India campus

Workshop on Screenwriting- Kamal Haasan & IIT Madras

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:44:00 +0000

Kamal Haasan, in association with Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, is presenting a first-of-its-kind international workshop and seminar on screenwriting in south India. Basic education is compulsory and candidates need to demonstrate their seriousness to get selected.

The Chennai International Screenwriting Workshop to be held at the IIT-M campus from May 29 to June 3, 2009 will feature some of the best screenwriters and filmmakers from around the world.While veteran writer Jean Claude Carriere has confirmed his participation via video conference, Kamal Haasan himself will join the discussions and don the role of faculty during the workshop and seminar.

This summer for youngsters who love movie making great chance and do join this course..

. To apply, students have to write to admissions@screenwritingindia.com.

CAT-Online

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:24:00 +0000

The online Common Admission test (CAT) pattern is likely to throw up surprises as the new platform will bring many new dimensions in the test, known for its innovative and competitive exam pattern. A 16-member committee is giving a final shape to the computer-based CAT. The committee, consisting of seven IIM directors and admission chairpersons, is expected to come up with the new modalities by the end of summer.

CAT committee is also considering an upward revision in the exam fees from Rs 1,300 for CAT 2008. Candidates paid Rs 1,000 for CAT in 2004 and 2005, and Rs 1,100 in 2006 and 2007. Further, the candidates will no longer get a copy of their paper, a practice followed since 2003. The CAT examinations will be more on the lines of GRE and IIMs, being educational institutions, will be able to concentrate on teaching rather than arranging for CAT. We have a strong security system in place like biometrics and video monitoring so that we do not encounter any rigging.

CAT applicants are growing by nearly 40,000 a year and computer-based test would make the task easier for CAT organisers and three lakh applicants this year

Leeds- In India

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:07:00 +0000

The Leeds Metropolitan University of the United Kingdom announced the launch of its India campus in partnership with JSWS, a non-profit organisation.

Leeds Met India, set up in Bhopal, will begin its maiden academic session from September with a batch of 160 students and promises to charge only 30 per cent of the fee at its UK campus.It will offer undergraduate courses in business management, retail marketing, international hospitality management and event management.The course fee for a three-year undergraduate course will cost nearly Rs 8.5 lakh, whereas it costs Rs 40-45 lakh on its UK campus

IIMC- Working Professional's Destination

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:20:00 +0000

I been receiving request to recommend few courses for working professionals and here is my pick for this week.

The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIMC) has introduced two new courses- "Executive Programme in Business Analytics" and "Executive Programme in International Business" for the working professionals.

IIMC has been giving importance to the education of executives from the last several years and has been widely appreciated for the various innovative and customized programs that has been introduced over the years based on its front line teaching, research and consulting.Business Analytics is about sophisticated, quantitative & statistical analysis and predictive modeling used towards building competitive strategies around data-driven insights that in turn generate impressive business results. Executive Program has been specially designed to help students acquire knowledge and skill to help work in International companies and environment. The program covers aspects related to International Business Environment, Challenges in International Marketing & Sales, International Operations, International Logistics and Supply Chain etc.

I feel this course is worth doing especially in this kind of recession, you need to compete and upgrade your skill set along with job. For all those who are thinking of a Full time course, I would ask them to have a look at these courses which is safe than leaving job and going to ISB and then left out with NO JOB...

ISB- Think Twice before you Join

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:53:00 +0000

For those who are planning to leave jobs and join ISB, here is a shocking trend that I observed and was really worried and thought I should blog about the same.

Over 100 students of 437 students of the Class of 2009 did not find placements due to recession. The high-profile business school was ranked 15 among the top 100 global business schools by the Financial Times. ISB would also be setting up a taskforce to identify right opportunities for the students. The school plans to introduce four specialist schools at its second campus at Mohali, which is getting ready. The Max India Institute of Healthcare Management, BML Munjal Institute of Manufacturing and Operational Excellence, Bharti Institute of Public Policy and Punj Lloyd Institute of Physical Infrastructure Management would be coming up at Mohali. The students (and their parents) who had taken educational loans and quit good jobs to Pursue studies are the main victims. The Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad ranked among top B-School in the world has extended its placement season for the first time since it came into existence. Out of total 440 students of 2009 batch, only 250 have got placement so far. The placement drive began at ISB in January. The institute has also witnessed fall on the annual average salary offers from Rs. 18-20 lakh to Rs. 13-15 lakh.

The Interesting part where I feel surprised is that the Indian School of Business (ISB), is raising its intake from 440 to about 600 from 2009-10, and has announced Rs.1.5 lakh hike in its fee from this year. I really think they need to focus on placing students who have spent close to 20 lakh’s which is not a small amount according to the Indian standards. I who use to suggest and recommend students to ISB now look back and see that it’s no more a good viable option in the current trend. ISB should seriously focus on improving things and should not rush in to the mad rush of increasing students and opening up new centers.

Twitter -The New Job Search

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 11:12:00 +0000

For those not familiar with Twitter – it is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? (Source: Twitter )Read recently somewhere - is Twitter the next Monster (the well known job search site); sure, it can very well be, and quite a personal one too. The web is evolving and the present recession can offer different opportunities for companies to diversify and expand their horizons to meet the customers needs. Sure enough this social media website can help you in your job search. Here are some tips:

Quite a few companies now have their twitter sites or presence. If you are interested in those that are there and you might get some relevant tweets when the open positions are announced.
Quite often someone you know on Twitter might tweet an internal job opening or someone you do not know may be ‘retweeted’ for a freelance position that suits your qualification. Also know who to follow, search for recruiters or career experts who post advertised or internal job openings and add them to your follow list.

Follow the job boards and the career experts and you have some great free job search and career advice in less than 140 characters and some latest links come your way almost instantly as they are published. Fresh, crisp information right from the oven.
And now you have the Twitter Job Search engine! Just type in a search query and see which jobs have been posted recently on Twitter. You can also add jobs on this website. Cool.
Some Resources on Twitter Job Search Tips
And right now there are many articles online on this very topic (I just found out as I googled the titled).

