I am bored and I don't have any class for the next two days. My first attempt at attending 4 classes in a row was quite successful. I slept for about 10 minutes during the last class. Couldn't resist that. I suddenly realized that I hadn't written much about the professors and the courses I had done. Given the fact that I would definitely forget all of this when I walk out of this place, I might as well write something. And yeah, this would definitely help the class of 2008 in some way.
Financial Accounting in Decision Making - Mark Finn was our professor. If you are lucky, then you'll get him. Otherwise you will definitely regret doing this course with another professor. Section C was perhaps the most lucky section in the whole batch. In some course or the other, all other sections got one not-so-excellent prof, but we just got the best always. Finn would take you by surprise. You wouldn't realize that he is going so fast and very soon you'd be calculating deferred taxes, which even the CAs wouldn't have done in detail.
Managerial Economics or rather microeconomics taught by Amit Bubna and Rakesh Vohra. I wouldn't be surprised if you mistook Amit to be an MBA student. He'll just be like the guys you'll meet on campus. But yes, he'll expect you to understand a lot of stuff on your own. You'll realize some things after the mid-term and perhaps you'll start cursing and swearing. Rakesh was the best Term 1 Prof I would say. His lecture on game theory was amazing. He used same two OHP sheets for all the 5 classes. Again, his exam would drive you nuts. But then, economics is always like that. If anybody could understand it easily, then there wouldn't be any worry about competition and pricing.
Marketing Management or Marketing 101 as they popularly call it in the US was taught by Asim Ansari and Jagmohan Raju. I heard from a few people that Ansari wouldn't be here this term. Anyway, you wouldn't miss him much. He makes some good jokes on the students. And the first half of marketing isn't anything that you really wouldn't know. Raju is an excellent Prof. But he has high expectations from the students. He expects us to know KOTLER in and out. That's outrageous. Whenever he asks a question in class, he will put up a photo of a student and ask him/her to answer. And that's how you earn class participation. He will make you feel embarrassed about your decision to do an MBA. I frankly think that he should not be invited to teach the MBA students, but I don't think that ISB has an alternative. So, he'll be around to trouble you guys in Term 1 and 2. Unless you perform extremely well in marketing, you'll regret his presence for sure.
Statistical Methods for Decision Making taught by Bob Stine and Richard Waterman. Both profs are just amazing. They'll bring an extra dimension for statistics. Bob is is this highly energetic prof in class. He is extremely animated and his comments will keep you totally interested in the class. Waterman, with his awesome British accent would just throw some new stat tests into you. You probably wouldn't understand a word of it during the class. But you better read the stuff. Our exam was a multiple choice paper. So you either get it or you don't.
Happy reading and I'll be back with Term 2 in a day or two.
PS: Term 1 and 2 are the terms you have to study really really hard, especially at the ISB. So be prepared.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Term 8 starts tomorrow
I don't know in what state of mind I decided to take up 4 courses on a single day in Term 8. This term is supposedly the term where no student talks about classes, coursework and grades. They don't come to class. The whole batch makes sure that they use the "you can miss 2 classes per course" policy. And here I am, with 4 classes, 8 hours of class on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on the contrary, yippee hoo, no class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So my weekend starts on Wednesday evening. So, there is always a better side. I just have to keep waiting for Wednesday evening every week.
The last 5 days have been so tiring. I was at the Control Desk of the placement cell all day and helping out with the placement process. Mixed emotions were flowing through groups of people. Some of them were frustrated that the shortlists weren't justified. Some were unhappy about offers, well most of them were. Especially the kids from the IT Industry with 2-3 years of experience. They have this feeling that they are the nations next best managers. You must see the kind of expectations they have about their salaries. Its effin crazy and baseless. Finally they had to settle for something they weren't too happy about, but thats the reality. If they hadn't done that, they would be jobless.
All said and done, as of Friday, I think we had less than 2% of the batch that had not been placed. I haven't been to the placement office today. I am quite sure that the remaining would have got placed in the last two days. Its just amazing to see that 400+ students have been placed in the last 5 days. I truly appreciate the efforts of some of my friends in the current batch. They stayed around. They tracked all the people who were getting dinged and tried to push their resumes to other recruiters. This way, they ensured that everyone had one offer atleast.
