Survive from your relative position

I will tell a story first. A Japanese and an American, both fond of hunting, entered a jungle with guns. In the pursuit of game they entered deep jungle and suddenly realized that they had run out of bullets. Just then they heard a lion roaring behind them. Both started running. But the Japanese took a short break to put on his sports shoes. The American said, "What are you doing? We must first get to the car." The Japanese said, "No. I only have to ensure that I remain ahead of you."

How true !! The lion would stop after getting his first victim! It is not important how good you are in running, it is important to know that you do it slightly better than others.

Motivationally and attitudinally, I will ask anybody not to be jealous of others and do his work sincerely. It is the perfect recipe to be happy and content – the fruition of selfless “Karma” that prohibits looking at the fruits of your work itself. I have friends, some of them are more brothers, who are much more successful in every sense and deservingly, no doubt. Rather than being jealous, I have always remained delightfully awestruck, proud and reverent at their achievements, some of which become part of folklores. Their dedication and the results provide me inspiration but I do not compare that of mine, because I know I am different, good or bad. But can it be possible when you are in direct competition with someone for the fruits of labour? Could I have done it in my office when I was in the industry, or with people who are not friends, just peers or straight competitors, by definition ?

For examples, say, in a top-grade MBA Institute all (or most) of the students have entered thro’ their achievements, through the front door and now they are all preparing for their ultimate goal – campus placement. In previous articles, I have commented in detail on the need for professional help in important things and the stupidity of amateurish pride of being smart and adequate, so I will keep it aside. Lets assume that all are ready. Now, on what basis the HR guys of a company will take say 5 of the 15 guys ? They normally see the absolute quality of a candidate, which as per our premises, are more or less comparable (otherwise they would have gone to a higher or lower graded Institute in the first place) and also the relative quality of a candidate, the phenomenon that is known as differentiation. The guys who will understand exactly what things the HR people look for in a candidate and the fine prints behind all the bullshits that they may talk and project an image accordingly and create a differentiation with others, will sail through easily.

If the general absolute quality is suspect or the students are not properly trained in the game itself, the overall strike rate will decrease (e.g. a top IT co. took only about 22% candidates selected for interviews in a top-level Institute in the last year), but those 22% surely were a step ahead of the others. A clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease. Getting a job is no big deal, deal is to get the best of the jobs, in best of the terms, with the highest ease.

Jockeying for this relative position, a game of one-upmanship, is a natural phenomena coming out from the super-competitive rat race everywhere, not only the entry. After joining a company, one will be subjected to it. Everywhere, a spate of people join at a particular entry-level position and though the initial 1 or 2 promotions are usually given out on plain seniority etc., the next promotions are bound to be decided by this “staying one step ahead”, as the image of the worker is usually the supreme consideration in those times. True, there are often an elaborate and bombastic HR process for the same exercise, but it is always done and maneuvered in a way to justify the results that have been long decided even before the appraisal process started.

It is simply not the rule that the best or the hardest worker are given the rewards, it applies to the people who manage to create an image for it or any position of influence which is again a complicated process that may even include sexual favors which are outside the purview of this discussion. There are often people who have made it an art to live off the credits of others and simply do it, usurping the limelight. These are called “born managers” who always direct and manage, how the others will work and send those to him, so that he can send the mail to the Boss everyday (or week) talking about the progress and the dedication of the team (!!??). because they actually have a very light schedule (which can be felt by the half-dead team members only but not others), they get a lot of extra time to sound the trumpet and go around giving the impression that he is dying with work but of course never complains, as after all he is responsible for running the Company !!

However the management world shout about the hallowed “flat” structure of the tomorrow’s organizations, As you will go up the ladder, you will understand we were never out from that colonial mind where the hierarchy is the supreme yardstick. In that pyramid structure, even if four excellent guys are in a level, only one slot will probably be available in the upper level at a point of time. Then the question will be settled by the image or the equation. A bit of mathematical genius can get you there, or you go back to school. If you want to win, first you must be prepared to fight.

When the lion is behind you, being “Good” or “Very good” do not count anymore, you have to be “Better” or the “victim”. You are so lucky, to have a choice.

