Philippine call center company Infonxx recently renamed itself as KGB. The new name is not an acronym but if you think it sounds familiar, you’re right. They got their new name from that defunct Russian security agency.
Archive for the 'Careers' Category
A friend of a friend recently moved into the big city from down south. The guy used to work for a local government office in the province as a programmer of sorts. I was sought to help out the guy get a job and I asked him his programming skill sets.
Friendster ain’t dead yet. They’re actually looking for a Senior Product Manager in their Philippine office here in Makati. That’s according to a recent job listing on Jobstreet.com.ph.
Continue reading ‘Friendster Philippines is looking for Senior Product Manager’
What’s so hot with the Facebook model that even top Google Engineers are jumping ship and moving on to this allegedly greener pastures? Is Facebook really the next giant in Silicon Valley?
An article at the Inquirer last night revealed that Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) has expressed alarm over the rampant recruitment of Filipino software professionals by Singaporean companies. Migs, opened up the discussion at PTB: Can Pinoy Software Companies Stop the Exodus to Singapore?
The obvious answer is no. And we all know why.
Continue reading ‘The best Filipino Software Developers are headed for Singapore’
From as far back as last year, I only know of two Pinoys who are hard core Ruby on Rails developers. That number has not increased by a single soul up to this day. Here’s an email I got from last night for PTB:
Continue reading ‘Where are the Ruby on Rails developers?’
Here’s a request sent to me for a work from home job as a Web Copywriter. You or someone you know might be interested:
Scope
As a Web Copywriter, you be responsible for developing copy from concept to publication using established best practices for web copywriting. Copy requirements will vary from project to project (e.g. style, voice, etc.). Sometimes, you may also have to write for print.
Required Skills
- Expert knowledge of English grammar
- Expert knowledge of web copywriting techniques
Highly Desirable Skills, But Not Necessary
- Knowledge of (X)HTML
- Knowledge of website usability
- Knowledge of website accessibility
Education
Bachelors degree in English, Mass Communications, or equivalent (exceptional skills and experiences may be used as substitute)
Skills Matrix
If possible, please include in your résumé a detailed skill matrix categorizing your expertise as Basic, Standard, Advance, or Expert and indicate how many years experience you have in that skill as well as what was the last year you used that skill. Also, please include a brief narrative of your knowledge and experience in that particular skill.
Work Portfolio
Please make sure your résumé references examples of your work accompanied with an explanation of what you did to accomplish the task. If your résumé does not include this information, be prepared to provide examples upon request.
Make Your Résumé Stand Out
Here’s a résumé tip that will help you stand out from your competition: do not simply list your roles and responsibilities from previous employments; you should also list your accomplishments qualitatively and quantitatively.
About The Company
You will be working for a startup company that plans to offer web design and development services to small to medium-sized enterprises in the US (primarily).
The company is currently based in Hawaii with plans of opening an office in the Philippines when operational requirements necessitate it. An office in New Zealand is also planned for the future.
Opportunities
In this startup environment, your opinion will be highly valued and regarded. This is a great opportunity for those who are highly dedicated, motivated, and passionate about their careers and want to be recognized for their efforts.
When the need arises, there is a possibility that the company will sponsor qualified employees to relocate overseas.
Work Setup
This is a part time, work-from-home position. You will need to provide yourself with access to a computer, the Internet, and development tools required in the performance of your duties. Our primary means of communication will be via email, IM, and telephone.
How To Apply
Please send your résumé to kiphughes@gmail.com along with samples of
(or links to) your work.
The Recruitment Supervisor of OSRP, LLC was brave enough to call me and ask a favor to help them look for SEO professionals and Managers. I usually get these kind of stuff via email but it was the first time I got a call.
Anyway, here are the positions available:
Marketing Manager
Key Responsibilities:
* Manage a team of 19 content product information reps
* Manage a consumer marketing team
- Heavy focus on Internet merchandising
- E-Mail marketing
* Manage an Internet marketing team
- Must have 2 years of experience with Search engine optimization
- Search engine marketing (keywords, etc.)
- Affiliate marketing
- Shopping comparison marketing.
Qualifications:
- The ideal candidate would have 3 to 5 years experience in Internet marketing and 3 to 5 years management experience.
