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TechnoFIRST
Technology Entrepreneurship & Career Magazine
Vol.5 A bit of a pragmatic dreamer is what we look for in an innovator Dr. A.S.Rao
Issue.11
November 2009
Got the Offer where is the Job
Former Advisor, DSIR
Millions of fresh graduates and a lot more from the past are still being hired, with the offer letters being given away. But are these offer letters really turning into real jobs? Network partner
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I
n Man, life sets itself the challenge of producing an animal capable of making promises”. Of course, herewith I join the school of thought of 19th century German philosopher, Wilhelm Nietzsche. ‘Without Promise, nothing happens, neither world nor history. But in India, nobody knows the name Nietzsche and the scintillating words of Genesis. So as many IT, FMCG companies were recruited Genext luminaries from the campuses and kept the promises still inside the coffin of ‘Recession’. In my resources of knowledge, these leading companies used to come from August-September for gleaming picks’ in the engineering colleges but this year they are ambiguous. The sliding dollar and scale-up rupee is another bothersome glow to the Indian companies and their placements are yet to be firmed up since things are not designed yet or they do not know how many projects they will get. There, Promises changing the wardrobe of a human and staging like a character in the play ‘As You like It’. If we are thinking about the promises of US Companies to their Indian counterpart in a different manner other than that of ‘German philo’, our millions of fresh graduates have to wait many uncountable days to get a date with their dream career or company. After the invasion of ‘Slowdown’ recruiters are practicing new techniques to justify their promises like job bonds and more unnecessary tests. In expert’s opinion, the Indian outlook is definitely promising on the growth trajectory by the public spending and the upward journey of the Indian industrial index. This time, our cover story beams on the ‘Great Promises’ of Indian Companies and the Great Expectations of the students who were recruited. All the signs point to a systematic recovery by the early next year. I believe, employers are unnecessarily standing on the dock and predict the storm with the next ripple and destroy what all he made in the industry. So that he may have been more cautious about even the hiring from the colleges, IITs and IIMs. Remember Mr. Employer, the time has come to rethink about the new markets like India and Asia to repay the debts of recession in the bygone days. Specifically, India and other ASEAN countries are wealthier than the market of US and Canada. Moreover, Indian software and banking expertise still have the unquestionable mightiness even in front of the Historical Tiananmen Square. This is the time to hire more talents and keep up your promises at the campuses. With this edition, we are very happy to sprinkle you with a couple of motivating and fascinating content blend including astrology, job destination and a lot of interactive dialogue with the market leaders. Hope, these will give you a delicious reading fest with the TF the days to come. AJAYLAL editor@technofirstonline.com
contained therein has been compiled using sources believed to the reliable and accurate. Readers are however advised, in their own interest, to reconfirm the data before acting
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The sharpest mind in India are coming together to lend support for the flagship campaign to change the face of the Indian Technology industry. From statesmen, to successful young entrepreneurs to pioneer I.T. giants, the “I am an Entrepreneur” Campaign is aimed at making change at the grass root level to the future of the country, namely the youth. The innovative ideas in young minds shall be crafted and applied from the shoulders of these people who have shown the world the value of independent thinking. The campaign focuses on evaluating the viable ideas in future entrepreneurs and providing help in making their campus dreams come true.
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October
2009
Contents
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HR Talk Deependra Chumble, CPO Hexaware Technologies
Negotiating your First Salary At times you may end up working on a salary that would make you feel underpaid. Make sure you do get the right salary as you start your career. Priyanka Narayanan writes
Career in Enterprise Resource Planning Enterprise Resource Planning, or ERP for short, denotes a software application that allows an organisation to effectively and efficiently manage its resources
cover story Millions of fresh graduates and a lot more from the past are still being hired, with the offer letters being given away. But are these offer letters really turning into real jobs?
Regular Smart Techie Group Discussion Beta Q Career Guru Company Review 6 TF November 2009
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Mine is not an innovation but an invention
Das Ajee Kamath
Innovator Of The Month
While you wait
Waiting for the joining date is a tricky thing. It is not just a matter of patience but a state of confusion and uncertainties about, whether you will be given a joining date at all. GADGETS
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Job hunt
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The Entrepreneurs
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Technopark TePP OutreachCentre (T-TUC)
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Will you be Hired?
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gadgets
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20 wise talk
Munnabhai’s Journey to
Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is not just about mere growth. It is about the path of growth and about the thoughtfulness involved in being an entrepreneur.
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they said it Murthy believe that entrepreneurship creates jobs and that is the only way to escape cycles of poverty for a country like India Mohandas Pai on N.R. Narayana Murthy selling a part of his shares to support Entrepreneurs
Recessions are often the midwives for the transition from one economic era to the other. So during the transition from one economic era to another, the revenue hit you take is the least of your problems. Actually your business model might be becoming out of date and you have to watch out for that� Ajit Balakrishnan Founder, Chairman & CEO of Rediff.com
TF November 2009
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DeskAway is a promising web-based project collaboration tool. TF in conversation with Sahil Parikh, CEO Synage Software, about his startup story
DeskAway
An innovative way to simplify team work
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ynage is a web startup, passionate about making the workplace better by the use of simple, powerful, safe and affordable software. They build software to automate work, enhances accountability, provide clarity, organize information and provide a friction-less form of working. Their flagship SaaS product, DeskAway, simplifies teamwork. DeskAway is a web-based project collaboration service that provides organizations a central location to easily organize, manage and track their projects and work.
They work with small businesses, groups within larger organizations and startups from all over the world. Synage was started in 2005 as a design and development agency and transformed itself into a pure-play web company in 2007. Currently one of the best positioned (price, support, features) in the small business online project collaboration market worldwide. DeskAway combines a mix of simplicity, feature-richness and affordability into its project collaboration service with a focus on key social
startup story features in the SMB project 2.0 space. This time around TechnoFIRST catches up with Sahil Parikh, the founder of Synage Software Pvt. Ltd as he talks about his startup story. The Motivation When I moved back to India in 2005, there were just too many service companies floating around. Plus, I never liked, and completely disagreed with what people abroad thought of India: a low-cost service country, perfect for off-shoring and incapable of building a quality product unless directed from abroad. This fuelled my desire to grow a product-based software business that had the potential to affect tens of thousands of small businesses and teams globally. Major steps to start your company The major step for me was to hire talented, long term thinkers. That was really hard to find back in 2005 when the outsourcing and call center frenzy hiked up basic salaries. The Funding DeskAway was funded initially
from: Revenue from web design and development (services) - Personal savings from the US I chose to build a less capitalintensive yet scalable business. What could have been a better way of proving that you believe in your business, than when you put what you have at stake? This funded DeskAway’s setup, development and initial marketing. The Most Valuable Asset We try to keep things simple, build powerful features month to month, and have an affordable pricing strategy and an amazing customer service standard. This translates into a very positive experience that a user has with our application and company.
The Support In early 2008 we were one of the finalists for the Proto (www.proto. in) event held in Chennai. Later that year we were chosen as one of the top 30 hottest startups of India by Tata NEN (www.hotteststartups.in). This kind of support helped spread the word about our company, team and our global reach. Major Challenges Switching from a service business to a product business was the biggest challenge. A service business lets you start earning revenues almost from day one. Whereas in the case of a product, you need to put in a lot of time, effort and money at the beginning that slowly starts to pay off at a later stage. Since we had to get out of our comfort zone, this was difficult initially. We would take up 1 or 2 web development projects on the side. This would take our attention away from DeskAway and take up time and energy. It reached a stage where I took the critical decision to stop all service projects and concentrate 100% on DeskAway. This has been my best decision till date. Getting Indian customers to try DeskAway during the Summer of 2007 was another challenge. We would be called into ad agencies, design and PR firms for presentations, and finally they would want to buy the software to install on their own machines. They didn’t understand the business model, or ironically, why the software was so affordable. We spent quite a lot of time educating companies here about the online model, how it is beneficial to them in the long run and how they are actually saving costs by not buying expensive, clunky software. This is quite a challenge when you are small and are pressed for time. We now run multiple online marketing channels and have a robust online help & video section where prospects and customers can learn about
Company Synage Software Pvt. Ltd. Founded in: March 2005 Head Quartered in: Mumbai, India. Industry: IT/Internet/ SaaS The Team Our small team comprises of people who are interested in web technologies, collaboration and helping small business simplify teamwork. We also work with freelancers and consultants virtually. No. of employees: 8 to 10 Company Address & Contact: Synage Software Pvt. Ltd. Great Western Bldg, 1st Floor, 130/132 Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg, Near Lion Gate, Fort Mumbai 400023, INDIA Phone +91.22.2285.4133 Fax +91.22.2284.6553 Blog: http://www. deskaway.com/blog
DeskAway before using it. This has drastically reduced our cost of customer acquisition. While we have been fortunate with our core team, we do face difficulties in peripheral talent acquisition. We are looking for TF November 2009
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quality and quantity and a long-term mindset. Working in a small growing product company should be a passion for them and not a job! Hence, I have been involved with all interviews personally, trying to understand the candidate better (from a non-technical standpoint) and showing them what’s possible if he/she were to join our team. You have to show them the bigger picture and the light at the end of the tunnel. Vision and Future Plans DeskAway is headed to become India’s top project management or collaboration product; and among the top 5 products world-wide. In the coming years, we will be extending DeskAway to other apps, getting third-party applications integrated within DeskAway, adding more social features and also come out with a mobile and iPhone version. On the marketing side we are looking at more partnerships and a full fledged affiliate program.
we have been fortunate with our core team, we do face difficulties in peripheral talent acquisition. We are looking for quality and quantity and a long-term mindset. Working in a small growing product company we have been fortunate with our core team; we do face difficulties in peripheral talent acquisition
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For the Future Entrepreneurs > Focus on the Core In early 2005/06 we were doing a bit of everything like most web design/ development firms. What I learned was that you should focus on one thing and try to do it well. That’s when we phased out the service side and concentrated completely on building, growing and scaling DeskAway, even if it meant taking a risk and plugging our immediate source of income. > Talk to yourself Ask yourself as to why you want to start a new venture? Is it only money or is there a higher purpose attached to it? Are you solving a need or just following a fad? It is important to answer these questions before you jump full time into starting out. > Do not Hire Experts I have had better luck hiring people who want to learn than people who already come with “expert” skills. It is a joy in helping a developer to learn new things – to create a win-win situation. Things change so quickly that you require people, who are willing to learn, unlearn and re-learn. In a nutshell - build a small, motivated team, keep things simple, stay focused, use less capital-intensive methods, outsource what is not core, and monitor and measure everything on a daily basis. Follow DeskAway on twitter: http://twitter.com/ deskaway
ABROAD
career plus
Negotiating your First Salary At times you may end up working on a salary that would make you feel underpaid. Make sure you do get the right salary as you start your career. Priyanka Narayanan writes
p
lanning for your first interview and you are confused about how to discuss the salary matters or demand for a salary? Well the first advice, never ask or even discuss salary. It is not just a bad idea to discuss money matters during the interview but it may turn into a disastrous one too. The reason is simple but important, if you have discussed about the salary in the early stage of the interview it is impossible to ask and justify salary higher than what you mentioned earlier in the process. On the other hand, if the recruiter thinks that you are asking for too much, it will create a wrong picture and you may not even be recruited. Rules It’s a good idea to avoid talking about the salary before a clear sign has been passed to you confirming recruiting you. If, in case, you are in a situation where you are forced to discuss about it, then give a broad answer and avoid being specific. The more the delay the better you stand a chance to negotiate. The first salary offer they put across to you would be based on your personal skills, your technical knowledge about the subject, their internal salary bands, budget, etc. Most hiring managers have tremendous leverage and can easily revise it further so the idea is to negotiate and here are a few rules.
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Time is More Money Your employer would always want you to accept the offer immediately because they know they’ll get a better
It’s a good idea to avoid the talking about the salary before a clear sign has been passed to you confirming recruiting you. If in case you are in a situation or you are forced to discuss about it then give a broad answer and avoid being specific.
deal that way. Never accept the offer immediately. This puts you in a much stronger position. The hiring manager will think that they’ll lose you to another employer so the more time you take the more the chances of an increment. But make sure you don’t drag it too much that you aren’t left with a job. Research Market Salaries Before deciding on the salary make sure that you have an idea about the current market salary scene. And also update yourself with the latest annual. It’s a good idea to share these reports with hiring managers, if you feel you are underpaid.
Maintain a Positive Attitude Always maintain a positive attitude towards the employer and the job. Make sure you acknowledge the opportunity and conduct these discussions professionally. At no point during these discussions should they think that they hired the wrong person for the position. There have been cases of employers revoking the offer. More Than One You can negotiate if you have multiple offers in hand. The hiring manager will treat you with a lot more respect if they feel that you are in demand elsewhere. They’ll also be worried that they’ll lose you to some other emp l o y e r.
HR
Talk The recent job market seems to be a lot perplexing and mystified. TF caught up with Deependra Chumble, CPO Hexaware Technologies and in a quick interview learnt about what the current job scenario is like.