Another good article is here Twitter: the new way to find a job
Although Twitter may seem like a simple application but there are many features which can be used to your benefit, Darren Rowse has a great website on twitter tips – TwiTip, browse to discover how to use Twitter.

Google-Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:54:00 +0000

After years of gobbling up companies, Google Inc is on a diet. The Internet giant has not announced a single acquisition in the past six months, a significant slowdown considering its tally of more than 30 deals since 2005.Despite that rumours are doing rounds that Google plans to hit on a couple of deals, either with travel site Expedia or microblogging firm Twitter.

Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt acknowledged the slowdown earlier this month, telling investors at a conference that prices are still too high for his liking and that Google's mergers and acquisition efforts are "pretty inactive."But some observers say that Google, which has nearly $16 billion in cash and securities in its coffers, may not be out of the deal market for long. In the highly competitive world of Internet software, companies like Google need to look outside their walls for new technologies and growth opportunities.

Rumors have recently swirled about Google having its eye on social-networking upstart Twitter and online travel agency Expedia Inc Google doesn't comment on deal rumors, and analysts are split about the feasibility of either rumored combination.Expedia would mark a sharp departure from Google's track record in acquisitions and overall strategy focused on search, while Twitter offers some intriguing features but its business model remains unclear, they said.Expedia has a market value of about $2.3 billion, and its shares are down 70 per cent from a high in May 2008. Privately-held Twitter - which lets users send short, 140-character messages - is harder to value, though deal talks with Facebook last year had reportedly valued the microblogging site at $500 million.

The majority of Google's acquisitions have involved small, privately-held companies priced from $20 million to $50 million, according to a person familiar with Google's business who was not authorised to speak publicly.

Google's two largest acquisitions to date are online advertising company DoubleClick, which it bought for $3.1 billion in 2008, and video-sharing site YouTube, which it bought for $1.65 billion in 2006.The increasing popularity of Twitter has raised speculation that Google may see a need to co-opt the service in order to protect its own multibillion dollar search business. Twitter has a so-called real-time search capability for users to sift through the flood of messages for up-to-the-minute conversation about any particular topic.

Civil Services- New Shining Star

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 13:41:00 +0000

Call it the impact of the global slowdown or the lure of the increased paychecks for government employees, , there’s a 25% rise in the number of aspirants vying to be selected to the country’s top administrative services this year, after three years of flagging interest. As per data received by ET, after filing an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, there are 4.09 lakh applicants for the first leg of the three-stage civil services examination, conducted by the Union Public Services Commission, to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), the Indian Police Service (IPS) and other government jobs.

Indeed, the jump in the number of UPSC aspirants is coming after three consecutive years of decline. There were 3.83 lakh applicants in 2006, 3.33 lakh in 2007 and 3.25 lakh in 2008 — a steady decrease. The decline in the number of civil services aspirants came in the wake of the country’s booming corporate sector expanding full throttle, giving wing to global ambitions. There was a deluge of top-dollar jobs in the private sector, triggered by huge profits and bullish markets. But that was then, before the storm. By the end of 2008, what began as a subprime credit squeeze in the US had turned into a full-fledged global financial crisis that rocked virtually every corner of the world. India was no exception. Liquidity crunch and dwindling markets forced many companies to halt expansion plans and cut production. Many others had to shut shops. Companies across industries froze hiring, imposed salary cuts and even laid off employees — inflicting the first reversal for the work-hard-party-harder generation of corporate execs, so used to frequent promotions and big salary hikes. The party ended almost overnight, and now there was an added sense of insecurity around private sector jobs. And the country’s economic growth is expected to slip to around 7% this year, after an average of over 9% growth in the preceding three years. No wonder then, there are some 465 applicants for every job — three times more than the rush to join the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), with 150 students taking the Common Admission Test (CAT) for each IIM seat.

Another factor is the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, which has hiked salaries of government employees, even at entry levels by at least 25-35%, according. The lure of good salaries, perks such as chauffeur-driven car, house and above all job security have also helped in attracting youngsters to government jobs. Considered one of the most competitive and rigorous exams in the world, the civil services examination is conducted in three phases —preliminary, main and interview — spread over a year. This year, there are 881 UPSC jobs on offer; last year saw 700-800 jobs. The exact number of applicants for CAT is not disclosed, but 2008 estimates suggest there were 2.7-2.8 lakh applications for around 1,800 IIM seats, an increase of 15% compared to the previous year. The average pay packet offered to IIM graduates this year has shrunk by 20-30%. At IIM Ahmedabad, the average salary offered during campus placement declined from Rs 17.85 lakh last year to Rs 12.17 lakh this year.

Elections-Online

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:14:00 +0000

As the general election approaches, India and the people involved in it are turning to the Internet. However, it is not the political parties or the candidates who are using the Internet tools such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube.

The decision is probably influenced by the changes seen in the recent US election. People are starting to believe that change can be made and in such changes the Internet can really help. The internet is used to woo the constantly growing middle class voters. Main political parties such as Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are using the traditional campaigning system.
Among the 714 million eligible voters in India almost 170 million voters are under 35. In Indian politics, the marginalized rural poor has the highest turn around power who vote in the biggest numbers. However, the voting by this section is not done based on their cognitive system rather based on caste, region, religion and money.

Many Indian sites such as http://www.voteindia.in/, http://www.jaagore.com/ are trying to create awareness among the English-speaking middle and upper class, who never vote but are the loudest in complaining.

60 percent of the Indian Internet users live in India’s eight largest cities. These websites and other initiatives trying to reach this section of people using low cost, easily available Internet technology. Thse sites are using blogs, social bookmarking sites Orkut and Twitter trying to attract and make aware the unaware Idian population in the cities. Such awareness activists think that a 30 to 40 percent increase in middle and upper class voters in the next election would be a success.

Recession Virgins and Recession Veterans

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:40:00 +0000

I was requested by a friend of mine to write my thoughts on recession. She wanted me to address this topic and put my thoughts on this and I decided to blog on this...

