Those of you who follow my blog would be aware that it has been a long time since I’ve last posted. Some of you already know what has been going on in my life, but most of you don’t. For those of you who do not as well as the rest of you it’s time for me to fill you in…

I quit my Job with Sutherland. So no more posts about Sutherland, Dell and Calls!! I have been quite busy all these days doing preparations for my visa and other stuff. And roaming with School and College Friends! Thats the reason for very less posts all these days. Pardon Me!

Im leaving to USA on 2nd January to do my Master’s Degree. At this moment i am not at all sure of what’s in Store for Me after this January! What i am going to do… What kind of place im going to live in(Though i have seen the photos and other stuff, its different to live there!)…  What kind of Friends i gonna make… Most Importantly, How am i going to study for the Next Two Years!!!

I Believe in this verse from the Bhagavad Gita…

“Ethu nadanthatho, athu nandragavae nadathathu. Ethu nadiratho, athu nandragavae nadakirathu. Ethu nadakkavirukiratho athvum nandragavae nadakkum”

“20yrs frm now u wil b more disappointed by the things that u didnt do than by the ones u did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away frm the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in ur sail. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Thats is what i am going to do now… Life’s Calling!

I Quit my Job with Dell (Sutherland) on the 19th of November. I had already informed my TL that i would have to quit around this date. And then my Group Leader spoke to me, trying to persuade me to stay. But finally he had to give in to my wishes. I submitted an Online Resignation during the first week of November. And November 15th onwards i informed my TL that i had some important work and stopped going to Office. That weekend i went on Trip to Mahabalipuram with my College Friends(will post abt it soon). After a few days, on November 19th i went to Office. I was not able to login as my account has been locked. I talked to my GL and he said he will in turn talk to the Program Manager and approve the Resignation. Meanwhile i contacted Ask Allen(Admin) and reactivated my user ids and took a print out of my past salary certificates. Our CCOD helped me take the print outs and while he was doing this my resignation was approved. I bid adieu to my Friends/Colleagues, TLs, GLs, everyone there and came back home. I had worked there for 5 months and it was really a great learning experience and i enjoyed it. I was told by many that just take the money from the bank as soon as they credit the salary and stop coming to office from the next day. I didnt want to just come out like that. And its against my ethical standards! So, even though i might not get the last month’s salary as was rumored before, i decided to resign the job officially. It gave me immense gratification. And Surprisingly(coz i didnt expect this), today Sutherland credited around 15k as a final settlement!

Yea… Its Time to Say Bye Bye to Sutherland… I’ve decided to Quit this week… Have submitted a formal resignation and will be relieved by the end of this week. Had a Real Good Experience with Sutherland which is my First Job!

The Only negative Factor i found was the change in timings and offs every week and obv the night shift. But working at night shifts proved to be quite useful(a blessing in disguise perhaps, for me) because i was able to carry out my other works in the mornings and sleep after that. But it was okay since it was a temporary job for me, kind of parking space for the 6 odd months between my undergraduation and Permanent Job/Graduation. Dont know how i would feel if this is supposed to be my Permanent Job or something like that.

It has been nearly 5 months since i started working at Sutherland. It had been a very good learning experience. The 15 Days of Versant Training was really interesting with a whole new bunch of Friends/Colleagues! The Training part was almost like college with a lot more freedom. The Trainer Chandini was not exactly that Good in Teaching but was Okay coz she didnt disturb us. We got a lot of Interesting Insights into the American Life Language and Culture.

And then there was the Technical Training which helped us again learn more about computers! And it was the first time we worked in the 12am-8am shift, something new for us at that time. And a very Amusing Trainer Vengat who had us in splits during those night shifts.

Then we were given the Process Training for Printers for nearly a month. During which we learnt a little about printers and more about the different ways of sleeping/doing something else in class. A Comm Trainer Shyam who had funny piercings on  his face but was really cool and a Process Trainer Ramji who seemed to be strict at the beginning but later on became friendly. And that too his Terror experiences on floor had us in splits most of the time. After a little bit of learning here we went on to the floor.

