Very Important Last Interview Question: Do you have any question for me?

Very Important Last Interview Question: Do you have any question for me?

If you are going for any interview, you must know that at the end of the interview, after asking many questions from you, the interviewer will allow you to ask questions from him. Last question of the interview will be: "Do you have any question for me?". And, my advice is that you must prepare this very last question beforehand.

When the interviewer asks if the candidate has any questions and the answer is none it can be perceived as a low interest level in taking up the job offered.

The questions by the candidate should show a sound knowledge of the company and the overall responsibilities of the offered position. A confident candidate would always want to know more about the organization, in terms of work culture, growth prospects, organizational values, team work and an inside view of the job profile.

The following are the questions the interviewer would be happy to hear from an interviewee, because the interviewer feels this would be what a clear thinking, success oriented candidate would want to know.

Below is the list of the questions you must prepare to ask from interviewer at the end of the interview:

1. Is your company growing and what are the prospects of future expansion?

2. What difficulties do new employees experience in adapting to your company's environment?

3. What are the primary success factors of this role?

4. Might there be other ways I can contribute to the business with my skill sets?

5. Should I be successful, what are the opportunities for advancement?

6. What should I expect with regard to feedback?

7. Will I have an opportunity to create a development plan to be coached on throughout the year?

8. What emphasis is placed on teams working together?

26 A-Z Small but Important Tips for Cracking your Job Interview

26 A-Z Small but Important Tips for Cracking your Job Interview

Are you preparing for your job interview in your dream company? Best of luck!! Following are 26 small but important job interview tips arranged in alphabetical order from A to Z. Please go through all job interview tips once before appearing for any interview in any field for any position.

A – Anticipate key questions and have answers ready 

B – Bring the information you will need to fill out an application (references, dates, Social Security Number, etc.) 

C – Connect your past work experience to the present position you are interviewing for 

D – Don’t criticize your previous employer; it will leave a bad impression 

E – Eye contact with the interviewer shows confidence 

F – Fill in all blanks on the application (except the salary blank) 

G – Get there 15-20 minutes early; NEVER be late! 

H – Handshake should be firm 

I – Incorporate specific examples of your successes 

J – Job responsibilities that you excelled at in your past experience should be discussed and related to the position you are interviewing for whenever possible 

K – Know the directions to the building (drive a practice run if you must) 

L – Legs should not be crossed; maintain open/receptive body language 

M – Mail them a thank you letter afterwards. Make this letter short, professional, and to the point. Thank them for their time and that you look forward to the opportunity to become part of their organization 

N – NEVER LIE! Answer all questions truthfully and frankly, but don’t “over answer” either 

O – Opportunity is the focus…not money. Be prepared to discuss the opportunity and how you can make a positive impact in the company. Never focus on how much money you can make or ask about financial compensation during the interview 

P – Professional attire is a must – even if you know the environment is casual, the interview is formal 

Q – Quality of work and a strong understanding of the core skills you are interviewing for are quintessentially important. 

R – Research the company and have questions prepared about it 

S – Sit upright, look alert and interested at all times 

T – Take a portfolio to take notes in (blue or black ink only) 

U – Update your resume and have 3 references before you go on the interview 

V – Vacation days should not be discussed but the value you bring to the company is a great focal point 

W – Wear a watch; even if it is broken, it will give you the illusion of being organized and prompt 

X –Xerox multiple copies of your resume in case you meet with more interviewers than you had expected 

Y – Yes or no answers to questions are not good enough; providing a short explanation of your answers proves your knowledge and experience 

Z – Zero in on what benefits you bring to the company 

Developers vs Testers vs Project Managers

Developers vs Testers vs Project Managers

Developers vs Testers vs Project Managers debate is never ending. Who is right, who is wrong, who is culprit, who is victim...only God knows!! During the project development and testing, developers, testers and project managers come across a lot of situations which they handle differently. Blame games between developers and testers is always played at many phases of project development. I have gathered and listed down some funny things about developers, testers and project managers...

