Tag Archives: jobs

Internship/Job Mela 2016 for Pune startups+students

It’s back! The Pune Open Coffee Club is organizing an internship/job mela for final year students (MCA, BCA, BE, ME, MTech, MBA) on 16th January, 2016, from 9:30am to 5:30pm, 14th June. The difference from other internship/job melas is that only startups are invited to participate in this.

This event is free for students, and has a nominal charge of Rs. 500 for startups. Startups who wish to be part of this, please signup here, and read the For Companies section below. Students who wish to be part of this register here, and read the For Students section below.

How does it work?

The actual event is on 16th January, at IMED campus. One week before that, on 9th January, there will be a qualifying test for the students, conducted by ReliScore for C/C++/Aptitude.

On the day of the event, Saturday 16th January, registered startups are expected to set up a table from 9:30am to 5:30pm at the venue: IMED Campus, Bharati Vidyapeeth Erandwane Campus, Paud Road. Map. Detailed agenda for the event will be put up on the event page later.

Benefit For Companies

Last year 1000+ students signed up. Similar numbers are expected this year.

All these students will go through an online test of minimal programming competency by ReliScore. Only students who get a passing score on will be allowed to attend. (Last year, 400 out of 1000 made it through.) The students who pass will be given grades from A to E based on their performance. Out of those (last year, about 100 students secured the top two grades.) Student grades will be shared with companies who have registered for the Job Mela. Companies are free to set their own minimum grade criteria for students wishing to talk to them, or submit a resume.

On 16th January, companies will get a chance to interact with selected students, shortlist the ones you like, and interview them right away (or schedule an interview for later).

So sign up here.

What are startups expected to do there?

Get marketing material – lots of it. Visiting cards, leaflets and what not. Get banners – we will arrange to have one table for you. Get a laptop with a running PPT. Come with your mind prepared to be asked the same question a hundred times over, from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. Stay for the whole duration – you never know when you might find the correct match. You can also interact with other startups to grow your network and see if you can find some synergy!

For Students

Students: You don’t find so many startups in one place, at one time, all accessible to interact with you!

Why work with startups?

Startups are cool. Startups are where the action is. The experience that you would get in a startup in a few months, would be better than what you would get from large corporations in a few years. In startups, you get an exposure to the various moving parts of a company – coding, testing, admin, HR, marketing… you name it! More than all of this, you get to work directly with founders of the company, who will one day make it very big (like Google, Twitter?).

What do startups want from me?

Life at startups can be very exciting – but you need to be prepared to give more than 100%. Many startups work on cutting edge technologies, and there is going to be a huge learning curve for you, to be able for you to meaningfully contribute to the company. So, it requires dedication, patience and a positive attitude.

Please register here.

Open Source Job/Internship Mela (14 Feb) and Startup Job/Internship Mela (16 Feb) in Pune

GNUnify one of India’s biggest open source software conferences is happening in Pune this weekend (13-14 February). Immediately after that is Chrysalis, a startup/entrepreneurship event organized by SICSR.

As part of these two events, two job fairs (for students who have graduated, or will graduate this year) and two internship fairs (for students who are just looking for a 6-month internship) have been organized.

The first job/internship mela, on 14th Feb, is part of GNUnify and is for companies who work using free/open source software. The second one, on 16th Feb, is for startups.

Students from various colleges in Pune, and also from the rest of India will be present. This is a great opportunity to pick up students who are passionate about open source and/or startup.

Companies who wish to participate in one or both of these job/internship melas, please get in touch with Ms. Priyanjana Das: 07038066433, Ph: 020 25675601 Ext: 133, or write to placements@sicsr.ac.in.

Note: these events are being held in association with GNUnify, ARSH, POCC, NEN and Chrysalis

Job Mela 2014 for final year Engineering Students by @PuneStartups/@CSIPune

It’s back! The Pune Open Coffee Club and The Computer Society of India, Pune are organizing a job mela for final year engineering students on Saturday, 14th June, at Cummins College Pune, from 9:30am to 4:30pm.