Anecdotes to make you smile before I write something else. During one of the interviews, the recruiter gives the offer letter and asks the candidate to write a salary figure on her own. She writes 15 Lacs. Then he says - "Our minimum offer is 20 lacs and I hope you will write a figure above that". Same recruiter makes another offer of 20 to another person. The candidate is not sure whether to sign or not. Within few minutes the offer goes up to 25. The candidate is shocked. He leaves the room asking for a break. Comes back within 5 minutes and still says that he is undecided. Recruiter immediately says 30. Candidate is literally dumbstruck and runs out frantically.
A new BPO that is setting up operations in the north recruits for its whole team in ISB starting from the directors in the top management. One guy got the job for one of the director roles bang on day one. And on day 5, he declined the offer as he wasn't too sure whether he was making the right decision. The company's CEO calls up the placement director in ISB in the next hour and immediately asks whether he can get a replacement director as he cannot start the company without these guys. Howzaaat?
During the last two days of placements, there were more recruiters on campus than the number of students. We were literally spamming the whole batch asking students to participate in the placement process. People had just taken off to Goa and other places. Yesterday, we had 10 students who were interviewing with all the firms on campus. So the recruiters were actually waiting for students to come and meet them. I know its disheartening and not a good practice to do this, but what can we do. Maybe this is a cue for the next year students to think about.
How to keep the last day recruiters happy? This might be one of the challenges that you can try to address.
The last 5 days have been so tiring. I was at the Control Desk of the placement cell all day and helping out with the placement process. Mixed emotions were flowing through groups of people. Some of them were frustrated that the shortlists weren't justified. Some were unhappy about offers, well most of them were. Especially the kids from the IT Industry with 2-3 years of experience. They have this feeling that they are the nations next best managers. You must see the kind of expectations they have about their salaries. Its effin crazy and baseless. Finally they had to settle for something they weren't too happy about, but thats the reality. If they hadn't done that, they would be jobless.
All said and done, as of Friday, I think we had less than 2% of the batch that had not been placed. I haven't been to the placement office today. I am quite sure that the remaining would have got placed in the last two days. Its just amazing to see that 400+ students have been placed in the last 5 days. I truly appreciate the efforts of some of my friends in the current batch. They stayed around. They tracked all the people who were getting dinged and tried to push their resumes to other recruiters. This way, they ensured that everyone had one offer atleast.
Anecdotes to make you smile before I write something else. During one of the interviews, the recruiter gives the offer letter and asks the candidate to write a salary figure on her own. She writes 15 Lacs. Then he says - "Our minimum offer is 20 lacs and I hope you will write a figure above that". Same recruiter makes another offer of 20 to another person. The candidate is not sure whether to sign or not. Within few minutes the offer goes up to 25. The candidate is shocked. He leaves the room asking for a break. Comes back within 5 minutes and still says that he is undecided. Recruiter immediately says 30. Candidate is literally dumbstruck and runs out frantically.
A new BPO that is setting up operations in the north recruits for its whole team in ISB starting from the directors in the top management. One guy got the job for one of the director roles bang on day one. And on day 5, he declined the offer as he wasn't too sure whether he was making the right decision. The company's CEO calls up the placement director in ISB in the next hour and immediately asks whether he can get a replacement director as he cannot start the company without these guys. Howzaaat?
During the last two days of placements, there were more recruiters on campus than the number of students. We were literally spamming the whole batch asking students to participate in the placement process. People had just taken off to Goa and other places. Yesterday, we had 10 students who were interviewing with all the firms on campus. So the recruiters were actually waiting for students to come and meet them. I know its disheartening and not a good practice to do this, but what can we do. Maybe this is a cue for the next year students to think about.
How to keep the last day recruiters happy? This might be one of the challenges that you can try to address.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Those funny moments
FYI, All salary numbers quoted in the post below are in the Indian Metric System of Lacs Per Annum.
Today was quite an exciting day. For the first time I decided to sit in the Control Room and figure out what people were up to. For once, I also got to witness that under chaos, even B-School grads can be funny and sloppy managers. Anyway, thats one part of the story. Coming to some of the people who were still in the placement process. One incident, as heard from another trusted friend. The company offers 19 and the guy asks for 30. There was no scope for negotiation. The offer never happened. The guy is one of the best people in the batch. He lost out because he had insane expectations.