1. What is Testing?

To tell somebody that he is wrong is called criticism. To do so officially is called testing.

2. Law of Bugs

Bugs can neither be created nor be removed from software by a developer. It can only be converted from one form to another. The total number of bugs in the software always remains constant.

3. How many testers does it take to change a light bulb?

None. Testers do not fix problems; they just find them.

4. How many developers does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer 1: What’s the problem? The bulb at my desk works fine!

Answer 2: None. That’s a hardware problem.

5. Sign On Developer's Doors

Do not disturb. Already disturbed!

6. Similarity between SAINT and IT PROFESSIONAL

Long back, a person who sacrificed his SLEEP, forgot his FAMILY, forgot his FOOD, forgot LAUGHTER, were called "SAINTS"

But now they are called..."IT Professionals"...........!

7. A Banner in front of an IT company:

Drive Slowly, Don't kill our Employee...

..... Leave them to us

8. Developers vs Testers vs Project Managers

A) In Software industry

Forgiving or punishing the Developer is left to Manager.

But, Fixing their appointment with Manager is our responsibility.

---Tester

Forgiving or punishing the Manager is left to Client.

But, fixing their appointment with Client is our responsibility.

---Developer  

B) Thinking of Project Managers, Developers and Testers

A Project Manager is the one who thinks 9 women can deliver a baby in 1 month.

An Onsite Coordinator is the one who thinks 1 woman can deliver 9 babies in 1 month.

A Developer is the one who thinks it will take 18 months to deliver 1 baby.

A Marketing Manager is the one who thinks he can deliver a baby even if no man and woman are available.

A Client is the one who doesn’t know why he wants a baby.

A Tester is the one who always tells his wife that this is not the right baby.

C) Project Managers want it to work. Developers try to make it work. Customers hope it works. Testers know how it works.

9. Some Software Testing Quotes

A) I don’t make software; I make software better.

B) Software Testers don’t break software; it’s broken when we get it.

C) Testers don’t like to break things; they like to dispel the illusion that things work.

D) Software Testers: We break it because we care.

E) To err is human; to find the errors requires a tester.

F) There’s always one more bug.

G) Testing Delayed is Testing Denied

H) Those are the bugs, if you don’t like them…I have others.

I) Only certainties in life: Death, taxes and bugs in code!

J) If it works, its the developer, if not it’s QA.

K) It compiled on your system, but it committed suicide on mine!

L) We don’t create defects, we just find yours.

M) In God we trust, and for everything else we test.

N) A bug in the hand is better than one as yet undetected.

10. Signs That You’re Dating A Tester

A) Your love letters get returned to you marked up with red ink, highlighting your grammar and spelling mistakes.

B) When you tell him that you won’t change something he has asked you to change, he’ll offer to allow you two other flaws in exchange for correcting this one.

C) When you ask him how you look in a dress, he’ll actually tell you.

D) When you give him the “It’s not you, it’s me” breakup line, he’ll agree with you and give the specifics.

E) He won’t help you change a broken light bulb because his job is simply to report and not to fix.

F) He’ll keep bringing up old problems that you've since resolved just to make sure that they’re truly gone.

G) In the bedroom, he keeps “probing” the incorrect “inputs”.

11. Words

Developer: There is no I in TEAM

Tester: We cannot spell BUGS without U

Common Job Interview Questions for Software Developers

Common Job Interview Questions for Software Developers

If you are a graduate in software engineering and looking for a job or an experienced software developer looking for a job change, you are going to face some common job interview questions which you should prepare before appearing in job interview. These common job interview questions include OOPS concepts, common database concepts, questions to test your problem solving capabilities and some tricky HR interview questions. I have made a list of interview questions which might help you in your job interview preparation.

A. OOPS Interview Questions

OOPS concepts are almost common in all the programming languages. So, you must prepare basic and advanced questions on OOPS. I have listed down some of the OOPS interview questions which you should know before attending the job interview.

