In an interesting comment on my last blog post, ' A Business School is not an Employment Exchange', Rhea said that the job of a business School should be "helping students improve themselves to such a level that, 'not hiring them fast enough' becomes a threat to the companies. I guess she hit the nail right on the head, pretty much summing up what Business Schools ought to be doing. The moment you hear that kind of a thing, what comes straight to one's mind is the saying that you can take a horse to the water but can't make it drink and rings true. There is only that much that even the best schools can do. The onus of learning, training and finding a job lies with the student. You will probably ask what purpose do the B.Schools serve then? B. Schools can at best provide a platform for that learning. You would have noticed the emphasis all along is on learning not on teaching.
The teachers in B Schools need to grasp the value of this slant towards 'helping' students 'learn' rather than 'teach' otherwise they will continue to be an obstacle in the way of their learning despite best of intentions. Yet I hear a lot of well intentioned, yet unpalatable boast in conversations when members of the venerable fraternity get together in their cabins or at boringly routine get-togethers over tepid tea and the ubiquitous samosas and biscuits, extolling the quality of the lecture they 'delivered' and how well they 'taught'. How such and such a a student would have been struck in finance if 'I' had not forced him take up marketing"; or how "I literally caught him by the ear and made him finish her assignment or else she would have flunked that year..." and it goes on and on interminably. The self adulatory tone sometimes becomes overbearing, to say the least, yet that is the prevailing strain in such mild encounters. The teachers have to learn make themselves less obtrusive and get out of the way of student's learning. This is not to suggest that B. Schools do not need teachers.They do. Only there style of functioning needs to change. There probably is a need to set up training institute to train B.school teachers so that they can appreciate the difference between teaching in kindergartens and teaching in B. Schools.
The reason I am writing this piece is not as much to change the teaching style and stance of the faculty as it is to encourage students acquire the right attitude to learning. They have to some day take ownership of their lives and sooner they take a decision to do so the better. Students have been a victim of a vicious circle. They joined a particular B.school, based on its ranking. They expect to earn large sums of money when placed as an all pervasive impression that higher the ranking of B.schools means higher pay packets for its students has been created by B. schools in cahoots with the media. There is nothing wrong with being able to earn large sums of money but the focus in this has to be on the skills, ability and behaviour of the graduates; not on money. Another thing that's even more damaging and works at a deeper psychological level is the fact that it makes students, who are going to be the decision makers in the business world tomorrow, dependent on the Placement cells to find them a job which they believe the B. Schools have tacitly promised them. This makes very deep inroads into the psyche of the students and leads to their becoming dependent on the placement cells to find them a job and the faculty to 'teach' them. They come in dependent and they go out dependent - exactly the opposite of what any professional school ought to be doing for them. When I ask them why do they think they deserve a seven to ten lakh package, the answer nine time out of ten times is that the ranking of the school warrants that. On probing a little further one learns that the students with higher CGPAs expect higher salaries because they did everything their teachers and their parents 'told' them to do. That is how they slowly become the problem rather than the solution to the problem. They have learnt too well what they have been 'told' to do. They have never been encouraged to think for themselves and take their own decisions.
The students should learn to take their own decisions starting from small things like whether they should attend a particular class or bunk it to what discipline they ought to major in and so on. They should during their stay in the B. school acquire enough self esteem to find jobs for themselves based on their own learning, skills, ethics and confidence. What graduating students can do has been nicely suggested by Charlie Hoehn in his beautiful little e- book, Recession Proof Graduate It is also is a great way to pick a Company YOU want to work for rather than be picked by any company the Placement Cell chooses to bring to the Campus. More on that in another post. Meanwhile read the book.
Showing posts with label soft skills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soft skills. Show all posts
Monday, September 7, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Magic Wand
One final word before we go on to discuss specific questions and the reasons why they are asked in an interview. The other day in the class I asked how many of the students felt that I had a magic wand and I just had to wave it to turn them into the most sought after managers in the job market. While most students were not very amused by the question there were eight to ten of them surprisingly raised their hands and said, they did. The response was at once, scary and humbling. Though no teacher or a trainer has such a stick which she can wave to turn you into super managers that the industry will kill to acquire, you certainly have one. It is called decision. You can certainly take a decision to become someone that the industry is looking for by deciding two things. One you are willing to outwork every one else in the world and that you will be honest to the core. Bingo. As far as knowledge goes every one has to be a student all his life and make an everlasting commitment to learning. You have to tell yourself that you are good person but you have to become better. There always is scope for improvement. You have to be the best you can be. You were created unique and you have to be without equal. If you can prove to the interviewer that you have great work ethic and uncompromising integrity you will ace every interview you go to provided you have the skills required for the job. Apart from that it is a marketing thing. The secret to smart sell yourself is that you need to find out what the company wants in an employee and show them that you have in you what they are looking for. Can you match your abilities with the requirements of the job? If you can, the job is yours.