SAVE Money: Have enough in liquid assets so that even if there is no source of income for the household, you should be able to sustain yourself for at least 12 months. If this kitty is not in place already, building it should be your top priority. Place this money in the most liquid assets possible – think Fixed Deposits and the like.

Reskill: More importantly, get experience in that area. Some things will not be impacted by recession – food is one of them. Value for money offerings is another. Education, childcare, medicine - these sectors will have demand, recession or otherwise. Think how you can associate with these and other such sectors and start working, even if it is unpaid volunteer work.

Get to the grind: At this time, everyone’s performance is being monitored. Stop taking your job or profession for granted. Clients you would otherwise refuse, feedback that you always forget to take, basic professional responsibilities - now is the time to do all that. Even if your job or business is not impacted right now, it will be. The more I look at these times, the more I think of the movie The Perfect Storm – they drove right into the eye of the storm. We will do the same, or the eye will find us anyway.

Budget, budge: Budget all your expenditure. Budge from your comfort seat and monitor that budget diligently. Do not postpone holidays, just budget for them so you can enjoy them without worrying or upsetting your financial plans.

Feeding the loans to the sharks: Indian traditional thought considers loan to be a sin. In these times, it is. The idea is to get interest on your capital, not to pay interest to anyone else. This is the perfect time to rationalise your debt. Pay off loans with maximum interest component. If a loan has a small outstanding principle, try and pay it off in toto. This will have two advantages: You will start earning interest on your money instead of paying interest. If, unfortunately, you are the victim of a layoff, the stress levels will be directly proportional to the amount of mandatory loan payments on your head.

IRMA-Anand- Is Vivek Bhandari- New Director transformed placements at IRMA

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:15:00 +0000

One of my favourite institutes -IRMA Anand where I relate my memories, placed its batch of 100 students in a span of two days. 64 firms expressed interest of participation in the placement process out of which 28 organizations were invited on the Placement day. A total of 243 offers were made to the students. The highest salary this year was INR 9 lakhs while the average salary was INR 5.63 lakhs.

This year’s placement at IRMA also saw the participation from international organizations such as Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Govt. of Switzerland; International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington DC; Winrock India International, Arkansas, USA and Bremen Overseas Research and Development Association, Bremen, Germany. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India and various other government departments of different states like the Rural Development Department of Andhra Pradesh (EGMM), the Gujarat State Watershed Management Agency and the Development Support Agency of Gujarat (DSAG) also participated in the placement process. The Government of Bihar also turned up with vacancies for their Disaster Relief management for the Kosi Flood victims. Amongst the Public Sector organizations, Bank of Baroda, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), National Housing Bank Union Bank of India, Union Bank, Vijaya Bank and Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) recruited students for various positions. SKS, Spandana and Share Microfinance were the major Microfinance recruiters while Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, National Dairy Development Board, Banaskhanta Dairy, Paras Dairy and Mother Dairy were the major recruiters from the Dairy sector. Around ten students joined the NGO sector in organizations like SURE, Democracy Connect, Foundation for Ecological Security, Naandi Foundation, Deepak Foundation, Drishtee Foundation and Centre for Environment Education, Ahmedabad. Zero Mass Foundation, FINO and Hole in the Wall Education Ltd. (a joint initiative of NIIT Ltd. and the International Finance Corporation) also recruited during the placement process.

IIM-Lucknow placements

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:14:00 +0000

Unlike previous years, the final placement process at Indian Institute of Management Lucknow (IIM-L) this year was an extended process spread over two weeks. Around 120 companies, including more than 50 first time recruiters, confirmed their participation in placements at IIM Lucknow and by the end of placements, 105 companies made a total of 284 offers. 25 students accepted the Pre-Placement Offers extended to them and seven students chose to start up on their own. Also, students received international offers from firms such as Barclays Capital, Frost & Sullivan, Ernst & Young and Alshaya among others.

The Higher Entry Placement Process (HEPP), which facilitates lateral placements at IIM Lucknow, was held from January through March 2009. Ernst & Young (Middle East), Barings Private Equity Partners PricewaterhouseCoopers, IBM, Wipro Consulting, Deloitte, Citibank, Aditya Birla Group, Infosys, TCS, Cognizant and Larsen & Toubro were among the major recruiters that participated in HEPP 2009. A total of 48 students bagged lateral job offers. Almost 31 pc of the offers were made in the marketing domain in addition to about 40 pc of offers coming from the finance domain. About 16 pc of the batch accepted consulting offers while the rest took up offers from HR (5 pc), General Management (4 pc), Operations (2 pc) and Systems (2 pc) domain. Regular recruiters that participated in the process include like McKinsey & Co, The Boston Consulting Group, Proctor & Gamble, Hindustan Unilever Limited, TAS, HSBC, Axis Bank, ICICI Group, Deutsche Bank, American Express, Frost & Sullivan, Asian Paints, Alshaya, Cadbury, Johnson & Johnson , GlaxoSmithKline and Reckitt Benckiser. First-time recruiters include Jaypee Capital, Siva Ventures, L’oreal, Tholons Consulting, Virgin Mobile, Religare Securities, Darashaw & Co, Allegro Advisors, Eli-Lily, Jindal Steel, Kellogg, Maersk and Bharti Telesoft.IIM Lucknow also hosted around 14 PSUs which made 65 offers. PSUs include Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, ONGC, SIDBI, BHEL, NTPC, SAIL, GAIL and Coal India. The students belonging to the Agri-Business stream received offers from firms like ITC, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Agrotech Foods with DCM Shriram offering international locations.

FORBES BILLIONAIRES LIST 2009.