W
hat is the scenario of the current job market? While there are early signs of economic revival and a steady increase in job opportunities, potential candidates are still not very sure and hence there is a certain sense of insecurity among them to explore new job and accept new assignments. There are however exceptions to this trend. Organizations which have successfully used this period of economic slowdown to re-write their business strategy have started to focus on building internal capabilities through training rather than external procurement. This helps in managing attrition and also in providing a sense of security and belongingness to the individual employee Compensation is no longer the primary driver for a job change. It is job security and continuity that has taken a preference among job seekers Employers are also now monitoring very closely every new addition in order to ensure they do cross the cost limit – lesson learnt from the ongoing recession. Approvals for new hires are hard to come by unless supported by a strong business case. Individuals with 2-4 years of experience are finding it difficult to get a new job as easily as in the earlier times. Interestingly, senior level executives with an ability to drive business are relatively better placed in this respect.
What was the major reason for the breakdown in the job market? Economic slowdown Lack of business visibility due to uncertainty among customers Downsizing or right-sizing during these recession times to control cost and profitability Cost control measures adopted by various companies – employees so far had got used to a lot of pampering.
acquire some new skills and make them more “marketable”. Also if anyone gets a call from some other organization, this is not the time for them to be emotional about their “dream company” and keep waiting for that call. They should move on. Should freshers be optimistic about job market in the near future? Yes of course, the trend is already showing… companies have begun hiring the freshers from the earlier batches
How did the recession affect the campus recruitment? Campus recruitment is a part of an organization’s long term growth During this recession, most plans which is based on the overall companies had to either halt long term business plans. During their growth plans due to lack this recession, most companies had of business from customers or to either halt their growth plans due had to re-write the same based to lack of business from customers on truncated business from or had to re-write the same based on customers, just to survive truncated business from customers, just to survive. This affected the manpower growth plans directly and the need shifted from trained resources to experienced resources who could start from day one. Since there is training involved in campus recruitment and Does networking sites really help in finding that requires time, companies deferred their the right talent for a job profile? At senior levels, we have seen good results. Yes, plans to hire from campus. networking sites do help in finding the right talent. Are the companies looking out for freshers or What is your opinion about networking for the experienced ones? Companies are now looking out for experienced sites such as Facebook, Orkut, Myspace and resources more than the freshers because linkedIn being helpful in finding a job? they need them to start from day one and be Depending on the type of industry each of these sites could be helpful but yes, Linked-in “billable” is definitely a more professional site and has There has been a downfall in the campus become a ground for talent search. recruitment. What would be the reason It is said that the campus recruitment has according to you for such a debacle? Lack of long term business visibility which taken a dip. Are the companies trying to avoid allows companies to build their resource campus for some reason? capabilities thru training and development to Yes, but momentarily. As soon as the market revives and there is long term investment meet those plans. commitment from customers for business, larger What is the major reason for the joining dates companies will go back to the campus because that is the most efficient and scalable model to being post dated? meet business requirements. Uncertain business environment Lack of visibility of manpower requirements Existing business opportunities being rolled Deependra Chumble, back by customers CPO, Hexaware Technologies. Over 23 years of experience in the Human What is your advice to the students who are Resources function with an in depth industry waiting for the call? knowledge of Hotels, Banking, IT and ITES “Hang in there – there is always light at the end of a tunnel”. But they must use this time to TF November 2009
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cover cover story story
Got the Offer Letter, but where is the Job Millions of fresh graduates and a lot more from the past are still being hired, with the offer letters being given away. But are these offer letters really turning into real jobs?
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Astha Mahadevan Jayakrishnan G. Pillai
N
itish Kelkar* was considered by many to be the best student during his college days and during his final year he proved that he indeed was the best when he got recruitment to one of the leading IT companies, through the campus recruitment drive. With a pretty good package and the highest among his classmates he was impatiently waiting to complete his graduation to join this company. Today after completing his graduation and six months, he is still waiting impatiently and that too for the same job which was promised to him but with an extended joining date which may be further extended. “I don’t know when would be the day I would be able to rejoice the fact that I am employed with one of the best IT companies. Currently, I am working for a small time software development firm and waiting for the call�, he tells TF. Not just Nitish Kelkar but many others like him have been waiting impatiently worried about their uncertain future. Handing over of the pink slip saga was an issue during the recession but something that people failed to notice was the fact that the offer letters were being sent across to the candidates and fresher at large. During
the recession the worst hit were the IT Companies. The people were worried about their jobs and they were worried about the stability of their employer but astonishingly during the recession the number of job offers stayed almost constant. Except for the fact that these numbers deteriorated post the heavy recession impact. It is not that hard to receive a new job offer. But do we really get the job. That’s one question unanswered.
letters. The pay package was more than Rs. 7 lakh per annum, besides incentives and perks. The students gave their “notes of acceptance” and all that remained was for the joining letters to arrive. After months of waiting, all they got apart from the uncertainties were regret letters, saying they “cannot be taken because of internal re-organizing”. “When we got the campus offers we were elated. We were waiting Jobs offered but no joining Dates impatiently for the day when we would fly During the campus recruitments students to the US. We were not worried when the were happy to know that they were being letters were delayed, because we had never recruited to some of the best companies. imagined in our wildest dreams that we They were given offer letters but weren’t would lose the jobs. Yes the promised jobs. The jobs now seem like the During recession with American firms cut-political promises” said one the students. Letters are ting their IT budgets, Indian outsourcers areof also being sent to students forced to bring down operational costs byby the companies asking utilising existing resources to the maximumthose slated to join it in June and trimming bench strength to wait till January next year and that to with an uncertain clause that the dates could be changed. Wipro had aware that these jobs would have a future also postponed joining dates earlier. Sabu date that even the companies would be Mangalaserril, placement coordinator, IBS uncertain about. The worst being the scenario Cochin said “The offer in your hand is with one of the best institutions in India. The good but if it is taking time don’t sit at home tragic story of one of the IIT’s is astonishing. building and propagating frustration. Do During campus placements, US tech firms something new… Work is there but may be Montolova, Magma Design Automation not the same profile as the one you have in and Paradigm had picked 12 students (from hand. Egos have to be shed for sure”. the electrical, electronics, IT and computer There are students who were recruited science departments) and given them offer by Satyam and are hoping against hope TF November 2009
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cover cover story story about their jobs. And not just the IIT’s and the Engineering colleges, the situation is alike with the B schools where the most surprising being the IIM’s where more than 25 students from across IIM campuses in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta have been asked to join nearly 6-12 months later than the initial joining date. Himanshu Nema, Head, Students Placement Committee, IIM Ahmedabad said “There are 1-2 exceptional cases where there was a delay in joining. Students take it in right spirit and understand that this was an exceptional year, so such things happen. Most students have already joined their workplaces and are pretty satisfied with their jobs.”
said, “The hiring had gone down last year when the recession was at its peak. Some companies didn’t come for recruitment. Even the companies which had visited the campus recruited lesser number of students. The placement team of 2008-09 had put in appropriate efforts to bring in new companies. As a result, we did have 100% placements for the B.Techs and Dual Degree CSE students of IIT Madras. This year the situation looks better compared to last years”. Some of the belt-tightening steps that large IT firms are keenly following are lower increments, slimmer bench, and better operational efficiencies in hiring and, in some extreme cases, even outplacements. People are going to stick to their jobs and the focus is going to shift from salary hikes to career development and skill acquisition. This
Why the delay? Recession Many have accused the US downturn for the delay in hiring. During recession with Placements pose challenges of different American kinds in different years. So while in a boom firms cutting year, we face the challenge of arranging the their IT right fit between the student’s aspirations budgets, and the firm’s talent needs, in a recessionI n d i a n ary environment, it is a challenge to get the outsourcers batch placed. are forced to Himanshu Nema, bring down operational costs by utilising existing resources to the maximum and trimming bench can also improve our academic system and strength. While IT firms visited the campuses force it to be more competitive in nature. But and gave offers in November-December they the negative aspect of this factor is the fact that started feeling the heat from the US slowdown lesser the attrition lesser the recruitment. So to during the last two quarters. That could be one all those who are waiting for the call can keep of the reasons for the deferred joining date of their fingers crossed and pray that that more freshers as they don’t want to keep them on people find better job which is sardonic. bench. In fact, during the last few months, bench strength of most IT firms has gone down The skill factor to about 5-6 per cent as against over 12 per So it’s not just about the recession or the US cent one year ago. impact. There is no doubt about the fact that Even some of the companies aren’t hiring the time is crucial and no matter big or small, because of the fact that they aren’t sure about every company is trying get the maximum with the future and the uncertainties due to the what they have whether its human resource or recession. It is expected there will not be any the equipment. So the companies are looking ‘big’ hiring numbers for the first quarter from out for the experienced hands and more of the large IT services companies. The curiosity those who are productive. The issues with the in hiring numbers is because any organization’s freshers are that they may have the classroom revenue growth is directly related to number of experience or even a bit of project experience people employed. but they lack the experience of thorough As Neeharika Jaha, IIT Madras, one of professional that the companies are looking the members of the Plcaement Committee out for. HR manager for a reputed firm said 18
TF November 2009
“We know we have made promises but at times we have to be company and business centric. We will fulfill our promises made to the freshers but it will take some time, at least until we have an assurance about this uncertain market ahead”. So it all starts and ends with the current markets state of affair but with its own reasoning. As Deependra Chuble, CPO Hexaware technologies said “Companies are now looking out for experienced resources more than the freshers because they need them to start from day one and be “billable” The On Campus Scenario So it’s not just the students that are in a fix but even the placement coordinators are in a fix. The placement committee has nothing but to blame the situation where in a majority of students are still waiting to be hired. The pay scale is also not negotiable. “If at least a few companies were paying higher than last year, students could have demanded a higher salary. But under the given scenario we seem to be helpless” said a placement coordinator of an engineering college. However, none of the students are willing to let go off the opportunity because they know about a bird in a hand is better than two in the bush; once again uncertainty prevails over the current mindset. The number of students hired this year saw a 20 per cent to 40 per cent dip when compared to the previous years. Top IT firms like Wipro, CTS and Infosys use to vie for the first slot on the first day of campus recruitment in all colleges. If they are not given the first preference, they skip the college. So to be on the safer side every one is wordless and acting ignorant to the situation. “To ascertain 100 percent recruitment; the target for the number of companies is established. This is in proportion to the number of students required to be placed. If some of the companies
which have traditionally visited the campus back off, appropriate efforts are made in inviting new companies so that all the students registered get placed. This was of tremendous help the previous year when the recession was at its peak” adds Neeharika Jhana from IIT Madras. Some positive somewhere Just like the silver lining in the dark clouds; is the fact that there seems to be some signs of improvement in the job market scenario. There is some change in the attitude of IT companies. Students have started receiving their joining dates, fresh offers and some positive communication from recruiters. Many students were given offer letters by companies last year, but their joining dates were deferred due to the recession. Now many of these students have received their joining dates and students from this year’s batch are also being picked up. Core group companies who have recruited freshers from the 2009-10 batch have already got them to join. A few IT companies, who predicted that joining dates would be deferred, have started accommodating freshers. Companies like Infosys, TCS, Atos Origin and L&T have started issuing appointment letters to freshers who were placed during last year’s campus recruitment drives. “Things are looking good, since IIT Delhi is a sought after destination for campus recruitment, we don’t indulge into a lot of preparations. And there is no more recession so we are optimistic” said Kushal Sen, Placement In-charge IIT Delhi. Few other companies have at least communicated with students and given out joining dates within the next two months. So the picture isn’t all that gloomy except for those who still wait for a call which should have been through to them ages ago.
“We are all out in our efforts to get into as many companies as possible and get into their recruitment list. We are leaving no stones unturned in that path. Preparation is on for fine tuning of their GD and Interview skills.” Sabu Mangalaserril, Placement Coordinator, IBS Kochi
Since IIT Delhi is a sought after destination for campus recruitment, we don’t indulge into a lot of preparations. And there is no more recession so we are optimistic
Kushal Sen,
Placement In-charge IIT Delhi
“If some of the companies which have traditionally visited the campus back off, appropriate efforts are made in inviting new companies so that all the students registered get placed. This was of tremendous help the previous year when the recession was at its peak.” Niharika Jhana ,
IIT Madras
story line
While you wait Waiting for the joining date is a tricky thing. It is not just a matter of patience but a state of confusion and uncertainties about, whether you will be given a joining date at all.