Jobs galore – But where are the people?

All the time we hear about unemployment running into lacs and people not getting work etc. etc. but when we have work and need people, it’s hard to find people to work, there is a huge demand supply gap. All the people seem to be only after jobs, not work.

One of my friends, who has his own firm, is looking for some guys for quite some time. He is simply pressed, overworked and desperately need people even above the few he has. He often has to refuse work/ assignments for want of people. Myself and a few other friends try to send anyone who seem suitable to him, consider it a social work for both the parties. A few days ago, I referred a guy who said he is looking for a job, have him his no. and advised to go meet my friend after an appointment. The guy called up after 3 days, asked to meet my friend, dithered on which day he will come and said OK, I will come at 6/7 in the evening. My friend said “6 or 7 ? I hate that people will wait for me and expect to get the same treatment from others”. The guy said “OK, Sir, 6.30”. My friend was waiting, even postponing a meeting with a client, on the appointed time. The guy called up at 7.50 to say sorry and that he had some trouble and could not come, can he come on the next day ? My friend was furious but said nothing and said ok. Next afternoon a client called up my friend for an urgent meeting in the evening. He called this guy and asked if he could come at any other time. The guy said Sir, I am already working somewhere and they are giving me 12K, how much you are going to give ? My friend was flabbergasted. He said “I can give you double, even triple of that. But do you deserve that ? I have to know that first. If you are interested to talk to me, pl. come tomorrow at that time”. The guy never came.

Another girl, sitting at home, giving CA final exams with article-ship over a year ago, sent me her CV thro’ an ex-student of mine who still keeps in touch. I spoke to her and thought she is quite suitable for my friend and it will be very beneficial for her. I gave her his number and asked to get in touch, alerting my friend. She could not call up in the last 8 days. Seems busy in looking for a job. She was asking me in the beginning how much she will be paid, I said I have no idea, why don’t you go for an interview?

Sounds familiar ? The stories sometimes get dangerously similar and aligned to the stories of getting proper and good domestic maids, who also are getting scarce day by day and show the same kind of attitude problems, partly due to pure poverty in this case though. In my training on Interview techniques, I teach them all kind of strategy and tactics about how to put their best foot forward, project the best image and fit possible and push any salary negotiation till the end so that they can play on a solid ground at that point and extract the maximum juice. I have seen this strategy getting immensely successful most of the time. At a pure mind-game that is an interview, finding that balance is important as otherwise you are ought to sell yourself cheap or ask for too much and be unable to prove your value. But the issue at hand is much bigger and bleaker than the money part alone. It is a problem emanating from self-knowledge and looking everything in a price angle rather than the value. In a class in IISWBM, in a different context, the discussion veered toward this. They were complaining that even bad companies are being brought in who are offering laughably low salaries. I expressed surprise that why they are coming to IISWBM, not going rather to all the other Mgt Institutes where many students would love to get a job of 8000/-. One too smart guy from behind taunted "Dollars Sir?". I kept my cool and asked if he did think $8000 is something fantastic. I said to my little knowledge about US which I have visited a few times, it's not much and too many people get it. The question is that "if you deserve it?"

I am pretty habituated to see the youngsters of today, mainly MBA students but other species are included. I have a good sense of their potential, have every sympathy for the confused state that they usually belong to and have even sacrificed a lot on my personal front in the hope of adding a lot of value to their lives. I do not claim to compare myself, but the concept that Chandragupta would never become an Emperor if not trained by Chanakya. Even the best steel cannot be a samurai sword unless you have a master craftsman at work.

I generally find that the most significant trouble most of them have is in the attitudinal area. They simply do not have the mindset to work, they always look for a “job”, that will pay them very well but will not give much work, and not outside the plush air-conditioned office, of course. The vision to look inwards, the question of “deserving” that my friend raised, is simply missing. They are very good at having fun, being at the facebook, and master at passing the exam with the “Matrix” notes with the question of what they have learned totally missing from the happy picture. They have “bought” the degree, paid so much fees to the Institute (whose quality is something I won’t even comment about) and now it is the liability of the Institute to give them a cushy plush job, with as little work, of course. Except a few, the more I see them, the more hopeless I become.

