Showing posts with label MBA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MBA. Show all posts
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Friday, February 06, 2009
Unending times
It seems it has been a zillion years that I am searching for a job. Back, when I was working in Pune, I was growing increasingly dissatified with myself and had started seeking something more meaningful in life than just coding day and night. I don't remember the date, but the year may have been early 2006.
Simultaneously, I had also started studying to pursue MBA, either India or abroad. US was completely out of question. Yet, something struck..something at the right time and right place..however cliched it may sound.. but I did come to US to pursue MBA. I was living my, what I call, a short term dream. I was given scholarship, got a tuition waiver, yet it was too costly. Finding a job was essential to continue. Having invested most of the money in a house back home, it was the only way to continue living the dream.
When I drove from the airport to the room where I was hosted, on Jul 23rd 07, the need for the on-campus job had overcome any other feeling of amusement and happiness that one experiences on landing in a different, a very different country. The next 2.5 months, everyday, morning to evening, 8 to 5, I scouted every office, every floor in every building on the campus in summer battling tempereatures that more than often reached 45 degree celsius. The program had started and the effort required was overwhelming. When, the classes started, I also had to start looking for an internship. The studies, the assignments, adjustments to cultural differences, cooking, cleaning all took all 24 hrs. I had to find time to sleep for a couple of hours. It was a disaster, I felt.
After around 70 days, I finally managed to get an on-campus job. It was 20 hrs per week. It was impossible, I thought. I slept 3 hrs a day for the next three semesters. The addition to the everyday activities was the search for internship. Typically, an internship search is much difficult than a full-time search because of the few positions available. I lost all hope. I had an opportunity in India, a great opportunity but it was, what a MBA would call, a -ve NPV project.I got an internship on the last day. It was a nightmare till then and I had convinced myself of the courses that I would take in the summer. But I finally did complete the internship.
During the beginning of the last semester, the world had changed poles. Wall street had disappeared. Government was all over the economy. In the next two months, the intermeshed wheels of world economies had come to a stageering halt because of lack of oil (i.e. liquidity). It has been the same ever since. I stopped reading newspapers and news. It was the same news everyday. Job losses, write offs, Bush, Paulson, Bernanke, financial losses etc. I got tired of reading them. The econoy lost 600,000 jobs last month. The situation continues remaining grim. Finding a job in such a situation has made me insensitive in many ways. Initially, I was irritated because of the uncertainty that I faced. But, gradually I got used to it.
So, the job search still continues. Since 2006. First MBA, then on-campus job, then internship and then full-time. I know that I will get a full-time job. That is not what is uncertain. But where, what and when is what is uncertain. I hope it is soon.
Simultaneously, I had also started studying to pursue MBA, either India or abroad. US was completely out of question. Yet, something struck..something at the right time and right place..however cliched it may sound.. but I did come to US to pursue MBA. I was living my, what I call, a short term dream. I was given scholarship, got a tuition waiver, yet it was too costly. Finding a job was essential to continue. Having invested most of the money in a house back home, it was the only way to continue living the dream.
When I drove from the airport to the room where I was hosted, on Jul 23rd 07, the need for the on-campus job had overcome any other feeling of amusement and happiness that one experiences on landing in a different, a very different country. The next 2.5 months, everyday, morning to evening, 8 to 5, I scouted every office, every floor in every building on the campus in summer battling tempereatures that more than often reached 45 degree celsius. The program had started and the effort required was overwhelming. When, the classes started, I also had to start looking for an internship. The studies, the assignments, adjustments to cultural differences, cooking, cleaning all took all 24 hrs. I had to find time to sleep for a couple of hours. It was a disaster, I felt.
After around 70 days, I finally managed to get an on-campus job. It was 20 hrs per week. It was impossible, I thought. I slept 3 hrs a day for the next three semesters. The addition to the everyday activities was the search for internship. Typically, an internship search is much difficult than a full-time search because of the few positions available. I lost all hope. I had an opportunity in India, a great opportunity but it was, what a MBA would call, a -ve NPV project.I got an internship on the last day. It was a nightmare till then and I had convinced myself of the courses that I would take in the summer. But I finally did complete the internship.
During the beginning of the last semester, the world had changed poles. Wall street had disappeared. Government was all over the economy. In the next two months, the intermeshed wheels of world economies had come to a stageering halt because of lack of oil (i.e. liquidity). It has been the same ever since. I stopped reading newspapers and news. It was the same news everyday. Job losses, write offs, Bush, Paulson, Bernanke, financial losses etc. I got tired of reading them. The econoy lost 600,000 jobs last month. The situation continues remaining grim. Finding a job in such a situation has made me insensitive in many ways. Initially, I was irritated because of the uncertainty that I faced. But, gradually I got used to it.