T Shishir Roy
he recent job market is not only poignant but at the same time sardonic too. Apart from the fact that the companies were on a hiring spree what really grabbed the attention was the comical attitude of the companies when they went to campus to hire students. The offer letters were given yet the joining dates have gone astray. From a waiting period of about a month to an extended date of over a year, students are still confused about what to do with this time frame. Sometimes you may have to wait longer than you thought of; so instead of wasting that time waiting for the call, there are few things that you can look forward to. A Job for the time It is important that you do get a job until you wait for that big job. This will give you first hand experience professionally and also maintain an easy flow of income. Make sure you do get a job that is related to your career and future because that will enhance your skills and will keep you focused on what you wanted to do. More skills A good idea of improving your chances of getting hired is to gain additional training. There are two types of skills you could
Short Notes The interegnum before the joining date should be used meaningfully. Creative exploration should deepen your professional skills than ordinary ones. try to learn in the training centers. The first types of skills to learn are the basic skills for your career. The next type of skill you could learn to improve is with the soft skills. These skills may already be part of your personality but they could be vastly improved when you go through training. For example, you are already great with people and through soft skills training, you will learn how to communicate effectively and use them during business transactions. Proper Networking While you wait for those calls that you are not sure about, just make sure that in the time being you just focus on maintaining your networks because you never know if you will ever get that call. The positive aspect to a fresher at being unemployed is the number of people you know who are unemployed. There is this unusual tendency that people who are looking out for jobs will usually group together in the never ending search for a good job. The verity of this usual behavior wouldn’t work if there is a lack of understanding on how to use this networking to get a job.
Sometimes you may have to wait longer than you thought of; so instead of wasting that time waiting for the call, there are few things that you can look forward to
Creative You This could be an apt opportunity to pursue your creative elevation. All you need to do is just enjoy your days of impatient waiting and work on your creative aspect. But make sure this creative time spend is resourceful and efficiently utilized for your personality and character enhancement. Not necessarily the painting, writing, dance music and all those habitual creativity instead what you can do go for a small time startup. In the lines of a website, event management or even office management not because they are very creative but this would enable you to have an understanding and also a small but good earning. There would be a lot more suggestions like going for a academic course, personality development and a lot more but let us get realistic; you have already spent enough to make you feel guilty about your unemployed “employed” status. So to go through this indecisive time frame its better you don’t burden yourself with the “money over meaningless” expenditure. TF November 2009 21
Internship
on the job
An on the job experience
O
xford dictionary defines intern as a student or trainee who does a job to gain work experience or for a qualification and internship as the experience gained. Today the word internship seems to be redefined. Today internship is just about getting oneself a certificate of employment from a recognized company as per the requirement of your college faculty or as the subject demands. It could be three months or could be a half year deal. An internship or two under your belt before getting your first job is a great way to have a jumpstart on the adult workforce. Most internship provides students with academic benefits in their score card. Internship is a time when students are not looking to earn and the truth is most of the internship pro-
Internship drive is on; students are looking out to make the most out of this opportunity. A quick look into how you can make the most out of your internship. Karthik Mukherjee
grams don’t pay much. Internships are an important part of career assessment. By becoming an intern, you will be able to evaluate whether or not you’re game for that job. There are indeed a lot of benefits from internship which, if understood, can give you the foundation for career growth. A quick look into how you can make the most out of the internship. Start with an Aim
Most of the internships are structured and the rest wouldn’t be. It is for you to spend some time to set the goals that you want to accomplish. Whatever your goals, you will feel a greater sense of accomplishment once you achieve them. It will enhance your planning skills and would turn into a virtue when you are on job.
The Mantra is to “Learn” It is important for you to understand that internship is for learning. The employer expects to get a certain level of work from you, but you are not expected to know everything so make sure that you do ask questions about what you don’t know and feel free to seek advice from experienced hands at work. The mantra for the intern is to learn. No doubt is foolish but if not cleared that doubt would surely make you feel like a fool in the future.
In short Internship is about learning what you don’t know On internship try to be an initiator to resolve issues. Make the most out of internship; it is the foundation to your future Take Initiative Everyone loves who dare to take the initiative to resolve issues. An employer would certainly look for employees who have an insight to resolve the issue. In doing so, make sure that your work is in a sync with your superior without overstepping the authority. There is a fine line between taking initiative and being tagged as a “know-it-all”, so make sure you know when to be a bit less enthusiastic.
Networking for the Future Make sure that when on your internship you try to build professional relationships with your supervisor and other managers in the organization. Not because that will help you while you are on the internship but because they will be your future investments to get a grand job after graduation. So it is very much important that you create a loop which will help you in the future. Enjoy the Job Internship is the time for you to enjoy the office ambience without being put under extreme work pressure. So enjoy very bit of the office life while you are an intern. Just go with the flow and make sure you don’t act like a loner. At the same time don’t overdo the fun part of it. With the academic projects and internships on the threshold, students are moving around searching for the opportunities. Make sure you grab the best opportunity and make the most out of it. After all as mentioned earlier it is all about learning for the future. TF November 2009 23
NET WORK
Job hunt and The Right Networking
T
he first thing you are aware of as soon as you have completed your graduation is the need for a secured job unless you are trying your luck with some innovative business. The positive aspect to a fresher at being unemployed is the number of people you know who are unemployed. There is this unusual tendency that people who are looking out for jobs will usually group together in the never ending search for a good job. The verity of this usual behavior wouldn’t work if there is a lack of understanding on how to
They are not always Competition We tend to stay away from others who are along with us in the job search just because we think they are competition. But the fact is you need to be with them because if they get along with a job, may be you are next and the best part is even if he or she is not from the same profiling as you, but still they might know someone who could get you a job that you want. So make sure you tend to use your networks to the optimum.
Online search is not always for Real These days we tend to fill up more forms online than in the real world. The online job
We always tend to look forward to an opportunity to find a better job. In the current scenario when the job market is down we should look forward to all the possibilities. use this networking to get a job.
There are few things that a job seeker must look forward to if he or she is looking to get a job through this so called network.
It’s not just the Employed People We usually turn to people who are already employed when we look for job opportunities, just because they are on the safer side. But the fact is, since they are on the safer side they wouldn’t bother to know a lot about the job opportunities. So to those who are looking out for job, stick to those who are on the same boat as you. The people who are looking out for the job would know what is cooking up in the job market rather than those who occupy the office table through out the day. 24
TF November 2009
searches are good at times but until and unless you don’t get into the real world you won’t understand the real life situation of the job market. So it is necessary that we do get a feel of the real market than just the virtual one.
It is all about the Help As a job seeker we are more concerned about getting help rather than giving it out. If you could get some one a job the next thing you would know is him or her helping you out. So if you get an opportunity to help some one with a job even if you couldn’t get your hands on that one, don’t back off. If you could help him with the job he would be mutually inclined to do the same for you.
Will you be Hired? There have been times where you thought you have done well during the interview but then you never got recruited. How to understand if the recruiter was not interested in you?
Harsh Trivedi
I
t’s always difficult to understand whether you are to be recruited or not. It’s far more difficult to understand whether the recruiter is interested in getting you a job or not. The idea is to understand what the recruiter is thinking. Your resume is bigger than You
It is difficult to understand whether the recruiter is interested in you or not 26
TF November 2009
If the recruiter is more into your resume rather than you it’s a clear sign that he or she isn’t looking for you. A recruiter is not someone who should be advising you on how to revamp your resume and about how to present your resume. No doubt about the fact that the recruiter may have a few good ideas about the resume but too much of advice about revamping your resume is a clear sign that the recruiter doesn’t find you apt for the job. A lot about what you don’t know or have If the recruiter keeps telling you about what you lack in terms of certification, skills and experience this
might be a clear message put across to you about his/ her lack of interest. Don’t be disheartened just because of that, because that just means that the job opening isn’t for you. There would be better opportunities in the future. No reverts for your calls If you are the one who is keeping a follow up with no response from the recruiters end then, it’s a clear sign that they are searching for some other prospective job seeker or else they have already found someone. Recruiters are busy people so they would not have time to revert back but some may care to do so. If in case you find that you are having a one sided communication initiated from your end, may be its time to stop that Jobs for you in the future If the recruiter has a job for you in the future it is because the recruiters like to have potential talent waiting in the wings, so if they see potential in you they would try to keep you available with a promise for the future. But that’s all they are: potential positions with no concrete promises. So if this is the situation, its time
job destination
Hyderabad
H
yderabad is a state capital city in India. The city has been turned into one of the major center of IT industry in India. It is growing at a very fast pace as an IT hub. Most of the world’s top grade software companies have already set foot on the soil of Hyderabad. Names like Microsoft, Oracle, Infosys, Verizon, Wipro, TCS have created their important centers in the city. It is called the second Silicon Valley in India. With the fantastic development of the High-tech city, several IT companies have started their operations from Hyderabad, which is called locally as “Cyberabad”. Job destination There are plenty of software job avenues for educated youngsters. It is a highly preferred destination for people with requisite skill for the IT industry. The city has numerous training centers for computer technology, allied software or multimedia programs. Many young people come from several adjoining states to get proper education in this line and get absorbed in the high profile IT industry in Hyderabad. The exports from the city on account of IT exports are more than a few billions of USD. In the recent past, there have been widespread investments in digital communications.
IT Projects & Hyderabad The slowing of economy has not affected the pace of Hyderabad IT sector development. The Vision 2020 has already determined the subject of biotechnology as the main growth force of the entire state of Andhra Pradesh. The aim of the state remains to become the leading state in the IT education sector to pave the way for establishment
of nearly 40 to 50 world class IT companies with huge investments. The city envisages the making of an extraordinary knowledge string with biotechnology as the core one and to set up research institutes and universities of world class stature for the development of biotechnology and allied medical sciences. The realm of the entire knowledge string will cover IT enabled remote services, allied industrial technology, Biotech Park, ICICI knowledge Park and Genome Valley and so on. It is estimated to be Asia’s largest biotechnology cluster. Presence of Major IT Companies A bunch of major IT companies are operating in Hyderabad like Satyam, Sun Micro, Texas Instruments, HCL, Microsoft, Accenture, Infosys, CSC, Oracle, Wipro, Kanbay, ADP, Dell, Sumtotal, IBM, EA Mobile, Semantic Space, TCS and many more. There are also several world famous names having their establishments in the city like Google, UBS, Verizon and so on.
Living in Hyderabad Hyderabad is a comparatively cheaper city than other IT cities in India like Bangalore or Pune. You get a mixture of high profile costly areas like the Banjara Hills vicinity and the much cheaper area like Secundrabad. The Hitech city is the center of all activities and the adjacent areas are developing at a very high speed and are not cheaper. However, in comparison to other big cities, the house rent seems to be quite comfortable and you do not have to pay a huge sum in advance unlike other hi-tech cities. The purchasing power of the general population is still higher compared to other Indian cities. The city has a tropical weather pattern with hot summer months from March to May. The rains starts from June and lasts till October. During the rest of the year the climate remains pleasant. The transport inside the city is by the light rail transport system known as MMTS, which connects important centers of the city. There is the public road transport system, which are always crowded. You have the privilege of the share auto rickshaws or the auto rickshaws that run on meters; you get them in plenty at the time. There is no real problem in local transport. Roads are wide but there are traffic jams. Currently flyovers are being constructed to ease the road jam problem. Entertainment This city is a bit traditional and the big city atmosphere is not present there. It has a couple of multiplexes and are always crowded. Several multiplexes are expected to come up very shortly. You have the nearby tourist spot Hussein Sagar, where you can enjoy a half day. TF November 2009
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career track
Career in
Enterprise Resource Planning Enterprise Resource Planning, or ERP for short, denotes a software application that allows an organisation to effectively and efficiently manage its resources
B
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eing an ERP Professional is to encourage the management of the departments efficiently and systematically. So it is indeed a profession of individual as well as corporate management. Soon after the internet bubble burst, one of the most sought after career besides software development was that of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Through this period, most large enterprises were undergoing out of the ordinary change and ERP as a career was in great demand both in India as well as abroad. And it still remains a rewarding career option for professionals to pursue. Enterprise Resource Planning, or ERP for short, denotes a software application that allows an organisation to effectively and efficiently manage its resources. The resource could be manpower, raw material, equipment and finances to mention a few. In Short ERP is a platform that facilitates the database control in a company. The working mechanism of ERP is simple and easy to understand. ERP aims to unite the data processed in various departments and division of a company. The central unit referred as the platform controls the entire system. It aims at providing connectivity in order to access the information from all faculties. According to Riyanah, an ERP professional based in Chennai: “ ERP is more about understanding the available resources of a given organisation and then making the maximum utilisation of the
TF November 2009
available resources�. The benefit of ERP is largely felt nowadays when operations are becoming global in the true sense. Many software solution giants have developed ERP packages, which is now the backbone of several market leaders. ERP packages comprise several modules that can be used either in a stand-alone mode or in concurrence with one or more of the other modules. Oracle 11i, SAP, J D Edwards and People-soft are some of the popular ERP applications. ERP professionals are in much demand even during the current economic slowdown, as companies look to adopt efficient Enterprise Business Applications (EBA) and processes.