This event is free for students, as well as for startups. Startups who wish to be part of this, please signup here, and read the For Companies section below. Students who wish to be part of this please read the For Students section below.

For Companies

We already have 850+ students signed up, and we expect the number to go up even more by the time of the event. These are engineering students who are interested in jobs with Pune startups.

On 14th June, you will get a chance to give a short pitch about your company to the students, interact with selected students, shortlist the ones you like and interview them right away (or schedule an interview for later). And this is free for you.

So sign up here.

If you’ve been to a previous job or internship mela organized in Pune, you know that handling 1000+ students is a complete mess. Hence this time is a bit different. We are making all students go through an online programming test by ReliScore, and only students who do well in the test will be allowed to attend the event.

In other words, you get only good students, and you will not be inundated with resumes of unemployable students.

What are startups expected to do there?

Get marketing material – lots of it. Visiting cards, leaflets and what not. Get banners – you will have one table of size 3ftx4ft for you. Get a laptop with a running PPT. Your main aim is to attract the best students to your company.

This must be costing a bomb?!

NO! This event is totally FREE of cost. However, prior registration is mandatory.

For Students

Students: You don’t find so many startups in one place, at one time, all accessible to interact with you!

Why work with startups?

Startups are cool. Startups are where the action is. The experience that you would get in a startup in a few months, would be better than what you would get from large corporations in a few years. In startups, you get an exposure to the various moving parts of a company – coding, testing, admin, HR, marketing… you name it! More than all of this, you get to work directly with founders of the company, who will one day make it very big (like Google, Twitter?).

What do startups want from me?

Life at startups can be very exciting – but you need to be prepared to give more than 100%. Many startups work on cutting edge technologies, and there is going to be a huge learning curve for you, to be able for you to meaningfully contribute to the company. So, it requires dedication, patience and a positive attitude.

Ok, as a student, what should I do?

Get in touch with the T&P officer of your college. An online programming test has been arranged for 10th June with participating colleges, and you need to find out the procedure for being part of this event.

If you are a student of a Pune college, and your college is not participating in this event, please ask them to contact CSI Pune (or send mail to punetech@punetech.om and we can forward it to the appropriate people), before 9th June.

If you’re a student from a college that is not participating, or if you’re a student from outside Pune but are willing to work in Pune, and willing to travel to Pune on 14th, then please visit ReliScore.com on 11th June for instructions on how you might be able to get into the event on a wild card entry.

SEED Infotech launches “SEED IT Idol 2014” for college students

Pune based technology training institute, SEED Infotech, has launched the 4th edition of “SEED IT Idol 2014”, a test of ‘C’ programming knowledge, for all students of engineering in the University of Pune, reports DNA India.

Excerpts:

The information technology (IT) Idol in Pune is being organised by SEED Infotech in association with the University of Pune (UoP), wherein students of engineering, MCM, MCS, MCA and all other computer-related educational programmes from all colleges affiliated to the UoP are eligible. The first round of the competition has already began.

Speaking about the initiative, executive director, SEED Infotech, Bharati Barhate, said, “Our aim is to tap the huge talent across colleges and make it industry ready. This year our target is to reach out to students across Maharashtra and for the first time to certain regions in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Jaipur and Bangalore.”

Read the full article

Internship/Job Mela 2014 by POCC/CSI-Pune

It’s back! The Pune Open Coffee Club (POCC) and The Computer Society of India, Pune Chapter (CSI) are organizing an internship mela again!

This mela is different! Here you will not meet the same old large corporations, but will meet up with Pune’s rocking startups!

The internship mela is on 18th Jan 2014, from 10am to 5pm at Millenium School, Karvenagar.

What’s so great about that?

Students: You don’t find so many startups in one place, at one time, all accessible to interact with you!