And there were few others who used their other offer to bargain and get more from another firm. This was total bad behavior as the companies themselves did not like students doing this. They clearly mentioned to the students that they were not here to match another firm but to match the skills to their organization. And these were all the fledgling MBAs with less than 3 years experience. All they had evaluated was what they could earn in the next month and nothing about their future in the organization. Their aim is to get as much as possible and then quit in the next 6 months for some more. I hope none of these mindless people join with me at work. I wouldn't want to listen to them at all.
Today being the fourth day of placements was a key determinant for a number of people who still did not have a single offer. Some of them got really offended by the way the single offer owners were acting. Frankly, you don't have two horns just because you graduated from the ISB. You still don't have the experience. And the companies here value your experience and decide to pay you. You can't expect a run of the mill IT company to double or triple your salary. If you wanted that, then you should have been smart enough to get one of those finance or consulting jobs.
And the other norm that is being followed on campus is calling up people and asking them to attend interviews. Off late, people have decided by themselves not to appear for the interviews for which they have been shortlisted. The reason might be because they have opted to be out of the placement process or they have one offer and want to pick the next one carefully. But they are not polite enough to get their asses to the venue to let the people know that they will not attend the interview. They expect the student coordinators to call them to find out his/her royal highness' preference. I was asked to call a few people today. After a few phone calls, one guy asks me on the phone - "what is the current salary that's being offered?". Full of frustration, I tell him a number that I remember from nowhere and then he says "Oh thats low. I cant come". Then I decided to stop calling any of them. If required, they'd come by their own. The jobs needn't wait for such people.
Actually, some people here are just so greedy and foolish. They don't know that they are not worth the money they are demanding from these firms. They also don't understand that they are jeopardizing a number of people who haven't had a single offer as yet. And they still do it. Till now, I was blaming the system for a number of reasons. But there are so many others (so called MBAs) who are also at fault. Only god can take their case.
Today was quite an exciting day. For the first time I decided to sit in the Control Room and figure out what people were up to. For once, I also got to witness that under chaos, even B-School grads can be funny and sloppy managers. Anyway, thats one part of the story. Coming to some of the people who were still in the placement process. One incident, as heard from another trusted friend. The company offers 19 and the guy asks for 30. There was no scope for negotiation. The offer never happened. The guy is one of the best people in the batch. He lost out because he had insane expectations.
And there were few others who used their other offer to bargain and get more from another firm. This was total bad behavior as the companies themselves did not like students doing this. They clearly mentioned to the students that they were not here to match another firm but to match the skills to their organization. And these were all the fledgling MBAs with less than 3 years experience. All they had evaluated was what they could earn in the next month and nothing about their future in the organization. Their aim is to get as much as possible and then quit in the next 6 months for some more. I hope none of these mindless people join with me at work. I wouldn't want to listen to them at all.
Today being the fourth day of placements was a key determinant for a number of people who still did not have a single offer. Some of them got really offended by the way the single offer owners were acting. Frankly, you don't have two horns just because you graduated from the ISB. You still don't have the experience. And the companies here value your experience and decide to pay you. You can't expect a run of the mill IT company to double or triple your salary. If you wanted that, then you should have been smart enough to get one of those finance or consulting jobs.
And the other norm that is being followed on campus is calling up people and asking them to attend interviews. Off late, people have decided by themselves not to appear for the interviews for which they have been shortlisted. The reason might be because they have opted to be out of the placement process or they have one offer and want to pick the next one carefully. But they are not polite enough to get their asses to the venue to let the people know that they will not attend the interview. They expect the student coordinators to call them to find out his/her royal highness' preference. I was asked to call a few people today. After a few phone calls, one guy asks me on the phone - "what is the current salary that's being offered?". Full of frustration, I tell him a number that I remember from nowhere and then he says "Oh thats low. I cant come". Then I decided to stop calling any of them. If required, they'd come by their own. The jobs needn't wait for such people.
Actually, some people here are just so greedy and foolish. They don't know that they are not worth the money they are demanding from these firms. They also don't understand that they are jeopardizing a number of people who haven't had a single offer as yet. And they still do it. Till now, I was blaming the system for a number of reasons. But there are so many others (so called MBAs) who are also at fault. Only god can take their case.