1. What is a class and object?

2. What are different kinds of access modifiers?

3. What are constructors and destructors? What are the various types of constructors and destructors in OOPS?

4. What is Inheritance? What are various types of Inheritance?

5. What is Encapsulation and Abstraction? What is the difference between Encapsulation and Abstraction?

6. What is Polymorphism? What is the difference between Method overloading and method overriding?

7. What is operator overloading? What is the importance of operator overloading?

8. What are abstract classes and abstract methods? What is the difference between abstract methods and virtual methods?

9. What is the difference between abstract class and an interface? What to use when?

10. What is the difference between late binding and early binding?

11. What is the difference between structure and a class?

B. Database Interview Questions

Your database concepts should be sound. You should know the basic concepts of database like Joins, Index, Query Optimization Techniques, Stored Procedures, Triggers, and Cursors etc. As a programmer, it is expected from you that you know all these basics of database. I am listing down some basic job interview questions on database concepts.

1. What are the advantages of DBMS? What is the disadvantage in File Processing System?

2. What are the various kinds of relationships in database?

3. What is the difference between DDL, DML and DCL statements?

4. How will you optimize an SQL query?

5. What is normalization? What are different types of normalization?

6. What are the different kinds of Joins in SQL? How Joins are different from Subquery?

7. What is indexing and what are the different kinds of indexing?

8. What are stored-procedures? And what are the advantages of using them?

9. What is cursor? How cursors are useful?

10. What is database Trigger? What are different types of Triggers? When to use them?

C. HR Interview Questions

You should also prepare some commonly asked HR job interview questions beforehand. I have seen many candidates who clear all the technical rounds but get trapped in HR round. Your HR round should be smooth to crack the interview. I have listed down some of the HR interview questions which you should prepare before appearing in the interview.

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. Why should I hire you?

3. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

4. Why do you want to work at our company?

5. Are you willing to relocate or travel?

6. Why did you resign from your previous job?

7. Tell me something about our company.

8. How much salary do you expect?

9. Where do you see yourself five years from now?

10. Do you have any questions for me?

D. Problem Solving

You might be asked some questions to test your problem solving capabilities. You will be given some situations/conditions/restrictions and you will be judged how you response to those situations. You have to apply your common sense, experience and general knowledge to solve those problems.

Development vs Maintenance/Support Projects: Learning and Growth Opportunities

Development vs Maintenance/Support Projects: Learning and Growth Opportunities

In an IT industry, as a software developer, you are supposed to do work on different kind of projects. I have categorized all the projects as development projects and maintenance /support projects. Mostly there are maintenance/support projects as compared to development projects in a software company because development will be done only once but maintenance will continue life long until the end of world.  

I just wanted to share my experience and thoughts on development and maintenance / support projects through this article. I might be wrong at many places because these thoughts are my personal, sheer based on my experience in my 4 years of IT career. I have experienced that developers who are in development projects are treated better as compared to the developers in maintenance/support projects. At the beginning of my career I also used to think so. I also wanted to be in development project but I was thrown in a maintenance / support project. After working in that project, I realized that I was wrong. You have a lot to do and learn in a maintenance / support project also. 

I have tried to compare development projects and maintenance / support projects in my ways:

Learning Curve: 

You learn a lot in a development project because you have to code each and every feature and functionality from scratch in development project. In this way you come to learn the technology as well as application functionality in depth. After the completion of your project, you can consider yourself expert in that technology (Java, .NET, PHP.....etc) and the domain of the application (Banking, Retail, Manufacturing, Security, Shipping/Transportation, Online Shopping....etc.) if you have sincerely worked in that project because I think a complete real world project will teach you everything and will give you the priceless experience.

