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Job hunting needs to be viewed in a perspective of totality.

Lima Sehgal

Job hunting leaves a trail of rejections over time, but we seldom go beyond defining the process beyond, win or lose.

Instead of asking if we are on the right track, we are too busy with the search. For example, if we stay in Delhi, all we think of is that we want a Placement Consultant in Delhi, or just a job in Delhi.

Job hunting needs to be viewed in a perspective of totality. It is definitely about beating a track through the jungle, but where survival is more than having a machine gun as a survival kit.

For starters, the research is more important than the search. Most of us can quote a vacancy with admirable accuracy, but there is very little knowledge about the company’s definition about suitability. We worry more about the polish of the resume, the dress, shoes, the style, the confidence, but much less about listening to the rhythms of a company’s being. Winning or losing is unimportant, but not developing a sixth sense to comprehend a company’s individuality or emotionality is like inviting murder to interview rationale.

We worry so much about the competition but beyond the superficial or the statistics we do little to understand it. But it is worth considering the fact that it is not always the best guy, the more experienced or the slickest interview savvy dude, who gets the job. The heaven favored, come in various bottles and packages.

How many of us bother to find out about who won what you lost?

The definition of successful survivors in the job market jungle is definitely not about those who never get bitten .But about those who, irrespective of either winning or losing or being wounded give equal importance to knowing both facts – Why Me? and Why not Me?

Copyright © 2011, Jobnet magazine, issue 179

Republication or dissemination of the contents of this article are expressly prohibited without the written consent of the publishers of Jobnet magazine

Posted under Articles by Lima Sehgal

For the Indian Jobseeker, job hunting is a full time job

Lima Sehgal

Every year is followed by another new year, yet you don’t hear anyone complaining. But the inevitability of a continuous new job change wakes waves of indignant protest.

The problem here is that every time we go about the process of job hunting we rediscover the philosophy of timing. Jobs availability is subject to timing, and the art lies in knowing that there is the possibility that what was available yesterday is not available now.

Enough inspiration for us to opt for the post of the hermit in the Himalayas, but even that may not be vacant.

So we have the two extreme options of either being on the prowl all the time, or of precisely timing the prowl. However organized you may be on job hunting; both methods do not work because sometime between two job hunts you have to work at holding a job too.

Jobseekers do go crazy at the prospect of job hunting being a full time job.

Solutions and answers border on the acrobatics that few can achieve.

Finding what you can get and getting what you can find is what most of us resort to, but we know there are better strategies for job hunting than that one…But what ?

Copyright © 2011, Jobnet Magazine, issue 189

Republication or dissemination of the contents of this article are expressly prohibited without the written consent of the publishers of Jobnet magazine.

Posted under Articles by Lima Sehgal

Telephone impressions are crucial for jobseekers

Lima Sehgal

Many a job is lost for reasons that seem so unreasonable. Like ring –tones or an inquisitive parent.

While so much energy gets put into perfecting the job hunting technology, the Indian jobseekers seems to be missing out on a crucial detail – telephone impressions.

While there is so much literature and advice on how to nail the interviewer, we need to also catch on to the fact that during the job hunting process it is not only necessary to keep our pants pressed but also ensure that we are not caught with our pants down.

It is bad enough fighting with the competition out there, but why create war with the interviewers?

Many a job is lost for reasons that seem so unreasonable. Take ring -tones. That is like inviting them to judge the book by its cover? Not only does it invite an opinion on your choice of films, regionality, caste, religion or utter lack of taste, but it can drive a caller to cut a call. You can wish for connecting with a kindred soul but can you really take the risk?

The job hunting process has been invaded by technology, but the actual expertise lies in making it work to your advantage. Easy accessibility is about the disadvantage of being invaded when you are not prepared. But while on a hunt you always have to be prepared or get killed; even if it is only by default.

Most placement consultants do their first elimination over the telephone. Nothing is worse than an inquisitive parent who grills you with questions or a voice that treats you like an unwanted telemarketing caller or a creditor.