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:18:00 +0000

1. William Gates III, citizen of United States tops the list with net worth of whopping $40 Bn.
2. With 359 billionaires, United States tops the list in terms of no. of billionaires. The second place is grabbed by Germany with 54 billionaires (approximately 1/6th of USA)
3. The youngest billionaire Albert von Thurn und Taxis, citizen of Germany, is 25 years old and has a net worth of $2.1Bn.
4. The oldest billionaire Walter Haefner, citizen of Switzerland, is 98 years old and has net worth of $2.7 Bn.
5. Iceland, with only one billionaire aged 42, tops the list in terms of lowest average age of all billionaires. Czech Republic, again with only one billionaire, grabs the second position.
6. United States with total net worth of $1061.
7 Bn tops the list in terms of total net worth of all the billionaires. Germany with $193.8 Bn grabs the second position (approximately 1/6th of USA) 7. United States with highest rank of 1 tops the list in terms of highest rank among the rank holders. Mexico grabs second place with highest rank of 3. That means 2nd rank holder is again from USA.
8. As many as 59 billionaires resides in a country different than the one which they are holding citizenship of.

For India Lovers:
1. Indian citizen Mukesh Ambani makes us proud by grabbing 7th rank in Forbes 2009 Billionaires List.
2. Indian citizen Lakshmi Narayan Mittal, residing in UK, makes us proud by grabbing 8th rank in Forbes 2009 Billionaires List
3. India grabs 3rd place in terms of total worth of billionaires.
4. India grabs 5th place in terms of highest rank among the rank holders.
5. India grabs 6th place in terms of total no. of billionaires.
6. India grabs 13th place in terms of average age of billionaires.

TATA-NANO- Redifines Auto Industry

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:57:00 +0000

Inspiration:During the launch of Tata Nano, Ratan Tata revealed the story on what inspired him to think about a small car. The saying goes like this - “I observed families riding on two-wheelers. The father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby. It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family. Today, we indeed have a People’s Car, which is affordable and yet built to meet safety requirements and emission norms.”
Guinness Record:The Tata Nano has already made it to the Guinness Book of World Records 2009. The 54th edition of the record book, which was launched at London’s Trafalgar Square, has listed the Nano as the world’s cheapest car.

Price:Tata Nano - the world’s cheapest car as on date, costs almost half of the cheapest car currently available anywhere in the world. The Maruti 800 costs approximately Rs 2 lakhs (Ex showroom price). It may be noted that a Bajaj autorickshaw costs approximately Rs 90,000 INR. While comparing the Nano to the Maruti 800 at the launch ceremony of Tata Nano, I recall Ratan Tata’s words - “It is 8% smaller bumper to bumper, has 21% larger seating capacity than the Maruti 800″.

Engineers:The Nano has been bought to current design and shape by a strong team of about 500 engineers, headed by Girish Wagh, at the Engineering Research Centre (ERC) of the Tata Motors plant in Pune.

Nomenclature:The name ‘Nano’ was coined for this small car as it denotes high technology and small size, as mentioned in their website. There are unconfirmed stories as well on how the car was called the Nano, as nano means small in Gujarati, the mother tongue of the Tata family.

Concept to Reality:This story again dates back to the launch ceremony of Nano in New Delhi. There Ratan Tata quoted, “This has been referred to as one man’s dream and indeed it was. But it took a tremendous amount of team work to convert this or translate this into reality. And I think it would be but fair and fitting to recognise and acknowledge the achievement of a young group engineers who undertook the challenge for four years and great sacrifice to themselves and produced this car.”

Innovation:How can we miss to talk about the innovation aspect here? How could they design a car that costs only half of the price of the cheapest car in the world? Well the answer lies in the cost cutting by minimising components, particularly steel, and taking advantage of India’s low production costs. Because of its size, the Nano uses less sheet metal, has a smaller and lighter engine than other cars, smaller tubeless tyres and a no frills interior. No surprise for guessing, the company has applied for 34 patents to cover its innovations.

Recession-Placements

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:45:00 +0000

The economic slowdown has finally reached campuses of the premier Indian Institutes of Management. This year, IIM Ahmedabad, the largest and most prestigious of the institutes, has seen a 50 per cent slowdown in placements on the coveted "day zero" (the first day), probably for the first time since the dotcom bust in 2000.
Last year, when the economy was booming, more than 65 per cent (161 students) were hired by 25 firms on slot zero.
IIM Ahmedabad may have missed regulars like Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch on day one of its final "placement week," but new companies from other sectors might save the day for the institute .
Last year, 90 firms participated, offering an average domestic salary of Rs 17.85 lakh and an average international salary of $119,000. The highest domestic acceptances ranged from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 70 lakh last year and the highest international acceptances from $280,000 to $360,000. The number of companies visiting campus on day zero this year could not be ascertained.
"It is evident that the economic downturn has affected placements this year. Nevertheless, it has opened up opportunities for organisations in newer sectors like market research and pharma. Investment banks and consulting firms did come on day zero as usual, but so did companies in the newer sectors,"
The number of participating companies on the campus would come down to around 70 from about 100 last year. In 2008, investment bankers including McKinsey, Lehman Brothers, Boston Consulting, Goldman Sach and Merrill Lynch were leading in terms of placement offers. Most of these companies are not participating in the final placement this year.
IIM Calcutta, which held the first phase of its final placements process between February 21 and 24, saw 207 offers to 265 students. Out of the 207 offers, 33 are for international locations with assignments in the US, UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific. India still remained the preferred destination most of the students. Around 56 offers are pre-placement offers (PPOs), made to students based on the summer internships. Some PPOs were rejected owing to the expected curb on H1B visas by the US and location preferences.
The institute said it has seen an increase of around 20 per cent in its salary level so far. Last year, IIM-C recorded the highest salary at $340,000 (Rs 1.36 crore).

