Employment question

vman

Hi, I'm thinking of moving to Bangalore and I have a couple of questions regarding employment.

A little bit about me first- I was born in Bangalore and I moved to Toronto, Canada when I was 15. I finished high school and dropped out of university after two years in a computer engineering program. I'm a dual citizen of India and Canada. I'm 24 now, its been nearly 10 years and for some reason I miss my good ol' Bangalore and I'm thinking about moving back...

Right off the bat, my biggest concern is finding a job - I lack an undergraduate degree, but I think my work experience makes up for it. I have over 3 years of experience working as a software developer and I'm currently making $70,000+ CAD. In Canada, at least in Toronto/Montreal area, companies place high value on technical knowledge, experience, and interpersonal skills and are not big on educational qualifications. I've had a positive job experience in Canada so far as I always got the job I wanted.

I want to work for a software company in Bangalore as a developer ... I know there's lots of them.

My questions are:
1> What do employers look for in a potential employee? I know it depends on the job, but in general what's the norm? Will work experience make up for lacking a degree? How does the interview process work?...

2> How is the competition in the job market? Given a descent company and an intermediate developer position WHO is my competition?

3> What kind of compensation can i expect? I have 3 years of experience in Microsoft technologies (primarily .net) and I'm a self learner who likes to be on the leading edge of technology.

4> How is the work culture..things like working hours, dress code, can you have a beer or two during lunch?

I'm looking forward to reading your responses.

Cheers,
VM

Raghu.Kumar

Hi Vman,

My response in brief. Stay put in Canada itself. It is impossible to find a good job in a reputed company in India without the qualifiying degree. Your resume would get filtered at the consultant level itself.

Even if you get past that and are able to secure a job, based on your age and work experience you would be placed at the junior level and might get something around 3 to 4 lakhs INR per annum which is no comparison to the compensation you are getting currently in Canada.


Come to India on a long holiday and enjoy your stay and travel. This would be my advice, let us await other responses as well as I may be wrong too.

Having a beer or a drink inbetween lunch breaks, a NO NO unless you are at the top of your Orgnaization Ladder where you go for Client Lunches/Dinners. otherwise you can have as many coffe/tea breaks as you wish.

Raghu

__________________
S.Raghu Kumar
sahana_kumar@yahoo.com

srikanth131

I agree with Mr.Raghu completely.

deburn

would be to apply for a job in the US or Canada and inquire about opportunities to work in Bangalore during the interview process. I worked in the US for Infy for several years and so I have some perspective.

The volume of applicants in India is so huge, that you're bound to get lost in it. There's comparatively much less volume in the US and Canada and you're more likely to stand out. Get to know HR and hiring managers here and ask them for advice.

I agree that not having an undergrad degree is going to be a big problem - you probably know that Indians and Indian IT firms place a big emphasis on higher ed. You presumably have much better communication skills than most 'junior' level (unfortunately, with no degree and only 3 years work ex, that's where you're going to be pegged) but that is more relevant for 'onsite' jobs, as they're called.

There are roles that are India-based that require frequent communication with clients in Europe, US and Canada, so your best bet would be to try and aim for something like that.

Hope this helps. And, out of curiosity, where do you work that you have a beer or two at lunch? I've worked in Toronto and that wasn't a common experience, unless you were in the trades!

vman

Thanks for your replies...

A beer or two to relax during lunch is not big deal, but getting drunk is completely unacceptable. I guess it really depends on the company- usually big multinational companies have a strict no boozing on the job policy, but small - mid size companies is where the action is, esp in the Montreal area.

I like Raghu's idea..I might just go on a long vacation to India and see how things work out.