Interview questions for Business Process Outsourcing

1. What do you understand about BPO and how does it work?

The interviewer would ask this question to know if you have basic knowledge of the industry for which you are giving an interview. They want to understand how well you are prepared for an interview and if you are a suitable candidate for this role.
You may answer this by explaining your understanding of the BPO sector with some examples.
Business Process Outsourcing is a system in which a company lends its work to another company contractually. The lender may lend either part of its business segment or an entire segment to another company. For example, an American company outsourcing its customer service handle to another company in India. The Indian company now works to provide and improve the customer service experience of the American company.

2. What is the call center?

A call center is a customer care center where phone calls are handled in large numbers.

3.  What is the scope of BPO in the current market?

In a situation where companies failed to survive in the market, BPO has achieved a milestone in an economic crisis.
It helped to reduce the unemployment rate marginally in developing countries.

4. What are the popular or common software products used in BPO industries?

The popular or common software products used in BPO industries are 1) CRM software, 2) HRM software, and 3) ERP. This software helps them to manage the day to day activities, employees, customers, etc.

5. Explain important elements of BPO

This is a commonly asked BPO job interview question. Important elements of BPO are:
• Customer integration services: It includes Marketing, order processing, customer support, etc.
• Back office transactions: It involves logistic activities, warehouse management, etc.
• Software operations: This includes application development and testing, implementation services, etc.
• Finance services: It involves Account payables, account receivables, auditing, and more.
• Knowledge services: This element contains payroll service, workforce training, etc.
• HR services: This BPO element includes data analytics, data mining, customer feedback, and many more.

6. What are the different types of RPO?

Different types of RPO are:
On-Demand RPO: It provides support during the recruitment cycle of a business.
Short term RPO: It is a process of the increasing team as when needed.
Point of service RPO: This type of RPO is an implementation of the recruiting process.
Full Cycle RPO: It is a way of performing the recruiting cycle within a targeted area of business.
Long term RPO: It is a management of end to the end recruitment process.

7. Why computer skills are important for a BPO job?

Most of the time, the interviewer usually asks for basic computer skills, but if the job demands more computer work, they will hold a practical test to check your computer skills.

8. What are the different type of BPOs?

The interviewer may ask this question to understand how much you have researched about this industry. This will reflect your interest in the job and also how well prepared you are.
To answer this question, you can state the different types of BPOs and explain them briefly.

BPO is of two types, front-office and back-office. When a company outsources its customer handling work like addressing customer’s grievances or providing tech support to the customer, it is referred as front-office BPO service. When the outsourcing company outsources its internal process like handling finances, purchasing or billing, it is referred to as back-office BPO service.”

9. What is the difference between offshore and onshore outsourcing?

Since BPO sector is based on outsourcing work, an interviewer may ask this question to know if you understand the basic terminology of the industry. It is very important that when you prepare for an interview, you read about the basic terms associated with the industry.
You may answer this question by briefly explaining what offshore and onshore outsourcing is. If you can explain with examples, it will reflect your deep understanding of the concept.
If a company outsources its processes to a third-party company located outside the country, it is termed offshore outsourcing. For example, a European company outsources its segment of work to an Indian company.
On other hand, if a company outsources its processes to a third-party company located in the same country, it is termed as onshore outsourcing. For example, a European company outsourcing its processes to another European company

10.  Tell me something about BPO and how it works?

BPO is abbreviated as Business Process Outsourcing. When a company wants its non-core work to be done by an expert at cheaper costs, then they easily outsource their work to another country, which is called Business Process Outsourcing.

11. What are the major BPO sectors for outsourcing?

The major BPO sectors for outsourcing are:
• IT and Communication
• Medical and health services
• Insurance
• Finance
• Law and Jurisdiction

12. Why working in night shifts is important?

Night shift is important because:
• BPO business operates through the night can produce more volume and meet the demand of the market.
• Night shift is necessary to match the working hours of foreign countries.

13. What do you understand by in-bound and out-bound process?

By asking this question, the interviewer is trying to assess your basic knowledge of the processes followed in the industry. It helps them to analyse your appropriateness for the job position.
You can answer this question by explaining these processes with examples. If you have worked on these processes in your past job, it would be great to explain with the help of your experience.
Example: “In-bound process means you are handling the customer’s incoming calls to provide them the assistance on the service or product they have availed. For example, on-call technical support or complaint registration.
Out-bound process means you are calling the customers from the database you have got from the parent company. The purpose is to create and convert leads to increase the business of the company. For example, calling customers to sell credit cards or marketing new products or services to the customers.