Monday, February 19, 2007
One Down and Thanks
The first two days of placements were crazy. I wasn't in a mood to write about what I was going through. I hope you can imagine how tough it would have been for a lot of us here. Even today, when I write this, I am not sure how many offers have been made or how many have accepted offers, but the situation today is a lot better than what it was when the day began yesterday morning. As of today, I believe that almost 250-300 offers have been made. And thats really wonderful considering the fact that this is just the end of day 3 and we have a month to go.
My first day was horrible. My first interviews was with a major bank for an OPS job. After my interview, the guy said that I was over-qualified. I was horrified. I asked him why I was shortlisted and he didn't give me a great answer. Till the end of the day, they did not respond back to any of us who had interviewed that day with them. So, I gave up. They came back today and asked me to interview again and I refused with due respect.
Then another Hyderabad located product company called me. They needed truly technical people and I was trying to tell them that this was a b-school and not a science school. They did not believe me and started asking me questions on systems and architecture. I was totally taken aback. I would have been happy if they had given me an option of not taking an interview with them at all. But they forced me to do a round one with them and then dinged me. I knew that was going to happen. And for all this, they made me wait for more than 3 hours. Sincerely pathetic.
The third one was one of the largest conglomerates in India. I wonder why they got a day one slot here. They should be on day 3 or maybe even day 10. They'd advertised for almost 10 jobs and shortlisted only 20 people. and finally, they made only 5 offers. not even one per listing. in their IT division, they had like 4 jobs and they made only one offer. my interview with them lasted for 15 minutes. After questioning me for a while, the guy asks - "so, you are a statistician by profession?". I was amazed. It was just 5 minutes back, the same guy had asked me about my engineering degree. He didn't even know whom he was interviewing. He had my resume pinned up with someone else's expression of interest! Thats the height of comedy of errors during the placement season.
With all that fun happening, I entered day two. I had two interviews scheduled - both IT. I am not going to explain what happened. There wasn't much of a drama here. Things just got terribly delayed and I got an offer with an IT firm in Chennai. Just what I wanted - the company, location and the package. I got it all. Today, I pulled out of three interviews I had. I just have one more to wait for, which would take a few days.
Coming to the thanks bit - I sincerely felt that I haven't thanked all of you who have been reading my blog since whenever. So this is to all my dear friends living in - India, Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam, UAE, The entire EU, Britain, USA, Chile, Argentina, Canada and the rest of the world. Thank you guys for being a great support. The journey till today in this place has been just great. Another month and half to go by and I hope to write more.
I still have more to write about what the others have been upto. There have been some funny incidents and some angry ones too. Well, ones that made me angry I meant. We'll talk about those people maybe tomorrow.
My first day was horrible. My first interviews was with a major bank for an OPS job. After my interview, the guy said that I was over-qualified. I was horrified. I asked him why I was shortlisted and he didn't give me a great answer. Till the end of the day, they did not respond back to any of us who had interviewed that day with them. So, I gave up. They came back today and asked me to interview again and I refused with due respect.
Then another Hyderabad located product company called me. They needed truly technical people and I was trying to tell them that this was a b-school and not a science school. They did not believe me and started asking me questions on systems and architecture. I was totally taken aback. I would have been happy if they had given me an option of not taking an interview with them at all. But they forced me to do a round one with them and then dinged me. I knew that was going to happen. And for all this, they made me wait for more than 3 hours. Sincerely pathetic.
The third one was one of the largest conglomerates in India. I wonder why they got a day one slot here. They should be on day 3 or maybe even day 10. They'd advertised for almost 10 jobs and shortlisted only 20 people. and finally, they made only 5 offers. not even one per listing. in their IT division, they had like 4 jobs and they made only one offer. my interview with them lasted for 15 minutes. After questioning me for a while, the guy asks - "so, you are a statistician by profession?". I was amazed. It was just 5 minutes back, the same guy had asked me about my engineering degree. He didn't even know whom he was interviewing. He had my resume pinned up with someone else's expression of interest! Thats the height of comedy of errors during the placement season.
With all that fun happening, I entered day two. I had two interviews scheduled - both IT. I am not going to explain what happened. There wasn't much of a drama here. Things just got terribly delayed and I got an offer with an IT firm in Chennai. Just what I wanted - the company, location and the package. I got it all. Today, I pulled out of three interviews I had. I just have one more to wait for, which would take a few days.
