Resume pointers

The first two questions after last years experience that come to mind during campaigning is: What is your CPI(cumulative percentage index)? Which department are you from? This is not intended to make fun of the candidate but to knock some sense into him/her. After all the basal criterion of a company to shortlist a candidate is his/her CPI. And that CPI has to be consistent over the academic tenure of the candidate. This time around though campaigning is dismal, seems the candidates are not interested in getting to know the junta. Unlike the previous year where the poltu was clear and cut out there does not seem to be one candidate who has a clear mandate. Candidates went to the extent of making sure that the poltu was a well placed entity and also sent out confusing indications of the same. This time around the manifestos are being written out on the mess tables during campaigning. Its either the junta is not interested in the goings on of the insti or the candidates are sure of their wins. The election work is in process since there have been mails that any sort of illegal activity will be dealt with strictly.

In politics there are the senti ones and the committed ones. There are those who stand just for the enthu of it and there are those who stand just because some arbit person said so. Personally speaking there is a need for enthu and as my friend had stated a long time ago, it is also vital to see where such an activity fits into the whole scheme of things, e.g. resume and other stuff. Normally the problem manifests itself only when an explanation is sought in a personal interview. Though there is no business for anyone to know whether or not a person was vacant or not during a period in the career, but that’s not how things work. It also gives enough reason for a person to come up with a false experience certificate which he could confidently justify in the interview. Now whether or not that person is able to live up to that expectation of the experience is questionable. But in the “chalta hai” attitude world everything is fare in job interviews. At a prominent coaching class the faculty there advised someone “why don’t you make up an experience certificate”, since the person had lost one year in preparation for the MBA entrance tests. The salary as he mentioned was twice that of an inexperienced person. Although that salary quote would only come after the MBA during the recruitment process.

Among all this there are a few questions that linger in my mind.:why are some people motivated by a goal(monitary) and some do what comes to their mind.  Hasn’t the westernised notion of capitalism influenced the Indian psyche yet.  Just another thought…

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Recap ‘08

The year has gone by, and with all pomp and show we will be bidding farewell to the worst year as Outlook magazine would have it say, and Rediff would say that this year was not our worst terror hit year. The year that saw the election of the new president of the United States and the year where Tata would have thought of as not having existed, according to me.

From Chandrayaan, which went unnoticed due to the presidential elections in the states and the terror attack, to the Indo-US nuclear deal which was finalized this year.  On a personal front progress meant spiritual growth and a new direction to life as a whole, there were trying times when no solution was in sight but time takes care of all, where a new day is present after every dark hour. It was a time when charge was transferred to a new general secretary after having completed the tenure with two successful and well managed events. Realisation that any responsibility goes with the knowledge of a certain level of discernment with it. This year marked the move from a day full with a flurry of activity to a general slump in activity.

Who would have thought that the biggest business houses in India would be struck with trouble more than twice in a year, the Singur issue where they had to relinquish an investment of about 1500 Crores and then came the terror attack that gutted the Taj, which adversely affected their stock, but as today’s newspaper reads, the most expensive buffet has been created at the Taj for the new year. Though Nano was bound to be in the market soon, it will be delayed for a while. I believe with recession around the corner Nano will soon be the choice of transport for all. Speaking about recession the fall of the Indian stock market which was on a high of close to 21000, to half that value, with stocks plummeting to less than half their value on that high. It was a time to think about the safest investments on the block, with the stock market losing its lustre as a lucrative option. All said and done there are those for whom “One man’s meat is another man’s poison” so this slump could well mean boom time for some. Indian markets were much more stable to the pangs of recession than other markets, but as reports would have it the manufacturing sector has recorded negative growth last month, and another month of the same will spell the words “ recession” for India too. Globalization in its true form showed itself, job cuts, business slowdown, and sad stories of layoffs. What was unnerving was the way in which some people were told to leave their respective companies. Jet airways was the first example of it.

News is rife, after the terror attacks, of an impending war with the neighbors but hopefully the administration his a non violent solution to it. What a friend narrated to me made me feel that after all the terror attacks the indomitable spirit of Mumbai is applauded is just to make the financial capitals work horses run after the carrot fervently. West Asia sees the Gaza strip being pounded by Israeli air strikes and a ground offensive in the offing, I strongly hope we do not follow suite, some opine that this is an opportune time to stake claim for POK. The strikes could well escalate and continue for a while. On a more personal level recession spelt the return of a few academicians due to lack of funding.  News trickled in that well known labs closed down in the United States, touch wood it does not happen to others.

The question lies , where do we go from here……………..

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