Even if I have the power to change this, I do hate the idea to force someone to come to me for a lesson, you just can’t teach anyone to live better if he does not want it with a passion. Nobody can change anyone, it’s on them and you can only help, guide, mentor, motivate and inspire, not spoon-feed a reluctant spoilt brat who thinks his father has a lot of money so he can afford to be a monkey and so, why care? Their parents are no less a willing party to this thinking approach and attitude. One of my old students completed his MBA, worked for a bank for a few months, hated the back-breaking work that could also have given him a solid grinding as well, and left the job. He at least got bored after taking rest for half a year and had enough intelligence or contacts to land a nice job. Being the only child of well-to-do parents, his parents did tell him to relax and not get killed. Thanks Papa!!

Survive – from taking your MBA a bit too seriously

In the inauguration of the post-MBA specialization year-long course on Strategic Management in IIM Calcutta, the legendary Prof. Ranjan Das came to the dais and asked “How many of a read a book called ‘The power of NOW’? All 35 people kept their hands hidden. Then he lectured for an hour on behavior, life and attitude. We were mesmerized, but could not help feel desolate. What is the relation of all this with StratMan, (except a statement that SM is all about behavior) ? Then for a year, the deeper we went, we understood that the essence of the whole subject had been taught in a nutshell in the first one hour.

I have continued studying SM even after that and for years I have been teaching it in different management Institute, but I never forget that lesson. Al learning turn towards philosophy at one time and after a certain level, because that level concerns with the concentrated wisdom, the essence of the learning. I have continued to give that in my first class of the term, to the utter dismay of the students, but it is fun to give the last scene first and then show the movie in an unhurried flashback.

Dealing with the students, not only in the management Institutes but also of the schools and colleges in my training sessions of BodhiTree, I get to see a lot of them taking their degree or the course too seriously. They try to discuss the nuances (the more difficult, the merrier) everywhere and in every place (don’t know if they try to talk about these with their girlfriends even in odd times). Is it is focus or is it is kind of ego-feeding? I often see a strange kind of showmanship in these efforts, the one-up-man-ship that was elegantly demonstrated in the Hitler-Mussolini meeting in the “Great Dictator”. I had a junior (in my dept. but 2/3 levels down) who always thought of unusual ways to score a point with me, sort of indirect oiling, to show that he is ahead of the others. I hated this but he was insistent. Say when I am having my lunch in the canteen, he will come up and sit with me (his peers are sitting in another table) and start discussing a delicate issue in Insurance. After a few time, I told him “I had to pass the whole thing from Licentiate to Fellow in under 3 years and didn’t get the 10-12 years time like others. So, you can understand, I did not have to time to study and have very limited knowledge”. The sarcasm shot past him and the next day he came to my lunch-table to discuss another issue which should not have affected him at all. This time I flatly told that I charge to discuss official things at my leisure time. Such people probably tend to their facebook account or any other forums as academic discussion boards and ruthlessly down-ride all things less glamorous or less knowledge-based. World was never short of pompous asses.

