In an online chat recently Mukund Menon, Director, HR for India & Singapore at Steria, offered useful tips to Get Ahead readers on how they can have a great career in the IT and BPO sector.
Here's the unedited chat transcript.
Mukund Menon says, Hi, this is Mukund Menon, HR Director, Steria and i would be happy to take questions
amit asked, Hello sir, I have done my Msc in IT and have been working as a marketing executive for an IT firm since 2007 , but now i want to shift my carrier in BPO sector , so is it advisable for me or not ?
Mukund Menon answers, at 2012-04-12 16:01:04Absolutely it is ok to shift, but better to choose the role that suits your current strengths in marketing and your ability to communicate and articulate
Shom asked, Hi, Working as an instructional designer for an E learning Company (Domestic). Want to jump to the MNCs, What are the opportunities and points to consider?
Mukund Menon answers, You can try for opportunities in the Learning and Development department of MNC's where there is a need for talent in designing courses in e-learning for their internal programmes
AL asked, Hello Mukund, Good Evening. I am working in IT sectro for 6 years now. However i do not enjoy it as much as i though to. What business with regards to IT shoukld i think of, as i beleive in entrepreneurship. Thank You.
Mukund Menon answers, If you have a good product, or solution in mind think about it, and it has to be unique and game changing. Start small with one customer, learn from experience and then invest big once you know it will be successful. Innovativeness is key
sunil asked, hi mukund, I am an MBA. are there any opportunities in business development, solution in BPO sector? what is the career prospect?
Mukund Menon answers, Yes there are quite a few, but choose your area of expertise and experience to sell or develop business. BPO services in India have become too specialized and competitive
tomcat asked, Hello Mukund, i want to work on app development. How are the opportunities and where to start with ?
Mukund Menon answers, If you are an engineer, you will have a good start. Otherwise it will be better to learn basic programming skills and obtain an apropriate certificate before approaching for opportunities
Shom asked, Thanks Mukund. Please give me few names of the MNCs involved in E learning.
Mukund Menon answers, I wont be able to provide in a public chat since there are confidentiality issues, but am sure you could look up Nasscom website for more details
prks asked, Hello Sir, What's the scope for a person with skills of Photoshop, Flash, Dreaweaver, HTML, CSS, etc. having about 6 yrs. experience in Singapore?
Mukund Menon answers, There are quite a few in GUI development and in media houses where they look for skills like you mentioned. In IT companies there will be need for those in portal and web page development and for their clients and in marketing departments
raj asked, are growth opportunities equal for support functions as compared to operations in BPO/IT?
Mukund Menon answers, These are separate streams of growth, and industry independant. Expertise and ability to understand the business is key to grow in support functions. Alignment to business defines ones growth
kalai asked, What about Indian IT industry growth next 5 yrs?
Mukund Menon answers, Indian IT will become US 180bn around 2015 and by that time most of the outsourcing opportunities in the world would have been exhausted and it would turn out to be a factory model and creating repeat business. Indian IT has to become innovative and come out with new products to be more competitive and keep up the growth
alka asked, Can one start a career in a BPO at any age
Mukund Menon answers, Absolutely, depends on the role and the background of an individual.
ravianilkhanna asked, Hi Mukund Sir, I have completed my BCA. I have 4 Years of IT experience in Microsoft Technology. Will i be considered for BPO Jobs???
Mukund Menon answers, Ofcourse, but i would recommend that you should find opportunities in IT to be relevant and grow based on your qualification
asasa asked, what are the prospects for architect and interior designer
Mukund Menon answers, Your skills will be more useful in the engineering side of IT. They need lot of design engineers particularly in the Real Estate and Infrastructure verticals. You could also try the GIS sector in IT
hi asked, how is a hr qualified to talk about business ?
Mukund Menon answers, HR is very much aligned to business and it is important that every HR person understands business to engage in a meaningful conversation with business groups and employees.
kalai asked, I have 5+ Yrs exp in DW-Cognos - I am trying a new job in singapore. Could you pls tell me about how much i will get and scope?
Mukund Menon answers, IT is a hot skill as far as i know. There is lot of scope, but i cant help you with how much you will get. You will need someone to support you with an employment pass
ravianilkhanna asked, Hi Mukund Sir, in IT there is less pay. I have heard from some of my friends that the BPO firm pays more money??? Is that true??
Mukund Menon answers, It would be sometimes, depending on the roles and difficulty. But there is not much difference between IT and BPO.
alka asked, Where can one who has been into media marketing and advertising start
Mukund Menon answers, Telemarketing and lead generation is a good place to start with in the marketing communications group of an IT / BPO company. Hope your question is for IT / BPO
Rajendra asked, My so has done B.tech in IT. He wants to go for MBA. My question is whether he should go for MBA or MS? Incase MBA then which field, HR/Marketing/ Finanace/IT ??