If I look at Maintenance/Support project, learning curve is also very good. In these kind of projects, you learn from other people's code, efforts and experience. Everything is pre-prepared in front of you. You have access to each piece of code which is written by expert developers and also the functionality. Whenever you have to resolve any issue, enhance any functionality, add a new feature, remove any existing feature, you will have to scan and understand the whole code and functionality before making any changes to the existing code. You will have to keep good care of impact analysis before making any single line change in the existing code and have to retest all the existing functionality after making the changes. This kind of practice will enhance your debugging capabilities and you will start gaining confidence and get a good hold on the application functionality and technology. This kind of learning experience is going to serve you a lot in your future.

Growth Opportunity: 

Again its common misconception that if you are in development project, you will get good hike as compared to your colleague who is working on maintenance/support project. Its not true. It sheer depends upon your capabilities, your efforts which you have put in your project to benefit the customer, to benefit your company. If you are doing good in the project, you will get good appraisal. Politics do play a good role in appraisals, but that's not the topic of discussion today.

Conclusion: 

Whatever project you get in your company whether development or maintenance/support, take it by heart. Work hard and smart, you will definitely learn many things and will also get benefited. Just continue learning from whatever you are doing.

A Software Developer should be a good Debugger and Analyst

A Software Developer should be a good Debugger and Analyst

As a developer, you are not going to develop a project from scratch every time  You cannot expect sheer coding work at all the time. In IT industry, major effort of project life cycle goes into maintenance and support. 

I have 4 years of software development experience and currently I am working in my second company. In my this short experience, I have worked in 5 projects out of which 3 were maintenance projects and 2 were development projects which had to be developed from scratch. My first project was in Shipping domain which was maintenance project. Next two were development projects in Retail and Manufacturing domain which had to be developed in Delphi XE2 and WPF respectively, fourth one was health and insurance domain and my current project in security domain in which I have to migrate a Delphi 7 application to Delphi XE4.

In all the projects I did till now, I had done a lot of maintenance tasks like fixing existing bugs, doing some enhancements, adding / modifying new features in the existing big application, handling tickets and resolve the issues etc. But this is also quite interesting job in the life of a software developer. In fact these things are the real test of a software developer. To handle these kind of tasks you must have good debugging capabilities. You have to identify and use your skills and experience to know in which file, in which part of code, the issue is arising. You should use StackTrace, TraceInto features to know the real cause of the issue and fix it.

Impact Analysis

Only issue tracking and fixing is not only the solution. You should be aware of the impact which your change can cause to the application. So I suggest you to comment at every place where you make changes in the code with name, date and reason why the code was changed. Proper testing of application is required after making any change to ensure that all the existing functionality are not impacted by your change.

Documentation 

After adding/modifying the features/issues in the application, documentation related to the application like SSRS, Test Cases should be updated.

In short, maintenance and support projects are not boring. You can learn a lot from these projects. These kind of projects sharpen your debugging skills and make you good analyzer. These qualities are necessary to make you a complete and skilled software developer.

Learning and sharing: 

While analyzing the issues and debugging the code, you come to explore many secrets of the complex application. I usually use to note down all the new things, findings and solutions which I learn during this process and document it. I use to share them on the internal knowledge portal of my company so that other people if encounter same kind of error, may get benefited from my work. It also helps me because if I face same problem, I can refer my document.

Can Developers do Programming or Coding without Googling?

Can Developers do Programming or Coding without Googling?

Can you imagine development without using google search? At least I can't!! I keep on opening google.com while development because I need it every time. It is very difficult to do programming or coding without googling as per me. Also, its not only my story, all the programmers / coders sitting around me, cannot do anything without google. Once internet was shut in my company for an hour accidentally, we all developers were looking at each other helplessly and waiting for internet to resume.

Once there were days when I was doing my Computer Science Engineering. I learned C/C++/Java during my B.E.(Bachelors in Engineering). All I learned from books and never used internet. When our tutor used to give us problems, we try to solve them our own without seeking any help from internet. Those were our logic building days.  

But now the picture has changed. When you enter in the profession, start doing job, you see the things with different angle. