Hello ... If you are communicative, helpful and keen to learn about new products, you should consider a career in the call centre business.

THE first image that comes to the mind of an adolescent when a call centre is mentioned is likely to be the uncooperative and disinterested operator from the movie Transformers who would not connect the hero to the Pentagon.

Although comical, that situation is a far cry from reality.

According to Teledirect Telecommerce Sdn Bhd chief executive officer, Laurent Junique, the industry is exciting and most of the people in the business are helpful and communicative.

Some may take Junique's words with a pinch of salt, as they come from the CEO of a call centre company that operates in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

However, Junique speaks from experience as he used to work as a telemarketer in Lyon, France, before his career as an entrepreneur took off.

Employees busy speaking to their clients while referring to information on their computer screens.

"I was taking care of magazine subscription then," he recalls.

"I was terrified as I was dealing with a product I had no knowledge about and I expected to be scolded.

"My supervisor tried to ease my worries. I made a call to a customer who turned out to be really nice. Although he declined, the experience made me relax and I met more nice people before securing my first sale."

According to Junique, his early experiences left a lasting impression on him and he decided that a career in communications would be viable.

Many of his earlier experiences shape the way Teledirect is run today, and his eyes come alive when he describes what his staff do on a daily basis.

The job involves ...

... taking inbound and outbound calls, dealing with customers who may need to be appeased, selling products and lastly, servicing customers and clients.

Their morning starts out with ...

... a song. They often sing an inspirational song like "We are the world" in order to create a calm and positive ambience. In doing so, they build camaraderie and teamwork.

This is important as it can really take them far in life.

If you look at the last World Cup, Brazil had the best players in Ronaldinho and Kaka, but they didn't win. Disunited teams are not effective as you either win as a team or lose as one.

To qualify you need ...

... to obtain SPM qualifications at the very least. While a sizable number of people in the call centre industry are diploma and degree holders, having a lesser academic background is not seen as a disadvantage.

Also, age is no barrier to entry.

Although 60% of workers in the industry are aged between 25-34, older people can do the job equally well, if they are trained and have the right attitude.

JUNIQUE: Companies are keen to set up call centres here as a big percentage of the population can communicate in English.

The best person for the job is ...

... a good listener with the right attitude to learn and a positive mindset. The best people for the job are those who possess a good balance of intelligence, eloquence and patience to listen. A good communicator will be able to establish a rapport with customers and this is vital.

In fact, one of my best telemarketers in Singapore is actually 68. She can hardly walk. Her voice is quite frail and she sounds like a grandmother.

However, she uses it to her advantage.

How can anyone refuse a grandmother?

Prospects for the future ...

... are great. Call centres have made big inroads in Malaysia, the number of jobs increased to 32,760 from 28,000 last year - a growth rate of 17%.

While not as developed when compared to India or the Philippines, the call centre industry plays a key role in Malaysia, and multinational companies are interested in setting up centres here as a big percentage of the population can communicate in English.

Commonly viewed as a sales accelerator, Teledirect is also a career accelerator in many ways as the rapid growth of the industry places its staff in high demand.

"Sales acceleration is about 10% of a call centre's business in Malaysia and skills in this area attract other employees especially multinational firms.

''While some choose to develop their careers in the call centre industry, others decide to move on, and a few of my former staff have received offers up to ten times their current salaries," explains Junique.

As the industry expands, Teledirect addresses the issue of staff contribution through its structured recognition programme, where top performers win a trip to won of the world's seven wonders.

They love their job because ...

... the nature of the industry is largely team-based and there is good team spirit at Teledirect. Colleagues view each other as friends and this provides them with more motivation to perform.

Also, this is a good career for communicative people, and their hard work and contributions do not go unrecognised.

What they dislike most about the job ...

... are nasty customers. Thankfully, there aren't that many of them and workers generally don't get to deal with difficult people.

Since there are strong views on cliques and disunited teams amongst colleagues, the company makes sure that it does not practise favouritsm, and that there is transparency when it comes to assessments.

Will they be millionaires by 30?

Why not? Some people start working in the call centre industry at a young age and, depending on the product, business model and personal attitude, one could do very well.

Examples of key product areas are financial services, outsource call centre services and the sale of mainframe systems.