Startups: You get to meet a bunch of enthusiastic students from MCA, BCA, BE, and MBA, who are ready to work as interns at your great company, or would love to work with you on a long term basis too! Last year, there were 770 students!

Why work with startups?

Startups are cool. Startups are where the action is. The experience that you would get in a startup in a few months, would be better than what you would get from large corporations in a few years. In startups, you get an exposure to the various moving parts of a company – coding, testing, admin, HR, marketing… you name it! More than all of this, you get to work directly with founders of the company, who will one day make it very big (like Google, Twitter?).

What do startups want from me?

Life at startups can be very exciting – but you need to be prepared to give more than 100%. Many startups work on cutting edge technologies, and there is going to be a huge learning curve for you, to be able for you to meaningfully contribute to the company. So, it requires dedication, patience and a positive attitude.

I’m game. Am I eligible? Plus, when and where is the fair?

If you are pursuing your B.E, M.C.A, M.C.M, B.C.A, M.C.S, B.C.S or M.B.A, and want to / need to pursue your internship, then you are eligible. Great, right? The fair is on 18th January from 10am to 5pm. The venue is Millennium National School, 18 Hill Side, Karvenagar, Pune – 411052. The directions are at: http://myshala.in/team/contact-us/

What are startups expected to do there?

Get marketing material – lots of it. Visiting cards, leaflets and what not. Get banners – you will have one table of size 3ftx4ft for you. Get a laptop with a running PPT. Come with your mind prepared to be asked the same question a hundred times over, from 10am to 5pm. Stay for the whole duration – you never know when you might find the correct match. You can also interact with other startups to grow your network and see if you can find some synergy!

This must be costing a bomb?!

NO! This event is totally FREE of cost for students. However, prior registration is mandatory (and you have to arrange for your own food!).

For startups: the cost is Rs. 600 (to ensure that only serious companies participate – includes lunch and tea for two, and one electrical point.)

How do I register for the event?

After you register, you can follow the updates for the event on http://punestartups.org/events/internship-and-job-mela-2014

What do I need to do or bring along?

Get your resume along (d-uh!). Here is the format for the event:

  • The event starts at 10am and ends at 5pm. Come anytime in between.
  • Startups have been allocated spaces in the venue, and you are expected to go talk to them.
  • Startups will convince you why they are cool. You need to tell them why you are cool too!
  • Done! Go back with a great feeling of having interacted with Pune’s rocking startup community!

Short and sweet right?

Whom do I contact if I have any questions?

Join the POCC mailing list on punestartups@googlegroups.com, and ask away!

About Pune Open Coffee Club

With over 10000 members, the Pune Open Coffee Club is the largest forum for startups and entrepreneurs in Pune. It is an open forum, and anyone can join for free. See the PoCC website for more details.

Event website: http://punestartups.org/events/internship-and-job-mela-2014

Please double-check the date/time/venue of the event at the above link. We try to ensure that PuneTech Calendar listings are accurate, but occasional errors creep in. (Note: If you don’t get 4 or 5 event annoucements by email every week from PuneTech, you are not subscribed to the PuneTech calendar of events. Click here to subscribe (free).)

CSI-Pune/POCC Internship Mela – get an internship job with Pune Startups

Pune Open Coffee Club and The Computer Society of India, Pune are jointly organizing an internship and job fair targeting MCx, BCx, BE and MBA students. The idea is to get together the startups and other companies of Pune with the students who are looking for internships and jobs.

This event is free to everyone. Interested students should see instructions for students below. Companies who wish to present at this event and offer internships/jobs should see instructions for companies below.

Note: Companies register here, and students register here

For Students

This is a job fair with a difference. Here you will not meet the same old large corporations, but will meet up with Pune’s rocking startups!

What’s so great about that?

You don’t find so many startups in one place, at one time, all accessible to interact with you!

Why work with startups?

