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In the Wonderworld of Recruitment
Source: The Economic Times 9/21/2000
Recruitment is a ballgame played between perspiring HR managers and
aspiring software engineers. The game is getting complicated with the
number of coaches (ex-colleagues) and referees (placement consultants)
outnumbering the players themselves.
SW engineer: Software engineer
generally believed to be the ninth wonder of the world.
HR Managers: Human Resource
Managers generally believe and pretend that they understand this
wonder
Consultants those who practice
the "balanced scorecard" that they must take away as many as they
place.
Managers: those who secretly
wish they had remained SW engineers. Some work hard at becoming one
again and some succeed when exported to the US.
Delusion of adequacy - An
often-noticed neurotic symptom in SW engineers.
Walk-in mantra an epidemic
often believed by HR managers to be the panacea for people shortage.
HIV positive: Can be deadly for
an offshore-friendly SW organisation
AIDS HIV positive leads to
this Acquired India Defection Syndrome.
Cutting edge technology
something like the flying saucer, everyone believes it exists but no
one has seen it yet.
Laster-jet printers: those
wonder machines that facilitate exposure to SW engineers by churning
out a document internationally known as "resume." This is one of the
visible and powerful employee benefits provided to SW engineers by
both employee-friendly and unfriendly companies and utilisation varies
between 98 per cent and 99 cent.
CMM: higher levels of managers
in SW organisations mistake it to be capability maturity model but an
average SW engineer has a better understanding of its as compensation
monitoring model.
Consultants: these are the
"coaches" or referees in the ballgame of recruitment. They also toss
the coin but with a difference. Heads they win but tails they win too.
And they get to keep the coin! Here are certain type of consultants,
and the list is by no means exhaustive.
The Unemployed: The problem of
unemployment in India has been mitigated to some extent by the
emergence of the new profession placement consultancy.
The umeployable: Here belong
those college or school dropouts who were wise, they did not waste
precious time looking for less lucrative employment.
Mrs. Senior Manager: In slant,
it is known as "side business". In jargon, its known as moonlighting.
Experienced managers sometimes encourage their spouses to take to the
placement profession. The contacts, knowledge base and access to
industry information of the manager are well used.
Professional consultants: In
this wonderworld, there are also placement consultants who are
value-adding to the organisation. They integrate well in the supplier
chain, ensure candidates are not traded off, and provide a bridge for
the right people to reach suitable organisations. May their tribe
increase. As for candidates, the SW engineers fail under different
categories as well. The list is not exhaustive here as well.
Pen friends: These are
candidates who are perennially in correspondence with HR folks. Some
of the subjects are: Compensation, benefits for self, family and
inlaws. Tools, technology, platforms, processes and processors.
Internet connection at office, home, Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks.
Quality of people, projects, infrastructure, canteen, library,
lighting, cooling etc., Transport from office to home and vice versa.
Gymnasium, tennis court, swimming pool. Once they get all the
information, they make an informed choice not to join the company.
Cowboys: These are candidates
whose primary objective is to "milk" as much from the company as
possible. And use it (a) to negotiate within their current company;
(b) renegotiate with another company; and (c) use it for credit rating
of themselves.
Hobbyists: These collect "offer
letters". They spend considerable time and effort interviewing with
many companies and maintain meticulously a portfolio of offers that
include imaginative service conditions and of course different titles.
Market researchers: These will
measure high on CMM level 4. They are continuously looking for
evaluating their market value and acceptability.
Tourists and members of frequent fliers club:
These are not content with the "leave travel facility" they enjoy in
their company. They would like to avil of the hospitality of
companies, especially those situated outside their normal place of
stay so they make it to interviews but never join.
Auditors: Candidates who, having
received an offer, want to
Visit office / place of work for a "recee" alone or with family
Meet future colleagues, subordinates and audit them to get more
information
See balance sheet / P & L account
Explore possibilities of employee stock option scheme.
HIV(isa) positive cases: Those with 3-6 years of experience are the
most susceptible. When you interview them, it is very hard to discover
that the real reason for wanting the US posting is the dollar
differential to the rupee. But symptoms of the following should be
looked for: buying ET only on weekdays, not wanting to commit
themselves for long duration projects, sudden concern for family,
newly found and articulated interest in domain technology your company
is not even remotely working in.
Genuine candidates: It is not
too difficult to recognise these; they are known by their knowledge,
interest values and words. May their tribe increase.
Writer : C. Mahalingam
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