In India Analyzing the current market scenario we can understand that India has emerged as a well known name and a key player in global ERP market. These days every top educational institutes and companies are constantly working towards promoting and expanding the IT market. It has been found that due to rising competitive pressure many Indian companies are looking forward to equip themselves with ERP solutions that can further provide unlimited access to information and enable them to compete effectively. Enterprise Resource Planning which was considered to be the most critical buzzword in mid-90s has now readily opted by many companies. ERP is much more than a piece of computer software. It has changed the
way businesses were conducted in India. Many Indian organizational performances have been greatly improved by the use of software applications like ERP that includes resource planning, management control, and operational control. As Indian software industry is growing at great pace and so the growths of ERP packages promise a strong future. They have greatly contributed to the growth, welfare and dynamism in many companies, and stand out individually on account of their scope and utilities.
Skills at Hand You should be a graduate in computer sciences to qualify for the position of a technical consultant. You should also have taken part in a training program conducted by the respective ERP developer. Experience is not an issue at the entry level. However, senior developers and system integrators need to possess at least 5 to 7 years of experience in development. The technical professionals should know how to code the business requirements into the software and integrate them to form a contiguous package. A functional consultant should ideally be an MBA in the business area he is functioning in; and should have undergone a training session in the ERP, which he is implementing. “It is the understanding of the domain that you are implementing ERP into, that helps you be amongst the best” said Riyanah. “No doubt, your specialisation would be a positive add on to your career growth” she adds. Opportunities Ahead An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) professional is responsible for the day-to-day management of the supplydemand chain across various business processes. It is not mandatory that the professional
technical consultant and help in implementation & customization, design & development and for supporting ERP solutions in various organizations. The knowledge of programming languages such as C++, .NET or Java and RDBMS skills is the first step towards a glittering ERP career. Organizations prefer to have candidates who have engineering background or those with professional qualifications like an MBA, a CA or an ICWA, as these candidates would already have business knowledge of the functional areas they are working into.
ERP is more about understanding the available resources of a given organisation and then making the maximum utilisation of the available resources Riyanah, an ERP professional
should have technical knowledge before entering ERP domain but having the business knowledge is essential. On the other hand, IT professionals from software development or database or even network administration can also enter this domain by acquiring the functional knowledge of organizations’ business processes. The ERP scenario primarily offers two types of job options, one that of the Functional Consultant and the Technical Consultant. A professional with knowledge of business processes can become a functional consultant and a technical person or one from an IT background can become a
Certifications ERP certifications are provided by respective product vendors and their educational partners in various areas. SAP’s educational partner Siemens offers programs such as ‘Partner Academy’, wherein both corporate and individuals can participate to get themselves certified. Usually candidates can get certified in one or more functional areas. Likewise certification Programs exist for technical streams as well. The technical certifications come under what is known as a ‘NetWeaver’ platform. Similarly there are certifications available from Microsoft through their online MSDN subscription as well as through training partners. The candidates can appear for certifications through Prometric centers across India. Your Call This is one profession for those who know how to manage things. If you know the importance of resources and the importance managing the resources effectively then you are game for this. Just the right knowledge of the software’s and bit of determination to save things will take you places. After all Enterprise Resource Planning is all about resources and efficiency. TF November 2009
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company review
My work place Cognizant A
bout the Company A member of the NASDAQ100 Index and S&P 500 Index, Cognizant is a Forbes Global 2000 company and a member of the Fortune 1000. With 50 global delivery centres and approximately over 63,000 associates, Cognizant combines a unique onsite and offshore delivery model infused by a distinct culture of customer satisfaction.
communication between teams or department? Well in this prospect I have a bitter experience may be because of the regional influence. In Chennai most of my colleagues speak Tamil so the onsite meeting in my team is also in Tamil. Communication between the departments is great and very professional and that is one thing worth appreciation.
Brand Value Cognizant has potential advantage in this. It maintains a good brand image in India.
Work pressure and Work Life balance Depends on the project but overall its fine.
Career growth and onsite opportunities Career growth is a bit sluggish. Onsite opportunities depend on the individual projects. But overall I guess in Cognizant; onsite opportunities are more than that of any other company. How is work environment and how efficient is the
Satisfaction with salary and quality of work Not really great. Our Package was 2.11 including 20K incentive. Our juniors are better off with a package of about 2.50 which includes 20K incentive. Quality of work is moderate overall. What type of work they do? Cognizant is into service based industry. Job security Excellent, unless you are not a performer rather you don’t perform at all. Do you recommend your company to others? It’s for the freshers to decide what they want. It depends from person to person… as they say: ‘each according to his own’.
The Dreaming Spires of Oxford Magna Carta is a private College with high standards of student support and pastoral care. Not only will we provide you with a first-class education, you will also receive personal support from world-class academics, while enjoying the full Oxford life. Magna Carta College, Oxford offers • MBA in International Management
□ Taught in Oxford by World-Class Business School Faculty
• MBA in International Business Law
□ Validated by the University of Wales
• Pre-Masters Bridging Diploma
□ Accredited by the British Accreditation Council
Study a validated MBA in Oxford • Degrees are fully validated by University of Wales and accredited by British Accreditation Council • Lectures are held in the lecture theatres of Oxford University colleges • The Oxford Union has very kindly allowed Magna Carta College students to become Associate Members of the Union. This gives access not only to the libraries, but also to the world-renowned debates scheduled each term, and to all other social events as organised by the Union. • A state of the art Virtual Learning Environment is available to students Magna Carta College Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UD, ENGLAND Ph: +44 (0)1865 274 234, Fax: +44 (0)208 840 9911 enquiry@magnacartacollege.com
October
2009
Regional Contact: EDEX International UK Ltd Oxford House, Chittoor Road, Kacherippady, Kochi -18, India Tel: +91 484 4074777, Fax: +91 484 4051477
www.magnacartacollege.com
columN Entrepreneurship is not just about mere growth. It is about the path of growth and about the thoughtfulness involved in being an entrepreneur.
Munnabhai’s Journey to Entrepreneurship ek vinod
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I
f I had an opportunity to make a movie it would be another sequel of Munnabhai series. The main theme of the movie will be about how a self proclaimed believer of Gandhigiri (a modern term for Gandhism) becoming an Entrepreneur. Munna bhai, the main protagonist of the story is an educated rural youth who comes to the city of Delhi in search of doing something different. He wants to work for himself and not another man. Initially he had low self esteem and no self confidence. One day while wandering near the famous Juma Masjid, he reached chor bazaar a curious bazaar behind the old ramparts of the Red Fort, which comes to life on Sundays to trade a mix of “secondhand” and allegedly stolen goods. While browsing through the bazaar he found a small, hard-cover book called ‘Quotes of Gandhi’. This book became a source of inspiration and a source of a smile when he needed it. It was so portable; it became his traveling companion. With an initial capital of Rs. 10,000/-, he started his business. The capital was not enough to start something big. At that juncture he recalled a quote of Gandhiji “Whatever you
do will be insignificant but it is very important that you do it.”. On reflecting those words he felt as if it was written for him. He regained his lost confidence and started working towards the goal. Today he is a successful entrepreneur in a field not explored by many. It has been an incredible journey for the young Munnabhai. To add to his glory, he has been short listed for the prestigious Youth Business International Entrepreneur of the Year award. I always believed that Mahatma Gandhi is the best example of a Social Entrepreneur. His picking of Charkha (spinning wheel) was a symbol of protest against British colonial policy towards Indian textile industry. Charkha became a symbol of Self entrepreneurship. He believed that it will assist the people of India to achieve self-sufficiency and independence. Entrepreneurship is the art of finding profitable solutions to problems. Successful entrepreneur is someone who’s been able to identify a problem and come up with a solution to it before someone else did. India achieved freedom from British colonialism under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. He achieved
The best example of a Social Entrepreneur. His picking of Charkha (spinning wheel) was a symbol of protest against British colonial policy tow freedom for people of India by sticking to his principle of nonviolence. It can be summarized as follows: Problem Free India Solution Non-Violent fight to ensure that the British Rule ends Value Value for Stakeholders Time
Stakeholders–Citizens, Rulers, Self. Time – 40 Years (approx.) Barack Obama,the US President,sees Mahatma Gandhi as an inspiration and has a portrait of the apostle of peace in his office. He commented, “In my life, I have always looked to Mahatma Gandhi as an inspiration, because he embodies the kind of transformational change that can be made when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things. Finally to all budding young entrepreneurs (Munnabhai’s) my advice is ‘Lage raho Munnabhi’ (Munnabhai, Keep it going).
E.K Vinod is a motivator. He has an experience of more than two decades in the world of academics and entrepreneurship TF November 2009
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living in the dream alone is dangerous
wise talk can be provided by an ecosystem and not by an organization. All these factors are going to support him provided he is an entrepreneur with a dream and energy.
A. S. RAO Former Advisor, Dept of Science and Industrial Research TF in conversation with the Former advisor to DSIR, Mr. A S. Rao about entrepreneurial wave in the nation and the support from the DSIR for encouraging startups from the campus.
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Different types of support system provided by DSIR to the innovators? When we talk about taking knowledge to the market, the innovator is going through a long chain. He starts with a new idea then he has to convert that idea into a prototype and then prove the prototype. So if an innovator comes to us with an idea and he wants to create a model of that idea, we give funding to prepare the concept. If someone comes to us with a model and wants to create the engineering protocol, to test in actual environment then we would fund him for innovation prototype fabrication. If someone has a prototype and he did have a revenue stream, we will fund him in that phase. We have everything for each stage of development starting from the knowledge development till the time it reaches market. Importance of an ecosystem for a budding entrepreneur To answer this let me cite you an example. Ecosystem is like a forest, by planting few tall trees you won’t and can’t create a forest. You can create a park or a grove. In an ecosystem there is room for everything. So an entrepreneur taking his idea to the market requires a huge infrastructure and ecosystem to support his venture. Money is just a small part of the big picture. So he needs a lot of people to support him, people who can support him with technology as well as with his business plan. He needs a package of services that
TF November 2009
Your opinion about the “Startup from the Campus” trend There is a shift. For many years now students are participating in competitions in their own campus and even others. They win, they leave it at that and go looking out for a well paid job. Today there is a shift. Employment is a good option but creating employment is another option that a large number of young people are accepting as their option. There is a parental support, social consideration and community support for this. Now they are not just happy with the reward and recognition that they got at college, they want to make their idea into a business. How receptive is Indian scenario for Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is an attitude. It is a part of the social culture. Traditionally we are a conservative culture and from that we are moving to a democratic entrepreneurship culture. This has to be different from other competing nations. Entrepreneurship calls for a risk taking capability. If people accept the setback as a learning then you are building entrepreneurship. So the truth is that you learn from your failures and the entire eco system, culture and the society is trying to encourage innovators to experiment, learn from failure. People accept and support the efforts of young people. What do you look for in an Innovator? A Technopreneur is all about innovation, the innovativeness, something new and that is the first characteristics of a strong innovator. Secondly, the energy level to fight the odds he faces through the journey as an innovator. One of the most important characteristic is the realistic attitude, not a dreamer because dream is essential to create a passion but living in the dream is dangerous. A bit of a pragmatic dreamer and this is what we look for in an innovator.
YOU INNOVATE, WE INCUBATE your innovative idea could be the next big thing Innovation Lab Facilitates :- Strategically Designed Infrastructure
:- Incubation System for Innovative Ideas
:- Latest Technology Support :- “State of Art� Support System :- Product Support
:- Seed Fund for Incubation :- Product Formation Assistance :- Professional Assistance
Innovation Lab is altogether an innovative concept introduced, first time in India. A brilliant opportunity for the innovative ideas to flourish and a perfect platform for innovative thinkers to actualize their ideas in to products. Innovative Lab is one of the most efficient platforms for Technology Incubation. At Innovation Lab you will get the best support from the professionals and the experienced industrial hands. An extension center for Technopark-TBI for the incubation. Extension Centre of
technopark
Technology Business Business Incubator Technology Incubator
Supported by
Dept. of Scientific & Industrial Research (Govt. of India)
Dept. of Science & Technology (Govt. of India)
Edex tech Park, Cochin-20, Kerala, India, Ph: 0484 4044400
www.innovationlab.in or mail us at info@innovationlab.in
tuc review
Technopark TePP OutreachCentre (T-TUC)
T
echnopreneur Promotion Programme (TePP) is a novel support mechanism initiated jointly by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR to tap the innovative potential of entrepreneurial citizens of India. The objective is to promote individual innovators through support mechanism at various stages to become technology based entrepreneurs (Technopreneurs). A perfect heaven for all the
phase 1 funding
1. MobMe Wireless Solutions Pvt Ltd 2. Gyatak RVCR Apparatus Pvt Ltd 3. Light Logics Holography & Optics Pvt Ltd 4. Jayasree Metals 5. Divx Medical Equipments & Software Pvt Ltd 6. Joy Joe’s safe Parking Pvt Ltd 7. Wins Infotek Pvt Ltd 8. Artin Dynamic Controls Pvt Ltd 9. Ubio Technology Systems Pvt Ltd 10. Artin Dynamic Controls Pvt Ltd 11. Ubio Technology Systems Pvt Ltd 12. Dataway solutions Pvt Ltd 13. Dataway solutions Pvt Ltd 36
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Technopreneurs Technopark is an ideal destination for everyone to start their entrepreneurial venture. As Nelvin Joseph, CEO Artindynamics said, “ since our was incubated in Technopark with an initial fund of 10 lakhs and today we have grown to a crore of investment, we haven’t ever been to a VC except for the government fund” Technopark is one of the Outreach Centres of DSIR (T-TUC) for selection and evaluation of genuine Innovators and Entrepreneurs in the Country. DSIR has recognised Technopark as their TUC during 2007 and in short span of time three of our Incubatees were sanctioned sizable TePP funding. This seed funding helps these incubatees to kick start their product development and commercialization activities. More than 2 dozen innovative projects were sanctioned sizable TePP Funding. The funding is not just beneficial in terms of funding as Sanjay Vijaykumar, CEO, Mobme said “TePP funding has helped us take the innovation to the market in a fast and simple way. It has also helped us in demonstrating the solution at various platforms and events organized by TePP and in forging industry relations as well.”
phase 2 funding
1.MobMe Wireless Solutions Pvt Ltd 2.Gyatak RVCR Apparatus Pvt Ltd
MicroTEPP Funding 1.Artin Dynamic Controls Pvt Ltd 2.Akshaya Agrobiotics Pvt Ltd 3.Insolvers Technologies Pvt Ltd
How Technopark TePP Outreach Centre started? Technopark TUC was selected by the TePP Promotion Board for its XIth Plan during July 2007.
