By Mary Rae Floresca | Negosentro.com
Graveyard shift, some people say it’s too dangerous, hard and all that. To name a few, there are nurses, doctors, hotel receptionists but what’s it really like to work at night specifically in the BPO Industry? Read on and data analyst Kyla Frances Francisco tells her story.
The Business Processing Outsourcing or BPO industries are now taking over most of the workforce. Research says that this industry economically gives growth in the Philippines. Yes, thank you to this industry, as long as you have the basic skills, competitive outlook in your career, anyone can get in. There is no specific college course that you need to finish to be qualified in the rank and file position. Kyla Frances Francisco, a data analyst in a prestigious BPO company graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Travel and Tours Management. She didn’t pursue to be a hotelier as expected, but she is successfully brewing her career in the fast-growing industry. She realized that she can do something more than what she learned in the university.
Like any other jobs, there are advantages and disadvantages. Francisco comes home at dawn and it’s quite dangerous because not a lot of people will be in the streets that early, but she just prays and it takes a bit of guts and bravery to go through it every time. Catching up with sleep is one limitation in this job but the trick is to manage your time wisely. Francisco says, “Madali lang mag-adjust sa schedule ko, isa lang shift ko, 6pm to 3am. Unlike sa ibang BPO company, Paiba-iba shifts nila. Madali lang naman mag adjust na gising ka buong gabi, then tulog ka buong umaga. Sanayan lang din at for sure susunod din body clock mo.”
There are more advantages when working on the night shift for Francisco. One reason is that when she logs out, that’s it, she goes home without thinking of work too much. No client calls or coworker calls after work. She enjoys going out with her coworkers for fun, not for work. Most companies push for equality among the employees. Her shift is also an advantage because she is able to avoid rush hour. “Hindi ako nakikipagsiksikan or nakikipagagawan ng masasakyan. Walang mainit na araw na nagpapadagdag sa stress. So hindi masyadong hassle sa part ko”, she adds. Another leverage of her shift is that if she needs to do errands or appointments during the day, she can do it, she just needs to adjust and sacrifice her hours of sleep. The nigh differential addition to the salary is also a plus, if you really want to save or help your family, this industry pays more than other regular day jobs on an entry level.
Francisco’s advise to those who want to be in the BPO industry is to keep their selves healthy. Be your own investment. “You need to sleep a LOT during daytime, mahirap labanan ang antok sa gabi.and don’t ever do vices like smoking and alcohol. If you want to earn and help your family, better be healthy first. Before you take good care of them, take good care of yourself first”, she explains. Another important tip from her is to refrain from having peers that causes you to spend a lot of money and drain your energy. It’s okay to be acquainted but going out too much will cost you a lot, save up for your future and prioritize.
As the old saying goes, “No one is perfect”, Francisco retails that she also makes mistakes at work but she learns from it and tries to better. She says, “As a data analyst, there are times that even though you do try to be more careful with all the data, sometimes you could not avoid the errors. Check on everything so as not to overlook things. There will always be times that you will fail, so for me I learned from that. As long as you did your part and you did your best, that would be fine. With all the errors that I do at work, I take them as an inspiration to work harder.