So part of the process of your search for a suitable job is to thoroughly research what the employer wants. You must spend some time finding out what the employer is looking for. If you are applying for a job in response to an interview read the advertisement closely and figure out the employer’s needs. Then go ahead and provide them what they need. If your college has a placement cell who has invited a company for recruiting candidates for certain position, talk to the people manning the cell and find out everything you can about the company and the industry it functions in. Discuss the profile of the job on offer with the people in the Placement Cell. Make a check list of all the abilities and skills the job requires. Check out if you have the qualities and qualifications the company wants you to have. If you do not have some of the skills required, make a commitment to acquire the skills needed. If there have been any articles about the company that appeared in the press in the recent past read up the articles and be aware of the direction the company is moving in.
Ask yourself also a few questions like do you have the temperament to do the job you are going to be interviewed for? Is their any likelihood that you will be willing to the job without rumination if such a situation were to arise at some time in the future? This is as tough a question to answer as it is important. The answer to the question will determine how much fun you are going to have doing the job and in your life. If you were to answer the question in the affirmative you have found a job which will never be a boring because you love doing it. The secret to happiness in life is either finding what you love doing and doing it for remuneration or without it; or begin to love what you are doing. At this stage in your life when you are checking things out it is not a bad idea to go ahead and try a few things and then figure out what you like doing and what you don’t. Take a few risks. There is no bigger tragedy in life than to be stuck all your life in a rut for a little bit of extra money. No one ever regrets having spent less time in the office or at the place of work because most people are in the wrong job. The time to think what job is good for you and what job you will absolutely love doing is now before you commit your self. For most people it is too late the moment they get their first job because they never have the opportunity or the guts to change direction later.
So part of the process of your search for a suitable job is to thoroughly research what the employer wants. You must spend some time finding out what the employer is looking for. If you are applying for a job in response to an interview read the advertisement closely and figure out the employer’s needs. Then go ahead and provide them what they need. If your college has a placement cell who has invited a company for recruiting candidates for certain position, talk to the people manning the cell and find out everything you can about the company and the industry it functions in. Discuss the profile of the job on offer with the people in the Placement Cell. Make a check list of all the abilities and skills the job requires. Check out if you have the qualities and qualifications the company wants you to have. If you do not have some of the skills required, make a commitment to acquire the skills needed. If there have been any articles about the company that appeared in the press in the recent past read up the articles and be aware of the direction the company is moving in.
Ask yourself also a few questions like do you have the temperament to do the job you are going to be interviewed for? Is their any likelihood that you will be willing to the job without rumination if such a situation were to arise at some time in the future? This is as tough a question to answer as it is important. The answer to the question will determine how much fun you are going to have doing the job and in your life. If you were to answer the question in the affirmative you have found a job which will never be a boring because you love doing it. The secret to happiness in life is either finding what you love doing and doing it for remuneration or without it; or begin to love what you are doing. At this stage in your life when you are checking things out it is not a bad idea to go ahead and try a few things and then figure out what you like doing and what you don’t. Take a few risks. There is no bigger tragedy in life than to be stuck all your life in a rut for a little bit of extra money. No one ever regrets having spent less time in the office or at the place of work because most people are in the wrong job. The time to think what job is good for you and what job you will absolutely love doing is now before you commit your self. For most people it is too late the moment they get their first job because they never have the opportunity or the guts to change direction later.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
You can’t sell from an empty wagon
So what you know is that you can’t prepare for a job interview overnight though it is also true that you should always be ready to face one. After all an interview is nothing but the interviewer and the interviewee getting to know each other and determining if the interviewee is suitable for the job she is being interviewed for. What you can do right away is remain positive and upbeat, have a good self image and do something every day that will take you closer to your goal. The goal is to become the best person you can be. Remember you are not really in competition with anyone else. Your motto is every day in every way I will become better and better. You have to sharpen your axe every day as Stephen Covey will say. Your axe here is your brain, your character and your personality.