I hate the concept that the subjects are often theoretically taught, with an eye on finishing the syllabus and the exam purposes. While I did just that in my last term in my alma mater, it was under a situation of exigency. Otherwise I try to give the essence of the subject and whatever are there in the books, they can just read that (I even give the chapters or pages). I am grateful to God for the chance of being in IIM as that provided a new approach of thinking itself (further honed by the Strategic Management Forum in other IIMs) and a new view towards life. Prof. Saugata Ray (now dean at IIM_C), while teaching financial strategy, said “however much I teach you, you still read the book ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ nicely, otherwise you won’t be able to really appreciate the value of tangible assets or their creation”. I found that an understatement, after reading the book. My brother, a brilliant doctor, has probably earned (God knows how many) times of his whole life’s salary and fees from investments in property and shares. He could as well have earned even more if he changed his profession altogether but he didn’t care, obviously. Aswat Damodaran books are not enough to teach you the essence, he gives you the house. It’s then over to life, to teach you to make it a home. I say “A SM course cannot teach you personal strategy unless you read ‘The Godfather’ or the relationship strategy without reading the art of war, where Sun Tzu says that a great commander wins a war without bloodshed”.
I personally own several properties, all of which have given me mind-boggling returns. At least one opportunity I missed by a whisker has haunted me for years and gave me a notional loss amounting to several years of my salary (net of tax) even when I was a very successful professional. Still, while I am not in a position to buy any more, I act like a listening post and insist to all my friends that any opportunity of a good investment (even without judging) should be informed to me. If I cannot buy, my relatives and friends are there. And I am not a broker, and never charged a paisa, nor will I. I do this to others as a grateful service for the fact that they are my well-wishers. I often find this attitude, most among the Bengalis unfortunately, that they take any real estate maneuvers as much below their dignity. The result is for all to see. 70% of Kolkata is gone, and the rest is goingggg..

In my SM classes, I always give quotes, stories, anecdotes and book-names so that the real objective is fulfilled. The real objective to me, is to become smarter and happy and rich. Strategy says everything relates to the relevance to the objectives. So, to me, objective is supreme. That is why I try to teach all my students, my children that is, to keep one eye all the time for the opportunities that are going past them. 99% will be irrelevant or not applicable or impractical, but the rest 1% will give a 100 times return on the effort. If you do not respect opportunity, it will stop coming to you. I go on telling them “Your salary can never make you rich, opportunities can”.

But I still find that that some people, prefer being dumber, complaining and, well, MBA! Then I respect their choice.

Survive from being good only – a case for Alumni network

I won’t try to define Alumni as to me, it is slightly more than a definition. It is a sentiment, a gratitude, a relationship with continued interest, interaction and involvement with one’s Alma mater. Where they have benefited from the association, they usually do recognize and cherish the relationship and often, constructively participate in the making of a community with a shared bonding. They stay connected with the fellow alumni, teachers, the institute itself and also benefit from a variety of privileges like activities, events, professional and educational meets and connections, programs, career options and networking opportunities. The belonging foster the growth of healthy fellow-feeling, promote common interest and maintain the feeling of unity.

When someone takes a pride of belonging, the phenomenon is multi-faceted and multi-directional. There are four major pillars of the phenomenon, The Institute (tangibly represented by the present authority and top management with their vision), the faculty, the current students and of course, the alumni, who often provide the much-needed pull-effect to the Institute and the students. Reputation of alma mater and the increasing equity of their diplomas are key motivators for connectivity for a large section of the alumni. They seek to connect through career, social, and business networking provided by the alumni forum and so, are also interested in learning more about their institution’s academic strengths, how it educates graduates for careers, exciting developments in student-faculty collaborations and research, and opportunities to be exposed to new things and be prepared for a complex and changing world

Without the pull effect, even Harvard would not have come this far or the IIMs would not have made this name. In most or nearly all major technical or management Institutes all over the world, alumni factor was one primary factor for their vault in the big league. Even the economic factor, in some cases, were huge. Harvard gets huge amount of endowments from their alumni (a 2009 survey showed 67 of the top guy, Chairman / CEO, of the fortune 500 cos. were their alumni), other Ivy league Universities follow suit. Even some of our IITs have got significant funding for noble purposes, the Vinod Gupta endowment for IIT-KGP is one example. In Harvard, the alumni association (the collegiums for the elation of many important functionaries) have a role in the management, control and development of continuity and perpetuation of the name and traditions, strengthening the tie between the old and the new. They have their own office in the campus itself.

While the pride of belonging is a primary reason of being in any alumni association, being in the core of the ol’ boys network is an obvious benefit and is often a big factor of personal success in the industry. It is quite true that more businesses are acquired or given at the clubs rather than the offices also point to that principle and the culprit network. The result or rather the potential strength of such a community support will be evident if you look at the Parsi community or the Doon school Ol’ boys network.

