SeniorITy expectations

An article in today's Economic Times mentions about the shrinking renumeration figures for fresh engineering graduates and contrasts it to the rising salaries of IT professionals with 2-6 years experience.

The article goes on to justify the reason behind the shrinking renumeration figures for freshers, with the comment "One needs to spend a lot on training freshers, and it takes a while before they become billable. " Surprisingly it does not try to justify the trend of rising salaries for experienced IT pros.

While it is true that experienced people expect more salary, it is equally true that at times employers also expect a lot in return from experienced IT pros.

Let me try to justify this by sharing a sample job responsibilities of a Senior Level IT Specialist.

• Software design, engineering and/or development for various IT infrastructures and applications.
• Engineering evaluation and/or test of materials (H/W and/or S/W components, products and systems)
• Preparation of detailed specifications from which programs will be written, system software implemented or equipment fabricated or installed.
• Application of configuration management procedures and tools for changes to the operating system files and software.
• Performance of associated process studies, research investigations and requirements analyses of all aspects of communications and telecommunications system components.
• Participation in the development and preparation of documentation for, but not limited to, procedural, program and user documentation.
• Designs, develops, installs, implements, improves, documents and/or maintains software; monitors standards and procedures and integrates systems from design through operations.
• 24x7 Level 3 support, on rotation
• Experience in conducting and writing post-mortems and developing root cause analyses.
• Works with clients to ensure successful system implementation; may assist in user training.
• May provide guidance and assists in training of less experienced staff.
• May research or write portions of technical proposals.
• Maintains state-of-the-art knowledge and compiles information into recommendations and analyses.
• Frequent use of computer, and computer assisted tools.
• Operates regularly under demanding deadlines and subject to heavy workloads.

The point to note here is that more that technical skills, most employers seem to be looking for senior people who can handle a variety of tasks and more importantly will not crumble under pressure. And you can acquire this trait only after spending a couple (?) of years in the industry.

Indian Advertising

Today's episode of Power-Trip (program on Sahara ONE channel hosted by Shobha De) was an interesting one. The guest for the show was Piyush Pandey - one of the leading creative directors in India - currently heading the agency Ogilvy & Mather (O&M). As an avid reader of ET Brand Equity, I often came across his name and how he went about creating some of the best ads in the country. You can catch a glimpse of his work in the following ads

• The Liril waterfall ad in 1980s
• Chal Meri Luna ad
• Fevicol ka majboot jod hai - tutega nahi
• National Literacy Mission (Purab se surya uuga... )

These ads give a good idea of his power of observation and his brand of advertising which tries to emphasize more on how the product/concept can benefit RK Laxman's common man. According to him the last ad was the most challenging one, due to the fact that it was trying to sell a concept and not a product.

When asked about his contribution to the popular Hutch Mobile ad (The cute and cho chweet 'dog' following the 'kid' everywhere he goes), he gave a modest reply: "My biggest contribution was that I did not interfere with it".

I also admired the fact that he does not believe in aping western models and cloning them to sell the product in India. In India, you will find a rich set of stories and anecdotes that can be twisted to sell a product. You just got to have a creative bent of mind to realize this. Crompton's latest punchline for selling fans is a good example of this - Raag Toofani Crompton Ka, Rishta Zindagi Ka.

While telecasting the Zee Cine Awards show, today Zee TV unvieled a new logo and motto. While the logo has now become more colorful (thanks to Holi), the motto of Zee TV is equally catchy and brings a quick smile onto your face. It says Jiyo Zee Bhar Ke !.

One-line jokes

NASA ne 3 sardar chand pe bheje. Rocket uda, par aadhe raste se vapas aaya.
Jab sardaro ko pucha gaya to bole: AAJ AMAWAS HAIN, CHAND TO HOGA NAHI....

Happy Holi

When you wake up early in the morning
Admire the sky changing colors as the sun keeps rising.

As you take the road to office, go slow,
When you see the signal change from green to yellow ;).

At work, when you meet colleagues in colorful attire,
Give a smile :), which they will remember even after you retire !

In short, as the day comes to an end,
Make sure you have experienced, its vibrant and colorful trend.

Experience and enjoy the various colors of life !
Happy Holi over a long weekend !

Sitting late in office

Recently came across a good speech by Narayana Murthy on the topic of sitting late in office.
He suggests the following guidelines to software engineers:
1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.
2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.
3) Go home.
4) Read the comics, watch a funny movie, dig the dirt, play with your kids etc..
5) Eat well and sleep well.

In the formative years of my career, I used to work late in office. I just loved the work-place and it was exciting to spend productive evenings at work. Work was interspersed with liberal doses of TT and Badminton games. During one of those tight delivery schedules, I remember playing a game of badminton at 2 o'clock in the morning. Those were the days when I was self-motivated to spend more time at work.

But as time passed by and my work-place kept changing, the fun and excitement associated with late hours probably faded away somewhere into the background. Even now sometimes I tend to 'work' late in office (max till 10.00pm). But the reasons are quite different. Either they are due to work pressure or simply becoz I spent too much time in meetings or discussions during the day.

In the long run, it is definitely not a good habit to cultivate. Besides taking a toll on your social life, it drains you of all your energy and makes you a workalohic.

Beware of ADT !

Do you see people in your office sittting at their desk, bouncing their knees up and down like a jack-hammer and simultaneously trying to do a number of things like scanning their emails, listening to their favorite song, sending SMS using their mobile and sipping a cup of coffee ?

They are probably inviting early symptoms of ADT (Attention Deficit Trait). ADT is the bane of our modern-day multi-tasking working environment that is characterized by inner frenzy, distractability and impatience. It is purely a response to the hyper kinetic environment in which we live: an ecosystem in which the human brain is asked to keep track of innumerable data points.

An ADT sufferer feels a constant low level of panic and guilt. Facing a tidal wave of task, he becomes increasingly hurried, curt, and unfocussed while pretending that everything else is fine.

Dr.Hallowell goes on to describe ADT as

It's the great seduction of the information age. You can create the illusion of doing work and of being productive and creative when you're not.

To control ADT creatively engineer your environment and tune it to your emotional and physical health. Make sure you get enough sleep and try to come up with a regular exercise schedule.