Startups are cool. Startups are where the action is. The experience that you would get in a startup in a few months, would be better than what you would get from large corporations in a few years. In startups, you get an exposure to the various moving parts of a company – coding, testing, admin, HR, marketing… you name it! More than all of this, you get to work directly with founders of the company, who will one day make it very big (like Google, Twitter?).

What do startups want from me?

Life at startups can be very exciting – but you need to be prepared to give more than 100%. Many startups work on cutting edge technologies, and there is going to be a huge learning curve for you, to be able for you to meaningfully contribute to the company. So, it requires dedication, patience and a positive attitude.

I’m game. Am I eligible? Plus, when and where is the fair?

If you are pursuing your B.E, M.C.A, M.C.M, B.C.A, M.C.S, B.C.S or M.B.A, then you are eligible. Great, right? The fair is on 19th January from 10am to 5pm. The venue is Millennium National School, 18 Hill Side, Karvenagar, Pune – 411052. The directions are at: http://myshala.com/team/contact-us/

This must be costing a bomb?!

NO! This event is totally FREE of cost. However, prior registration is mandatory (and you have to arrange for your own food!)

How do I register for the event?

Register here: http://headtracker.in/JobFairForm.html

After you register, you can follow the updates for the event on punestartups.org

What do I need to do or bring along?

Get your resume along (d-uh!). Here is the format for the event:

  • It will be a full day event – 10am to 5pm.
  • The event will start with a talk from successful startup(s), talking about why startups are cool, and why it is worth your while to join one.
  • After that, the startups who are looking to hire will do some canvassing of why they are cool, what they are working on, which technology they use, and whom are they looking to hire etc. The time duration for this should be
    around 5 minutes per startup.
  • 10 chits will be given to each attending student, where (s)he has to choose the startups that they want to meet. All you have to do is put in a startup name of your choice to visit on each one.
  • There will be a lunch break (not going to be provided), and then startups will occupy their positions in the classrooms, and you will visit the booths as per their preference. 3 minutes will be given to have a one-on-one interaction with members of the startup.
  • The startup will collect the chit from you, and possibly, your resume. That will be a sign that the startup is interested in getting you to work for them! Startups would like to hire you from the very next day. Be aware of that!
  • Done. Go back with a great feeling of having interacted with Pune’s rocking startup community!

Whom do I contact if I have any questions?

Join the POCC mailing list on punestartups@googlegroups.com, and ask away!

For Companies

As a startup, it is not easy for you to go to campuses and approach students directly. That is why, this is a great opportunity – because of the number of startups presenting at this event, it will attract a large number of students. This is your chance to meet and impress a large crowd with minimal effort.

Only startups are invited to this event, so you’re not competing with the large companies here.

What do I get?

You get to meet a bunch of enthusiastic students, who are ready to work as interns at your great company, or would love to work with you too!

Which students are we inviting?

We are inviting MCx, BCx, BE and MBA Marketing students. Especially interesting are the students who are required to do a 6-month internship as a part of their degree. They work with you full-time, in your office for 6 months.

How many?

Approximately 300 students are expected.

I’m game. When and where is the fair?

The fair is on 19th January from 10am to 5pm. The venue is Millennium National School, 18 Hill Side, Karvenagar, Pune – 411052. The directions are at: http://myshala.com/team/contact-us/

This must be costing a bomb?!

NO! This event is totally free of cost. However, prior registration is mandatory.

Register here

Looking for a job? Try PuneStartupJobs…

Looking for a job? Try PuneStartupJobs

There’s a new jobs listing forum in town, and it contains postings of jobs that you will not find anywhere else. Check out the PuneStartupJobs mailing list (which is an initiative of the Pune Open Coffee Club).

Pune OpenCoffee Club - POCC Logo
POCC is an informal group of the Pune Startup ecosystem. It contains more than 2500+ people who either have their own startups, or want to start one, or provide some service (or funding) to startups. Click on the logo to find all punetech articles about the POCC. Thanks to threenovember.com for the POCC logo.