But it needs a conscious effort on the part of the Institute too. Unless it takes a justifiable pride in the achievements of their children, the feeling slowly becomes mutual and the path is separated (beside only fulfilling the practical personal needs of networking or being in touch with the batchmates). An Institute must understand that it is the people who build the connection to the Institution and not the other way around and the people need active nurturing and encouragement, not the high-handed laidback neglecting welcome. Nurturing a bond, starting with the young alumni (students are would be alumni really), leads to consistent and increased philanthropic support over time over the life-cycle relationship with the alma mater.

Some alumni associations, (like the Jadavpur University one), have established branches in different parts of the country, and even in other countries. IITs have joint alumni association branches in many countries and they are pretty active in all aspects. They sometimes reunion parties, sports, cultural events, conferences etc. and often fund-raising take place to help their alma mater in certain aspects, e.g. loan scholarships for brother students, helping them connect to the industry, giving pull-effect for campus interviews, helping the management with visionary suggestion, funding special needs for the Institute infra-structure or special extra-curricular training needs of the students etc. The best thing about even the most active associations will be if they do not transgress the boundary of participation and authority.

The best of the Institutes always take a special care to nurture the alumni network and create a strong bond. They create or patronize the alumni association, create interaction points with alumni leaders, improve alumni involvement and support, reach donor among and through the alumni and set a code for a mutually respectful and beneficial relationship. Some Institutes, as I have heard, even arrange for surveys (by the Consumer survey organizations which often have some alumni at the top) regarding alumni satisfaction and often use community analytics software (another BI tool and a variant of the Customer analytics software) in tracking the results and the progress of the continuing initiatives. This sort of endeavors also create a more healthy atmosphere with checks and balances that can work as a counter-weight against outside or governmental interventionist policies and provides more and true autonomy for the Institute.

The mutually beneficial relationship dynamics of the Institute and the alumni increases in an interactive and incremental manner. The more famous and respected the Institute becomes in the marketplace, the more benefits the alumni derives in the industry circles because of the name. In my personal experience in the HR consulting side, I have seen that the name matters a lot in the CV or in an interview. At the same time, the more the alumni rise, the Institute gets tremendously benefited because of the association. A case in point is the heydays of the Razabazar Science college and it’s students in the Ashok Ganguly or S.M. Dutta days in Hindustan Lever (now Unilever).

But this kind of relationship needs active nurturing from all the pillars of the phenomenon. Students must understand the potential benefits of the association (and the current students don’t often show much the kind of maturity or attitude for the same) or the Institute must also understand that being good (or even the oldest) don’t matter much in the new world order of the cut-throat competition of the Institutes, where the philosophy is (from the management parlance borrowed from Jack Welch) “If you are not the Champion, or the challenger, you can f__ off”. It certainly needs an X factor that pushes the boundaries of the Institute and the students (who really become the brand ambassadors of the Institute of the industry by their knowledge, their manners, their philosophies, their attitude, their work culture and everything else). The teachers, who tend to get a bit tired and cynical over the years, also need to be taken along if the inspiration has to be there.

In the end, it is that inspiration, that matters..

Survive form a bad picture – yours - Part -2

Have you ever seen a girl who does not hire a beautician or a parlor for her make-up on her marriage day ?? Then why they think they can do it all by themselves when making a resume which runs for many years and the trade itself is an art, no less than a art-full beautician’s job, which is to show you in the best possible looks or the job of a professional photographer which is to show you in the best possible light, angles and poses ? Professional CV-making is an art that takes a lot of experience and clear understanding of the psyche of the people who will screen the CV or of the people who will be taking the interviews based on the CVs. This is a problem with many professional agencies also where inexperienced greenhorns make the CVs in an assembly line system, without any personalized or customized analysis or viewpoint on the strength / weak areas, tilts and slants, and most importantly the overriding objectives of the candidate. While there is no perfect CV is alright, the “one size fits all” is a devastating rundown to the candidates. In the last 2 months, we have created (or rather recreated from scratch) at least 3 CVs which were previously made by “Naukri”, who charge a higher rate but use mostly junior fellas, who have never seen the industry themselves, on the job.