It is a bhramavidhya to be — on guarde’, if your telephone number is accessible to job providers, be it companies or placement firms.

Because ….

However pretty the lace – let us keep our underwear out of sight.

Copyright © 2011, Jobnet Magazine

Republication or dissemination of the contents of this article are expressly prohibited without the written consent of the publishers of Jobnet magazine.

Posted under Articles by Lima Sehgal

Jobhunting is a learned art, it is time the Indian jobseeker realized that.

Lima Sehgal

It is taking too long for the Indian jobseeker to realize that jobhunting is about sitting in a 5 star gourmet restaurant and realising that it is a self service fast food joint with matched pricing.

No wonder one feels let down.

Perhaps the fact that we have got so used to the elimination process which has chased us – from playschool thru High school and beyond to A/B till Z school, that we are quite reconciled to the fact that it must also continue thru the job hunt and one only needs to find the schooling that must follow.

In this melee of competition the odds can be played if one knows how.

The methodology of creating job options and choices exist. But it is an acquired skill that must be learnt. Most of us have no method, or even an idea on what to do. With the result we are professionals who are amateurs.

Take for example the way most of us are using placement firms. The strategy of using boils down to 1) Give me a big list all of them – email technology zindabad! 2) Tell me about a few good ones you know – Lucky dip can get lucky ! Net conclusion is that they are all bekar.

So lets add on. Let’s try the savvy technology of the internet. Its simple — fill a few forms, enrol for resume blasters, surf for jobs on the big portals and then relax. I must admit that it gives the ego quite a kick to get so many mails in our mailbox. (Better than using the govt. Postal department with unkind postmen).

It time to stop blaming the system and realise that jobhunting is a different learning. Something we have never been exposed to – and we require to go back to kindergarden, with moustache and muscle if need be.

Knowing how to swim in your bathtub will not work in the sea!!

Copyright © 2011, Jobnet magazine

Republication or dissemination of the contents of this article are expressly prohibited without the written consent of the publishers of Jobnet magazine

Posted under Articles by Lima Sehgal

What is customer value or customer care in India? Dehumanizing the Employee results when customer value or customer care is compromised.

Unless we can give value to our customer, we cannot feel valued as employees. Any company who neglects this aspect dehumanizes their employees. How to survive in great jobs, in great companies, in a great bubble excluding sensations of customer satisfactions, is a feat for some and an easy switch-off for most.

The resulting ambiguity in employees makes them mediocre. And – Thodi si mediocrity is more than thodi si compromise from the perspective of business survival.

THE INDIAN WORK ETHOS

Lima Sehgal

The Indian work ethos reflects a kaleidoscope in interesting manifestations. This means, in plain English, that the virus mutates and decides to have babies!!

As popularity trends go, if you do not get into a government job, then the next best thing you can do is to get yourself into a multinational company.

Multinational companies have brought their own work ethos. They work on the percentage of customers who don’t complain. If that happens to be a larger percentage than those who complain, then they survive and become successful. The sheer volume of our population is statistically favorable to this.

But, the Indian professional working for a multinational is a little confused on this. What exactly is his responsibility towards his work?

Customer care in our country has taken new dimensions. On the one hand, an employee is derided for the government servant’s attitude of wearing bureaucratic blinkers, corruption and indifference to customer care and, on the other hand, taking any initiative about the concerns of even a single individual would result in being statically incorrect for your organization. To improve efficiency in any organization that works on this statistical module, one must ensure that the employees are not allowed any individual initiative in customer care.

What does it do for an employee? It dehumanizes him. A condition that is familiar to us from kindergarten.

So we must be honest and not advocate that fantasy that all job satisfaction comes from working for great companies and fantastic salary packets. It comes for most of us in our sense of achievement and that is instinctively linked to customer happiness. We also want to believe that the job we do makes a difference in this world, we like to put a signature on what is important.

But the herd instinct is so ingrained in us that we would rather deny the need for self expression in our jobs than do anything about it.