The competency of Technopark TePP Outreach Centre lies in the large pool of innovators, Large pool of mentors, technology and business angles and apart from that the geographic location & Brand name of Technopark are an added advantage. What really keeps us way apart from such centers is the level of networking with other Research & Academic Institutes and Organizations for example the association with Technopark Technology Business Incubator and other TBI’s in the state. Technopark TBI, being national award winner for the Best TBI in 2007 and regional centre for excellence in the state. We are also involved in the organizing national and international events for innovation & entrepreneurship awareness and beyond all these we have an excel-
lent team and infrastructure facilities. Technopark TUC is maintaining a panel of technical experts, called the “Technology Angels” from in and around Trivandrum, who are willing to assist the Innovators on need based basis. The panel of Mentors includes not only Technical Experts, but also Chartered Accountants, Company secretaries, lawyers, Management Experts, Professional Managers, Doctors, HR Consultants etc. This facility is giving the innovators immense motivation to go forward with their ideas. A ‘Business Angel’ panel to evaluate the business feasibility evaluates the Commercial viability of the proposals. TF had a quick interaction with Mr. K.C.C. Nair, CFO , Technopark. He talks about the initiative and the growth so far. Excerpts from the conversation
interview TF learns about Technopark TePP Outreach Centre in an interaction with Mr. K.C.C. Nair, CFO , Technopark. He talks about the initiative and the growth so far. Excerpts from the conversation
What is innovation according to you? Innovation is a new or incremental or revolutionary way of doing some thing which can produce significant results. Innovation can be a novel thinking or novel method of processing or making end products. Innovation can add value to the society through better productivity and wealth creation. What kind of infrastructure support is available at the TUC? Technopark TUC provides excellent infrastructure facilities for office space, counseling space, conference rooms and seminar halls. World Class Infrastructure and connectivity are rendered for those innovators who turned into ‘Technopreneurs’ and start their business in Technopark Business Incubator. How do you spot the innovators and how could an innovator approach you for the support? Various Programmes & Events conducted, organized and participated by Technopark TBI/TUC Direct Enquiry and other Referrals Brand Name and Advertisement of Technopark-TUC Print & Electronic Media Establishment of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Cells in all Science and Technical Institutions Project Students of Technopark Networking with Research, Academic and Technical Institutions and Organisations How many TUC funded innovation have been so far completed and commercialized? ONE and that is Mobile Crime and accident Reporting Platform –MCARP by Mr.Sanjay Vijayakumar. Do you have any kind of facility/tie ups to incubate the innovations that you have funded? YES, The innovators are incubated in Technopark- TBI.(ICT Area) 37
innovator of the month It is not an innovation but an invention’. This is what Ajee Kamath Das has to say about his “invention” and we couldn’t disagree when we learnt more about it. If we call it a “marvel”; it would be an understatement. This is an invention born out of a question which Ajee had right on the first day of the first call on internal combustion engine: why doesn’t the piston go round rather than vertical. The question was not about “how” but about “why not”. Das Ajee Kamath is the chosen one as the TF’s Innovator of the Month. Excerpts from the interview
An Invention
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hat according to you is innovation? I would define innovation as something that is bettered or modified from the existing idea or format. I wouldn’t like my work to be tagged as an innovation; it’s an invention. Tell us about your innovation and origin of the idea My invention, titled “Apparatus adopted to perform as a compressor, pump, motor, metering device and an internal combustion engine”, is about an engineering mechanism alternative to the crank (reciprocating piston, oscillating connecting rod and crank) mechanism. It is about a rotary mechanism with two curved cylindrical piston vanes fitted on to two coaxial hollow cylindrical sleeves mounted on a central shaft, which forms the sleeve’s rotating axis, where in the vanes are placed inside a round hollow chamber angularly displaced from each other, forming two enclosed sealed gas volumes. The vanes rotate inside the chamber either independently or held stationary or rotated simultaneously in a unique sequence which is the core characteristic of the invention. The mechanism forms the seed kinematics’ mechanism for machines like compressor, pump, motor, and Engine. This sequential motion of the vanes produces variation of gas volumes inside the chamber and enables various thermodynamic gas cycles like otto cycle, diesel cycle etc (namely compression,
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Das Ajee Kamath B.E Mechanical, N.I.T Durgapur. Started career as IPCL trainee. Worked with Merchant Navy in various capacities. In 2005, he received confirmation from European Patent Office about his invention being true to novelty and industrial applicability. He quit his job with the lone objective to successfully commercialize RVCR technology. Thereafter received patents from more than 12 nations including the United States of America and Japan. For further details log on to www.gyatk.com
heat addition, expansion, and heat removal) necessary for running of machines like I C Engines and that of compressors, pumps, motors, etc. The origin of the concept started on the very first day on internal combustion engine. While my teacher was explaining about the vertical motion of pistons, I asked him why not make it revolve. But the idea reached full circle while studying ship engines on high seas. What kind of efforts go into conceptualizing and realizing your innovation? Pure thinking and imagination is what is required to conceptualizing one’s innovation and the rest is hard work. At what phase of TUC funding are you in? Phase II. What are your major strengths as an innovator? Mathematical knowledge, engineering skills, designing ability and manufacturing ability are some of the few aspects that could be stated as my strengths. What is one thing, according to you, that is
I would define innovation as something that is bettered or modified from the existing idea or format. I wouldn’t like my work to be tagged as an innovation; it’s an invention.
mandatory to realize ones innovation? There is no one thing; rather it’s a mix and blend of various aspects. How will the society benefit from your innovation? And how much society oriented was your innovation? Society will benefit immensely as it is green, fuel efficient and multi- fuel. What, according to you, are the major obstacles faced by an innovator? Conservative attitude of the industry and society is a major draw back. TF November 2009
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The Entrepreneurs What it takes to make a difference Quite often we have pondered and eventually contemplated about what is to be done to start something new. But we tend to be confused about the future. Shweta Menon
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any a times we have pondered about that one thing that made a whole lot of difference to the end result. The one factor that made them successful, that one factor that made the world sit up and take notice of them. They were just another bunch of youngsters who were out to try their luck. They were not even sure what they would end up with but they were sure about what they would do. I am not talking about a particular set of people or group, I am talking about all those young people who worked their way to the top of the corporate ladder not by working for someone else but working for their own ideas. Am talking about the Microsoft, Google, Yahoo! And even our very own Infosys. They were all just a bunch of young people who lived with their dream and made it big. There would be million ideas and equal number of opinions to answer this question. But we can be assured that one thing common in all these answers and opinions would be the word determination. These young entrepreneurs then were so sold out on their ideas that they just lived with it forever. They just knew that they wanted it. They knew the end result and they knew that will take whatever MEANS it would to reach that goal.
They were just smart workers who knew when to grab on to the opportunity and make it big. they have survived some the worst government policies, some of the brutal market down turn and even scams and scandals that rocked the world market but they stood strong in the troubled waters. They were entrepreneurs who set us an example to be “The Entrepreneur”. They weren’t born different. They thought differently. Few things that made a difference They were determined to achieve what they set out for. They had an idea and were sold on that. They decided the ENDS and planned their MEANS to achieve the ENDS They didn’t work for themselves but for their idea. They knew they would change the world with their idea. There may have been many other factors but they wouldn’t have succeeded without the above mentioned. They knew their idea can make a difference to the world and they knew that if they can make a difference to the world then their life would be changed for ever. They have given job opportunities to millions rather than sticking to a good job they had. Its time that today’s youth start being innovators and start being job
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S.E.P initiative by Technopark-TBI along with the smartguruji.com. It is a power packed preparation kit to enhance the professional and Entrepreneurial skills of the young technocrats spread across the country. S.E.P is an opportunity for the students to bridge the gap between academic skills and the skills required to pioneer in the real Entrepreneurship & corporate scenarios. This innovative program will be implemented through the leading campuses across the nation. S.E.P Brings you • Industry oriented and futuristic curriculum/course plan • 24x7 study material and Live Tutor support from the best in the industry. • The best learning experience with the most user friendly and latest technology support ever. • An opportunity to get certified by Technopark NCIIE and other national bodies after completion of course S.E.P helps you by • Providing you the support from industrial experts and market leaders. • Enhancing your skills to compete with the best in the industry. • Polishing your communication and corporate management skills • Imbibing entrepreneurial and leadership qualities. For more details SMS “Ask<space>SEP to 56161 Media partner www.technofirstonline.com
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ducation consists of skills, knowledge and abilities required directly to perform the job to the fullest possible perfection .It forms the foundation a n d stepping stone to success in current job when he moves o u t of the college. B u t as the person gets requisite experience, educational degree is of lesser importance as his work speaks volumes for him than the ‘Education’. Success, for some is the worth in money. For me, success in life depends on the depth and width of basic education whereas success in one’s career is determined by the strength of related education. So as to say education does directly impact how sooner or later success is achieved. To conclude, effective Education is the one that brings about happiness and contentment. It is the jam on the toast of success. It sweetens our achievements and keeps us striving for more. Cheers to Education!!! Anuradha Shenoy Mumbai, Maharashtra.
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ducation is a societal factor. How well are you educated need not able gauge how informed you are. An MBA would be as ignorant about the real world situation unlike an undergraduate or even a “never seen the school” guy because it’s the experience that counts. Success is all about opportunity and the opportunist! Akash Thomas Wembeley, UK 42
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Education & Is there a co-
f Education is just a college degree or a graduation certificate, then I don’t think that Education and Success has any relation. I somewhat agree that, for a person to be successful in a particular field he should have a thorough knowledge and should be able to understand the intricacies involved. How many people do we know who match the likes of Dhirubhai Ambani? A handful!? .. So the sample size to derive any co-relation is close to zilch. Of the people who studied at the top universities in the world, how many are fairly successful; heading organizations and leading innovations? A huge sample size with a good success ratio. When we talk bat success, what do we imply... monetary? Mental? .... What businesses are we taking into consideration? If we can answer these questions, the answer is obvious, education and success are related. But education is not the only factor that can be your ladder to success. Abha Kanstiya Vapi, Gujarat
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he most essential as well as indispensable ingredient of SUCCESS is Positive Thinking and a Firm Determination. It is your self-confidence, faith, determination, perseverance & will to win which counts and deliver success. Education & Success are two different aspects. I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to succeed. If one is determined to put in efforts till end while withstanding the inculcated values, his success doesn’t matter whether he is educated or not. Success is the realization of the estimate you place upon yourself. Education doesn’t determine one’s success. Akanksha Singh, Delhi
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ducation is just what you need to be successful in the current scenario. I don’t know how many companies are hiring uneducated and school drop outs for the top slots. Some may cite examples of few uneducated successful entrepreneurs but they were just “Plain Lucky” coz they went with tide and scored but if you check the top jobs in the country even world wide, one will realize they all are B school pass outs or Oxford and Cambridge creations. So definitely Education is just what you need to be successful in the current scenario. Nayna Kelkar Pune, Maharashtra
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lot has been argued about the relation between education and success. To begin with success is applying the knowledge wherever it i s necessary. So it’s not necessary that you have a classroom education but what if you have these set of knowledge provided to you in an organized manner. Well that would be the optimization of the available factors. So knowledge in an organized way (education) will be a push to the success factor. And there are very successful people in the past who were uneducated but the times have changed so has the definition of being successful. Vinay Nair, Kochi, Kerala
book review What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There BY: Marshall Goldsmith Rs.225
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o far a lot has been written about “how to be successful when you are nothing” and about “how to hatch and count your chickens even if you don’t have an egg” but this one is surely appealing to put it in a better way motivating. “What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There”, is indeed a book that might force you to think the other way around. The book is focused on those who are successful and needs to change to continue to be successful because they are one set of people who have tasted success and think they’re better off that way. The author tactfully has cited examples to show that the very skills that got them where they are, may be damaging their current success or preventing them from going further and so the title. What is more impressive is the lavish detail Goldsmith provides to help you apply on your own. He richly illustrates his points with stories and examples; at the same time the author has kept the writing lean and attention-grabbing. The changes he describes can be priceless in anyone’s line of business, profession or even in their personal lives. This assorted wisdom in four sections simply shows how the author does what he does so well. The book initially seemed like “another one for the successful” but the fact is that you can imply the words in your life no matter wherever you are standing in your life. Just the right book if you think you can learn more about being successful and can continue being one. TF November 2009
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placement experience
Shrijith R. Nair TCS, Assistant Systems Engineer. Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology, Applied Electronics and Instrumentation, 2009
It is necessary to be frank and truthful. They have seen a lot of candidates like us and can easily come to know if we lie 44
TF November 2009
About your Company TATA Consultancy Services. It is Asia’s biggest software company headquartered in Mumbai. It is also India’s oldest IT company, established in 1968. Tata Consultancy Services is considered a pioneer in the field of Indian IT industry and has many firsts to its name.
announced in the list of selected candidates. Major Hurdles Hurdles, I guess there were none. Since it was a campus interview, I did not have to go through any lengthy registration processes. We were informed about the recruitment drive early and had enough time to prepare.
