Hasan Hisal, 23, spends his free time listening to his voice and checking it for errors in pronunciation and diction. While many of his peers are actually working in call centres, Hisal is undergoing a one-year diploma in voice and accent training in Mumbai. Says Hisal, ?I worked in a call centre for some months, when my employer asked me to enroll myself in a trainers? course.?

Hisal could be set for a great career. For if McKinsey and Nasscom reports are anything to go by, there will be as many as one million BPO employees by the end of 2008. Which also means that there will be a huge demand for personnel who can train them in the job.

Raajhesh Tolia, chief executive officer, Kaizer Foundation, informs that there are three types of training in BPOs ? voice and accent, technical support, and process. The voice and accent training usually includes conversational skills in UK English and US English along with diction, grammar, voice pitch and telephone etiquette. Likewise, a technical trainer imparts the requisite skills to solve problems related to the technical aspects of a system. A process trainer, on the other hand, is one who explains the processes of the parent company to a new employee.

If you want to make a career in BPO training, there are now institutes that equip you with the necessary skills. Kaizer Foundation, based in Mumbai, is the brainchild of Tolia, who set up the institute almost five years ago. A year ago, the institute launched two courses ? a one-year diploma in training management and a nine-day Train the Trainers programme. Says Tolia: ?While the former introduces one to the world of training, ranging from voice to soft skills; the latter is more of a skill enhancement course for established trainers.? The company currently operates only in Mumbai but is planning a nationwide launch in the next six months.

Similarly, Hero Mindmine, a Gurgaon-based outfit that is part of the $2.2 billion Hero group, has tailor-made courses for the BPO industry, encompassing voice and technical support. It also offers a BBA degree with specialisation in BPO. All the courses include practical as well as theory lessons with internship in call centres and back office processing outfits.

The courses do not come cheap, though. Hero Mindmine?s BBA course costs Rs 1,34,000 while Kaizar Foundation?s Train the Trainers nine-day programme costs as much as Rs 9,600 and its diploma course comes at Rs 15,000.

So how much will you make as a BPO trainer? At the outset, you can earn anywhere between Rs 10,000 and Rs 12,000 per month and this can go up to as much as Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 per month after a few years, says Tolia.

As regards career growth, says Sumeena Gopalakrishnan, who works as a voice and accent enhancement trainer in 3G, a leading BPO outfit in Mumbai, ?A trainer works at different levels in an organisation ? leader, mentor, coach and facilitator ? that are globally recognised terms, depending on the experience.? Many trainers also turn entrepreneurs who start their own training consultancies, points out Tolia.

Experts have some tips on what makes a good trainer. ?A trainer should be passionate about training and have enormous patience,? says Gopalakrishnan of 3G. The best part of being a trainer is that you not only develop your own personality, but also get to shape several others.

So, the next time anyone mentions a call centre, you know that it offers a career in training too.