Let us create a hypothetical situation. For a moment assume you are the CEO of your own Company and you are going for a holiday and plan to be travelling around the world. You will be gone for six months. You are looking for a Chief Manager who will look after your Company in your absence. What kind of a manager will you recruit? What qualities should your manager have? The other day when we discussed this in the class full of students of business management a huge list of desirable qualities was proffered by them. They would want their Chief Manager to have good communication and interpersonal skills, problem solving and conflict resolution skills. They expected their manager to be educated, experienced, intelligent, punctual, well dressed and well mannered. He should be a good team player be able to work under pressure and have great leadership qualities. He should have good knowledge about the world in general and the world of business in particular. The right manager should not only be high on IQ but also on EQ, should know how to compliment and criticize as also be flexible while still being firm. She should be able to manage her time and meet targets of the company. She should be responsive while being responsible. Everyone agreed that the qualities that would be the most important would be that the candidate be honest and have high integrity. No one wanted a manager who would be unethical, dishonest, unorganized, rude, crude and foul mouthed. An intelligent but dishonest manager will clean you out before you have enplaned let alone gone around the world.
Remember when you go for an interview the industry is also looking for all those qualities in you that you will look for if you had to appoint someone to run your business. Is it very tough to acquire all those traits of character and personality? No you are just a decision away from being the manager that everyone needs and desires to run businesses. Once you have taken that decision you have to hone the required skills and work on your self every day. Success is first an inside job. You have to work on your self and become absolutely irresistible and make success a habit. It is a life-long commitment. Everyday in every way you become better and better. Your journey in life is not about perfection but about progress. Being a good manager is the same thing as being a good human being only more efficient. Yet it is not about doing one thing a hundred percent better; it is about doing a hundred things one percent better regularly.
Landing a good job is all about selling your wonderful qualities. You cannot sell them if you don’t have them. You cannot sell from an empty wagon. Preparing for an interview is not just about learning how to wear a tie and dress up well or learn how to answer a question. It is not even about learning the right posture and body language, it is about deciding to be absolutely honest and having uncompromising integrity. After that it is about acquiring the right skills and knowledge and willingness to work hard. Your time starts now. The price of success is non negotiable.
Let us create a hypothetical situation. For a moment assume you are the CEO of your own Company and you are going for a holiday and plan to be travelling around the world. You will be gone for six months. You are looking for a Chief Manager who will look after your Company in your absence. What kind of a manager will you recruit? What qualities should your manager have? The other day when we discussed this in the class full of students of business management a huge list of desirable qualities was proffered by them. They would want their Chief Manager to have good communication and interpersonal skills, problem solving and conflict resolution skills. They expected their manager to be educated, experienced, intelligent, punctual, well dressed and well mannered. He should be a good team player be able to work under pressure and have great leadership qualities. He should have good knowledge about the world in general and the world of business in particular. The right manager should not only be high on IQ but also on EQ, should know how to compliment and criticize as also be flexible while still being firm. She should be able to manage her time and meet targets of the company. She should be responsive while being responsible. Everyone agreed that the qualities that would be the most important would be that the candidate be honest and have high integrity. No one wanted a manager who would be unethical, dishonest, unorganized, rude, crude and foul mouthed. An intelligent but dishonest manager will clean you out before you have enplaned let alone gone around the world.
Remember when you go for an interview the industry is also looking for all those qualities in you that you will look for if you had to appoint someone to run your business. Is it very tough to acquire all those traits of character and personality? No you are just a decision away from being the manager that everyone needs and desires to run businesses. Once you have taken that decision you have to hone the required skills and work on your self every day. Success is first an inside job. You have to work on your self and become absolutely irresistible and make success a habit. It is a life-long commitment. Everyday in every way you become better and better. Your journey in life is not about perfection but about progress. Being a good manager is the same thing as being a good human being only more efficient. Yet it is not about doing one thing a hundred percent better; it is about doing a hundred things one percent better regularly.
Landing a good job is all about selling your wonderful qualities. You cannot sell them if you don’t have them. You cannot sell from an empty wagon. Preparing for an interview is not just about learning how to wear a tie and dress up well or learn how to answer a question. It is not even about learning the right posture and body language, it is about deciding to be absolutely honest and having uncompromising integrity. After that it is about acquiring the right skills and knowledge and willingness to work hard. Your time starts now. The price of success is non negotiable.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Will you be part of the India growth story?
The bad news is that the world is going through the worst financial crisis ever.
The good news is it is not going to last for ever. The bad news is India is also affected the good news is it is not as badly affected as the USA, Europe or China.
If you will just visualize a little beyond the financial turmoil the real economy reveals itself as more robust than what the gloom and doom theorists will have us believe. Going by the long term trends and the way Indian economy is shaping up, India is all set to become the engine of the global economy especially now when the USA will be more than willing to share the burden of growth and development with other countries. India’s per capita income is expected to quadruple by 2020 despite the current lull. Now that is a good news. As India and China move to the center stage of world economy along with Brazil and Russia, it is time for all of us to look at our selves and think at the micro level. It is time to look at some hard facts, and answer some hard questions like...