The Pune Open Coffee Club is an informal group for all those interested in the Pune startup ecosystem, and many of the startups on that group realized that the conventional avenues for job postings were either too ineffective, or too expensive for the smaller startups. To counter this problem, the PuneStartupJobs mailing list was started. In keeping with the philosophy behind the POCC, the PuneStartupJobs mailing list is also free – any POCC member can post job postings, and anybody can subscribe to receive updates.

Features of PuneStartupJobs:

  • Free. No fees for posting. No fees for subscribing
  • Anybody can subscribe
  • Focused: Only Pune Startups can post. (Some other postings (e.g. Mumbai) get through once in a while, but it’s largely local.)
  • Moderated: All posts are moderated, so no spam.
  • A weekly digest of PuneStartupJobs postings is auto-posted to the main PuneStartups mailing list. This ensures wider (but delayed) circulation to a larger group. (Thanks to Pune startup Thinking Space Technologies for implementing this functionality.)

So, if you’re someone likely to be interested in getting a job with a startup in Pune, or if you might know someone who might be interested, or simply, if you’re interested in finding out what kinds of people Pune’s startups are looking to hire, you should subscribe…

Internship Mela: Get full-time interns (for 6 months) for Pune companies – 23 Dec

What: Internship Mela, to allow companies to find students for 6-month internships
When: Wednesday, 23rd December, 10am to 1pm
Where: Institute of Management and Career Courses (IMCC) campus, 131 Mayur Colony, Kothrud, Pune 411029.
Registration and Fees: This is a free event. Students do not need to register. Companies must register here
Eligibility (Students): Any student who has read all the instructions given in here is eligible to apply. Student must be studying for a computer science degree, and is interested in a full-time, 6-month, internship with a Pune company can attend. Just show up at the venue at 9:30am.
Eligibility (Companies): Only Pune companies are eligible. You must register at the Internship Mela Registration page

Background

Students who are studying for MCS/MCA/M.Sc. ( Computer Science ) typically have to do internship (Industrial Training) with some company for 6-months (basically their last semester of college) as a part of their degree requirements. The students are expected to work full time for the company during this period, and are typically paid a stiped by the company. At the end of this period, the company is expected to give a certificate of completion of the internship, and the student are expected to submit a project report and give a presentation in their college. These students have usually completed all the other requirements of their degree, so they do have all the knowledge that a MSc/MCA/MCS degree holder is expected to have – specifically, exposure to .NET, Java, PHP & Linux etc. Internships for a number of colleges will start in January 2010 (to continue until June 2010), so December 2009 is the right time to get students.
And other side we have lots of IT startup companies who are looking for best talent. So we are organizing an “Internship Mela” where companies that are offering internships can give a short presentation (3 minutes) to the students, and then students can apply to the companies they find most interesting.

Internship Mela – 23 December 2009

‘Internship Mela’ will be held Wednesday, 23st December, 2009, in the morning, at Institute of Management and Career Courses (IMCC) campus, 131 Mayur Colony, Kothrud, Pune 411029.The details are as follows:

  • All companies who would like to offer full-time 6-month internships are requested to register at the Internship Mela registration page
  • All students, from any college in Pune (or outside), who are doing a Computer Science degree course and who are interested in doing a 6-month internship starting in January 2010 are open. No registration is required. Just come to IMCC at 9:30am on 23rd December, 2009.
  • Company representatives are requested to be at the venue at 9:45am.
  • From 10am to 1pm: Each company gets to present to the engineers for 3 minutes. Give a quick introduction of yourself, your company, what projects you plan to do with the interns, what kind of skills you are looking for, and whether you will be paying a stipend or not, and your contact info.
  • In the afternoon, smaller rooms will be made available to companies who are interesting in meeting students right away. (Alternatively, companies who don’t want to stick around in the afternoon can ask the students to contact them later over email/phone.)

The idea is that this is a marketplace designed to allow companies to find students quickly.

