacular accent. "This was one of the areas I needed to work on since the mother tongue influence was very pronounced in my speech. I had to practice quite a bit, and I roped in a friend to listen and help out everyday," says Vandana.

The pace of speaking is also as important since a fast speech may leave listeners in the lurch. Speech trainers advise reading paragraphs from a book or a newspaper and recording it to help bring about a normal speech speed.

Speaking Skills

Vandana says, "Another area I had to concentrate on was to avoid slang words in my speech like ya, and bucks etc. We unconsciously use these all the time but these words are not recommended during professional conversations."

"We were told to frame short sentences since it not only helps in being grammatically correct but also in providing information in an easy to understand format. We were also advised to hone our listening skills and be patient enough to listen without interrupting."

Vandana is now eagerly waiting for the results of an interview she gave recently. She is excited because she has already got through the preliminary rounds.

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