Education:-
Growing up as a kid in
North East India in 80s and 90s could have been a great fun or
challenging or both depending on how one views it. There was no dearth
of good schools and teachers in major cities such as Guwahati, Shillong,
Agartala or maybe Silchar but choices were not that plenty in rest of
the places. It was definitely not the case in insurgency ridden town in
Nagaland where it is not that great for good teachers with opportunities
available in rest of the country. It is great place if the kids think
school is fun since there are no teachers and no classes. It could be a
big challenge if the kid wants to compete with other kids from bigger
towns of North East not to talk about the Delhis and Kolkatas
Challenge 1:
One
could easily end up blaming the “environment” (wow, I got another
“E”!). The quota system in engineering colleges for each state is a
breather but being in top 20 is all you can do to get into any good
engineering college. This kid was lucky; he had good fun with the
challenge and made it to one of those colleges.
Challenge 2:
The
north eastern kid lands up in the college and finds himself among smart
kids from all over the country. They know computers which he thought
were something only seen in Hollywood movies. Professors think that this
kid would not even be in top 10000 if he had been from Delhi .He has to
pedal a bit extra faster to catch up with these smart kids and change
that image over four year period. In the final year of college, good
grades and campus placements help him in secure few job opportunities
but something called “recession” catches up.
Employment
The
kid decides not to return home due to not having a secured job offer.
He does few small jobs in a big metro, likes his 30 square meter
“barsati” apartment shared by 4 other kids with similar desire to
succeed in the job market and does not lose hope yet.
Challenge 3:
Good news! He is in a bigger city. Bad news there is 100,000 other
kids like him who have similar desire to succeed. To have fun with the
challenge, he doesn’t worry too much about the other 99,999.
Challenge 4:
Fresher
job opportunities in a good company were getting lesser due to
recession. So he tries his hands in ways to get better chances at
landing him a job which takes us to our next key word –Employability.
Employability
Employers
require people who can communicate well (often mistaken with ability to
only speak English fast!). Employers also like integrity and ethics.
Employers will like you if they can see if you can take responsibility
which might come from a “can do” attitude. Importantly employers will
like if you have the ability to perform the job. They might train you
too but you need to be honest.
Challenge 5:
If
you know your stuff, all good! If not, you need professional courses in
addition. Colleges can provide qualifications but will not make you
qualified for the job. It is not enough to know how Java Virtual Machine
works, it’s important to communicate that in short 30 minutes and if
you are lucky enough 1 hour interview for a fresher.
Challenge 6:
If
you have not spent 10-12 years in a school where you learnt how to
“communicate”, chances are that it is going to be a little difficult for
you (they might have taught you but it is Your learning is important).
Three or four years in college are those good time to brush that up or
take professional help. Unfortunately I didn’t have organisations like
KRC to help me out so it took me more than 4 years in college to
understand what communication is really made up of.
Entrepreneurship
I
am not an entrepreneur and most likely majority of you reading will not
be a business owner either. OK, now I have a job. The company has spent
lots of rupees to train me. What is next then?
Challenge 7:
Good news- I got a job in the top company in India. Bad news- It also has another 10,000 smart employees.
Challenge 8:
What
do employers really want from their employees? They want them to be
smart and hard-working and understand their own growth path as the
company grows. They want what is called Intrapreneurs –An
Internal Entrepreneur.
An Intrapreneur is someone who works like a business owner inside a
company and who thinks the company he/she works for is their own. They
have a shared vision on how their contribution adds up to every bit. I
can tell you it is a good fun to be ranked top among those engineers
when working for such a large MNC. Only way is to have a good attitude
–one which has Intrapreneurship added to it.
Emotional Intelligence
It
has been a short journey for this engineer kid. He had successes and
learnt from his failures. On his path he met many difficulties and lot
of helping hands. He feels he is the king of the world! Almost.
Challenge 9:
He
lands up in a foreign land with no visible similarity in people, food
or language (I did tell you English is not everything!). Fun part is
being from North East India is an advantage! We are all so different
there in such a small landscape. Being from India helps too but depends
if one had the opportunity to explore other cultures.
Challenge 10 (Not so Final Challenge):
Senior employees who have long experience will be mature enough to
handle pressure scenario. That is why they are in those top positions.
Problem is this kid is ambitious and that is where control over one’s
emotions is going to take him to the next level. Yes , he will not get
the same “environment” he grew up in but it will be something that could change his life and of many others whom he calls family and friends. Point
is, sometimes we will do well, and sometimes we will not. Understanding
one’s strengths and weakness is the most important thing. Get
professional help when you can otherwise the rest of those 99,999 will
catch up and you will be part of those not so top kids. Whatever it is,
it is important to know that success is an interesting and intriguing
journey, not a destination
