www.caspot.com brings you the exclusive post of 10 Common Job Related Questions Which Are Important Before Job
Getting a first job is the happiest
juncture of one’s life. Nothing pleases you more than getting first job.
It’s a sign of self-sufficiency, achievement and a result of your hard
work. Your career is like your stock portfolio or your investment
portfolio. How carefully you invest (engage) in it, and how carefully
you observe (study) it decides the outcome. While some are mature enough
to understand the intricacies, professionalism and politics at the
workplace, most of the fresher folks are not. This does not mean that
they are totally naïve; what this means is that, they will take time to
learn.
I therefore thought it appropriate to
write an article to cater to this often important yet unaddressed aspect
of one’s life. The question that arises is why is the need for most of
the readers here, who are already articled trainees and management
trainees to learn something more? The answer is simple. The answer is
that, since you yourselves have now become professional, your stature
has risen. Barring 20 % of articled trainees whose bosses are friendly
(co-operative enough), many others have felt that they are totally at
mercy of their boss. Now, however, once you clear the academic and
training requirements, you are at par with every other person out there.
You’ve grown up into a professional.
Therefore following are some common sense yet interesting questions regarding jobs/career choice etc.
1) The biggest question? Should I go for a government job or a private sector job?
Yes, this is the biggest question that
comes to our mind and that’s the reason and this is at the topmost of
this questionnaire. Government job or private job. Stability or growth.
The questions that come to our mind are absolutely normal. While
opinions might vary, if I am to give my honest opinion, then one should
prefer the private sector job over a government job.
There are many reasons which support this view. First and foremost,
private sector jobs give you wide exposure and faster career growth as
compared to a government job. Since most readers are chartered
accountants/cost accountants and company secretaries, we are assuming
that the readers are looking after premium and lucrative jobs and not
normal jobs or jobs of routine nature. If you are lucky enough, you can
easily join a multinational company or a big four consulting firm. In
private sector, if you have handy experience, expertise and
qualifications, you can climb the ladder very fast as compared to a
government job. You can switchover very fast (but not insanely) to the
role , payscale and the area that suits you. At least this has been my
experience while listening to the colleagues in one of the big four that
I am currently in.
So does that mean that government jobs are
a big no? Not at all. The fact is that whenever a government job comes
to our mind, people have a perception to think of it as if it is a IAS
job and will always come with all the perks and benefits. NO. It is not
so. A very few senior level government jobs have this lucrative package.
The situation becomes even more dramatic when the government job that
you are trying for is meant to be your first job. Government
appointments take a hell lot of time and one Can hardly wait for so
long. On an average (unless the recruitment is urgent) a government job
takes nearly 7-8 months from advertisement to final job offer which is a
very long time. IF they are competitive exams, then you can just wait
till the calendar on your wall changes. One recent example is
the ongc graduate trainee exam conducted in June 2014. After the exams
were conducted all over india, they got cancelled due to paper leak. Therefore one most tread with caution while applying for a government job.
The second thing that can make a
government job less attractive for a budding and enthusiastic person is
that, once you join a government job, there might be a possibility that
your work life becomes monotonous, mundane and of routine nature. The
situation will get even bad if you are posted to some smaller institute
or establishment.
The above discussed points are just a
point of view and not a final point. Situations and attitudes vary.
While a general government job can be less lucrative, jobs in PSUs and
mini ratnas are as better as private sector companies because to some
extent, these companies work like private sector enterprises.
One more additional advantage of working
in a private sector job is that you can build great and lasting
professional and personal relationships (this is also possible in a
government job , but more possible in a private sector job).Your life
will progress exactly as per herzberg’s theory of motivation(unless you
are an alien).
2) To what extent should I
diversify or specialize my academic qualification? Will I get labelled
as being jack of all trades and master of none if I keep doing this or
that?
Have you seen job openings for a senior
position/ middle management level jobs in large companies. They require
people who have at least 2-3 qualifications (mostly 1 /2 professional
qualification and one academic or vice versa). For eg , a recent job
opening in a good company in bangalore for a company secretary required
cs + ca+llb and a legal experience of at least 5 years. On the other
hand , in what I call as a bumper job for cs , facebook (as a company)
recently advertised a position for Corporate secretary in Hyderabad
which needed just a ICSI membership (the position was for senior counsel
and therefore llb was still required).
The reason for mentioning all of the above
is that, job markets are vibrant and dynamic and not static. Therefore a
continuous professional and educational track record will prove
beneficial for you. Therefore the answer to question no 2 is that , one
should try to diversify within his professional domain. If you possess a
degree which is totally unrelated to the position (but you still
possess it), simply do not mention it in your cv or else , there is a
chance that the interviewer will assume that you are a jack of all
trades and master of none.