But CV have their limitations too, just like a photograph. It may be a brand image projection, but you should also relate to that photograph. Otherwise every girl would have sent a picture of Angelina Jolie for their marriage negotiation. A top-class photographer (with a team including a hot-shot make-up man) can show any girl to be beautiful, but cannot make you look like Jolie that all the companies will make a queue at your door next morning for a, well, autograph. CV-making is no magic and do not expect a Harry Potter job. Life is not Hogwarts, it is the hogwash that one needs on her face and anything more than that and the overdose of paints will make her look like a cheap hooker (and a liar, of course). You only market yourself thro’ the CV, not overdo it and lose your credibility. A CV, of a pretty successful pro who were dissatisfied with the service of another agency, came to us for re-creation. There was quite a list of qualities given in that CV, almost anything under the Sun. Our Associate who provides the service, a top-notch HR pro with decades of high quality experience, smiled and said “all these qualities should have made him the President of USA by this time !!”.

A CV has to have a clean formal professional look that must show you methodical, neat and well-organized. It also indicates the written communication skills, your self-assessment (often people make so much wild claims about their qualities that the CV itself can become a laughingstock) and the realistic position. Each word must be chosen and all fats cut out so that it can be easily scanned and the words you want to highlight (often many things must be told in a subtle indirect way) should come up very easily. Traps must be created in a way to lead and lure the interviewer in your strong areas where you can play most of the time of the interview and the interviewer will be automatically timed out about probing you deeper about your weak areas and angles. A CV should reflect your best angles, but also reflect how you can fulfill the employers needs in the position you are aiming for, and that is the exact place where your CV needs a personalized strategy. Copying the best-looking CV available among your friends will never best serve your purpose. But still do it, Kamalakanta advises, if you are smart - it will probably save you a day’s salary for the position you’re looking at.

For a few days, I went over some of the CVs to make a list of the major and common problems, which are:
1. Not easy for scanning or reading
2. Too much colour or shading and lines in the format
3. Overall strategy is missing
4. Will not provide direction for the interview
5. Too much information is given
6. Not CV, it should be a profile, of max. 2 pages
7. Cliché and vague statements given as objective
8. Personal statement vague and high-sounding
9. Silly email addresses or filename (ex. supersexy2010.doc or rockstar.doc.)
10. Real objective and targeted area of work unclear
11. Direction of career not apparent. Qualification and projects on one direction, experience on another
12. High focus on knowledge rather than skills
13. High claims on skills and attitude, without any proof or even auto-suggestion by the education or experience backing. E.g. one writes “excellent communication skills” which is plain laughable
14. Side margins very less
15. Photo should not be there
16. CTC / salary info. Must not be there
17. Declaration at the last need not be there
18. Cohesiveness is not there, overall idea is disjointed
19. Poor choice of word
20. Spelling mistakes
21. Grammatical mistakes
22. Written in past tense or in third person
23. Too much of shading / embossing / colour / lines
24. Important points not highlighted
25. Strengths are not apparent and not highlighted
26. Weaknesses not covered
27. Extra-curricular /interests is over-mentioned or not proper for the role / job targeted or negative

So, be happy and start making your own CV, even if it closes the doors that were half-open, till now.

Survive from a bad picture - yours - Part 1

It surprises the hell out of me that a resume, or curriculum Vitae (CV) as is commonly called, is neglected so much in the whole process of job search. While helping my wife’s HR consulting business temporarily, I get to see hundreds of CVs, of mostly MBAs, and never cease to be amazed. People send all kind of CVs, bogus – childish – stories – evidently untruthful – big claims – unreadable - unprofessional or simply downright ghastly. Some are so plain Jane, that no HR professional will give a second look at them to find out more. It is said that they scan one in 30-70 seconds and reject it or reads it the second time.

While my wife is in horse-trading, the business of reins should not have been our concern at all. But in a business in which sees the clients see the reins first and decide to look at the horses, we simply could not have a Nelson eye, otherwise our business will suffer because an otherwise suitable qualified good candidate may quite be simply screened out just because the CV is a trash. What a waste!! A CV is supposed to be the key to the door, no more and no less. After the door opens, you get a chance to go and give the Amitabh Bachchan like dialogue or Amrish Puri like smile or a Malaika like jhatka, but what if the door is only painted on the wall ?? !!