Mukund Menon answers, I would strongly recommend to do a MBA considering it will give a balanced growth and ability to move into business roles quickly. He could consider MS only if he wants to stay in the technology space. In choosing the field, it should be based on his interest and drive
Soumitra asked, Hello Sir, Is Steria providing SAP consulting also?
Mukund Menon answers, Yes, Steria has a strong SAP practice, and a significant presence in Europe
bhaskar asked, Hi Mukund - I have close to 10 yrs of IT experience and currently working as a delivery manager and a practice lead for one of the majors. What should be my target to grow professionally in the next 3-4 yrs. Do I need to go for an executive MBA
Mukund Menon answers, It will be ideal to move into a P&L function and drive business along with your delivery. MBA can help in shaping your personality and visibility to a business function, but it is also important that you get oriented to the finance functions to understand numbers better
abcd asked, I'm into IT since 2004. Took a break for sometime in between for my newly born son. Right now again back to work for more than a year now. Find it very tough to manage family being in IT. The pressure and deadlines are unpredictable. Would like some stable and normal work timings so that I can give normal time to my family. Please suggest me which field/department in IT can offer me that?
Mukund Menon answers, It has to be an arrangement or join a company which has a policy to work from home or telecommuting. The work pressures will be there always and it is difficult to find a challenging job without pressure. Steria has a good work life balance policy and a creche for working parents
ajay asked, How should one deal with office politics?
Mukund Menon answers, With patience, look at the intent, reachout to people, build trust and faith, bring in transparency
Sushil asked, Is the BPO industry long lasting?
Mukund Menon answers, Yes of course, India has an unique advantage of talent, cost advantage and english speaking talent in abundance. We have done well in the past and it will continue to grow
imran asked, Hi Mukund, Having 11 Yrs of Experience in IT. Achieved PMP certification recently. But finding it difficult to get a interview cal. Can u suggest me wht should i do to get interview cals. Thanks
Mukund Menon answers, You may want to show your resume to a good resume writer to articulate your strengths aprop. A good resume will get you calls and from there on it will be your ability to substantiate your experience.
Shagun asked, Hi Mukund, I want to apply at Steria. How do I proceed?
Mukund Menon answers, You could visit our career pages and submit your resume through our website
Sushil asked, Does knowing spanish language increases salary in bpo sector?
Mukund Menon answers, Knowing different languages is good in BPO business, but your ability to get additional salary depends if the opportunity is for a customer with support in Spanish Language
prasad asked, hi Mukund, how it Development Manager role different from product to services organization. I am development manager from services and want to move to product development.
Mukund Menon answers, Dev Manager in a services company will be driven by the specification from the customer and in product development there is lot of scope for innovation and creativity. If you are innovative and creative, with orientation towards, business and market place, it will be good to move to product development
gggg asked, Nowadays, quality level of voice processes in International BPO's is decreasing. Would you agree with this statement? And if no, pls explain..
Mukund Menon answers, It seems to be on a downward trend and the Industry is also aware. There is a talent crunch in voice processes and attrition is high. That is one of the reason for the dip.
chetan asked, I have worked as SAP FICO Functional Consultant for 10 years. IT Business has become a commodity business now. Is it a good move to switch to pure business consulting like Mckinsey, etc as all future IT business will be driven by business value?
Mukund Menon answers, If you have a good consulting bent of mind and can solve business problems you should try
kumar asked, hi, currently does Steria have openings for Oracle PL/SQL development 4yr of exp?
Mukund Menon answers, Yes, pl look up the career pages of our website and apply. We will be happy to look into it and get back to you
Ravi asked, Hi Mukund, I wanted to know from you that with business inflow in India is declining fast and existing business moving to Manila, would it be safe to say that BPO is in it's declining phase and growth professionally and for business is in decline phase. Would you still recommend/suggest grwoth in BPO
Mukund Menon answers, There is lot of business still available and even the domestic market has opened up. It is a trend and the industry is aware of the changes. We have gone through this trend earlier and we came around.
ap asked, They say that the crowd at BPO's is very young. Will I feel like a misfit
Mukund Menon answers, Depends on the role that you would take. If it is an agent role at level 1 or next level you will find yourself out of place. If you are planning to be in an executive position it should not matter
phani asked, Sir,I have got selected in a repute MNC whilst in campus.Its been 1yr and i have no clue regarding joining dates ? what should i do ? they ask me to have patience .
Mukund Menon answers, You may want to check with their campus team on the probable dates and am sure they are working with the onboarding plan
