Call centers are the fastest growing employers in urban India. According to a report by McKinsey & Co, 1.1 million new jobs in call centers and back office processes will be created over the next five years.

At Intelenet, one of the bigger call centers in Mumbai, 50 to 80 people walk in every day looking for jobs. Less than 15 percent get selected.

In the last six months, Intelenet has added 700 employees, all graduates, with zero or a year’s experience. The average age of an employee at any call center hovers at 24.

Referrals is the preferred method of hiring. No one else can judge how well a candidate can fit into the company’s culture than an existing employee. Intelenet has a 80 percent hit rate when it comes to hiring employees by the referral method.

"Only when we want to hire 100 or 200 employees for a project that has suddenly come in do we advertise in the newspapers," says Manuel D’Souza, Head, Human Resources, Intelenet.

Words: Priya Ganapati. Photograph: Jewella C Miranda

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