Issues young Indians face today- Part 3

If on the one hand parental pressures aren’t bad enough, peer pressures make matters only worse.

“It matters to young people how many friends they have on Facebook or what brand of clothes they wear, what mobile phone they use and who they’re seen with. The funny part is that they may be ok with what they have as long as they don’t know what their friends do too,” Sadia Raval tells me.

A friend and a mother-of-two once told me that her daughter was angry for purchasing a Maruti Swift because it was too downmarket for her. Her daughter is said to have told her that she ‘should’ve considered a Honda CRV’. My friend, a single mother in her early 50s and had the liberty of having a car quite late in life herself, gasped at the thought and quite simply asked her to take the bus since she found being seen in a Swift below her dignity!

Doctoral candidate Antoinette Landor who presented some of her findings at the World Congress for Sexual Health in Glasgow has drawn a connection between teens losing their virginity and peer pressure.

Landor explains that peer pressure often drives young people into their lovers’ beds. “They are more likely to have a higher number of sex partners and a higher number of oral sex partners. They are more likely to not delay sex, and engage in sex without any contraception,” she says.

Although Landor’s study does not include Indian teens, the findings are relevant to the (urban) Indian context too. A former colleague who studied in one of the more posh schools in Mumbai with more than a dozen Bollywood kids as his classmates told me that they ‘went the whole hog’ by the time they graduated out of Class Ten. He laughed heartily as I looked at him with some amount of disbelief (and perhaps a little jealousy) and assured me he wasn’t lying.

What he said was confirmed by India Today‘s most recent survey that revealed at least 24 per cent respondents across the country had lost their virginity while they were still in their teens (the figures were 20 per cent higher in Delhi).

“It is almost like a competition,” my Maruti Swift-driving friend tells me. “If your friend has slept with someone, you want to as well, just to prove a point and just so you can fit in with the group.”

Source: www.rediff.com

Is the job squeeze in India for real?

In September, the senior management of a financial services company debated a serious issue: Over spreadsheets and power point presentations projected on a giant screen, five people discussed whether to downsize a division that was eating into the company’s profitability or close the entire division for good.

Early October, with the Indian and global stock markets in a tizzy and the shadow of the Euro Zone debt crisis looming over the world, this Bangalore-based company hurriedly summoned some 60 odd employees of this division for an ‘urgent meeting.’

By the end of the day all 60 employees returned home with pink slips and the promise of a decent severance package — a part of their contract — in their bags.

“I couldn’t figure out why they fired me,” says 22-year-old Namit Singha (name changed on request), an economics graduate from Mumbai University who figured in the list of people who lost their jobs.

“The management didn’t convey if our jobs were taken away because of cost cutting or a downsizing of the workforce. What I heard from others in the company was that our division was not making money,” he adds.

read more:http://www.rediff.com/getahead/slide-show/slide-show-1-career-is-the-job-squeeze-in-india-for-real/20111216.htm

Source: Rediff

 

 

Techniques to initialize a GD

Initiating a GD is a high profit-high loss strategy. When you initiate a GD, you not only grab the opportunity to speak, you also grab the attention of the examiner and your fellow candidates. If you can make a favorable first impression with your content and communication skills after you initiate a GD, it will help you sail through the discussion.

But if you initiate a GD and stammer/ stutter/ quote wrong facts and figures, the damage might be irreparable.

If you initiate a GD impeccably but don’t speak much after that, it gives the impression that you started the GD for the sake of starting it or getting those initial kitty of points earmarked for an initiator!

When you start a GD, you are responsible for putting it into the right perspective or framework. So initiate one only if you have in-depth knowledge about the topic at hand.

There are different techniques to initiate a GD and make a good first impression:

i. Quotes
ii. Definition
iii. Question
iv. Shock statement
v. Facts, figures and statistics
vi. Short story
vii. General statement

~ Quotes

Quotes are an effective way of initiating a GD.

If the topic of a GD is: Should the Censor Board be abolished?, you could start with a quote like, ‘Hidden apples are always sweet’.