To register as a company offering internships, please follow these steps

  • Join the techstart mailing list (click on “Join this group” link on the right side of the page)
  • After joining, go to the Internship Mela Registration Page and add yourself to the list there. (Click on the “Edit this page” button, then add your info just above the last line in the list.)
  • Come to IMCC at 9:45am on 23rd December, 2009. Prepare a 3-minute talk that can help the potential interns decide whether they are interested in your project. Be as specific as possible. (Note: there will be no slides/projector)

Students interested in this program – just show up at the venue at 9:30am (see details above). No registration required. Bring multiple copies of your resume.

Are you a misfit in your company?

This article was written for PuneTech readers by Dr. Basant Rajan, who has played various engineering/management/research roles over 18 years in the Indian Software industry. Most recently he was CTO of Symantec India.

This article is primarily targeted at software professionals (in India) and attempts to introduce a few concepts that’ll help you understand your aspirations and your work environment better, so you can make some career choices that could empower you to realize your true potential. If the section below on employee types, does not strike a chord, the rest of this article will likely not either, be forewarned.

Your long term career prospects depends a lot on the expectations of your manager and organization matching your aspirations. Frustration, especially when linked to growth prospects is often a tell tale sign that something’s amiss.

Before we can narrow down on what is amiss and fix it, we need to cover some ground related to what drives these expectations in the first place. Next we’ll revisit frustrations at the work place in the context of what we learned about organizations and employees. We will then go over some simple tests to help classify your manager and organization and finally use the information we’ve gleaned to chart a possible course of action that will let you positively influence your destiny at the work place.

Employee types – cooks & chefs

One typically uses the term talent interchangeably with employee. In the context of the Indian software industry however, we see two distinct kinds of employees – one that brings skills to the work place and another that also bring long some talent.

Think of it more like the difference between a chef and a cook. Given a recipe, both can make a delicacy you’ll relish. But you’d expect the chef to be able to surprise you with something he conjured up. Put another way, they both can cook, but have different limits of capability.

We see both the cook and the chef in the software industry too. There are a large number of knowledge workers, cooks, who armed with programming skills, can deliver on complicated software components to a specified design. Then there are some, chefs, who with their deep understanding of the domain to augment their skills, can architect solutions to problems, small and large.

Note, there is nothing the matter with being either one of them …

Engagement models

There are two main reasons why a company opens an offshore branch in India – to save costs, and/or to augment availability of specialized talent.

Correspondingly, there are predominantly two engagement models in play at off-shored operations – the cost leverage model and the talent leverage model. In reality, a single company can have both these models operating in different parts.

Off-shoring under the cost leverage model (CLM) is undertaken primarily to benefit from the cost differential of skilled labour between the two sites. For example, cheap labour is pretty much what drives the growth of call centers in India. For CLM to succeed, the organization needs to be able to source skilled people who can be relatively easily trained for the specific work at hand, in significant numbers. Process driven work can typically be executed well this way.

The talent leverage model (TLM) on the other hand prioritizes the availability of specialized talent over the cost differential. The parent company is setting up their operation in India because they cannot source the required number of specialists locally. That is not to say that the TLM precludes benefits from the cost differential of the two sites.

Note, there is nothing inherently wrong with either model.

Mismatches and frustration

So much for setting up the necessary context and a common vocabulary. From the discussion so far it should be relatively easy to infer that to succeed, organizations should take care to hire the right mix of cooks and chefs.

The cost leverage model expects skilled executors of strategy (cooks) for success while the talent leverage model also depends on the supply of people who can drive the strategy (chefs). Consequently, the cost leverage model (CLM) tends to attract/need managers who are cooks while the talent leverage model (TLM) tends to attract/need managers who are chefs.

Unfortunately organizations often fail to make a conscious identification of the model they are operating under and often end up recruiting the wrong employee type for a given engagement model resulting in a frustrating work environment for the employee. While exploring why organizations slip up on this front is interesting in itself, let’s move on for now.