Recruitment procedure Their recruitment process begins with an online assessment comprising questions based on GRE pattern. The only difference with TCS process from other companies which I attended was that TCS had an online test. Then we had the Technical interview followed by the HR interview. Some colleges also have a Group Discussion, but we were not put through that
Your Preparation? For the online assessment,I prepared from the Barron text for GRE. For the initial assessment I went through Barron S. Gottfried text for GRE. To be frank, I prepared for C from the Balaguruswamy. All the other subjects I selected were the ones which I had in that semester for which the classroom preparation was enough.
Questions that you were Put Through In the first online assessment they had questions based on GRE pattern. The only disadvantage was that it had time limit for each of the sections and we could not revisit other sections after moving onto the next section. In the technical interview, luckily the questions were from my favourite subjects. Followed by a lot of questions about C and C++. I goofed up on lot of answers, but I guess I was lucky to be forwarded to the HR interview which followed immediately. It was also an elimination process. The HR interview was stress interview, wherein I was called an arrogant and someone who wouldn’t be able to cope with the pressure at TCS. I had to constantly defend myself to prove my point with examples of what I did in life with respect to the scenarios he stated. I was happily surprised to hear my name being
Were you Nervous? I was really nervous initially. I never felt that I could make it to this company which was visiting our campus for the first time. But the moment I stepped into the room, I was calm and handled everything as I would want to. Advice to Future Job Seekers Be prepared, as it helps to ease the nerves. Try to get an idea about the recruitment process of the particular company and also about the company in general. In HR you may be asked something for which the company was in the news recently. For Written Test: For TCS, prepare for GRE based analysis. For Group Discussion: Be to the point and specific. Remember, it is not how much you speak but what you speak that will be counted. For Interview (Tech & HR): Be thorough with the fundas for tech. For the HR interview, it is necessary to be frank and truthful. They have seen a lot of candidates like us and can easily come to know if we lie.
Nobel for an Indian, though not anymore
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enkatraman Ramakrishnan, of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), shares this year’s Nobel Prize for Chemistry for describing the structure of ribosomes, the molecules that translate the code of DNA into active proteins in the body, along with Thomas Steitz, of Yale University, and Ada Yonath, of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Their work has led to breakthroughs in the development of antibiotics that disable infections by binding to specific pockets in the ribosome structure of bacteria. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan was born in Chidambaram in
Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, India. Moved to Baroda in Gujarat state at the age of
three, where he had his schooling, except for spending 196061 in Adelaide, Australia. He did his pre-science as well as his B.Sc. in Physics from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India, in 1971 and then his Ph.D. in Physics from Ohio University in 1976. He then spent two years studying biology as a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego while making a transition from theoretical physics to biology. Well we are indeed proud about his Indian origin but still wish as Dr. Shashi Tharoor said “Wish he still held an Indian passport, though”
The Second is what we need
So Pay for the Second
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ust a Second I will be back, just a Second hold one, just a Second I will call you, just a Second I will reach there. What is with this new SECOND, is the minute dead? “Just a minute” a phrase which was used by all to denote the importance of time has been
spending and infact every aspect of the life is time based. So the Second is in. “I don’t know why they charge me a whole rupee for just a 15 seconds call” complained Alok Shrivastav when asked about his mobile charges. Not just Alok but there are millions who have the same opinion about the mobile charges. But it happens, more often, that we tend to pay for “those seconds” that
plans available. The question is; is there any service provider who would be listening to the woes and worries of the “Second” centric customers. For the likes of Alok Shrivastav who wish not spend or pay for what he is not consuming, AIRCEL has come up with a fabulous and first of its kind plan. At a paisa per second, the local calls couldn’t get any cheaper and pocket friendly and for those who call across the nation it’s just a paisa a second too. So it seems to
Advertorial
It is true that “every second counts” and even more realistic when you have to pay for it
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replaced by “Just a second” without us knowing about it. May be it’s the lack of time or the importance of each second in our life. It just takes a second to change one’s life. Happiness, sorrow, success, failure, pain or gain it’s all about that second. It is true that “every second counts” and even more realistic when you have to pay for it. A common phenomenon that’s merged into our life is the time based living, thinking, TF November 2009
we really don’t use. It must have happened more than once that you wished to ring up your friend across the country but then the ironical realization strikes. STD calls aren’t easy on pocket and to be honest, at times, neither are the local calls. And even if you make a call you wish it could be charged just for the expensive seconds you talked for. So what do we do to save those extremely expensive yet unused seconds that we pay for? The answer would be stop making STD calls and let us suffer. Or may be we can look into the market of opportunities and check out some consumer centric
be a perfect opportunity to grab. With just a Rs. 48 recharge coupon, you get a life time validity along with sliced up rates where in you can save on that “Second” that bothered you so far and apart from that you tend to gain on the 99 free SMS per day, that doesn’t limit you just to the local SMS but 99 free national and local SMS everyday for sixty days. Now apart from all these, if you can recharge with a Rate Cutter worth Rs. 45 then you will be charged just a paisa for two seconds on your local calls. Well it seems AIRCEL has found a way to save all those seconds we were worried about. It would surely make us feel like “living each second” of our life. Even this time around it
Music for the Mood
Letting the world know what your mood is through music
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very time you call up some friend of yours, you are pretty much sure which Bollywood number you would be treated to. Not just you, even your friends go through the same thing when they ring you up. Over a period in time; you tend to get bored of the Dialer Tunes so much so that you ignore and are least entertained by that piece of music. Apart from being an initial entertainer, the Dialer Tunes these days are also known as the “Mood Music”. The moment someone gives you a call they get an idea about your mind frame just by getting the feel of your Dialer Tune. Now the question is how often can you change your Dialer Tune with your ever changing Mood and even if you could somehow do that; would that be an “easy on the pocket”
task? It has been often said that music changes the mood but how about changing the music as per your mood and even let your friends know what your mood is. Aircel brings in the change this time, as always, with a Dialer Tune card and indeed a first if its kind in the country. With Dialer Tune Card recharge voucher worth Rs. 7, 31 and 240 a user will get validity for a week, month and a year respectively wherein you can change songs unlimited; unlike others wherein you are charged for each song. The idea is to change the Dialer Tunes to match your mood, just choose the music number from the over a lakh song available that would describe your mood and let the world know what and how you are feeling. This would surely entertain those who call you and at the same time it would be the “Mood Music” for you.
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corporate news
Murthy sells Infosys shares to fund entrepreneurs
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.R. Narayana Murthy has sold 800,000 shares, valued at Rs.177 crore (Rs.1.77 billion/$37.9 million), from his holding in the company to fund young entrepreneurs with brilliant ideas. This decision from Narayana Murthy comes as no surprise as he has always been talking about encouraging new entrepreneurs and now he is only implementing what he always said. This selling off of his share in Infosys would come down from his present stake of about 5%. Incidentally his wife Sudha happens to be the largest share holder in the company.
Downturn or not. Attrition rate high in Indian IT Firms
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espite the economic
uncertainty, Indian firms continues to see a double-digit attrition rate, this time of 13.8 percent the highest in Asia Pacific region. According to the global HR consultancy Hewitt Associatesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; annual Asia Pacific Salary Increase survey for 2009-10, most Asian companies have continued to experience doubledigit voluntary employee turnover rate amid the economic downturn. And this is the case with majority of the IT companies. But what we fail to understand is, if the Indian firms continues to see a double-digit attrition rate, then why most of the IT employees grumble for lower salary hike? Well time for some hike there. 48
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Mahindra Satyam may lay off 5000 benchers
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ad news still on for Satyam but well this time around for those who were benched due to the recession and scam. Months after assuring that there would be no further lay offs, Mahindra Satyam may just lay off another 5000 benchers. Many employees on the Virtual Pool Program (VPP) of the company have been sent a formal notice of two months by e-mail. On June 11, the company had announced the creation of the virtual pool, placing around 8,000 associates on the bench. It was also announced by the company that the surplus employees will be put in the VPP and paid basic salary, PF and medical insurance. However, with the six-month period of the VPP set to lapse in December, the company has served a two-month notice, as required by the employment contract, reportedly on over 5,000 employees. Some news around about companies hiring but with the fresh batch of graduates and these 5000, industry seems to be in some trouble.
India to receive biggest salary hike in 2010
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ccording to a survey by Hewitt Associates, salaries in Indonesia and China will also surge, by 8.7 percent and 6.7 percent respectively, whereas workers in Japan can expect a paltry 2.1 percent pay rise. Companies in Asia are set to offer bigger pay rises next year as the region continues to rebound from global recession, notably in India where base salary levels are poised to jump nearly 10 percent. Well thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s some good news post this recession and salary increment decline. Next year, only six percent of companies in India and 8.3 percent in China expect to freeze pay compared with 12-14 percent of companies in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.
Wipro gets a 10 year contact with DIAL
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ipro has bagged a 10-year total outsourcing contract from Delhi International Airport (DIAL) to provide information technology infrastructure and services for the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). The award followed a globally competitive process which attracted several global and Indian IT partners. The company, however, declined to disclose the value of the contract. Wipro and DIAL have also signed an agreement to form a joint venture with focus on emerging business models and airport-specific applications. To be known as Wipro Airport IT Services, 74 percent of the JV will be owned by Wipro, while the rest will be held by DIAL.
Sun to cut 3000 jobs blames Oracle takeover delay
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30,000 experienced IT professionals in demand
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id-Tier companies like GlobalLogic India, Aricent, MindTree, CPA Global, Sapient, Symphony Services, Citrix, Adobe, Persistent Solutions, nVidia, Amazon, Agilent and Vertex are looking out for experienced hands. This might be a blow to the freshers who were looking out to start their career in such companies to gain experience. In the case of MindTree it plans to hire 500-600 lateral employees with at least four years experience. Also, Aricent, the telecom-focused software developer with 6,000 of its 8,000 staff in India, will add another 700 to its India operations by March next year. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s looking for experts with two to six years experience in technologies like 3G wireless, voice over Internet protocol, multi-media handsets and Brew technology, a telecom application development platform. Fortunately for those who were laid off this might be the right time to grab the jobs but for those who are freshly out of the college this might be a matter of concern and long wait for the job offers to pour in.
un Microsystems will cut 3,000 jobs over the next 12 months because of the delay in its takeover by software giant Oracle. The company is waiting for the verdict a European Union (EU) probe regarding the takeover. Sun Microsystems in a filing with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that the layoffs are part of a restructuring plan brought in by the delay in its acquisition by Oracle. The company said the move will result in charges of between $75 million and $125 million over the next several quarters. TF November 2009
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smart techie Technologies (.Net,asp. net,C#) Domain: Health care Nature of Work:Web Application Development Best aspect of your job Work life balance Any onsite Experiences? So far, none as such. Sebastian Mathew Senior Software Engineer UST Global Explain your Career progress This is my first job. Initially after campus recruitment I joined as training software engineer and after six months I was promoted as software engineer. Worked as a software engineer and thereafter got promoted to a Senior Software Engineer. Initial Job Software Engineer Current designation, Role Senior Software Engineer, Software Developer About your work Work Platform:Microsoft
“Jobs in Service sector will give more satisfaction than Product sector” which eventually is one of the worst advice that was put across to me 50
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Work environment and Timing Work environment is pretty uncomplicated and stressfree and Flexible Timing (10.00am-7.00pm) Salary or Job Satisfaction Salary matters initially during your career. Best way a fresh-outof-college employee can impress Show the confidence to take challenges. One thing you wish you could have known since campus days The importance of soft skills in MNC’s is something that could have been very helpful. Worst career advice ever “Jobs in Service sector will give more satisfaction than Product sector” which eventually is one of the worst advice that was put across to me. Future plans Planning to sharpen the technical and soft skills and get better opportunity in architect level. To Job seekers It is important to get maximum information on current technology trends and availabilities; that knowledge would enhance your credibility.
