Dew

My writing has taken off again as a freelancer. I have not yet got too many projects to work on, still, it is definitely nice to get back into writing. A nice lesson in this journey of break and make in my career : When you are feeling bored, go on a holiday or simply switch off your computer for a few hours. Often we do not know how important or interesting a job actually is until we take a break. I had needed a break badly, but I didnt quite know. There were times I had felt super-bored at work, but with timelines and meetings and planning hovering above me all the time, I didnt have the time to realize that I needed a break. One of life's interesting moves gave me a break from work. I moved to a new country and took time to settle down. It was then that I realized that I was missing something.. Started trying to find projects on my own and didnt see much progress. Then, some friends gave their helping hand and I finally got back into writing again. It surely feels nice to be abl...

In a very enlightening moment today ( Not sure, if the word is correct in the context of job hunt, but to me it does seem like a real enlightenment ) I realized that it is time I really worked hard to find a job for myself. The quantum of job hunt experience I have is more than that of the work experience itself. I even went to the extent of starting a job hunt series in my blog, but never chanced or took the effort to write more posts on the same lines. I am writing this post for myself now and people like me who are looking for job change or new job or a new beginning in career. It is more of a recap of yesteryear when I needed more and more of encouragement to be able to type that next job application email. Here is what it takes to find a job : Determination to get it: No matter who you are, where you are from, what you have been doing, as long as you have the determination to find a job, you surely will find one. And.. the next point that usually comes up is : Is it the right kin...

Hearty Congratulations... That means it is indeed a beautiful beginning for you this year. Am sure you will do well at work. Whether u like it or not, whether the job is less or more challenging than you expected, whether the people are nice to you or not, whether u like them or not, whether things work your way or not, whether the pay check seems nice or not so great , all said.... this is your first job and the place where you will learn most of all that you probably would need to know about working in a company. - every other job change after this is incremental learning and may not match the lessons in this place... at least that is what most people and I have to share after some changes of jobs. One rule : Try to like it, if not, try to appreciate the lessons. Stay happy and wish you many many successful career leaps, a world of nice network of friends - personal and professional and lot of positive energizers and people with a mind to see you grow - with a smile. Take care and ke...

Yesterday morning there were quite a few delays. It was late when I reached the bus stop. I waited at the bus stop for over ten minutes and decided to hop on to the Airport local that is a little expensive to travel in, than the usual buses. I wondered for a minute, why I was paying a little extra for this ticket, but then the cool conditioned air and a comfortable window seat and a nice Hindi melody made me smile. The girl sitting beside me was all covered in black overalls, per her faith, except her eyes. Her eyes looked pretty and was forever searching for something around. Although I was tempted to know if I could help her with something, I decided to keep quiet. These days I offer help only when asked for. Don't know how this change happened, but that is what has been happening for quite sometime now. I turned to the road and started humming the tune of the song. My world of musical notes was disturbed when I heard the noisy struggle of a plastic cover nearby. I turned to see ...

Happy 6th birthday to my writing experience. This day, in year 2004, I took a chance to join this new ( I had not heard of it till then, so it was new to me) field called 'Content Development' in a start-up company in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Now, a hard-core crazy computer programmer that I was, back in college, I could not even think of spending time writing anything except emails and letters. I have always loved writing letters and emails, but writing in any other form was something I could not relate to, until that February day when someone talked me into 'trying' to write technical stuff. I bought the idea because, I believe there is always a way to say things and this person put it forward very nicely to me : Just give it a shot, if you do not like it, walk out!! As simple as that!!!! And in this profession, you cannot stay if you don't like it. So, just take that chance for sometime, till you find a programming job that matches your interest. The next day,...

A lot of people have told me in the last few weeks, "Wonder if I will be able to answer an interview", " I am not sure if I have prepared well " and many such uncertain statements, most of which sound low in confidence level. From my minimal experience in attending interviews and writing these qualifying examinations, I thought I will write down what I have learned. Rule 1 : Interviews are unpredictable when you attend the first level. Most of the first level interviewers are super-thrilled about conducting your interview as much as you are super-scared to face one. Possibility 1: When an interviewer is super-thrilled to conduct an interview, and if his manager has given him some advance notice that you are coming over, then he is bound to prepare questions at the level which he thinks is best, for the team. Very few people ask the manager what is the expected skill set level and what to look for. So, when the interviewer faces you, he is at free will to ask any tec...

I am starting this series called Job Hunt series. It is all about what I often hear, what I have experienced, what I have learnt and been taught by some seniors regarding job hunt. I am writing this for the benefit of people who are new to job hunt, who have difficulties in changing jobs, and who have not handled interviews/job hunts in a long time. Each of these posts may or may not be based completely on my personal experience, but the idea is to give the best of what I know. We all keep hearing 'Change is the only constant' and such high-concepts, basic principles, quite often in our social, professional, and personal spheres. For some strange reason, we forget these when we actually go ahead with a decision; more so, when we change jobs. So, after that roller-coaster ride involving: deciding to quit your current job, applying for half-a-dozen jobs a day, fervently waiting for the next phone call to be from a recruiter, answering a series of the same questions in all permuta...