At the Floor we had a “Mr.Cool and Calm” Trainer Deepak Patel and two L2’s Suceendran Meganathan and Chandra Doss. And GLs Satish and Narikot Nair. All of them were really Good and made my first Job into a Good Experience which i can remember for all Good Reasons than the Bad Ones. The Call Taking experience was really new and amusing for me. Its been more than 3 months since we started taking calls. A Day used to be Good at one point and Really Bad at an other point. Depending on the customer. But later on after getting used to the calls and getting matured enough to understand the life at call centre, it doesnt matter if a customer is Good or Irritating.  We starting finding the amusing and interesting things about the calls and customers. Doss my L2 who’s really good at taking escalation calls helped me understand the importance of keeping cool and handling the irate customers - That would be really useful for real life as well. Suceendran my other L2 and his antics keeps us laughing all the time. And Deepak had been a real inspiration of being a Good Team Leader for all of us. Same of Satish who’s our GL - Dell 4 in one. And recently, that is, for the last two weeks our teams have been shuffled and my New TL is ParamaGuru, who also has been Good.

In all, it was a Really Enjoyable and Learning Experience at Sutherland. My first work experience… A cherishable part of my life indeed!

We started taking Calls right from Day 1…!

I didnt expect that!!! I thought they were joking! Come on man… Do U mean, Real US Customers?! And we are going to solve their issues?! What about the Quality Parameters? Quality of Support?! And all other Parameters?! But No… They werent Joking! Our TL said, dont worry guys, this is a kinda practice for you… Dont worry about quality parameters, just go on and take calls… Wel, Okay! I rehearsed my script and then i went on to take my first real call… Poor Customer!

A Lady called in with a Fax Problem! (Hey… Whats this! They didnt teach us about any Fax issues in Training!!!) After Greeting the customer exactly as in the Opening Script! I went on to collect the details like First Name/Last Name, Phone Number and Service Tag of the Printer! We had to Alpha Verify the Name for Spelling Errors! I started… Lemme verify ur Name ma’am… (read this slowly) A as in Alpha, B as in Bravo, C as in Charlie and so on… I didnt memorize that at that time! I was searching my empty brain for the correct word! As soon as i finished Alpha Verifying her name… She asked me, “Are you in Training?!” Me: Hey, How did she find that out? Again Me: By the way U spoke to her, dumbo!!! U shud’ve been more confident! She: “I want to speak to someone who is not in Training or to a Supervisor.”

I called in my TL and gave the phone to him! He went on and solved the Problem for her. It took him 45mins for him! I wondered, if that issue took 45minutes for an expert, guess how much time i wud have taken!

And then, i took another Call… That was a transfer Call and i had to Transfer it to another Department… This time, the Customer didnt find out that i was in Training…! Thank Goodness! And i transferred it successfully… Well, actually I Though So! Until i found out that i didnt get any details from the customer or log a case in the DELL Tool!! That was again a failed call!

After some time, our TL called all of us and asked us to pair up with someone and take calls. One person will speak to the customer, and other will help him/her find a solution and log a case in DELL Tools! This time around i was more confident and the remaining calls i took that day were kinda okay!

You can’t always make everyone Happy. If a group of people adore you, another group will hate you. There’ll always be people who will not like you at all! There is much truth in his statement. In this post, I will describe my own experiences from which I’ve learned you can’t make everyone happy, and tell you why that’s alright.

Some times its that First Impression that people get about you. Why i am writing this now, is again my call centre experience. I’ve talked to Dell customers who are absolutely Happy with Dell and are pleased with the best quality support they receive everytime they call Dell and there are also customers who say that they have had very bad experience with Dell Products and support and that they would not buy Dell again. I, as a Tech Support Agent, especially have learned that you will always piss someone off. You can’t make everyone happy. It all depends on my mood, their mood, their previous experiences, etcetera. Itha thaan neram nu solranga!

So, what we understand from all this is that Nobody can make Everyone Happy.

You should therefore accept that you can’t make everyone Happy either - and know that it’s alright, because nobody expects you to. When you go out and face the world out there, there will undoubtedly be people who will disagree with you. You’ll upset people, make them angry and all that. Don’t worry about it or even think about it. Let go of the idea that you can make Everyone Happy, and focus on Making Urslf Happy. That is something you Can Control. It’s up to everybody else to decide whether or not they want to be Happy along with U.

About all you can do in life is Be Who You Are. Some people will love you for what you are. Most will love you for what you can do for them, and some won’t like you at all.

After Clearing the MSV, we then went on to do our PnP Training. Thats the Product and Process Training for DELL! We were put into Printers 4 in 1 batch! This training was for 22days!

4 in 1 Printers deals with DELL Branded Printers, Projectors, Axims, TVs and MP3 Players! We had a Process Trainer and a Professional Skills Trainer! We had this training from 4pm to 12am! This Shift was kinda cool! The initial few days were very Boring! But later on it picked up speed and the entire training was over in No Time!