What will my income be in 2020?
Will my income be four times what it is today and will it be enough to maintain my current standard of living assuming I am happy with the way I live today?
If not what will be my strategy to quadruple my income?
Even if my income quadruples in the next decade or so, will my family be able to live comfortably on that income or do I need to do better than quadrupling my income?
Do I have a strategy a better strategy than, ‘hope and pray’ in place to enhance my income?
Will I have a better lifestyle or will the high rate of inflation insure that my standard of living deteriorates?
As the India growth story unveils itself what will be my role in it? Will I just eke out a living or will I make a life?
Will i have a good life or will I have a great life Do I even know the difference?
According to very conservative projections there will be more than 100 million people with an annual income of over Rs.630,000 or $15,000. On a more micro and personal level two questions come to mind.
First of all, will you be one of them?
And second of all, will a mere Rs.50,000 ($1250) a month be enough to live comfortably in 2020?
The first question is easy to answer, you probably will be making that much or maybe even double that ... The second is a bit tough and sends a shiver down the spine. What kind of life will you have earning just Rs.50,000 in 2020, when that is the kind of money you need today to live just about comfortably. The words that come to my mind are miserable, sad, tough, dreary, and forlorn...Let’s not even go down that road
So, our aim should be earning at least $30,000 i.e. Rs.126,00,00 or at least
Rs.100,000 per month and not just Rs.50,000 per month. As the great Indian juggernaut economy shifts into the next gear, lot of people will be caught napping and be marginalized. That is the bad news.
The good news is, you could wake up to your financial needs and reality, and take effective steps to not only survive but thrive in the next decade.
So what can we do?
The number one thing to do is take stock of where you are today and then decide where you want to be in the next five years. Assuming, you are unemployed and earn nothing, or even if you are earning Rs.15,000 a month today, what are your chances of making Rs.100,000 doing what you are doing in the next five years. If you are 100% sure - and you need to be 100% sure or risk being marginalized - you could continue doing what you are doing. If you are not sure or you have doubts, you need to change direction because only by changing direction can you change you destination and your destiny.
If there is a gap between where you are and where you want to be, you need to set a goal, make a plan and take effective steps to bridge the gap.
You need to select the right vehicle to achieve your goal.
You need to choose the right people to associate with and form a winning team.
You might have to learn new skills to cope up with the changing environment.
You will need to work smart.
To conclude, the growing Indian economy will create opportunities for people who keep themselves abreast with the changing scenario but will marginalize many talented people if they do not change with the times. You need to be aware and benefit from the India growth story.
The good news is it is not going to last for ever. The bad news is India is also affected the good news is it is not as badly affected as the USA, Europe or China.
If you will just visualize a little beyond the financial turmoil the real economy reveals itself as more robust than what the gloom and doom theorists will have us believe. Going by the long term trends and the way Indian economy is shaping up, India is all set to become the engine of the global economy especially now when the USA will be more than willing to share the burden of growth and development with other countries. India’s per capita income is expected to quadruple by 2020 despite the current lull. Now that is a good news. As India and China move to the center stage of world economy along with Brazil and Russia, it is time for all of us to look at our selves and think at the micro level. It is time to look at some hard facts, and answer some hard questions like...
What will my income be in 2020?
Will my income be four times what it is today and will it be enough to maintain my current standard of living assuming I am happy with the way I live today?
If not what will be my strategy to quadruple my income?
Even if my income quadruples in the next decade or so, will my family be able to live comfortably on that income or do I need to do better than quadrupling my income?
Do I have a strategy a better strategy than, ‘hope and pray’ in place to enhance my income?
Will I have a better lifestyle or will the high rate of inflation insure that my standard of living deteriorates?
As the India growth story unveils itself what will be my role in it? Will I just eke out a living or will I make a life?
Will i have a good life or will I have a great life Do I even know the difference?
According to very conservative projections there will be more than 100 million people with an annual income of over Rs.630,000 or $15,000. On a more micro and personal level two questions come to mind.
First of all, will you be one of them?
And second of all, will a mere Rs.50,000 ($1250) a month be enough to live comfortably in 2020?
The first question is easy to answer, you probably will be making that much or maybe even double that ... The second is a bit tough and sends a shiver down the spine. What kind of life will you have earning just Rs.50,000 in 2020, when that is the kind of money you need today to live just about comfortably. The words that come to my mind are miserable, sad, tough, dreary, and forlorn...Let’s not even go down that road
So, our aim should be earning at least $30,000 i.e. Rs.126,00,00 or at least
Rs.100,000 per month and not just Rs.50,000 per month. As the great Indian juggernaut economy shifts into the next gear, lot of people will be caught napping and be marginalized. That is the bad news.