Coming to the thanks bit - I sincerely felt that I haven't thanked all of you who have been reading my blog since whenever. So this is to all my dear friends living in - India, Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam, UAE, The entire EU, Britain, USA, Chile, Argentina, Canada and the rest of the world. Thank you guys for being a great support. The journey till today in this place has been just great. Another month and half to go by and I hope to write more.
I still have more to write about what the others have been upto. There have been some funny incidents and some angry ones too. Well, ones that made me angry I meant. We'll talk about those people maybe tomorrow.
Friday, February 16, 2007
The heat is on
Reporting live from Day Zero happenings here at the ISB. Its been a great day I guess. I did not have any interviews. The big names from the consulting world have already setup their camp here. There's people running in suits every nook and corner of the academic center. Shortlists for the way forward are out once in few hours. Its just crazy. Some of them have had more than three rounds of interviews and I hear that some of them have got offers verbally. Although official declarations will be made tomorrow evening.
Some of the big private Indian banks are here too. And I like this new dictionary feature in blogger. its cool. anyway, apart from case interviews and HR interviews for consulting firms, GDs have also started. Interviews are expected to run till pretty later today. Some junta have received their shortlist in the afternoon and interviews have been scheduled in the evening.
The heat is really on! I haven't had my interviews, yet I am having the "butterflies in the stomach" feeling. I can imagine how it would be for the people who have given more than three interviews today for three different firms. there are no words to write about their state of mind.
I don't think I can write anything more. There isn't enough juice to write about anything. But for the first time it seems like the number of consulting offers are being aimed at expanding the pie. I hope some of you can understand what it means. I can't really explain the whole damn thing. Its not complicated but at the same time it cannot be publicized.
Go for it - Class of 2007. Let's Rock!!!
Some of the big private Indian banks are here too. And I like this new dictionary feature in blogger. its cool. anyway, apart from case interviews and HR interviews for consulting firms, GDs have also started. Interviews are expected to run till pretty later today. Some junta have received their shortlist in the afternoon and interviews have been scheduled in the evening.
The heat is really on! I haven't had my interviews, yet I am having the "butterflies in the stomach" feeling. I can imagine how it would be for the people who have given more than three interviews today for three different firms. there are no words to write about their state of mind.
I don't think I can write anything more. There isn't enough juice to write about anything. But for the first time it seems like the number of consulting offers are being aimed at expanding the pie. I hope some of you can understand what it means. I can't really explain the whole damn thing. Its not complicated but at the same time it cannot be publicized.
Go for it - Class of 2007. Let's Rock!!!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Southern India and more
It was just about a week back that I was reading a few articles in the Economic Times about South India. It was a complete feature about the four Southern States that are actually rocking the shit out of the North - in terms of growth, employment, contribution to GDP - you name it and the South on a totally different graph compared to the North. This was the new Great Indian Divide.
Madras is the number one destination for healthcare and Tamil Nadu has the largest number of engineers graduating every year.
Madras has the largest number of bloggers. Its called the Mecca of Indian Bloggers.
Madras has the highest number of internet users out of all the major cities in South India.
And yeah, there are bits of information about Bangalore and Hyderabad as well. most of the information was definitely an eye-opener. South India contributes to 25% of the country's national domestic product. South India alone has a GDP ranking of 29 on the global rankings ahead of Ireland, Iran and Finland.
Coming back to Campus Chronicles, nothing funny has happened as yet. The shortlists have started flowing in. Looking at the way things are going, I am confident that by day one, atleast 300 people will have shortlists for some company or the other. and the rest will definitely get it as the next day comes. so you know, its not that far away. the companies are pretty smart too - especially the milk-round recruiters. they have come up with postings that have stunned everyone. each of these companies have created atleast 20 jobs with the weirdest of names. one such job posting that is worth mentioning is opportunity manager and business explosion team - know what that really means only to the companies, but it definitely means something different to the onlooker.
The next thing you will hear if you are on campus is how people will start talking about the changing interest rates and inflation and other related things. they will try and bring a connection of all these macroeconomic factors to anything and everything happenign around them.
by the way, this is something i thought i must share with all of you - we got a statistic on campus about the kind of savings all the 418 students have made for their previous companies in the last so many years of their work experience. the total amount if added to the GDP of the country would bring the GDP up by about half a percent!!!
i think they always say - say it with Poetry. So, the first time I decided to write one and the rhymes rolled, they rolled around my head and my mind started spinning for a while. it wasnt love, it was the headache. the outcome - "i love you. i love your shoe. i like your hat. have you got a cat?" you know what that could have ended up in for me. it was time to find love again.
anyway, its all in the game. i found this rather offensive poem on the web today. its hilarious, atleast i think that way.