If you happen to be a chef and find yourself in (part of) an organization that has embraced the cost leverage model, you are likely to get disillusioned as the novelty of the job wears off. Your aspirations for growth aren’t likely to be satisfied in such an environment. Changing roles/jobs will become necessary for growth.

If you happen to be a cook and find yourself in (part of) an organization that’s operating in the talent leverage model, you aren’t that badly off, especially if you are an individual contributor. No organization can function effectively without the cooks and they are therefore valued. However, organizations operating under talent leverage tend to favour chefs when it comes to promotions.

If you are a chef and your manager happens to be a cook, your work environment is likely to be frustrating. Career growth is very unlikely to happen in such situations unless you can successfully work around your manager. Changing roles/jobs is an option worth considering seriously.

Is your manager a cook or a chef?

Knowing one’s manager is certainly a good thing. But for our purposes, let’s just limit ourselves to classifying one’s manager as a cook or a chef … Exactly how does one go about doing that? Fortunately, external behavior you are bound to notice can help you make an informed decision. Here’s how.

  • Would you consider him a supervisor (cook) or a real manager (chef)?
  • Does/can he exercise his discretion in addressing issues in your environment? (yes- chef)/(no – cook)
  • Does he regularly challenge status quo to effect changes for the better? (yes – chef) / (no – cook)
  • Does he seem to value growth in size (cook) or growth in impact (chef) of his organization?
  • Do you associate him more with your team (chef) or his management (cook)?
  • Can he work with influence (chef) or does he always need authority (cook)?
  • Caution : be sure not to confuse an isolated incident with a behavioral trait

Which engagement model is in play?

Now that we have the manager nicely squared away, let’s focus on the organization. To determine whether the your organization is really interested in the cost leverage model or the talent leverage model, you could simply ask your manager, but on second thoughts, don‘t bother. What management claims and what they really value can be two different things, so one needs to figure this out for oneself, and here’s a simple test to do it.

  • Classify the managers around as either cooks or chefs.
  • Next, check to see which ones are getting more promotions, more power and more visibility.
  • If the cooks have the upper hand and the chefs are running into roadblocks or leaving, you are looking at the cost leverage model in operation. If the reverse is true, then you have an organization that values talent leverage.
  • Again a word of caution : take care to distinguish between isolated incidents and a trend.

Don’t surprised to see significant numbers of successful cooks in an organization that has embraced the talent leverage model. Look a little closer and you’ll see that most positions of influence in such an organization are held by chefs. Remember, that while one can’t have an army without soldiers, to be successful they need to be led in battle by officers of calibre.

Empower and be free…

Hardest for last … now what can that be?

Given that you’ve just finished judging your manager and your organization, now might be a good time to introspect and make an honest assessment of what you bring to the table, just skills or talent as well?

As the road to self realization is still uncharted territory, you’ll have to figure this part out yourself 🙂

Assuming you got back from the wilderness, it’s about time you got down ensuring a sustainable. mutually rewarding, relationship at the work place and signing up to making it happen.

Now that we’ve decided to act, it’s perhaps a good time to arm ourselves with a little prayer (ok, indulge me …, for now, let’s assume there is a God) … and here it is.

The serenity prayer (excerpt) …

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

… and the industrial strength version (snippet)

if (type(self, wisdom) == CHEF) { /* you sure?, just kidding ... */
    if (model(self.org, wisdom) == CLM)) { /* in the wrong type of org */
        change_org(courage);
    } else {
        if (type(self.manager, wisdom) == COOK) { /* unfortunate ... */
            wait timeout { /* the organization might correct it */
                manager_might_change(hope);
            } change_role(courage); /* else, you have to do the honours */
        } /* else: lucky you! */
    }
} else { /* you happen to be a cook ... */
    if (model(self.org) == TLM) { /* wrong place for fast growth */
        accept_it(serenity); /* but it ain’t so bad ... */
    } /* else: lucky you! */
}

Note : God has been coded away in the industrial version, so you’ll have to make do with friends and family.

