Tag-Archive for » Versant «

Time to Say Bye Bye… to Sutherland

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 | Author: Vivek

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!

The Versant Experience!

Saturday, July 05th, 2008 | Author: Vivek

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! :D ) 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! :D

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! :D

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