We can even justify it by quoting the Vedas – Dehumanism leads to cosmic evolution. Our Vedas talked about being one with Brahamaan. If you become part of a whole then there is less effort. And even better, when you become the pie you get more than just a piece of it.

Pretty heady stuff! But translated into nitty gritties, it means that most Indians agree that, if every one possessed the talent for individual self expression, then there would be chaos. So, as a matter of policy, Indians have system of collective compromise which makes them socially polite and individually invisible… and comfortable.

This compromise creates a national collective mental mediocrity.

With the result we have an intriguing ambiguity about us. Years back, my son’s Diwali school function I attended for kindergarten students, ended with a speech by the school principal about the evils of child labour in the firecracker industry, and how the school was advocating the ban of crackers and fireworks at home and in school. The talk ended with on a cheerful note – We request parents to step outside for tea and snacks and “a few” firecrackers.

Ambiguities are the hall mark of the Indian. If he evades income tax then he says, “look at that Politician, compared to him I just hid a little”. Or,” look at that other guy how come you never catch him for unauthorized construction , mine is just a tiny balcony.”

Ambiguity, with its resultant fallout of mediocrity, will have repercussions. How will we be capable of quality service? Because, ultimately, the survival of any organization depends not on being ranked and rated or about being big or even number one, but on its ability to maintain a quality of service it promises to its customer — not just till the day after tomorrow, but for ever. This trend in India of commitment to a customer becoming delegated as a responsibility to the customer care department is shortsighted. When the survival of any organization depends on the value of service to a customer this does not amount to practical wisdom either.

If companies continue to offer to their employees a support for their ambiguity, by giving a freedom from commitment to customers by either limiting their customer interaction or by removing it, it will continue to breed in people an indifference to work quality and an escapist attitude that says all jobs can be changed when the going gets too tough.

I think that every Indian jobseeker needs to follow the maxim – Dig a well before you are thirsty. However seductive, herdism that results in an inability to shape our work ethos positively, tends to backfire on us.

Copyright © 2011, Jobnet magazine, issue 112

Republication or dissemination of the contents of this article are expressly prohibited without the written consent of the publishers of Jobnet magazine

Posted under Articles by Lima Sehgal

Phoren jobs,may be next door for the Indian Jobseeker

Lima Sehgal

Perhaps what the Indian jobseeker who is looking for a job abroad does not know – phoren is  not only that which is far but also sometimes even next door or, maybe even just fifty kilometers away.

But how to apply?

Ever since our Netas advocated the popularization of local lingos, our neighborhoods turned firang.

The job market has turned a corner. The future promises that the language factor will become the most crucial factor in the success of job hunting. However brilliant your education, what will count is who shares your language across the table.

A generation ago life was much easier. Good English was essential. Now, tell me how multilingual can we be? Considering all the mother tongues and father tongues of India, it would be quite a linguistic feat to master even a few.

Broken sentences is forgivable if you are asking directions to the toilet, in Swahili, in Africa, but try speaking broken Malayalam or even Hindi at an interview to the interviewer who is fluent in the language and you can guess who gets the job -  considering the population, competition there will always be quite a number.

And forget about using sign language…unless, you are very sure that the other guy is proficient in it too.

Language is a serious issue in the job market. Competition will ensure that, in the future,India’s multilingualism will flower into a forest and every one will be carrying a language translation guide on their mobiles. But the jobs will be won only by those who will be so lucky as to not need to use it. The value of such luck is debatable; after all lightning never strikes twice in the same place.

As the language problem spreads, many jobseekers are resorting to keywords that are successful on the internet but fail to work elsewhere.

However profound; but conversations like – “You placement consultant – me Jobseeker” or “Hello, you have job, me want job” – will definitely not help.

But for starters what has a chance of working is – “You wait, I go and get my translator”.

Copyright © 2011, Jobnet Magazine, issue 177

Republication or dissemination of the contents of this article are expressly prohibited without the written consent of the publishers of Jobnet magazine.

Posted under Articles by Lima Sehgal