Remember the movie where the Hero gets a perfumed ladies handkerchief and falls in love with the girl whom it belonged to?? He made all sort of images in his mind how the girl will be and etc. etc. In the same way, a good CV has another very important job, that is to make the interview irrelevant in a way a true blue ocean strategy makes competition itself irrelevant. First impression last forever and one gets only one chance. One Must create a solid first impression – must put the best foot forward – not the lame one. In the business of giving an interview, image management is everything and that killer image (“Mere paas Ma hay”) can only and only be transmitted through a CV ! When a candidate will go thro’ the door, the interviewer should already be half-dead in lust, and should only need a slight push to commit suicide, no persuasion please. He should only need a confirmation of the image he has got and nothing else, he is already hanging on the cliffhanger.

But still, alas, the guys who expect too much too early and much more, never ask the question why they should get all those. The complain – constantly. Why the C-grade Institute (that never really made any bar in entry and never had any quality control on the input students except the paying capacity) is not getting them plush and plum jobs (also the corner office, where they can sit in the strong AC and do facebook all day) when they had paid so much money? They blame everybody – Institute, placement office, HR guys, faculties, job market, International recession etc. etc. and never gives a thought why these companies pay the consultants so much money to find out the right people for them. They never find out if they should be taken by any company at all?? By knowledge – by application – by attitude. I know because I have taught a lot of them and are simply hopeless about 95% of them. It’s not that they have less intelligence, many of them are also talented in different ways – it is usually always the attitude that spoils them to this degree. There I blame a lot of people – parents, Institutes, University, education system, faculties. Everybody is out on a race to get the most at the minimum of effort and determination.

These 95% – the main trouble is they don’t want to learn. They want to pass, by hook or crook, no textbooks please and the read-a-subject-for-exam-in-a-night (like Matrix companions) are the norm. They dream about the IIM kind of salaries and have no idea the kind of intense grinding they go through. I went mad when we were in IIM-C for a year in Strategic Management. Every afternoon, totally exhausted, when we used to go back to the hostels, we were used to be told of the next days 5/6 Case studies by the Program Director’s Secretary (we always felt like murdering her by drowning in one of those famous 7 lakes in the campus and if she was not attractive, we probably would have done it someday). Then we were awake with the cases till 3 or 4 in the morning, and came back at 9 sharp. These people, in contrast, makes a revolution if they are given a task, tries to make a team of 10 if given a small project. Most faculties in most private Institutes are evidently sub-standard (in tandem with their sub-level salaries) who never had read a case study themselves. University is full of corrupt people who think exam is a formality and everybody should pass to avoid any hassles and give questions from Matrix only. The height is that nobody cares, because then the rich Institute owners will give the cash awards, under the table. The only thing these 95% care about is why they are not being “given” a plush job.

Coming back to the CVs, a few we get are pretty good (in fact, one we got recently, we asked that guy 5 times where from he made that CV and he insisted he himself wrote it and finally confessed that his elder sister is in HR and is a pro in this field), some are OK which we do not disturb and some which need slight change that we quietly make on our own even without asking them. After that, about 40-50% remain which are of the “Must be changed” status, for which we ask them if they will take the paid service, and most people disagree and say No (we say shit and submit the CV as it is) and some cautiously ask the rates and some readily take the service. We see that even many candidates in the HR side, simply can’t make a proper CV and we wonder what picture they are providing of themselves.

A CV is a snapshot of a person, 2 flat pages focusing on the relevant highlights of 20 / 25 / 30 years of his /her life and throws a composite image. If you really do not look like the photo given here, then why you give that picture through your CV? And then expect that you will be called for an interview?

While people spend a lot on the beauty parlors for facials and other services, they do not get their CVs professionally made. They are smart, and smart people do not waste money, right? So they spend it on beers, restaurants, girlfriends, ipods, other numerous gadgets and endless funs – except their snapshot for the purpose that they constantly cry and supposedly try – a nice job