Copywriter Vs Creator

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:13:00 +0000

There are two paths facing those of you making career choices today -- you can seek out a living, or eek out a living. Did I mean eke? Nah. That's a term best used to describe the plight of farmers in Rayalseema. Or ragpickers in Mumbai. The condition I am referring to is one more familiar to folks fortunate enough to have 'the best jobs' and 'the best education.' It's the 'Eeks! Not another day in that office' feeling in the pit of your well-fed stomach.
Don't get me wrong -- I'm all for every Indian -- all one billion of us -- achieving a decent standard of living. There is no romance in poverty but conversely: Is there any in large bank balances built up on jobs which don't engage or excite us? In the current scheme of things -- the generally accepted answer seems to be a resounding 'yes.'
A few are fortunate enough to recognise early they are stuck in the wrong stream of study, but even as they seek to a shift, the decision criteria remains the same. Like this confused fella who wrote in to me recently: 'i am a student of engg 4th yr.. i don't want to continue with it, i want my future to be in fields like advertising, tourism, photography. Which one will be best..in terms of job and money both.. and how should i get started...'
It's a start -- identifying what you don't want to pursue in life. Which in this case happens to be engineering -- and hence options like software jobs or an MS abroad. Narrowing down your 'interests' to advertising, tourism and photography is also a good thing. But thinking in terms of what is 'best' is again falling into the same old trap.
In advertising, for instance, you can make money both on the management side, and the creative side. But the management types make it a lot sooner. Client servicing, account planning and media buying are the kinds of jobs that fall in this category.
And there's a neat, set route for entry-level hires in this category: join MICA or do an MBA. Advertising -- as an industry -- has its glamour and you may well enjoy your job. But if you were seeking to join advertising because you think you are creative -- you're once again on the wrong bus.
The creative side is a whole different ballgame. There is no course or college which can guarantee you that first, important break. Your talent -- and persistence -- must speak for itself. Yes there is the concept of a 'Copy Test' where you might for example be asked to 'sell hell'. But at the end of the day, your brand of 'out of the box' thinking must catch the fancy of some CD (creative director). And each CD may have his or her own ideas on what constitutes raw talent. Rejection is part of the deal but 'we'll call you when there is an opening' isn't really a brush off. They will call, if they liked you.
It's a shocking fact of life that creative trainees are paid peanuts. And that, I think, scares off many wannabes. Parents find it hard to digest their honhaar bachcha getting a 1,000 rupee stipend in an age where any idiot can command a 10,000 rupee salary at a BPO. My point is don't see it as a 'job' but an enrolment into the 'University of Creative Life.' All that can be taught in fields like copywriting, photography, filmmaking, journalism, television production is essentially learnt only on the job. Each year of experience you rack up exponentially increases your market value. So does working with the right people, and most importantly your actual work -- or portfolio.
So a reasonably talented copywriter can, in about three years time, command a salary of Rs 200,000 to Rs 250,000. That's a 2,000% jump! A really talented person would rise to creative director and in the longer run would earn virtually the same as his counterpart in management. Is there any point, then, in deciding which stream to join, based on the salary potential?
Even the fact that an MBA earns more at starting level is, in fact, illusory. Today, a student typically invests Rs 300,000 to Rs 400,000 in a two-year MBA course to secure a placement worth about Rs 200,000 to Rs 250,000 (typical starting salary in an ad agency). In contrast, the copywriter has spent no money on training, and in fact been paid by the company (after three to six months of probation trainee salaries rise to more respectable levels). So, given that you do have the aptitude and the passion to be a creative person, choosing to do otherwise is an irrational decision, motivated by the fear of 'what if.' What if I am actually not good enough...
And yes, that could happen. You might discover that your passion for words does not include passion for selling, so maybe you are better off in journalism. Or, book editing. Given a passion, it's still a question of finding the 'right fit.'Even the right environment. 'Some things we talk at the corporate level like differentiation, USP etc make equal sense in managing our careers or "talent" as well. More often than not we find what we are good at only after many failures and many small successes at the different things we nibble with.'

Creative jobs have many pluses. If you do manage to build a USP, you can command both your price -- and your pace of work. An experienced photographer, for example, may work just 10 days in a month and earn a lakh or rupees. An MBA puts in gruelling 12 hour days, 6 days a week for the same. No, the point isn't that everyone should rush to take up photography! As Karan Shergill was advised in Lakshya: 'Jo bhi karo acchha karo... Bhale hi tum ek 'ghaas-kaatne waale bano, par ek achche ghaas-kaatne wale bano.' That analogy may be taking things too far, but it gets at the crux of the matter.
Now you can argue -- and I concede -- that some careers are inherently more lucrative. CEOs and investment bankers do earn ridiculously large sums of money. But do you and me need that much? Not by a long shot. Unless we want to fuel the 'status goods' economy where brands basically offer psychological benefits, not functional ones.
You can earn what I call a 'more than decent' living through any career you choose at which you excel. Why, then sell your soul and eek it out? Go forth, seek out a living!

If you ain't a CAT, don't worry!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:05:00 +0000