Tech Term
Client
A software program that is used to contact and obtain data from a Server software program on another computer, often across a great distance. Each Client program is designed to work with one or more specific kinds of Server programs, and each Server requires a specific kind of Client. A Web Browser is a specific kind of Client.
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk was originally a cultural sub-genre of science fiction taking place in a not-so-distant, dystopian, over-industrialized society. The term grew out of the work of William Gibson and Bruce Sterling and has evolved into a cultural label encompassing many different kinds of human, machine, and punk attitudes. It includes clothing and lifestyle choices as well.
DHCP
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol DHCP is a protocol by which a machine can obtain an IP number (and other network configuration information) from a server on the local network.
T-TBI NEWS IEDCentre & Virtual Incubator Inaugurated at Mangalam College of Engineering
AKROS- An Austin based start up enters Incubation
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n Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Cell (IEDC) and a Virtual Incubator of Technopark TBI was inaugurated by Mr. K.C. Chandrasekharan Nair, CFO & Programme Coordinator-New initiatives, Technopark at Mangalam College of Engineering, Ettumanoor, Kottayam on October 9, 2009. This is the second Engineering college in Kottayam to be supported by Technopark TBI to start a Virtual Incubator. Brig (Retd.) Joseph Mathew, Dean MLM-CE delivered the Welcome address in a function presided over by Mr. Biju Varghese, Director, Mangalam Group of Institu-
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TF November 2009
tions. A student start up ‘Vizvera Solutions’ will be functioning out of the college incubator as virtual incubatee supported by T-TBI . Technopark through I-EDC will provide entrepreneurs with the expertise, networks and tools they need to make their business ventures successful. The ‘I am an Entrepreneur Campaign’ was also held in conjunction with the inauguration. The college thus had an interactive session with the ‘I am an Entrepreneur’ Campaign Team. The same had been flagged off by Minister of State for External Affairs, Dr. Sashi Tharoor earlier in September.
kros TechLabs, LLC, headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA will soon start functioning their Indian Operations in Technopark TBI on Pre-incubation.Akros is a technology solutions company, focused on developing and marketing cutting- edge solutions for the global mobile technologies industry. Akros TechLabs is an ISV program partner of RIM/BlackBerry. The first of a series of solutions is its patentpending solution, CNBSignIn. It is a cuttingedge, mobile phone/device-resident, 2-factor authentication solution that will revolutionize access to secure data sources such as online/ mobile banking accounts, stock trading accounts, medical records and confidential corporate email and IT systems. In addition, CNBSignIn can also be used for credit card purchase authentication, without the need to change the existing hardware setup at merchant locations. It eliminates the need for hardware devices such as e-tokens, dongles and smart cards. Akros will market CNBSignin, initially to the banking and stock trading industry - to prevent fraudulent transactions, provide secure account access to users and protect the confidentiality of data. Akros is founded by a group of enterprising professionals, with a global network of contacts, to develop and market cutting edge mobile technology solutions. The Akros founders, Surender Bhagia, Chairman, based in Washington, D.C, Sid Prasanna, Managing Director an MBA from Lamar University, Texas and Sunil Belani, VP Marketing, a Chartered Accountant based in Indore and CP Singh , Chief Programmer collectively,have over 75 years of
DSIR Official visits Technnopark-TUC
D
r.A.V.Chainulu from the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) visited Technopark TePP Outreach Centre (TTUC) on September 24, 2009. Dr. Chainulu had discussions with Mr. K.C Chandrasekharan Nair, TUC Co-ordinator of Technopark on the new ac-
tivities of Technopreneur Promotion Programme. He met the innovators of Technopark Dr.Bishore, Mr.Babeesh, Mr.Jerry Raj and Dr.Chellappan Padmakumar and counseled them on their TePP Projects. Dr.Chainulu is presently the Scientist â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Fâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of DSIR, Govt of India.
BarCamp Kerala-6 held at Rajagiri
ISBA 2010 Awards Nominations Invited
I
SBA invites nominations for ISBA Awards 2010 to recognize outstanding startups and entrepreneurs who gained from the Indian Incubation Network. Last year Technopark TBI incubatees MobME and Light logics won the ISBA Award for the Best Innovative Start up in ICT Category and Engineering Category respectively. For more details regarding ISBA
Aqlanza Infosystems, 77th Company in T-TBI
A
A
s part of its efforts to spread the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship among the techies and students, BarCampKerala6 was conducted at the Rajagiri Campus RASET, Kakkanad on October 11, 2009. This is the 6th Edition of BarCamps in Kerala and the third in Cochin. The previous two barcamp events in Cochin were conducted in Cochin University Campus. A number of well-prepared and interactive sessions became the highlight of Barcamp Kerala 6. Some of the sessions that marked the day included a session on Biases and Fallacies- A Perspective by Mr. Praseed Pai, Voice Based Blood Search - A Proposal by Mr.Kenney Jacob, CEO- Ayruz Web holdings and Ethical Hacking by Mr.Manu Sacharia. In all, almost all the new and old barcampers agreed that barcamps are a platform to learn, share and interact in an open platform is a new way of learning. The barcamps in Kerala occur in frequent intervals and is well supported by Tech-
qlanza Infosystems started their business operations at Technopark Technology Business Incubator in Thejaswini building. Aqlanza is a business start up with nine employees with technology domain in RIA web applications on telemedicine. The company also looks forward in to business communication applications and solutions in future. The Company got admitted after their business plan presentation before the 39th expert committee meeting, which was held at Park Centre on October 8, 2009. Ms.Subhas Haripr a s a d , Managing Director of Aqlanza after signing the agreem e n t w i t h Te c h nopark,
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Micromax H360 TNL-Micromax M Tie-up Touchscreen with ‘touch lens’ technology Camera 3-megapixel CMOS sensor with LED flash and 4x zoom Up to 8 GB memory and Internet speeds peaking at 3.6Mbps Access Facebook, Orkut, blog and email at all times Price: Rs. 5,499/-
Kindle DX e-book from Amazon reader 10 inch screen
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I am an Entrepreneur Campaign Updates
T
he ‘I am an Entrepreneur Campaign’, sponsored by Aircel, covered its second lap. Riding on its wave, we passed through IES College of Engg., Thrissur; KMEA College of Engg, Ernakulam before reaching Kottayam. Here we covered: College of Engg., Poonjar; Mangalam College of Engg. & Tech.; and College of Engg., Kidangoor. Our next station, after Kottayam, was the capital city Thiruvanthapuram. Here we engaged four colleges. They are : LBS College of Engg., Poojapura; P.A. Aziz College of Engineering and Technology, Karakulam; College of Engg. And Technology, Sree Karyam; and finally Sree Chithira Thirunal College of Engg. and Technology, Pappanamkodu. In some colleges, where students themselves took initiative to organize the groundwork, shows how keen they are, to know things. It was indeed our pleasure, to impart information for such eager minds, which is beneficial to themselves, as well as the society. Our success was in the turnout of students, who participated in the programme and came up with new ideas.
It was interesting to interact with students of the colleges covered, whose level of interaction and engagement surprised us. In CET, Sree Karyam, the engagement was great with students answering all the questions and grabbing most of the goodies as compared to other colleges. Jerry C. Alex of CET says: “It ignited the entrepreneurial spirit in me”; whereas, opined Mahesh M.B.: It developed more self- confidence to take initiative in new things”. Overall the impact created was fine, with students coming up with new ideas. It seems that there is ample potential in students, they just need a bit
A story of a small time fun becoming the one of the most sought after networking sites with regular updates about what your friends are doing.
I
was introduced to Orkut when I was in school and eventually I became an avid Orkut user but during the course of the time I joined Facebook and twitter. Now things have changed. I hardly use Orkut but you will find me commenting on all most every post on my wall”, says 23 year old Nanish*. It’s just like many others who have got themselves glued to networking sites. Amongst all these networking sites; the one that grabs the maximum attention these days is the Facebook. Facebook is a userfriendly web 2.0 portal with the possible best communication network. Within the span of less than three years, Facebook took almost every internet user by a storm. Initially it was a friends for friends system but the entry of the new application, one can find almost all the source of entertainment there. Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin
Moskovitz and Chris Hughes while he was a student at Harvard University. The website was created in the college dorm room. The website’s membership was initially limited to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It later expanded further to include any university student, then high school students and finally, to anyone aged 13 and over. Not only did this changes bring in more users but at the same time increased the worth of the portal. 56
Today Facebook Inc. is worth over 5 billion US Dollars and as per some about 10 to 12 billions. Well whatever the billions is the fact is it all started from the college dorm room. Founded on February 4, 2004 at Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, today Facebook is headquartered at Dublin, Ireland (international headquarters for Europe, Africa and Middle East). The organization is headed by Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Dustin Moskovitz, Co-founder, Sheryl Sandberg, COO and also Chris Hughes, Co-founder. Facebook is now available more than 60 languages and that it self show its reach.
TF tips for FB I am here to make friends This is the biggest FB crime you tend to do i.e. add every friend suggestion that you get. Well it’s cool to have a lot of friends but it’s really not cool to get a lot of friends request from unknown people with no personal message attached to it. So not for yourself but for those who don’t know you or don’t care to do so please don’t send those suggested request; you vaguely recognize their name but not their face. They add you as a friend on Facebook and then after you accept them, you never hear from them again. Updating the Profile when you shouldn’t You have added your professors and classmates on your Facebook account. Well you plan a day off to go out with your friends and call in sick at college. The very next day you update your trip photographs where in you are as cheerful as you could be and to add to that you have mention where when and with whom all you went. There you go up on the list of liars and frauds. Either you don’t add people whom you lie to or you don’t update posts where in you have lied about your absence somewhere.
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P u b l i c a t i o n s C1, 2nd floor, Alfa Towers, I S Press Rd O ct o b er 2009 Cochin-18. info@technofirstonline.com Ph: +91-484-2397533, +91-9388833888
Tell me on the wall Facebook has 300 million users not because they have a mailing option or because of their newly introduced FB chat. But it is a hit amongst the masses because of its lucidity and blunt nature. So avoid messaging people and through FB mails. To begin with people hardly read them and secondly that’s a hard task to do. Irritating Status Updates It is good to know what you are doing but it’s pretty irritating when you post updates about others. To cite an example “Jaykay is unhappy because….” And
FB FACTS
this update is on Abraham’s status. Well those who aren’t friends with Jaykay but are friends with Abraham would surely not be interested in know whether Jaykay is happy or not and far from interested in commenting on that. So save your such updates for your personal blog wherein it won’t bother others.
website review Moomeo.com
The total number of Facebook user has crossed over 300 million. And over 80 million active users daily logging on to the website. There are over hundred thousand applications available on Facebook with 100 applications added every day. In late September 2006 talks with Yahoo were underway and is rumored that they offered $1 billion to buy out Facebook where Google offered about $2 billion. Facebook owners might have realized they could make more in the long run from the site so declined both the offers and eventually they are worth over $15 billion. 41 year old American entrepreneur and Co-founder of Pay Pal Peter Thiel was the first person to invest in Facebook. It’s said his original investment in the social networking site in June 2004 was about $500,000 and as far as the recent updates are, Peter still owns shares in that site. Over 14 million images are uploaded on the website everyday. The interesting fact about the websites name is that the domain name was bought for $ 200,000. In April 2009, two Austrian graphic designers created Lamebook which is a blog where Facebook users can submit funny entries from the social
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F
orwarding the mails to your friends and colleagues would be one of the most integral part of your internet experience. But in the new world of Web 2.0 and social networking, it’s difficult to share these with your Facebook, Orkut or Twitter friends, because of the incompatibility of the two formats. This is where Moomeo comes into the picture. The site transcends the limitations of e-mail by automatically turning your mail into a Web page that can be easily shared as a regular link. There’s no registration required and it’s an extremely simple process, which the most technologically-challenged person on the planet could do. All you have to do is simply click the ‘Forward’ button as you normally would and send it to post@moomeo.com. Once you do that, you will get a reply from the site in a few minutes with the address of a new Web page that hosts all of the content from your email. Now the added advantage is that the email that Moomeo sends you comes with quick-links to share the new Web page on your Twitter or Facebook accounts, as well as a ready-to-use shortened URL courtesy the Bit. ly service.