- The candidate should have experience working for a Multinational company.
Search Engine Optimization Expert
Daily Job Duties
- Work directly with the marketing teams to help build our thriving search engine optimization and conversion business. Actual search “engines” are automated systems that employ mathematical methodologies to evaluate your site and include it in their indices. Search engines primarily look at title tags, headlines, body text, links that connect pages to other pages within the site, links that lead into the site from external sites, page filenames, URLs, ALT tags, and some even still pay attention to keyword tags, description and comment tags.
- Analyze campaigns and translate anecdotal or qualitative data into recommendations and plans for revising the campaign
- Keyword research and selection, link building strategy development and implementation, page coding, copywriting management, report generation and delivery.
- Makes suggestions on optimizing Websites for search engines: HTML, site structure, and page layout issues and work with SEO Engineer to implement and roll out.
- Research and resolve link architecture, html code, content and navigation issues
- Build quality link partners
- Identify and implement strategies for increasing traffic through organic search listings without creating the risk of sites being blacklisted
- Build on understanding of how search engines and their spiders work by researching and reporting key developments and news
- Create and maintain a development standards document/checklist to ensure efficient and accurate implementation of search optimization strategies
Skills
- At least two years experience in Search Engine Optimization
- Strong Internet and MS Office skills
- Excellent written and verbal English communication skills
- Has a self-starter approach towards work, with an eagerness to consistently meet and exceed objectives and take on more responsibility
- Excellent time management skills and works well independently and as part of a team
Qualified applicants can submit resumes via email, or visit our new corporate office:
E-mail address: docefilt@pcmall.com
OSRP, LLC (A subsidiary of PC Mall)
2nd Floor, Edsa Central Pavilion Bldg.
Edsa corner United St., Mandaluyong City
Trunk Line: 6673801 ext. 7380 or 09153186218 Fax No. 6870452
(and look for Loi Torio)
Websites:
www.pcmall.com
www.macmall.com
I’m helping someone look for help on a top list site (much like PinoyTopBlogs) for gaming. The site gets around 50,000 to 75,000 uniques per day.
This is going to be a fulltime job (work from home) managing the site and answering to emails from members. Minimum qualifications include:
- Preferrably female
- Hardworking and diligent
- Knows or plays games
- Has a good understanding of online games (how MMOs operate/work)
- Has knowledge of gaming technologies (private servers, etc)
I can’t divulge the site now but if you’re familiar with PinoyTopBlogs.com, it’s basically the same except that member sites are all about gaming. Ranking is based on voting instead of traffic so a lot of people are emailing the site manager with complaints of cheating (75% of the time). This should be all you need to work on a daily basis. There’s no hours required but you should be able to finish everything for the day esp. answering emails.
The pay is about Php25,000 per month ($500). Leave a comment if you are interested or knows someone who might fit the bill.
Every once in a while, I’d go check Jobstreet and JobsDB for blog-related job ads. So here’s a new one:
Intranet Search/ Blog Administrator
Responsibilities:
* Provides project execution and support to US-based Emerson Process Management, Process Systems and Solutions e-Marketing Team
* Must be able to take projects from concept through completion through ongoing management
* Responsible for all aspects of internal Google Search appliance including:
* Management of Google business relationship
* System Administration, patch management and update
* Crawl list management and upkeep
* Subcollection management and upkeep
* Keyword management
* Customization project management
* Metrics creation and dissemination
* Responsible for ongoing management of internal email distribution lists
* Provide hosting Support of the internal blog application.
* Exhibits energy and action bias to develop and expand existing responsibilities to add-value to overall intranet communication programs.
* Demonstrates interest and ability to keep current with web technologies including HTML, CSS, XML and XSLT. Proven ability to consistently deliver results, work independently and exceed client expectations.
* Strong communication and project management skills required.
* Self-motivated and able to work as part of a marketing team.
Requirements:
* BS Degree in Engineering/ Computer Science or related courses
* With strong project management role experience
There are more than a dozen other job ads which also requires people have created and/or is maintaining a website, a specialized blog or a hi-tech friendster account.
Most of the people out there who are closely watching the Philippine political blogosphere will probably know who Bong Austero is.