If I were a dog, And you were a flower,
I'd lift up my leg, And give you a shower.
Madras is the number one destination for healthcare and Tamil Nadu has the largest number of engineers graduating every year.
Madras has the largest number of bloggers. Its called the Mecca of Indian Bloggers.
Madras has the highest number of internet users out of all the major cities in South India.
And yeah, there are bits of information about Bangalore and Hyderabad as well. most of the information was definitely an eye-opener. South India contributes to 25% of the country's national domestic product. South India alone has a GDP ranking of 29 on the global rankings ahead of Ireland, Iran and Finland.
Coming back to Campus Chronicles, nothing funny has happened as yet. The shortlists have started flowing in. Looking at the way things are going, I am confident that by day one, atleast 300 people will have shortlists for some company or the other. and the rest will definitely get it as the next day comes. so you know, its not that far away. the companies are pretty smart too - especially the milk-round recruiters. they have come up with postings that have stunned everyone. each of these companies have created atleast 20 jobs with the weirdest of names. one such job posting that is worth mentioning is opportunity manager and business explosion team - know what that really means only to the companies, but it definitely means something different to the onlooker.
The next thing you will hear if you are on campus is how people will start talking about the changing interest rates and inflation and other related things. they will try and bring a connection of all these macroeconomic factors to anything and everything happenign around them.
by the way, this is something i thought i must share with all of you - we got a statistic on campus about the kind of savings all the 418 students have made for their previous companies in the last so many years of their work experience. the total amount if added to the GDP of the country would bring the GDP up by about half a percent!!!
i think they always say - say it with Poetry. So, the first time I decided to write one and the rhymes rolled, they rolled around my head and my mind started spinning for a while. it wasnt love, it was the headache. the outcome - "i love you. i love your shoe. i like your hat. have you got a cat?" you know what that could have ended up in for me. it was time to find love again.
anyway, its all in the game. i found this rather offensive poem on the web today. its hilarious, atleast i think that way.
If I were a dog, And you were a flower,
I'd lift up my leg, And give you a shower.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Something for the advertising folks
I found this picture in a Marketing website based out of the Netherlands and it was referred to by someone whose blog I often visit. She is based out of London. Anyway, forget the connections. Here it is.
This new concept is called Snowvertising. I dont know who coined this term. But its damn creative.
This new concept is called Snowvertising. I dont know who coined this term. But its damn creative.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Ranomoto Gulsar
Well, thats the level to which people can get creative. Ranatunga Motors in Sri Lanka has launched a new bike. Its not their own design, but a Chinese bike manufacturer has helped them launch it in Lanka. The Chinese manufacturer's website can be accessed at www.chinamotorcycleparts.com - I guess, I neednt tell you what this bike resembles. Anyway, to help some of you, here is a picture.
So thats the latest news apart from the regular nonsense from Campus. The number of companies registered for placement has had a steep rise this year. Almost 30% I would say, which is really good for the incoming batch. We have seriously new firms, that havent placed their foot on other campuses and are offering senior roles for the people here. And this brings me to the debate that is happening in the isb-pgp groups where people questioned the importance of experience. I think we have a straight answer here. If you look at the companies!! They are badly in need of people in the middle and senior management roles. And these companies are not just the multinationals. These are 500 plus crore family owned groups and partnerships that are in dire need of experienced hands to make their business competitive. They know that they can demand such talent only from a niche school like the ISB and thats why they are here. Obviously, the external people will not know all whats happening on campus. But let me tell you, the companies that have come here are offering roles that are tailor made for people with experience. These are not the jobs that they can offer on their website and ask people to apply. In a way, I am happy that the companies are also recognizing the need for people with experience. This also puts some pressure on the school to get people who can fit such roles. Sooner, we'll find that minimum 4 years experience cap for applicants.