For a GD topic like, Customer is King, you could quote Sam (Wal-mart) Walton’s famous saying, ‘There is only one boss: the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company — from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.’

~ Definition

Start a GD by defining the topic or an important term in the topic.

For example, if the topic of the GD is Advertising is a Diplomatic Way of Telling a Lie, why not start the GD by defining advertising as, ‘Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services through mass media like newspapers, magazines, television or radio by an identified sponsor’?

For a topic like The Malthusian Economic Prophecy is no longer relevant, you could start by explaining the definition of the Malthusian Economic Prophecy.

~ Question

Asking a question is an impactful way of starting a GD.

It does not signify asking a question to any of the candidates in a GD so as to hamper the flow. It implies asking a question, and answering it yourself.

Any question that might hamper the flow of a GD or insult a participant or play devil’s advocate must be discouraged.

Questions that promote a flow of ideas are always appreciated.

For a topic like, Should India go to war with Pakistan, you could start by asking, ‘What does war bring to the people of a nation? We have had four clashes with Pakistan. The pertinent question is: what have we achieved?’

~ Shock statement

Initiating a GD with a shocking statement is the best way to grab immediate attention and put forth your point.

If a GD topic is, The Impact of Population on the Indian Economy, you could start with, ’At the centre of the Indian capital stands a population clock that ticks away relentlessly. It tracks 33 births a minute, 2,000 an hour, 48,000 a day. Which calculates to about 12 million every year. That is roughly the size of Australia. As a current political slogan puts it, ‘Nothing’s impossible when 1 billion Indians work together’.’

~ Facts, figures and statistics

If you decide to initiate your GD with facts, figure and statistics, make sure to quote them accurately.

Approximation is allowed in macro level figures, but micro level figures need to be correct and accurate.

For example, you can say, approximately 70 per cent of the Indian population stays in rural areas (macro figures, approximation allowed).

But you cannot say 30 states of India instead of 28 (micro figures, no approximations).

Stating wrong facts works to your disadvantage.

For a GD topic like, China, a Rising Tiger, you could start with, ‘In 1983, when China was still in its initial stages of reform and opening up, China’s real use of Foreign Direct Investment only stood at $636 million. China actually utilised $60 billion of FDI in 2004, which is almost 100 times that of its 1983 statistics.”

~ Short story

Use a short story in a GD topic like, Attitude is Everything.

This can be initiated with, ‘A child once asked a balloon vendor, who was selling helium gas-filled balloons, whether a blue-coloured balloon will go as high in the sky as a green-coloured balloon. The balloon vendor told the child, it is not the colour of the balloon but what is inside it that makes it go high.’

~ General statement

Use a general statement to put the GD in proper perspective.

For example, if the topic is, Should Sonia Gandhi be the prime minister of India?, you could start by saying, ‘Before jumping to conclusions like, ’Yes, Sonia Gandhi should be’, or ’No, Sonia Gandhi should not be’, let’s first find out the qualities one needs to be  a good prime minister of India. Then we can compare these qualities with those that Mrs Gandhi possesses. This will help us reach the conclusion in a more objective and effective manner.’

Source: www.rediff.com

Campus placement: 6 preparation mantras

A great first job can go a long way in paving the road for a rewarding career. That’s why campus placements occupy a student’s mind right from the day he or she enters professional college. But approaching them in a systematic manner is a must.

Step 1: Build a resume

IIM students get started six months ahead of placements. What’s more, the resume undergoes at least 30 cycles of change and review! Start by reading at least 15 articles on resumes online, and develop your own understanding of what constitutes a good resume.

The layout must be clean avoid unnecessary clutter, fancy fonts or colours. Keep the text sharp by editing out unnecessary words but at the same time highlighting your strengths. Choose your words strategically. For instance, ‘Was captain of my college cricket team at the inter-college sports meet’ could read as ‘Led my college cricket team in the inter-college tournament.’

A useful rule of thumb while deciding what to include in the resume — see if it really helps the recruiter make a decision about you. For instance, writing your father’s name or marital status (in most cases) adds no value. Projects, training and internships must be described in such a way that they reflect your contribution. You could use a three-point format, each point not more than one sentence — project objective, what you did and what you achieved, that is, the result.

Highlight extracurricular activities where you excelled over others. Show the first draft to your Training & Placement Officer (TPO), a lecturer who has worked in the industry or anyone with professional exposure whom you can trust for the right guidance. Get it reviewed by as many people as possible and incorporate whatever feedback that makes sense to you.

Step 2: Know the opportunities

Talk to your TPO and keep abreast of companies visiting the campus, the roles on offer and their selection processes. Some companies may cancel their visits at the last minute and some new ones may be roped in. Keeping track of these developments as they happen could prove to be vital.

What would you do if you were asked to give a guitar performance at the Taj Mahal in six months’ time? You’d learn to play the guitar and practise till your fingers hurt. And then, practice some more! Do the same for your campus interview performance:

Read all you can about interviews, by logging on to the Internet.

Create, collate or download a list of common interview questions.

Reflect on who you were as a child, a teen, an adult, a student and a friend. What excites you in life and what depresses you? What are you good at and what are you bad at? The key is to know yourself. Only then you’d be able to tell others about yourself with conviction.

Next, think about the interview questions: strengths/weaknesses, long-term/short-term career goals, what motivates you, skills, career interests. Develop and answer your list of questions. Get someone with industry experience (and of course, the willingness to help), to review your answers. Revisit your answers and incorporate whatever feedback makes sense.

The objective is to portray that you know yourself well enough to be able to make sound career decisions. When someone asks you about your strengths and you take two minutes to blurt out a badly-formed answer, he would think you don’t know yourself well enough and hence he cannot trust you when you say you are interested in working for his company. All the thinking that can be done before the interview should be done before the interview.

Get someone: Ask your friend, senior or TPO to interview you and give you objective feedback.

Step 3: Practise for written tests

Talking of hurdles, this is one big one! If you don’t get through the written tests (aptitude or technical), you don’t get to see those smart company executives who will eventually hand over your job offer letter. Information is power, and having prior information about who is coming to recruit on campus, will help you determine what you need to study beforehand. For instance, for an IT job, data structures, sort algorithms and basics of C/C++ would generally suffice. Similarly, a VLSI design job might require basic knowledge of digital circuits, Boolean algebra, electronic systems design and finite state machines etc.

If you are clueless about the kind of questions the interviewers will ask, then be ready with a list of three to four ‘favourite subjects’. Some companies try to test how good you are in your strength areas and select you on the basis of that knowledge even if that is not relevant to the job profile on offer.

Step 4: Ace group discussions

One, surf the Internet for some good tips on GDs for the ground rules. Then form a GD practice group along with some serious fellow students. GDs can be tricky affairs because you need to walk a fine line between being too aggressive and too meek. You can’t hog all the limelight, yet you can’t hide in the background. You can’t be too loud or too soft. Practise well to get the balance right.

Two, you must share your own views, or else you will not be able to speak with conviction. But to develop a viewpoint, you need facts and awareness. Read newspapers, magazines and watch news basically, know the world around you. Awareness will give you sufficient fodder for a discussion.

Surf the Internet for information regarding the company — history, locations, main products/services, and for any major news story in the past two to three months. Also read about the industry-major players, industry history, major challenges, trends and future direction. Knowing the company and industry, adds credibility when you say you want to work there. Being well-informed reflects interest, a potential to become productive early, and also one’s ability to make a sincere effort.

Step 5: Get a set of formals

You may already possess a white shirt and a pair of black trousers. But get a new set! The best policy is to be conservative. Go for plain white well-fitted full sleeve shirts, black trousers without pleats (and other fancy stuff) and plain black leather shoes.

You could give the tie a miss. If not, then make sure you are comfortable wearing a tie in the hot summer sun and getting drenched in sweat is hardly impressive. Just to reinforce, err on the conservative side. For instance, avoid metal embellishments on shoes and breast pocket buttons on shirts. Women have several options when it comes to formals. A light-coloured formal shirt and black trousers or a simple, light-coloured saree or salwar suit, will do. Avoid something too flowery or ornate, and team it up with a pair of formal shoes (but avoid pencil heels!).

Get together all your educational/ non-educational certificates including Class X and Class XII mark sheets, technical certifications, the one that you received for singing on Gandhi Jayanti in Class V and NCC/ NSS certificates every documentary proof of achievement so far. Arrange them neatly in a file folder; have them at hand during your interview.

Step 6: Enjoy the ride!

This is more important than it seems. After all, how can you give a winning performance if you do not enjoy it? People invariably do much better in the interviews they enjoy while messing up the ones they are too ‘psyched up’ about. Just before the interview, think of your past successes and achievements. Get into a positive, confident mood. Now’s not the time to remember the weaknesses in your preparation and go, ‘Oops, I did not revise bubble sort!’ Just go out there and have fun.

Campus placements can be one’s ticket to a great future. Plan well, prepare hard and be positive.

Source: www.rediff.com

Ten things you should never say to your boss

In exit interviews, more often than not, the reason for leaving cited by most employees is that they were not given due recognition by the boss. The truth is that almost all bosses need to get their job done and any subordinate who helps the boss achieve his objectives is a valued employee and is generally well rewarded.

So, what is the secret to being the boss’s most valued employee? What are the things you should avoid saying to your boss in order to ensure you never have to give that exit interview?

1.       “Sorry, I missed the deadline”:

This is the line that all bosses hate to hear. The way to avoid ever saying this is to avoid over commitment. Agree to certain deadlines only if you are absolutely sure that it is within your capacity to achieve them. While, it is important to take on challenges, this must be done keeping in mind the existing constraints and available resources.

2.       “That task is not part of my job”:

To say such a thing is to display an utter lack of initiative. To stick to the narrow boundaries of your job description and refuse other work, no matter how irrelevant it seems, is a recipe for disaster. The world around us is changing at record speed and a flexible attitude is the need of the hour. For example, learning new technology may not be an official requirement for an HR professional’s job but if a new technical implementation is introduced, enthusiasm to learn and adopt this change is always appreciated.

3.       “This is not my problem”:

As a part of an organization or team, it is necessary to consider every problem that the organization/team encounters as your own problem. That is what loyalty and belongingness is all about. For example, if the company is going through a financial crunch, it is important to accept a smaller pay hike than expected with grace and work harder to help the company come out of the difficult situation.

4.       “This is not my fault”:

It is very tempting to place the blame for shoddy or incomplete work on someone or something else. Often, the fault truly isn’t yours and you might feel justified in laying the blame on the real cause, but do control that impulse. The basic management principle of accountability says that when you have been assigned a task, the ultimate responsibility for its accomplishment rests with you. Rajiv headed a team and was assigned the responsibility of increasing the company’s client base by 10 percent. One of the members in his team fell ill and the target could not be met. Rajiv assumed the full responsibility for the failure and worked twice as hard in the next two weeks to exceed the set target. This was greatly appreciated by his boss.

5.       “I can’t do  more than one thing at a time”:

The current trend is all about multitasking. The demands and challenges faced in the external and internal environment are so many, that to restrict oneself to doing only one task at a time, is not sufficient. Several demands, sometimes conflicting, are made of each individual and the trick is to prioritize all tasks in the order of importance. An example of such conflicting demands is when a salesperson has to improve the sales and learn the technicalities of the new software installed by the company.

6.       “I am way overqualified for this job”:

This is mistake that is often made by young professionals who are fresh out of fancy colleges and business schools. They consider a lot of jobs below their dignity, not realizing that the boss knows that every task, small or big, is a learning opportunity. Your refusal to take it up indirectly shows your negative attitude towards learning. Sheela was a Summer Trainee at ABC Ltd. On her third day in the company, her boss asked her to photocopy some documents. Sheela resented this “menial” task and her negative attitude was noticed by him. Even though Sheela did the project reasonably well, her boss never offered her a permanent job at ABC Ltd.

