How Do I Become a BPO Assistant?

When businesses find that it is beneficial to contract a third party to perform daily or project oriented processes, they use business process outsourcing (BPO) services. A BPO assistant performs duties that provide support for a BPO organization, including back office work, such as accounting, and front office work, such as customer service. To become a BPO assistant, you should first determine which line of work you would like to pursue. In most cases, a college degree is a valuable asset. If you want to become a BPO assistant who performs more complex tasks in fields such as finance or information technology (IT) you should earn a graduate degree.

The level of responsibility and salary of BPO assistants vary among fields, industries, and individual companies. Likewise, an assistant's level of experience affects his or her duties and pay level. In most cases, however, a BPO assistant does not have management duties, though he or she might advise management and oversee individual projects.

To become a BPO assistant, you should consider your strengths. If you are one of those people who find it easy to inspire confidence and trust in others, you might want to pursue front office work. For example, you can take a call center job in which you might handle client issues. Individuals who have aptitudes for math or science might consider back office work. IT development and financial accounting are two commonly outsourced processes.

If you enjoy performing research and have a keen eye for detail, you might consider working specifically in the knowledge outsourcing industry. These professionals typically perform market research and gather and analyze financial data for client businesses and financial firms. Legal firms might hire BPO assistants at knowledge outsourcing centers to perform legal research.

Regardless of which path you choose, if you would like to become a BPO assistant, there are a few skills you need to have. For instance, it is essential that you are comfortable using computers and learning new programs. Likewise, you must have good communication skills. While languages used in the BPO industry vary from nation to nation, it is common for employers to require that employees know English.

If you would like to become a BPO assistant, but you are lacking a few skills, you can take courses that prepare you. For example, if you need to gain a better understanding of computers so you can perform data entry jobs, you can take a professional development class that focuses on computer usage. Individuals who want to brush up on their English can take courses that teach them English used primarily in business contexts.