I look around and I find people hooked on to the jobs website. Then some of them are busy reading RSS Feeds from BitPipe, SlashDot, InvestorNews and what not. The knowledge building drive is in the cruise mode now. In a few days, it will get into top gear. Although, its not in my interest to get to know all of this because I just need that IT Job, I am trying to get some so called Gyaan (Knowledge). Now, this perspective building will also take a new turn as the budget is coming up. So interviewers would be keen to know your views about personal and corporate taxes, deficit, excise duties, imports of foodgrain, and a host of other things. For people who havent laid their hands on today's Economic Times - Nooyi's interview is awesome. It talks about her journey in PepsiCo. Lots of business knowledge about corporate restructuring, financial planning etc. Although she speaks at 30000 feet, it gives us a feel of how companies work when they do a rejig.
And for some humor....
With a pile of 300 résumés on his desk and a need to pick someone quickly, my boss told me to make calls on the bottom 50 and toss the rest.
"Throw away 250 résumés?" I asked, shocked.
"What if the best candidates are in there?"
"You have a point," he said. "But then again, I don't need people with bad luck here."
So thats the latest news apart from the regular nonsense from Campus. The number of companies registered for placement has had a steep rise this year. Almost 30% I would say, which is really good for the incoming batch. We have seriously new firms, that havent placed their foot on other campuses and are offering senior roles for the people here. And this brings me to the debate that is happening in the isb-pgp groups where people questioned the importance of experience. I think we have a straight answer here. If you look at the companies!! They are badly in need of people in the middle and senior management roles. And these companies are not just the multinationals. These are 500 plus crore family owned groups and partnerships that are in dire need of experienced hands to make their business competitive. They know that they can demand such talent only from a niche school like the ISB and thats why they are here. Obviously, the external people will not know all whats happening on campus. But let me tell you, the companies that have come here are offering roles that are tailor made for people with experience. These are not the jobs that they can offer on their website and ask people to apply. In a way, I am happy that the companies are also recognizing the need for people with experience. This also puts some pressure on the school to get people who can fit such roles. Sooner, we'll find that minimum 4 years experience cap for applicants.
I look around and I find people hooked on to the jobs website. Then some of them are busy reading RSS Feeds from BitPipe, SlashDot, InvestorNews and what not. The knowledge building drive is in the cruise mode now. In a few days, it will get into top gear. Although, its not in my interest to get to know all of this because I just need that IT Job, I am trying to get some so called Gyaan (Knowledge). Now, this perspective building will also take a new turn as the budget is coming up. So interviewers would be keen to know your views about personal and corporate taxes, deficit, excise duties, imports of foodgrain, and a host of other things. For people who havent laid their hands on today's Economic Times - Nooyi's interview is awesome. It talks about her journey in PepsiCo. Lots of business knowledge about corporate restructuring, financial planning etc. Although she speaks at 30000 feet, it gives us a feel of how companies work when they do a rejig.
And for some humor....
With a pile of 300 résumés on his desk and a need to pick someone quickly, my boss told me to make calls on the bottom 50 and toss the rest.
"Throw away 250 résumés?" I asked, shocked.
"What if the best candidates are in there?"
"You have a point," he said. "But then again, I don't need people with bad luck here."
Sunday, February 04, 2007
www.tolmolbol.com
Today's post is going to talk about this cool website that my friends have launched. Its called tolmolbol. You can click on that to see the website.
So, before we go into what the website is all about - lets talk about the people. My batchmates from BITS Pilani who had this entrepreneurial urge to do it really big embarked on this great journey of running a software services firm. They quit their jobs in Morgan Stanley and the biggest of names in the IT Sector and made a bold start. They did extremely well for themselves. In fact, I hadnt met them for more than 4 years and I had the opportunity to meet them yesterday. I was totally amazed. I was telling them that I wouldnt have done this. You can read more about the people on the ABOUT page of the website.
Anyway, the new venture called tolmolbol.com is based on the WEB 2.0 concept. This website is getting to be what every other information exchange wants to be in the next stage of their business. In the business of providing content to the visitors, it has become imperative that the Googles and the Yahoos in the various locations they are present, to focus on the needs of specific segments of people. In a study that we made on campus about Google and the future of the search industry, we found out from a lot of secondary data that the next step is to get more local. Something like the yellow pages. People now have graduated to a level where they are looking for just the right information. And this is not about some news item or some research report. Its more about information within a city for movies, restaurants, theatre, transport etc. TolMolBol is trying to exactly achieve that purpose.