There are two kinds of career paths in India -- the 'safe' ones that bring in crisp, kadak salary slips by age 23 and the 'risky' ones which pay off in the longer run, given a mix of time, talent and unwavering personal faith. Which basket does middle class India put its eggs in? Doesn't take a genius to figure that one out!
The rush for medicine and engineering seats continues unabated, despite the fact that these degrees are no longer guarantees for a 'good job' or a 'chance to go abroad'. The demand for professional courses is so high that hundreds of colleges have sprouted up in the last decade. Most of these are literally 'sweatshops' -- the students sweat it out with meagre facilities while the teaching shop rakes in ready cash for the management.
So, you can do 'computer science' from some God forsaken college in Navi Mumbai or Karnataka and find that in reality, you are as much (or as little) 'in demand' as an ordinary BSc graduate. This is terribly demoralising for two reasons:
a. You have spent four years ragdoing at a course far more rigorous than a regular degree, sacrificing most of the simple pleasures of college life. Extra curriculars at small time engineering colleges are phenomenon sighted as rarely as Manmohan Singh cutting ceremonial ribbons on television!
b. You have spent at least a couple of lakhs on an education which has little perceived value in the job market.
A typical hellraiser writes: 'The nature of jobs done by Infosys, Wipro and TCS are not suited for Engineers (Comp. science may be an exception). Fifty over years of independence we still don't have our own planes, efficient automobiles, good roads and other infrastructure. Engineering graduates have to do more for our Nation.'.
Should engineers take pride in building roads, dams and bridges? Of course! But is that the reality? It is unfortunately not. Let's get this basic fact straight. Most 16 year olds slogging over their PCM portion don't have an inherent interest in engineering. It's an option arrived at by process of elimination after class 10.
'I have the marks for science but I don't like medicine, ergo I'll try for engineering.' Science has more 'scope.' One has the option of shifting to commerce or (God forbid!) arts after class 12 science but not vice versa.
To those who have quite rightly accused me of 'misdirecting aspiring engineering students to just go ahead and take admission for whichever branch they get,' my point is this. The 'choice' as far as stream of engineering goes is pretty limited. Limited by the marks you get at the state board exam or your entrance exam/JEE rank. The top dogs invariably opt for computers or electronics. The rest take what they get.
Does every top ranker have an inherent passion for computers and electronics? Yes, but merely because these streams are perceived to have better 'scope.' And on a more practical level, most students have used PCs but have never seen lathes and machine tools. They can envision themselves writing software in a slick a/c office in Bangalore, not standing in factory overalls on an industrial shop floor.
The more 'old economy' and 'get your hands dirty' the course is, the less it is in demand. The odd maverick will fight the trend and opt for say, Metallurgy even though he could've 'done better.' But this is the rare bewakoof. Sense and Sensibility may have been written by Jane Austen but it is the personal yardstick middle class India lives by.
I am firmly of the opinion that a student's passions and interests should rule his or her career choices. But the System does not support that.
In the case of engineering, students should not have to make choices at the time of admission. They should get exposure to all branches of engineering for a year and then make a decision.
At this point, if most wish to take up computer science -- so be it.
That will straight away eliminate the farce of mechanical engineers biding their time until they are picked up by a software company. If the IT sector is hungry for engineers -- and this appetite is only expected to grow further -- why not produce more of the right kind of engineers?
Let only certain colleges offer less popular branches like mechanical and civil. Market forces will once again kick in. Once Mech and Civil engineers are in shorter supply they will definitely command a better price. Besides, only those actually interested will opt for these courses and hence make better and more committed professionals.
To take the argument further, Arts students should actually have the option of taking some science courses and vice versa. Interests and passions can only be discovered when you are exposed to diverse thoughts, ideas and subjects. So if at some point of time during one's graduation -- as in the American system -- one seeks to change one's major it should be no big deal.
Fat chance! Citing problems of resources and faculty, no Indian college currently offers such flexibility. But a deeper rooted reason is the innate urge in us all to seek order and stability. Rigidity in choice of streams and majors gives the illusion of having once and for all decided where you are headed. And this is exactly what the Great Indian Middle Class parent most desires -- a well charted out future.
For example, the new rage in Mumbai are the BMM (Bachelor's in Mass Media) and BMS (Bachelor's in Management Studies) courses. Both media and management have traditionally been courses taken up after graduation 'in any stream.' The aajkal ki thinking is -- let me take it up at bachelor's level itself and get a 'headstart.'
Now this is a great philosophy if you were to take up a job -- any job at any pay -- after the bachelor's, get some experience and then decide to go for a master's. Instead, the BMS graduate invariably takes a year off to attempt CAT and other management entrance exams -- and there's no visible edge he or she has over the ordinary graduates.
Even at the IIMs, Year 2 is pretty redundant in terms of incremental academic learning. Hence, the rationale of spending FIVE years studying management completely eludes me. Uni-dimensional individuals do not great leaders make! In fact, a uni-dimensional approach to anything in life rarely works.
Perhaps being an underdog -- and therefore not getting picked up on campus like the cats -- is the best thing that could happen to you. The initial break may be hard to get and the stipend low but there is more hunger to prove yourself when there is no 'brand name' to cling to. And, the work at smaller companies often turns out to be more meaningful and interesting. Prompting many to spurn offers from the IT giants who once spurned them.
Cats and dogs aside, the core issue to me remains that of square pegs in round holes -- people choosing the 'right' careers for the wrong reasons.