We were taught how to use DELL tools to retrieve customer information, enter data, notes for each call! There were so many tools to use in each call! And the skills like Empathy, Rapport Building, etc with the Customers while on a call! At the end of this training we practiced Mock Calls! After the Training we had to undergo ACP on the Floor with Quality Control People. Our Office was in DLF IT Park! So, after finishing the training we went there to give our ACP!

We were introduced to our TL’s! who had some 36 odd months of experience at Sutherland! Only after when i started working, I noticed that many guys say that they have so and so many months of experience in the industry! Till then, I had only heard people say their experience in years! There’s this Guy, Vijendran aka Gaja who works with us. He has a total 4 yrs experience! He had worked in Call Centres like Accenture, Barkleys, and 5-6 other Big Names(i dont remember the names!), his max stay in a company being 10-11 odd months! Thats the Trend! My Dad had experience in Banking for 25 odd years! And it was the Same ol’ Bank for all those years! But, it was then! And thats Past! Things change! The trends different now! Who knows, maybe in the future, everyone will say i have so and so many hours of experience in the industry!

Well, coming back to ACP… After finishing the PnP training we then came to DLF Sutherland and had to take an ACP(i think its, Accurate Call Profiling) Test! I somehow managed to clear it! And so we successfully moved on to the the next step! And that was directly into production floor! We were gonna take calls from the day after!!!

My prev blog “The Versant Experience” had the maximum number of views for quite sometime! So, encouraged from the positive response, am writing more about my training!

I forgot to tell you about the Panel Interview (Comm Check) conducted by a H(aitch)R named TONY, before The Versant Test! And the funny incidents related to that! The HR tests our communication and shortlists us thru’ a Mock Call.

For many the HR Tony didnt look like a HR! He was a very Modest Guy! And since everyone said that the comm check is very difficult etcetera etcetera and after hearing the name Tony, we were expecting a lot frm that comm check! Something like… a foreigner sitting on the other side of the table looking at us mockingly and speaking in an unintelligible English!

So one by one everyone went in and came out of the cabin in which he conducted the interview. As i said b4 that we were expecting something and found something else inside the cabin, it was quite fun that day! When Aiyaz went in, he misunderstood the name and called the HR as Hi Tommy!!! lolz Nishant went in to attend the comm check. He’s a cut and right guy, always speaks like a military man. So he was nicknamed military during our comm training. He went in and started speaking to Tony as always, like a military man(also his rate of speech was high) Tony asked Nishant to drink some water and relax. Nishant replied back, “No!!! I don’t want water now!!!” Tony was taken aback by his bossy nature. And so he threw him out! Sathya went in next, and found that a man was sitting there in a t-shirt jean and who didnt look like a HR. So, she started searching the room and tried opening another room which had the entrance thru’ this cabin. But that was locked. She came back to that man and asked him, “i am supposed to go thru’ my comm check with a HR named Tony in this cabin, when’ll he come?!!” He replied back,”I am the HR and I am Tony!!!”

According to me, Tony was quite friendly and spoke well… And after clearing this we took the Versant test. You can read abt it in my blog “The Versant Experience”

After clearning the versant we were inducted into the company. They gave us the Permanent ID card, opened the ICICI Bank account, Pan Card for those who didnt have one, another Offer Letter etc

The we had the Tech Training. It was for 6 days. And our timings were from 12am to 8am! The Graveyard Shift! Our Trainer was Vengat and his classes were never boring. Yep! The way he pokes fun on everyone in class keeps the training sessions alive! And the AC, always in 16degrees(he never alows us to switch it off or increase the temp) during night! It was very difficult for us last row guys to sleep!

We learnt quite a lot abt the computer Hardware, Windows XP and Vista OS, etc… After the 6 days of training we had to attend the MSV test. MSV is Minimum Skill Verification!

It was a 60 minutes test. And many of us finished that in 5-10 minutes! I got 88% in that! Then we had a 1week break during we just went there to mark our attendance.

Now we are in the Process Training. We were put into Printers 4 in 1 batch! This training is for 22days! I was disappointed initially bcoz i was expecting that they would put me in Desktop or Laptop!

I had joined Sutherland recently. They put me in the DELL Process. We were given a 15 Day Comm Training, after which, we were to be shortlisted based on our performance in Two Tests.
1.Comm Check (a mock call and a one on one interview)
2.Versant Test
For the uninitiated, Versant is an automated test of spoken English. It evaluates the ability to understand, be understood and general English language proficiency.