I have registered under their Hyderabad users community. There are so many other cities under which one can register. Not just the metros and the next best ones. There are so many tier-2 and tier-3 cities on the site. The primary motive is to get net savvy people from all these cities to contribute and make information about their city available to other visitors. The concept of GLOCAL kicks in here. Even though this might sound a bit cliched and common to a lot of people in the West, it plays a key role in a country like India where there is a lack of quality information. And this site is trying to achieve that purpose by giving the members the choice to comment and make stuff about their city popular.
And yesterday, my friends who have also conceptualised the website walked me through certain aspects of the site that I hadnt spent time on. The restaurant search was one. So when you type "coffee" in the search tab and then "banjara hills" in the location tab, it shows you the list of all 24 Hr Coffee shops in that area. that was actually awesome. i mean for people like us in ISB who keep fishing for restaurants and other places ti spend the weekends, this is actually cool. Further more, you can SMS the details of that particular place or whatever new item that was to your mobile phone. So you neednt necessarily go back and visit the website to know the address of the place or whatever. You get the details on your phone and you can just zip off to that place.
And again, any community based portal work only because of the members within the community. so, we go back to Metcalfe's Law that states - if there are n people in the network, and the the value of the network for every individual is proportional to the number of other users, then the total value of the network is proportional to N-Square minus N. Well, this is MBA funda, but basically this states that the power of the network is what helps the network run. Very simply said, if I were the only person who bought a cell-phone, then what use do i get from it? I maximize my utility only when others buy it. Thats the bottomline.
In conclusion - please visit this website and contribute to your community.
So, before we go into what the website is all about - lets talk about the people. My batchmates from BITS Pilani who had this entrepreneurial urge to do it really big embarked on this great journey of running a software services firm. They quit their jobs in Morgan Stanley and the biggest of names in the IT Sector and made a bold start. They did extremely well for themselves. In fact, I hadnt met them for more than 4 years and I had the opportunity to meet them yesterday. I was totally amazed. I was telling them that I wouldnt have done this. You can read more about the people on the ABOUT page of the website.
Anyway, the new venture called tolmolbol.com is based on the WEB 2.0 concept. This website is getting to be what every other information exchange wants to be in the next stage of their business. In the business of providing content to the visitors, it has become imperative that the Googles and the Yahoos in the various locations they are present, to focus on the needs of specific segments of people. In a study that we made on campus about Google and the future of the search industry, we found out from a lot of secondary data that the next step is to get more local. Something like the yellow pages. People now have graduated to a level where they are looking for just the right information. And this is not about some news item or some research report. Its more about information within a city for movies, restaurants, theatre, transport etc. TolMolBol is trying to exactly achieve that purpose.
I have registered under their Hyderabad users community. There are so many other cities under which one can register. Not just the metros and the next best ones. There are so many tier-2 and tier-3 cities on the site. The primary motive is to get net savvy people from all these cities to contribute and make information about their city available to other visitors. The concept of GLOCAL kicks in here. Even though this might sound a bit cliched and common to a lot of people in the West, it plays a key role in a country like India where there is a lack of quality information. And this site is trying to achieve that purpose by giving the members the choice to comment and make stuff about their city popular.
And yesterday, my friends who have also conceptualised the website walked me through certain aspects of the site that I hadnt spent time on. The restaurant search was one. So when you type "coffee" in the search tab and then "banjara hills" in the location tab, it shows you the list of all 24 Hr Coffee shops in that area. that was actually awesome. i mean for people like us in ISB who keep fishing for restaurants and other places ti spend the weekends, this is actually cool. Further more, you can SMS the details of that particular place or whatever new item that was to your mobile phone. So you neednt necessarily go back and visit the website to know the address of the place or whatever. You get the details on your phone and you can just zip off to that place.
And again, any community based portal work only because of the members within the community. so, we go back to Metcalfe's Law that states - if there are n people in the network, and the the value of the network for every individual is proportional to the number of other users, then the total value of the network is proportional to N-Square minus N. Well, this is MBA funda, but basically this states that the power of the network is what helps the network run. Very simply said, if I were the only person who bought a cell-phone, then what use do i get from it? I maximize my utility only when others buy it. Thats the bottomline.
In conclusion - please visit this website and contribute to your community.
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