MBA-CATs& DOGs

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:02:00 +0000

Here are two kinds of folks who aim to clear the CAT -- the 'MBA nahin to kuch nahin' and the 'Kuch nahin to MBA.'
The first category discovered at an early age that M, B and A spelt the magic and politically correct answer to the inevitable question: "Beta aap bade hokar kya banna chahte ho?"
The second took the medicine-engineering route only to be disillusioned with their course of study or future prospects. No particular pyaar for management but chalo, paisa to kam se kam zyaada milega.
The MBA programme -- which allows graduates from ANY stream to apply -- thus offers one final hope of personal and professional salvation.
In India, the MBA magic has worked on two fronts. Say you plan to do an MBA and parents will be a lot less worried about your taking up Eco or Commerce and avoiding the PMT/JEE.
Secondly, in case you did make it through those toughies and find you haven't the faintest interest in electronics or electrocardiograms, you can at least dream of leaping off the wrong bus onto the MBA bandwagon. The 'luxury coach' that offers a ride in the fast lane!
Unfortunately, these coaches are very few and very hard to get a seat on. And although in theory ANYONE from any background has an equal chance at making it there, the statistics paint a different picture.
Check IIM Ahmedabad's Class of 2006 profile -- 70% engineering grads, 8% commerce, 4% IT, 4% science 4%, 3% arts, 1% medicine. Incidentally, Ahmedabad has traditionally had a much more diverse class profile in the IIM fraternity -- the Class of 2004 at IIM-B, C and L all boasted 78% engineers!
The stats should bust a few prevailing myths:
Fact #1: Doing a management course at the undergrad level gives you absolutely no edge. Only 1% of IIM A's 2006 class had an BBA/BMS background.
Fact #2: Humanities are a bad choice if you dream of making it to an IIM. Even among the 3% Arts graduates who've made it, most would be students of Eco -- a quasi-numerical subject.
To put it extremely bluntly, only exceptional 'ordinary graduates' -- the kind who could probably have made it to an engineering school but chose not to -- make it to an IIM A. Many in fact come from colleges like SRCC and St Stephens where the cut-offs for Honours courses are mercilessly high.
Even among the engineers who make it, a large percentage are from the creme de la creme schools -- the IITs, RECs, VJTIs and DCEs. The IIM Calcutta batch profile in fact lists 'engineering' and 'IITs' as two separate categories! Together these grads hog close to 80% of the seats at the Institute.
Why should engineers dominate so completely in an area which purports to offer entry to any kind of graduate?
According to UGC figures (as of March 2002), India's 253 universities and 13,150 colleges churned out 2.5 million graduates annually. Of that number, just about 300,000 -- or 10% -- were engineers.
Now logically one may argue that those who make it through highly competitive engineering entrance exams represent the cream of the nation's Class 12 crop. So four years later they are again more likely to excel when it comes to another competitive exam.
Engineering as a course enjoys such a halo that all but a small sliver of the intelligent school age population ends up in that stream by default!
There is another, more disturbing explanation. Engineers have a huge advantage when it comes to numerical ability. The vast number of ordinary graduates, especially those who have not been in touch with mathematics since Class 10, simply cannot cope.
But the crucial question is this: Does wizardry with numbers a good manager make?
It is unclear why the CAT exam must make such a big deal of how fast you can polish off sums on permutations and combinations. Sure, accounts and finance and operations all deal with numbers. But the level of number crunching undertaken during one's MBA has hardly any co-relation with the actual work profile of most managers later in life. Because as you rise higher up the ladder, success is increasingly defined not by what you know or do, but how you manage and motivate your people.
Engineers are trained to believe every problem in the world has a logical solution. But, people -- whether as employees or consumers or clients -- are far from logical. Why, then rely on a uni-dimensional exam like CAT to identify talent? Yes, it is the fairest and toughest MBA entrance exam in the land -- but are the people being selected through the process the best potential managers?
Top B schools in the US use the GMAT score as ONE of several evaluation criteria. In 2003, 18% of applicants who scored 700 or greater were offered admission by Kellogg. But more than 13% of applicants who scored between 650 and 690 were also admitted. Chicago's Graduate School of Business clearly states that 'successful applicants not only have the credentials but they tell a compelling and well-rounded personal story through their application.'
Fat chance, here!
Sure, there is an interview and GD stage, but to get there you must first score in the 99th percentile (ie be in the top 1% of test takers). And this works for one simple reason: Most admissions are tainted by 'less deserving' candidates using influence or money power. The fact that neither works when it comes to CAT has built a solid equity for the IIM brand. To protect this equity, subjective criteria comes in only at the second stage -- after the CAT hurdle has been crossed. Any other, more holistic form of admission would never achieve the same reverence in this country!
The entire management entrance scene in India, then, boils down to selection of the 'brainiest' and then grooming them towards a management career. Rather than selecting the brains best suited for the purpose. Going by the old Cats and Dogs theory, the funda is to identify and aggregate all the cats in the graduate universe. Add the IIM chhaap and the world and his uncle will accept them as kings of the corporate jungle.
On the flip side, scratch the batch profile of an MBA school and the percentage of engineers you find can give you an accurate picture of where the school is ranked. The Big 4 -- IIM A, B, C, L as well as S P Jain and IIM-K -- admit over 70% engineering graduates. At XLRI (BMD) the figure is above 60% while the likes of MDI, FMS, Bajaj, XIM B and IIM-I boast 55% to 60% engineers.
As you go further down the ladder the number of engineers dips -- a strong local school such as NMIMS had 23% while Welingkar just 6%. At these schools, Commerce graduates dominate -- comprising 50% to 60% of the batch. Again, this reflects the inherent bias in the education system at an earlier stage -- 'students with marks' inevitably join Commerce over Science or Arts!
The engineering overload at B schools is rooted in the fact that there is a strong opportunity cost for an engineer seeking to do an MBA. If he or she is to spend about Rs 4 lakhs for a 2 year course, also forgoing asimilar or greater amount in salary (perhaps even a chance to work abroad, given the software boom) -- the course had better provide a great return. Only the top few schools provide that kind of long term brand value and short term job prospects.
IIM A, B and C placed on average 46% of their students in consulting, finance or banking (the high salary, top dollar variety of jobs). Just about 11% of the batch went into marketing/ sales.
At top B schools other than IIMs only 27% of the batch was placed in consultancy, banking or finance roles while almost 30% went into marketing.
As you go down the ladder marketing jobs dominate even more -- and the prestige/ salary value of the job to an engineer declines.
In the final analysis,"Kuch nahin to MBA" may sound bechara, but the strategy it actually works. Those engineers didn't 'waste' 4 years, they were just biding their time. Conversely, "MBA nahin to kuch nahin" is going to remain a pipe dream for the majority. Koi MBA to mil jayega -- there are 900 + institutes offering the course in this country - but top B schools will continue to elude other graduates.
As far as CAT is concerned, non engineers remain the underdogs.

Engineers@call centres

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:01:00 +0000

Last but not the least -- the call centre option. BPO outfits such as Wipro Spectramind actively recruit engineers, paying them higher salaries than regular graduates. And they have no dearth of applicants. But most engineers see call centre jobs -- even if they're in technical support -- only as a short term option.If things don't work out on the software front, there's always the option of going in for higher studies. Which for most, boils down to an MBA. But remember, there are two kinds of MBA students in India -- the cats whom all companies run after, and the underdogs, who are running after the companies... But that, is another story waiting to be old.

You're no 22, try harder

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:59:00 +0000

It's true that graduating from a lesser known engineering school may mean you leave campus without a job. But it's not the end of the world. It simply means you have to conduct your own jobhunt. Respond to ads in newspapers, upload your resume on job sites and start doing the rounds of companies. Staying in touch with friends and seniors who've already got jobs is a great way to get to know about openings and entrance tests. Some companies actually prefer to recruit through employee referrals. The good news is, a sustained effort of 3 to 6 months usually gets you a job. The important thing is to stay optimistic! As an underdog, you may end up joining an underdog company, ie a smaller outfit. But with the right experience and skills picked up along the way you can always hop, skip and jump your way to the software company of your dreams.