October
2009
Career
career plus
fu r u o y te u o r to y a w The
Rtd Colonel The Author is the Academic Director of Leads Academy for Corporate Excellence
60
he history of vocational guidance or career counselling can be traced back to the early 20th century and is intertwined with the early beginnings of vocational education. Frank Parson (1909) established the Boston Vocational Bureau and wrote the first ever book on career counseling called ‘Choosing a Vocation’. According to him, in the wise choice of a vocation, there are three broad factors. They are: clear understanding of oneself, one’s aptitudes, abilities, interests, ambitions, resources, limitations and their causes. through Knowledge of the requirements and conditions of success, advantages & disadvantages, compensation, opportunities and prospects in different lines of work. True reasoning on the relations of the above two groups of factors. Based on Parson’s hypothesis, a model for CAREER MAPPING has been developed comprising of the following three aspects Aptitude : Aptitude is the inherent potential of a person. Personality : A set of traits, which become our strengths and weaknesses. These traits determine our behavior and performances in any environment. Interests : The careers or areas of work or job we like and at the same time enjoy working in. Aptitude, personality and interests of a student are captured with the help of a set of tests which are designed specifically for the purpose. These tests have a simple set of questions, which a student can do without any guidance. They are so planned
that students do not get confused or nervous while solving them. These tests are described as follows: Aptitude Test This test analyses and interprets all the seven aptitude dimensions identified till date and they are as follows Mechanical Numerical Abstract Spatial
Personality Test This test consists of 80 items and interprets 15 dimensions of personality. They are as follows Effective Intelligence Reasoning Ability Organizing Ability Power of expression Social Adaptability Sense of Responsibility Co-operation Initiative Self Confidence Speed of Decision Ability to influence the group Liveliness Determination Courage Stamina Interests
Verbal Language Clerical Lists of 40 broadly defined interests are used and the student uses this to narrow down to his/her key interest areas. In the Psychometric analysis, it is believed that all aptitudes are in born and are difficult to improve upon; while personality traits are acquired and can be further developed or modified. Hence, all the suggestions made for improvements, are based on personality traits. The responses of students to various test items in the questionnaires are scored and a predictive report is generated based on the interpretation of these responses. The Report Analyses the strength and weaknesses in aptitude and personality. Suggests areas of improvement in aptitude and personality. Lists down the aptitudes and personality traits required for the careers of interest. Checklists how aptitude and personality match with careers of interest. If there is a mismatch, suggests new careers which match the inherent talents. Provides clear direction through next step and all subsequent steps required to be taken to achieve the career goal. The areas of interests of students may change with time. But the aptitude and personality may not change to the same extent, and they open up new opportunities for improvement in realizing their potential. The CAREER MAPPING will help students in understanding their Aptitudes, Personality and Interests. It will also highlight the right career suitable for students so that they can channelize their energies in the right direction and perform well in their respective fields. The CAREER MAPPING helps to clear the career confusion of the students and the parents. Students, after the counseling may continue their interaction with the counsellors/mentors on their career-related issues, if they so desire. The CAREER MAPPING is a program intended to partner with parents, principals and teachers in helping students realize their best and find their perfect careers that will stand by them in an increasingly competitive world.
Career Guru Q. I would like to know the salary I could expect from an Oracle DBA with 3 years experience in present market? Praveen Shah, Mumbai A. The salary for an Oracle DBA with 3 years of experience can be averaged at between Rs. 5 lakhs to Rs. 6 lakhs per annum. However a lot depends on company profile, job role and technical exposure of the person. Q. I am planning to shift to Chennai. I finished my B.E. (ECE) with 64% and I am not interested in software. Shall I start my career in networking? Which course can I choose from? Vineesh Menon, Kochi A. If you are interested in networking then go for it. You can check out the HCNE course from Career Development Centre (CDC), which is opened by HCL in Chennai. It’s a very well designed course as per requirements in the networking industry suited for full time as well as part time. Apart from that, you can check IIHT for courses in networking. You should first go for MCSE certification, RHCE, and then Cisco. careerQ@technofirstonline.com
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HOT JOBS Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Applications are invited for the position of Engineers/ Graduate Apprentice Engineers (GAEs) in the following engineering disciplines: Chemical Engineering (including Petrochemical Engineering) Civil Engineering Electrical Engineering Instrumentation Engineering (including electronics) Instruentation Engineering (excluding electronics) Communication Engineering/ Telecommunications Engineering) Mechanical Engineering (excluding production) Manufacturing/ Industrial Engineering Metallurgical Engineering Vacancy: 200 engineers Age Limit: Maximum 26 years as on 30th June, 2010 Eligibility: BE/ B.Tech/ B.Sc (Chem/ Civil/ Electrical/ Mech/ Instrmn/ C&E/ Telecom/ Metallurgical) Last Date: 13 February 2010 For more details log on to: http://www.iocl. com/PeopleCareers/ IndianOilCorporationLimited. pdf
MAQ Software
Hiring freshers as Software Development Engineers Eligibility: Be/B.Tech Details: Job Web application development using C#, Ajax, ASP.NET, Microsoft SQL Server, XML Web Services 62
Gather software requirements Code Analysis using quality tools Coordinate with the testing team Qualification : (1) 2008 or 2009 batch passout from Mumbai University, NIT, IIIT, and REC (2) First class throughout academics Last date: 22nd November
IISc- Bangalore
Vacancy for Junior System Administrator and System Administrator Trainee Programme
Eligibility: BE/ B.Tech/ MCA/ BCA/ M.Sc/ B.Sc (CSE/ Information Science/ IT/ ECE/ Electrical) How to Apply: Apply through On-Line only. Scanned image of recent passport-size photo (Maximum size of 20 Kb in .jpeg/.jpg format)& Application fee of Rs.150/- for GM,OBC and Rs.75/- for SC/ST ( No DD for PH candidates DD should be drawn in favour of The Registrar Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560012 payable at Bangalore. For more details log on to: http://www.satp.serc.iisc.ernet. in/SATP.jsp Last date for online registration: 6th November 2009
The Indian Navy
As short service Commissioned Officers in Naval Armament Inspection Cadre of Executive Branch Course Commencing July 2010.
Eligibility: B.E/ B.Tech /P.G (Electrical/ Electronics/ Mech/ Phy) Educational Qualifications. (a) BE/B.Tech in Electrical/ Electronics/Mechanical from an institution recognized by AICTE. (b) Post-graduate Degree in Electronics/Physics from a recognized University. Physical Standards (a) Height and Weight. Minimum height - 157 cms with correlated weight. (b) Eye Sight. The minimum acceptable vision standard for distant vision 6/60, 6/60 correctable to 6/6, 6/12 with glasses. Should not be colour/ night blind. Last Date: 14 November 2009 For more details log on to: http://www.nausenabharti.nic. in/DownLoads/officer/NAICE. pdf
Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (HPPSC) Recruitment of Assistant Engineer / Lecturer and Officers
Eligibility: B.Sc/ M.Sc (Agriculture)/ BE/ B.Tech/ M.Tech (Civil/ Mech/ Electrical/ Environment)/ MBA/ Diploma Last Date: 5 November 2009 For the Application form and details click: http://www.hp.gov.in/HPPSC/ file.axd?file=2009/10/Advt. No.VI+of+2009.pdf
Pallavan Grama Bank
Applications are invited for appointment in Officer Scale-I Cadre in Pallavan Grama Bank. Officer Scale – I, Post Code: 1 Vacancy: 32
Age: 21 yrs (as on 01.07.2009) Qualification: a) A Degree from any recognized University in any discipline or its equivalent. Knowledge of English and Tamil is essential. b) Candidates should possess proficiency of computer knowledge like knowledge in MS DOS, MS WORD, MS EXCEL and
Networking etc. c) Candidates with higher qualification in Computer / Accounting / Management / Engineering / Business Administration / Law / Agriculture / Veterinary Science / M.Sc, Computer science / MCA / Chartered Accountant and Civil Engineering etc., will get preference over others Pay Scale : Rs. 10000 – 470/6 – 12820 – 500/3 – 14320 – 560/7 – 18240. Last Date to apply: 10/11/2009. for further details log on to http:// www.pallavangramabank.in/ dloads/pallavan_rrb_careeroct_09. pdf
Indian Bank
(A Govt of India Undertaking) Recruitment of Computer Officers
Eligibility: B.E. / B.Tech. or above in Electronics & TeleCommunication / Electronics & Communication / Computer Science / Information Technology or MCA (First Class – 60% aggregate marks / equivalent CGPA) Last date to register online: 16th November 2009 For more details log on to: http:// www.indianbank.in/pdfs/rec/ career_specialist_oct_2009.pdf
for more fresher Jobs
log on to www.technofirstonline.com
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techstrology
Abhishek Dhawan Aries (March 21-April 19) Your excellent communication skills will help you in enhancing prospects at workplace. New sources of business/association could also come your way. You need to avail the opportunity as it comes. This is the right time to develop business or corporate strategy. Try not to over depend on your subordinates. Earning profits through some indirect sources are also seen high
Taurus (April
20-May 20)
Professional front requires being more open to subordinates suggestions as this would lead to success. You have more in common than you thought and conversations go well. Working with people form different fields is likely to present ample scope for growth. Try reaching out to your previous clients as you are sure to benefit from them. During the end of the month you
Gemini (May
21-June 21)
You would be full of good ideas and your choice of activities would bring in positive results far beyond your expectations. During the month you would make steady progress toward your career and social goals. It would be better for you if you involve yourself in learning new techniques and procedures to simplify work process and increase output. Your sug-
Cancer (June
22-July 22)
This is a good month to achieve the challenges that are set before you. Your work would be much more effective than usual and you will be able to get a lot done, all you need to do is assess professional activities wisely. Your sharp observation would help in keeping an edge over others. Con-
Leo (July
23-Aug. 22)
This month would bring in mixed results for you. At times you may be too busy and at other times you may get enough time to improve on your weak areas to enhance career prospects. Try to analyze the things quickly as you could be in for some excellent opportunities. Technical or experimental matters would be highlighted and you would be able to
Virgo (Aug.
23-Sept. 22)
If you are looking to improve your work efficiency and conditions, this can be accomplished now. Business and commercial ventures are seen to be positive. You are much more likely to get a good deal for yourself. Opportunity to work with people from diverse fields is also seen happening this month.
64
Libra (Sept.
23-Oct. 22)
It is time to muster up courage and believe in self to succeed at professional front. Spend some quality time to review your plans for the future. You are able enough to stabilize and handle your responsibilities successfully. This can be a progressive period of unexpected and favorable change, bringing you a greater choice of independent activities. You will have to put-to-use your latent talent to fight against adverse conditions
Scorpio
(Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
You are likely to get an opportunity to gain additional work experience in a different project/field. You may want to think on ways to improve or remake strategies. With your continuous efforts there will be a noticeable an increase in bank balance. Good advice from a superior would bring gains. Developing trust and understanding for each others
Sagittarius (Nov.
22-Dec. 21)
Good amount of gains & social recognition is what you could look forward this month. You would look for ways to develop your personal identity more strongly through self-reliance and constructive self-discipline. Your Career will expand and new avenues in life will open up. You would feel energetic with increased vitality and self-confidence. Improving professional rela-
Capricorn
(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
You could learn something of value from those more experienced, just keep an open mind. During the month you would find yourself in a much-improved monetary position. Your imagination and perceptiveness would become strong and would enable you to plan the things in right way. You will be successful in exploring new avenues. Learning new ways and techniques would
Aquarius (Jan.
20-Feb. 18)
This month you need to put your creative and innovative knowledge to practical use in order to gain greater control and independence. There could be some interesting changes in your professional environment. You may have intuitive insight into business or professional affairs and organize new meth-
Pisces
(Feb. 19-March 20)
At work patience, perseverance and optimism would be much required during the month. You may find opportunity to increase power and status. You will have enough resources to generate extra income. You need to really push forward toward your goals and not allow past mistakes to stand in the way.
Beta 1. What is the name of the new computer by Dell that many experts believe will rival Apple’s MacBook Air? 2. Sim Wong Hoo is the CEO of... ? 3. Why was Michigan-based networking company, Cygnus Systems, in the news recently? 4. Mozilla’s mobile equivalent of Firefox is called…? 5. Whose new manufacturing entity is being ‘The Foundry Company’? 6. Of the five generic font families defined in HTML and CSS, three are serif, sans-serif and cursive. Name the other two. 7. Chris Liddell is the CFO of…? 8. Name the YouTube celebrity who has now been signed up by Visa to promote its product. 9. Gina Bianchini is the chief executive of a site for creating social networks that she founded along with the famous Marc Andreessen. Name it. 10. Fill in the blank with the name of a browser: “..first comes the Navi-
1. Adamo 2. Creative Technology 3. It filed a lawsuit against Google, Microsoft, and Apple for ‘alleged’ violation of its patent on the use of ‘thumbnails’ or document-preview icons in its OS. 4. Fennec 5. AMD 6. Fantasy and Monospace. 7. Microsoft 8. Matt Harding of ‘Where the Hell is Matt’ fame. 9. Ning 10. Konqueror. 66
TF
November
Printed and published by Arun Balachandran, ErupulamKattil (H), Edakadathy P.O., Edakadathy, Owned by Shine Damodharan, Kollattu (H), Chiyyaram P.O., Thrissur. Printed at St.Joseph’s Press, TVM. Published from Mediafirst Publications, Cochin-21 and the editor is Basil P Varghese, Pokkanathil (H), Pothanikkadu P.O., Ernakulam District, Kerala.