7.       “This can’t be done”:

Every task, no matter how challenging it seems, must be given a fair shot. To give up before one can even make an attempt, shows a defeatist attitude and bosses don’t feel they can rely on such a person to take up challenges.

8.       “Sorry I’m late for work – again”:

Bosses are always conscious of the time that you spend at work. Punctuality is a sign of discipline and not being on time for work, indicates that you might have a similar attitude towards work deadlines or important client meetings. Megha was always on time for work in the initial days of joining XYZ Ltd. After a few days, she felt that no one seemed to be keeping a track of her timings and she started reporting late for work. Little did she realize that her boss was quietly watching her and did not appreciate her tardiness. This later reflected in her appraisal.

9.       “I should be getting paid much more”:

We often make the mistake of comparing our salaries with those of others within and outside the organization. To ask for a raise based on such comparisons is highly inappropriate and never fails to irritate the boss. A case for an increase in salary needs to be built up and the boss needs to feel that your need for a pay hike is justified. Another common mistake is to assume that every piece of work done by you deserves a pay hike.

10.    “If that is the case, then I’m resigning”:

To issue threats to your boss is never acceptable. It is important to remember that no one is indispensable and such threats indicate an exaggerated sense of self importance. Shweta was her boss’s favorite employee and everyone in her team knew it. At the end of a one year probation period, she expected a huge pay hike and threatened to leave the company if she did not get it. Her boss did not appreciate this attitude and made no attempts to offer her more money to retain her.

5 things MBA students must do before they graduate

India has more than 1,500 business schools as of now. Barring the top 50 to 75 colleges, most of the MBA colleges have very little to offer in terms of skills required to meet the demands of the job market.Since MBA is a professional degree, all we do during MBA should revolve around building a good career for ourselves.Students must strive to catch up with the industry needs and getting placed well. Here are five tips for MBA students to focus on in order to make themselves more employable.

1.  Brush up your language skills

Communication skills, undoubtedly, play a real important and crucial role in professional life in corporate India. For a fresh MBA graduate, it becomes all the more important from the campus recruitment viewpoint. If you are an MBA student, focus on polishing your communication skills in English and also learn a second language.

It’s not a bad idea to join a finishing school to develop your personality, body language, inter-personal and social interaction skills.

2.  Develop corporate awareness

What a recruiter likes to see in a candidate is the application orientation. Students in B-school study the concepts of management in their classes but hardly understand how this knowledge can be applied in real business scenario; there is thus a gap in application.

As students, it is imperative to understand what business is all about and how you can contribute to the growth of any organisation. That’s because if you can justify how your skills are going to add to the growth of the organisation, then chances are that the interviewer will consider you right-fit to the organisation.

3.  Develop team skills

Concentrate on developing leadership skills. Your employer would like to know how effectively you can work in a team and able to manage a group of people.

Wherever you work, you work in teams. NO MAN IS AN ISLAND. Do not treat your management programme as just another degree you are going to get after two years. Think of it as a skill-enhancing programme. Concentrate on soft skills while pursuing management.

4. Build knowledge Keep updating and refreshing your knowledge through peer learning. Participate in all kinds of group activities like group case studies, simulations, industry interaction programmes and inter- college level academic and extra-curricular competitions. Technical knowledge along with good inter personal skills are the key qualities companies look for in a potential candidate. Focus on improving these skills right from the commencement of the course.

5. Carefully select internships and placement

Search for internships while pursuing your course. Your internship is the only opportunity where you can exhibit your skills by translating them in performance. At the same time, you learn about a particular industry and its operations in detail.

Ensure that you select an internship in the same profile or industry you intend to work in future. It helps you justify your knowledge and leverage the internship during an interview.

Select a job / placement irrespective of the designation and salary. Starting career as a sales trainee should not bother you. The job description / job content should be the major consideration.

Going for an MBA programme is itself a very important decision in its own right, if we be a little careful about the things we do and the decisions we make while pursuing a management programme, we can ensure that things go well during the placements.

Source: www.rediff.com