The year you graduate matters

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:56:00 +0000

The top software companies are pretty sticky when it comes to grades. It's not enough to just get into a great college, you must perform once you get there. Consistency is a very important -- companies will look at your grades right from class X onwards and expect to see a first class through all years of engineering. ATKTs (Allowed To Keep Term despite failing a subject) or dropped years are a strict no no.This is a tall order, especially in some universities like Mumbai known for its vagaries, which often affect even the brightest students. As a popular shayari on Mumbai engineering campuses goes: Woh baap hi kya jiski beti nahin... Woh engineer hi kya jiski ATKT nahin.Jokes apart, performance is key even if you get into a college which doesn't have attractive campus placements. A 60% throughout your engineering career ensures you still have a shot at your dream job. You can apply when these companies conduct aptitude tests off-campus.The story goes like this. Companies have to make offers through the campus placement route, 12 to 15 months before the actual joining date. A lot can happen during this period -- often requirements drastically change. So a certain % of freshers are taken in at a later date, through off campus hiring. Infosys for example will visit various cities and test up to 10,000 applicants in a single day. Graduates from any engineering college can apply, as long as they have a first class throughout.Aptitude tests normally cover arithmetic and analytical skills, GDs (group discussions) gauge communication skills and in the interview applicants are usually quizzed on basics from their core subjects. Any project work you may have done, as well as extra technical knowledge, eg having leant a popular programming language could help tip the scales in your favour.Since many engineers are eventually put on the project management track, qualities such as leadership skills, teamwork and all round personality also matter.* The year you graduate matters: An engineering course takes 4 years to complete. A lot can happen in the IT world in that time-Like 2009 Passouts have to face challenge but fight it out guys..The best always survive.

IT cats & dogs-Engineering colleges

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:48:00 +0000

There are two kinds of engineering students in India -- the cats whom all companies run after, and the underdogs, who are running after the companies. The cats usually bag the cool jobs which pay you well, send you abroad and keep you far far away from sweaty industrial shopfloors. 55,000 such cats found employment with the likes of Infosys, Wipro, TCS and other such companies in 2003-2004, by Nasscom estimates. But considering that India produces over 300,000 engineers annually, it's a dog's life for many fresh graduates out there.So, what is it that separates the IT cats from the dogs? It's a question that needs to be asked, as yet another admissions season is upon us. The mad rush for engineering seats continues fuelled by this simple logic: Engineering has more value in the job market than an 'ordinary' BSc. And the jobs that are fuelling this perception are the lucrative software careers. Few would be happy building roads and bridges or working in factories -- as previous generations of engineers did.Let's face it -- an engineering degree is a means to an end, not an end in itself. But it can turn into a dead end if you don't keep the following facts in mind:* It's not what you study, but where you study that counts: Always, always choose college over branch. The reputation of a college is what determines campus placement prospects. This might mean doing civil engineering at NIT's/IIT's although you have little interest in the subject. Live with it. At the end of 4 years, a bunch of software companies will visit the campus. If you pass their aptitude test and interviews, you're in.It sounds illogical but companies look at it this way..

One man's Cat can be another man's Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:47:00 +0000

So although numerous B school rankings may be published every year, it rarely if ever alters the recruiter's pecking order. For 'class' or the jobs requiring brainwork, it's a select few institutes. For 'mass' or the gruntwork jobs, it's down the B school ladder. And how low down this ladder a company will go depends on how many freshers it requires. With so many new sectors opening up -- retail, insurance, BPO, telecom -- it would seem the job pie has grown exponentially. True, except that B school you graduate from often still determines whether you eat your slice at the chairman's table. Many companies follow differential recruitment policies. Better salary, designation and job profiles are offered to the more premium grads. But, in an ironic twist, one man's Cat can be another's Dog. Several reputed companies -- especially Indian ones -- prefer to recruit from less elite campuses. These MBAs, they believe, work harder to prove themselves and are far more loyal to the organisation.
It's a different thing that, given half the chance, the same MBAs would jump to join the very MNCs that won't touch them! One final consolation: Dog or cat, at the end of the day the MBA is but a rat. The right MBA can set a scorching pace. The question most forget to ask is -- am I running the right race

Reaping the benefits or paying the price?

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:45:00 +0000

We are reaping the benefits -- or paying the price -- for the actions of our ancestors. Company X has recruited a particular profile of candidates for the last 20 years and will thus continue to pick up the same kind of applicants. At the most basic level, this means it will stick to certain B schools, and within those B schools to certain kinds of students. It's not just about how well you do at the interview but whether your profile matches with what's worked for the company in the past.
Yup, that's almost as crude as racial stereotyping but no point railing and flailing because that's how the human mind works. It unconsciously tries to fit each individual into a category, making complexity more manageable. We are invariably drawn to people like ourselves. Companies rationalise that, this way, they get the people who fit into their culture. But the flip side of it is that everyone essentially thinks alike. And can that, in the longer run, really be considered a good thing? Reasons of merit apart, the policy of sticking to a few select B schools keeps all concerned happy. Recruiters are happy to be in demand at the 'best' B schools, students are happy to be on the exclusive radar of the 'best' recruiters. Maintaining the status quo keeps the halo intact for both parties.

A level playing field?

noreply@blogger.com (Sarvasiddhi) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:44:00 +0000

To offer a more level playing field, CVs sent to companies for summer placements at IIM-A now don't carry the student's CGPA. But the end result is still the same. Coveted recruiters look for the undergraduate background of the student and invariably shortlist those from IIT. IIM may be a brand name, but IIT-IIM is sone pe suhaga. The IIT crowd will gleefully circulate this column in their e-groups, as further proof of their inherently superior status. Some, I expect, will feel compelled to write to me enumerating exactly how and why IITians really are a breed apart. Believe what you will. My point is: where does it end?