For those who don’t know him yet, he was the blogger who published the “Open Letter To Our Leaders” last February 27, 2006 which became so popular it might have been passed from one email to another thosands of times over (I got one but didn’t read all of it). It was eventually used by opposition groups and published on major newspapers. Mr. Austero even got a TV interview on The Big Picture (ANC) with Ricky Carandang.
That 60 minutes of limelight has made the previously unknown Bong Austero from a mere blogger to a columnist at the Manila Standard Today (officially starting June 19):
Starting today, and every Monday and Wednesday thereafter, my byline will appear in the opinion pages of the Manila Standard Today. My maiden column is about something close to my heart as a Human Resource Management practitioner: wages.
Although it was that letter that gave me my 10 minutes of notoriety, it was this blog that caught media’s attention. Yup, bloggers out there, it looks like mainstream media is indeed keeping a keen eye on the blogosphere. Manila Standard Today has another blogger on its roster of columnists, Sassy Lawyer.
I know that there are bloggers out there who will see this move as a form of selling out. I don’t.
Terence Pua of Friendster Philippines (Pusit.com) is also running Xackup and their looking for an Online Evangelist (read: Marketing Manager).
One of the requirements is that you should have your own blog.
You can read about it here.
[tags]blog evangelist, problogging, online marketing, jobs[/tags]
During a beer-drinking spree (I actually had just one bottle) last week with a friend, he told me that he had left his post at the DILG’s IT Department to move to a private company. He had several such opportunities before but recent developments have prompted him to grab this latest offer.
I’m fairly familiar with the Philippine Government’s Salary Grade (and the Salary Standardization Law) so I understand why one would want to go private. We’ll, it’s common knowledge that there’s no money in government service (unless you’re alignjed with a jueteng lord) but I have been told that there are a lot of perks and benefits that come along with it.
A government employee with a salary grade of 11 would bring home just over 8 thousand pesos a month. Barely enough for a single person to live by, much more to raise a family.
Still, work in a government office isn’t as stressful as in other private corporations. Add that to the wide plethora of benefits for you and your family along with the saying that “a government employment is yours to keep until retirement” is something to consider. There’s no such thing as security of tenure in the private sector.
So, my friend asked me if ‘it was a good move’ and I said, under the circumstances, getting twice the take-home pay is better if you have more than one mouth to feed.
Reports of Robert Scoble, the Microsoft poster boy in the blogging world, leaving the software giant for a recently funded start-up company PodTech is catching one with Techcrunch spilling the latest scoop.
The bigger question is, why would he leave a seemingly good career at Microsoft (especially with the role he is playing in the blogosphere)? We can only surmise.
Scoble has not yet really (officially) admitted about it early today but he’s already blogged about what it’s not about.
More about it here: Correcting the record about Microsoft.
[tags]robert scoble, scobleizer, microsoft, resignation[/tags]
Someone sent me a link to this old article from Manila Standard Today about me recent article on call center jobs in the Philippines.
The article mentioned that only around 3 out of 100 fresh graduates in the country are hired by call centers. The survey must have been done in 2005, where only 11,526 applicants or 2.89 percent of the total 400,000 new graduates are accepted in BPO companies and call centers.
However, the 3% mentioned here seemed misleading since there’s no way all those 400,000 college graduates applied in a call center. That means the passing rate is not actually 3% which I think is really very low. Nevertheless, it supports my previous assumption that new graduates aren’t qualified enough to make it thru the rigorous hiring process of these call center.
Is the claimed 94% literacy rate of the Philippines over-estimated? Is the world’s 3rd largest English speaking country not providing enough qualified workforce for the BPO and call center industry? I guess so.
The number one reason? Less than half (could be even way less than that) of these applicants can speak straight conversational English. It’s not just literacy we’re talking here, it’s proficiency.
I really think these call centers should lower their passing requirements and use those tons and tons of money they saved from outsourcing and invest on training new (and semi-qualified) hirees.
[tags]call center philippines, business process outsourcing[/tags]
In the last couple of months, I may have received over a hundred resumes from people looking for a call center job. A majority of them are coming from Cebu but may come as far as India (yup, a dozen or so Indian nationals sending me email asking if I could forward their resume to Convergys).