This Monday i gave my Versant Test. I had been to Tirupati the previous day. I had very little sleep coz we had returned only by midnight. I woke up late and started to get ready in a hurry, when I got a call frm Sakthivel, my frnd in Sutherland who came with me in the same cab. He told me that my name was not in the list that day and that the cab driver refused to come to my place. So perfect in cancelling the cab(coz our 15 days of training was over), did they show this sincerity while providing us cab for the first time!~! Anyways, i had more time now. I can relax and eat properly.
I then took my Bike and went on to pick up ma frnd Sripadharajan. We reached the Perungudi Office on time. We were asked to wait in the Conference room. Then, the H(aitch)R Sangeetha came and we practised the pronounciation with her.

The first one to give the Versant Test was Krithika (She’s the one who’s very much into this Accent and Pronounciation thing, in my class. In Velammal language, Topppperrrrr! ) She cleared the Test with 64points.

Actually we were told that we had to be loud and clear so that the machine can understand us properly. Since girls usually have a low pitched voice, they were asked to be a bit louder than normal. So, Swapna, the next girl who went in, started screaming! She got too much excited and worried about the whole thing, which made her shout! Poor Girl! She got only 42 and failed in the Test. 60 out of 80, was what one had to get to clear Versant.

It was almost 1pm and so we were asked to have our lunch. I too was getting excited and wanted to get done with it. Ah, How I hate Exams! So, myself and Pawan went in as soon as we finished our lunch.

I went into the Versant Test Room… There was a Telephone and a Headphone. The Lady in-charge dialled the ordinate system and put me on line.

Voice over the Phone(VoP): Thank you for calling the Ordinate testing system.

Me: {My Pleasure!!!} :(( (Ma heart started beating faster! I dont know why, whenever i go for an Interview or an Exam it happens like that)

VoP: Please enter your Test Identification Number on the telephone keypad.

Me: Dialled my Versant TIN(Test Identifaication Number) - 12345678

VoP: Now, please say your name.

Me: {Ah, My Name! Now wat was that!} Shanmugam

VoP: Now, please follow the instructions for Parts A through E.

Me: {Ok Ok! I’ll Try to!}

And then, I gave the Test! Part A was Reading. Part B - Repeat. Part C - One Word Answers. Part D - Sentence Builds. Part E - Open Questions.

I actually didnt listen to the voice properly. {I was thinking how loud i was? After giving a wrong answer for a question, i would remember its correct answer after sometime! And when i am thinking abt the correct answer, i would miss the next question! And like this my concentration was not at all on the voice most of the time! I had done better than this in all my practise files!}

And i finished the Test. Pawan also came out at the same time. We waited for the Results.

The other guys who were waiting for their turn asked me what were the Questions. I didnt remember any questions! Only one Question that i remembered was this one in Part C! VoP: To chill it, what do you add to water? Me: Sugar. (But, said that with perfect accent and pronounciation! lolz!) Its always like that… As soon as i come out of the Exam Hall, i would forget everything! Absolutely Everything!

And soon the Lady in-charge saw ma results in the ordinate website and told me that i had scored 71!

71! :O That was a Surprise!

But whatever, i dont care. We guys have finished engineering, without even once worrying about the percentage et al, ithenna jujuppi matter!!! The Only thing that Matters is whether you are IN or OUT!

And thankfully, am IN! One Month Salary vaangama poratha illa!

I’m at home since then… Havent got my Tech Training scheduled yet!

You must have always wondered, why there are some people who always end up on top. Even I used to wonder why? A friend told me that there are some that are just plain lucky. That’s just a humbug. No one can be plain lucky, luck happens when someone tries something and ends up successful in that. The people who win are people that go out and do things, win or lose. Yeah they might lose sometimes, but you don’t usually remember them for losing, you remember them for winning.

I think that’s the big difference. These people actually try to do new things. They are bold, and will take the initiative in all things. Life has taught me that you will get what you want only if you decide what you want and do all those things that will give that to you!

Don’t say that you are bored and nothing is happening in your life. Nothing is happening because you don’t make it happen. If I’ve learned anything its that life won’t just fall in your lap, you’ve gotta go and make it happen.

Now I’m working at DELL learning new things and talking to different people each day. I took the initiative, i attended the Interview and I got selected. It wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t finally get off my but and do something about it. I’d have been sitting at home after finishing college and waiting for DoJ like many others.

Guys, take a note. Get off your buts and go do it. Take the initiative, get into the middle of things, do something for once for yourself. You won’t be happy in life until you take control of your life and get out there and live it. It’s all just a state of mind.

You jus’ have to Do It! And Luck/Fortune whatever you call it, will follow! You know what…

Luck has a Peculiar Habit of Favoring those who don’t depend on It! Just go about doing things as you always do and everything will fall in place and you will achieve Success with or without Luck!