3) OK, I am on the verge of
getting my first job but I am not quite damn sure whether I will find it
interesting/ what if the job is not interesting for me?
Hmmm…..People shy away from asking this
question. What’s wrong in asking that? A common question that arises
after you pass your final qualification is that , within what time
should I get a job. The answer is max. 12-18 months (which is already
quite a stretched one) because after that your resume becomes stale. You
can of course rejuvenate it by adding more qualifications (at least as a
measure to fill the gap) but still, experience is always preferred over
plain qualification. Therefore if you’ve a certainty that its hard time
to get a job, it’s better that you join the uninteresting job for the
time being…..
People don’t leave a single opportunity to
label you as a lazy guy if you are not getting job quicly and therefore
sticking and even muddling might be the best solution at least till the
time , the tide turns on your side.
4) What is more important? Qualification or experience?
For a new job / fresher post – Qualification.
For a job opening with no particular experience requirements given- Experience over qualification.
For Niche areas for freshers- Qualification.
For niche areas with no particular experience requirement given- Experience over qualification.
Here experience means relevant experience and post qualification experience.
Lastly, those professionals who upgrade their qualifications while working are the most preferable.
Yes, these things are common sense, but still its worth noting it down.
5) What more can be done to make my job interesting?
Everyone experiences this situation after
working for a certain time. Things start to become bore. The best thing
to avoid this is going back to the basics. Rebuilding your interests.
Getting into reading and learning into new streams related to your job,
may be it finance or law. You do not get time is the most common excuse.
If you are giving the ‘lack of time ‘ as a reason , then you are wrong.
One of the IAS toppers, who was a btech from a prime engineering
college as well as a IIT AND IIM gold medalist used to study for his IAS
exams along with this full time job. Therefore its futile to assign
this reason for your lack of interest in academia.
The general trend in the united states,
especially amongst engineers is that after graduation , they go for 3-4
experience and then return back to academia for upgrading their skills.
Max tegmark , the well known scientist is an example of this trend.
Therefore research, reading, information
gathering gives your job more theoretical and foundational depth and
rejuvenates your interest once again (unless you are thinking of
becoming a hermit).
6)Should I go practice or a job? A simple answer.
Answer to this is simple. Job for 3-4
years , professional contacts and experience then practice. However if
you are born with a silver spoon or have a financial backing , the
situation is vice versa.
7) Going forward, will my
specialized qualification be my only savior for job or is there
something more that I need to do. Will my institute be able to safeguard
from the hoard or competition?
This is a controversial area. Most people
think that they have got a never ending boon to be the ‘only one’ in
their field. Friends, times change and with change, everything just
collapses. Many people live in what is known as a ‘fish pond’ always
thinking that a big brother will always save them.
Situations are changing. The time when
statutes were meant as job guarantees are gone. The dtc and the nearly
final inclusion of cma and cs in I.T. is a testimony to it (if you still
don’t believe, then …… wait for some more time when you realize the
truth).
Therefore you will be your own savior going forward.
8) What’s better for career? Joining a company and serving there for a long period or periodic role changes?
This question can be best answered by
using real world examples. When you get acquainted enough with your boss
to know about his detailed career graph, just try to take a sense from
it. Visit and closely read the linkedin profiles of senior executives
and achievers from companies or even just do a random search and try
guessing from it.
Changing roles as well as remaining at a
same position are both sides of same coin. Many people temporarily leave
a company and return to it after 3-4 years. Large companies are mature
enough to tolerate this kind of job shifting. In government jobs , many
people join young and directly retire, spending their entire life in the
same cadre.
Things however have changed now and
therefore the majority trend is a job change in 4-5 years so that you
can climb the ladder based on post and responsibility.
9) What are the
Advantages/opportunities of a globally diversified career and what are
your chances for that? do I have a chance for it?
The answer to this question should be read
in conjunction with question no8. Diversification within a limited
boundary is a healthy career move. There are hundreds of instances where
people who are genuinely talented and genius have taken roles totally
outside their domain and come out with flying colors.
Today is the world of globalization.
Chartered accountants are venturing into the middle east and Oceania and
globalizing their careers. The ICSI is sadly not working towards this
aspect. Facilities and resources today allow residents of one country to
truly globalize.
If you have enough resources, talent, contacts and skills, then there is a possibility that a global career awaits you. The word used is possibility and not surety.
Many Indians , specially engineers and
tech grads lead some of the world’s largest companies. What made it
possible? Think and you’ve got the answer.
10) How to maintain good and cordial relationship at the workplace or at least contacts if not relationships at workplace?
Do I need to explain this? You already are a master in that.
The only point I’d like to add is that ,
even you leave a job , stay in touch with your earlier job mates and
maintain professional contact with them.
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