I have been religiously forwarding the resumes to my friend who works in Convergys and of the lot not a single person got it. A couple made it to the first interview but not ever passed and made it thru. Like most call centers, Convergys has this internal placement program for their employees. They basically give referral bonuses for every successful applicant they refer and got hired. Payout starts at Php5,000 to as high as Php20,000 per referral.
So I thought I could get a cut from all those people I referred (my friend inside the call center will officially claim it and we split the sum 50-50). Alas, not a single cent came my way.
Maybe, the call center industry is so saturated that there are no more qualified people to be hired. Maybe the rest of unemployed population aren’t good enough or can’t speak English proficiently even if they do undergo training. Or, the ones that do don’t want a dead-end, no fixed schedule, you-have-to-push-a-button-to-get-a-two-minute-weewee call center career. Looks like the only way to get more call center people is by pirating them from other companies. I think that’s a fair assumption.
So, are we going to agree to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when she said we need a call-center school? Huwaaat?
I’m seeing a lot of reports, news and all raves about the Philippines being the center of attention for the call center industry (or is that contact center?). But, is the Philippines the primary destination? Statistics would show we’re not.
Last week, reports came out that Apple will be opening up a tech support facility in Bangalore, India with an initial manpower of 1,500 and to double by the end of the year. Why didn’t Apple went to the Philippines, I can only speculate.
The early this week, Dell formally launched its office at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City with an initial workforce of 700 to be doubled by end of the year. I saw in TV that GMA was also there to thank Michael Dell for choosing the Philippines as its location for the call center facility. She was all praises actually. Didn’t she know that Dell has an existing support center in India? With an existing 1,000 10,000 call center reps in Bangalore, Dell is also planning to add 50% more within the year as well.
So, by the end of the year, Dell will have 1,000% times more hired agents in India than the Philippines.
Basically, I think we’re just a backup plan and not really the prime destination. At the end of the day, it will still be about the economics of the industry and Indians are still way cheaper than Filipinos.
[tags]call center jobs, philippine call centers, hiring, bpo, outsourcing, salary, benefits, night shifts deferential[/tags]
Just got email email from some company in the UK providing outsourced IT from India. I would have immediately tagged the email as spam but the rates they provided looked interesting:
We are currently dealing with 45 IT / Web Development Companies in the U.K. and USA. We provide resources of different skills set (Skills and Costs Mentioned Below) according to your project needs. Instead of hiring an employee in the UK you are getting the same services at less than half of the cost and you dont even have to worry about office space and other employee needs. Our employees will be always available on MSN/ Email/Skype/Phone and they will send you the time sheets or status reports according to your needs.
Please see the cost below and you will find a major difference in costs:
Web Designer (Skills : Dreamweaver/Adobe Photoshop/Flash MX) : 450 Pounds/ Month
Web Developer (Skills : PHP/MySql) : 750 Pounds/ Month
Web Developer (Skills : ASP/HTML/VBSCRIPT/JAVASCRIPT/SQL SERVER) : 750 Pounds/ Month
Web Developer (.NET) ( Skills : ASP.NET/SQl SERVER) : 800 Pounds/ Month
Application Developer ( Skills : VB/VB.NET/SQL SERVER) : 800 Pounds/ Month
Java Developer (Skills : J2EE/ JSP/JBOSS/TOMCAT/MY SQL ) : 800 Pounds/Month
SEO Executive (Skills : Link Exchange / Keyword Planning/ Paid Activities) : 650 Pounds/Month
Data Operator (Skills : MS Office) : 300 Pound/ Month
Note all the prices are exclusive of VAT.
The rates are in UK pounds so you need to multiply them with 1.7 to convert to US dollars so the Data Operator actually costs USD $510 (Php 26,000) and the .NET Developer is USD$1,360 (Php 69,000).
Of course, the company gets a chunk of that before they pay off their developers. Decent rates for an offshore development work though the .NET developer seems to be a little undercut. Local salaries for the same ranges somewhere from Php35k (1 year exp) to Php80K (3 years exp). A former officemate’s wife is working directly with an Australian company from home and gets Php 90k (net) for it.
Does that mean skilled Indians are cheaper to hire then Filipinos?
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