The good news is, you could wake up to your financial needs and reality, and take effective steps to not only survive but thrive in the next decade.
So what can we do?
The number one thing to do is take stock of where you are today and then decide where you want to be in the next five years. Assuming, you are unemployed and earn nothing, or even if you are earning Rs.15,000 a month today, what are your chances of making Rs.100,000 doing what you are doing in the next five years. If you are 100% sure - and you need to be 100% sure or risk being marginalized - you could continue doing what you are doing. If you are not sure or you have doubts, you need to change direction because only by changing direction can you change you destination and your destiny.
If there is a gap between where you are and where you want to be, you need to set a goal, make a plan and take effective steps to bridge the gap.
You need to select the right vehicle to achieve your goal.
You need to choose the right people to associate with and form a winning team.
You might have to learn new skills to cope up with the changing environment.
You will need to work smart.
To conclude, the growing Indian economy will create opportunities for people who keep themselves abreast with the changing scenario but will marginalize many talented people if they do not change with the times. You need to be aware and benefit from the India growth story.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Saturday Special
It started as a bit of a banter with a small bunch of students who surprisingly showed up in the last period of the week on a hot sultry Saturday afternoon in August.
"What are you doing here?" I asked the stunned scholars who were as stupefied by the question as I was stumped by their presence. They were perhaps expecting to hear a word of praise. After all they had proved to be the disciplined ones who opted to attend the class at that stifling hour when everyone else had either gone home or decided to start their weekend early and had either hit the bar or gone for movies. My query was only half in jest; I was pretty serious.
Most students have the same perception about 'Soft Skills' classes in a Business School as the domain faculty - an unnecessary appendage. Soft skills faculty does precious little to allay the impression. Who wants to sit through another lecture on, ' how to make an effective presentation' or on, 'how to write a cover letter for your resume' anyway; that to at the fag end of a tiring six day week? My sympathies are actually with the students in this regard. I don't blame them too much if they want to travel to their home town to meet their parents or watch a good movie or even an ordinary one. 'Soft Skills' they reason is not even a credit course.
Not wanting to do anything from the syllabus in the absence of majority of the students, we decided that we will have a freewheeling discussion on whatever topic came up randomly. We actually had a very lively and enjoyable session. Surprisingly we had a bigger number of students who stayed back for the class the next week. Slowly our Saturday sessions became more and more rewarding and the class began to fill up till we had more students on Saturdays than on week days. We continued with discussing topics picked up randomly by students rather than anything from the syllabus. Everyone participated in the discussions and we had a lot of fun. I knew we had a good thing going when one day a student came to my cabin and said,
" Sir, I have to go home because it is my younger sister's birthday but I do not want to miss the Saturday Special."
The series of articles I am writing are a result of the wonderful time we had on these special Saturdays.
"What are you doing here?" I asked the stunned scholars who were as stupefied by the question as I was stumped by their presence. They were perhaps expecting to hear a word of praise. After all they had proved to be the disciplined ones who opted to attend the class at that stifling hour when everyone else had either gone home or decided to start their weekend early and had either hit the bar or gone for movies. My query was only half in jest; I was pretty serious.
Most students have the same perception about 'Soft Skills' classes in a Business School as the domain faculty - an unnecessary appendage. Soft skills faculty does precious little to allay the impression. Who wants to sit through another lecture on, ' how to make an effective presentation' or on, 'how to write a cover letter for your resume' anyway; that to at the fag end of a tiring six day week? My sympathies are actually with the students in this regard. I don't blame them too much if they want to travel to their home town to meet their parents or watch a good movie or even an ordinary one. 'Soft Skills' they reason is not even a credit course.
Not wanting to do anything from the syllabus in the absence of majority of the students, we decided that we will have a freewheeling discussion on whatever topic came up randomly. We actually had a very lively and enjoyable session. Surprisingly we had a bigger number of students who stayed back for the class the next week. Slowly our Saturday sessions became more and more rewarding and the class began to fill up till we had more students on Saturdays than on week days. We continued with discussing topics picked up randomly by students rather than anything from the syllabus. Everyone participated in the discussions and we had a lot of fun. I knew we had a good thing going when one day a student came to my cabin and said,
" Sir, I have to go home because it is my younger sister's birthday but I do not want to miss the Saturday Special."
The series of articles I am writing are a result of the wonderful time we had on these special Saturdays.
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