The bad news is that typically, one cannot hope to change the engagement model or one’s nature in short order.

The good news is that given the wide variety of needs and opportunities that exist, finding a work environment that suits your style is not likely to be hard once you know what you are looking for.

Let’s wrap up with a toast to “marriages made in heaven!” (else, just so you know, my wife’s a counselor).

Disclaimer

The views expressed here are solely mine and are not intended to expressly hurt the feelings of any particular minority group or organization.

This disclosure was made under duress brought to bear by Navin Kabra.

Credits

These thoughts have been shaped by a lot many colleagues and for that I am forever grateful.

About the Author – Basant Rajan

Basant Rajan holds a Doctorate in Computer Science from TIFR, Bombay and is currently an independent consultant.

He has 18 years of industry experience, and previous positions held include CTO, Symantec India heading up Symantec Research Lab (India) and Sr. Director, Symantec heading the Storage Foundations group in Pune and has been actively involved in promoting innovation at various levels within the engineering community at Symantec. He also concurrently held a Visiting Member position at TIFR, Bombay for a few years.

With a number of publications and patent applications to his name, Basant’s areas of interest include organizational change, storage technology, distributed systems, formal languages and logic.

He can be reached at basant+web [at] gmail.com.

Get student interns for 6-months for your company

As a part of their course, students of courses like MCA and MSc CA are required to do a 6-month internship in the industry. Normally, students are expected to find the internships on their own, as a result of which, smaller companies and startups without much visibility lose out on this stream of students.

To fix this we are arranging a “speed-date” for companies to quickly give a very short pitch (3 minutes) about themselves and then meet many students in a short time so that in a single meeting companies can quickly shortlist probable candidates, and conversely candidates can quickly shortlist probable companies for further interviews. This will happen on January 22, 4:30pm at SICSR. If you are interested, send me a mail (navin@punetech.com). Hurry, offer valid until stocks last.

What to expect

  • These are students of the M.Sc. in Computer Applications offered by SICSR. They will know programming (java, javascript, PHP, Ajax, databases) quite well. They will also know computer science fundamentals (algorithms, etc.) but not quite as well as a B.E. student. See http://www.symbiosiscomputers.com/v5/programmes/programmes_msccastructure.php for details of their curriculum
  • The students can start working for you immediately, and will work for 5 to 6 months – i.e. until mid-June. This is supposed to be a full-time job for the students during this period.
  • You would be expected to pay the students a stipend of about 4k/5k per month (or more depending on quality of students and competition). The official line is that they are required to do this to learn something, and not for the money. (It’s a requirement for their degree and they cannot graduate without this experience.)
  • You would be expected to give an evaluation of the student’s work to the college
  • In one of the previous POCC meetings, I heard someone say that they had a good experience with SICSR student interns. If you or someone else has experience with SICSR interns, please share it here for the benefit of the community. Please share negative experiences also, if you’ve had any.

Interested?

  • Send me (navin@punetech.com) a requirement profile describing the kind of project/work you are willing to offer by Thursday, 15th January. This will be cirtulated amongst the students. Describe your company, and the project/role. Please also indicate whether you are willing to receive some resumes of interested students beforehand.
  • On Thursday, 22nd Jan, 4:30pm to 7:30pm, there will be a “speed date” kind of an event, where each one of you will get 3 minutes to pitch your company and/or projects. At the end, you get a table where interested students come and talk to you for a maximum of 5 minutes. In this time, you should get a quick judgement of whether you want call this student for a further interview. The expectation is that at the end of the day, you have a short list of students that you are interested in interviewing, and who are interested in working for you.
  • Due to time constraints, the number of slots is limited. So, in case we receive more entries than we can accomodate, we’ll choosed on a first-come-first-served basis.

We are trying to include other colleges with similar programs. I’ll send out updates as more info becomes available.

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