So, the job search still continues. Since 2006. First MBA, then on-campus job, then internship and then full-time. I know that I will get a full-time job. That is not what is uncertain. But where, what and when is what is uncertain. I hope it is soon.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Disappointing handling of India-Pakistan affair
I am sorely disappointed by the way India is handling the India-Pakistan affair. One concludes from the news reports that India's demand(or is it plea?) is falling on deaf ears. Pakistan seems to have gained an upper hand especially because of the presence of American troops on Pakistani soil.
On one hand India is cautious of involving US in the issue, while on the other it also needs US to pressurize Pakistan. Reminds me of what my father once told me about human tendency: If you keep talking constantly, nobody listens to you and you lose importance.
The world has stopped listening to India. There were visits by so called world leaders to the region, but I did not see any strong statement coming out of their press releases.
It remains to be seen what "shape" the "crisis" takes in the coming days. The attack has already been left behind and the focus has shifted to Kasab and other unimportant and useless topics.
On one hand India is cautious of involving US in the issue, while on the other it also needs US to pressurize Pakistan. Reminds me of what my father once told me about human tendency: If you keep talking constantly, nobody listens to you and you lose importance.
The world has stopped listening to India. There were visits by so called world leaders to the region, but I did not see any strong statement coming out of their press releases.
It remains to be seen what "shape" the "crisis" takes in the coming days. The attack has already been left behind and the focus has shifted to Kasab and other unimportant and useless topics.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
CNBC Predictions for 2009 - Job Market
9. Entrepreneurial Spirit
With more MBA's than ever all dressed up with nowhere to go, we could well see a substantial upswing in the numbers of individuals going it alone in 2009. Expect venture capital firms (and maybe even banks, once the credit markets thaw) to be inundated with requests to fund the next big thing. And maybe, just maybe, the next big thing might just arrive.
See the whole article here
With more MBA's than ever all dressed up with nowhere to go, we could well see a substantial upswing in the numbers of individuals going it alone in 2009. Expect venture capital firms (and maybe even banks, once the credit markets thaw) to be inundated with requests to fund the next big thing. And maybe, just maybe, the next big thing might just arrive.
See the whole article here
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Door-in-the-face Vs Foot-in-the-door
Reference: Wikipedia
The door in the face (DITF) technique is a persuasion method. Compliance with the request of concern is enhanced by first making an extremely large request that the respondent will obviously turn down. The respondent is then more likely to accede to a second, more reasonable request than if this second request were made without the first, extreme request. There is also a feeling of guilt associated with the DITF technique of sequential requests (Cialdini, 2000). A person is also more likely to agree with the second request because they feel guilty for having rejected the first request. A reference point (or framing) construal can also explain this phenomenon, as the initial bad offer sets a reference point from which the second offer looks like an improvement.
The door in the face (DITF) technique is a persuasion method. Compliance with the request of concern is enhanced by first making an extremely large request that the respondent will obviously turn down. The respondent is then more likely to accede to a second, more reasonable request than if this second request were made without the first, extreme request. There is also a feeling of guilt associated with the DITF technique of sequential requests (Cialdini, 2000). A person is also more likely to agree with the second request because they feel guilty for having rejected the first request. A reference point (or framing) construal can also explain this phenomenon, as the initial bad offer sets a reference point from which the second offer looks like an improvement.
Will you donate $1000 to our organization? [Response is no].
Oh. Well could you donate $10?''
Can you help me do all this work?
Well can you help me with this bit?''
Can I stay out until 4am?
OK. How about midnight?''
Foot-in-the-door technique (FITD) is a compliance tactic that involves getting a person to agree to a large request by first setting them up by having that person agree to a modest request.
In an early study, a team of psychologists telephoned housewives in California and asked if the women would answer a few questions about the household products they used. Three days later, the psychologists called again. This time, they asked if they would send five or six men into the house to go through cupboards and storage places as part of a 2-hr enumeration of household products. The investigators found these women were more than twice as likely to agree to the 2-hr request than a group of housewives asked only the larger request.More recently, a group of persons were asked to call for a taxi if they became alcohol impaired. Half of the persons also signed a petition against drunk driving and half did not. Those who signed the petition (complied with a small request) were significantly more likely to comply with the larger request of calling a taxi when impaired compared to those who did not sign the petition.
Numerous experiments have shown that foot-in-the-door tactics work well in persuading people to comply, especially if the request is a pro-social request. Research has shown that FITD techniques work over the computer via email, in addition to face-to-face requests.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Business blogging
- BBC News - Bill Gates backs blogs for businesses
- Microsoft - Web 2.0 marketing for businesses: What it can do for you
- Business Week - Social Media Will Change Your Business
- USA Today - Website designers want searches to work for free
- The Wall Street Journal - Improve Client Relationships Through Social Media
Business blogs and social media networking are the need of the hour today especially for business looking at online advertising. It helps in receiving live feedback from the users too. Not only that, the virtual space can become an open battlefield for players who read the competitors blog and try upgrading their service offerings leading to more business and above all - more options for the consumer. As always in American corporate world - Competition is good.
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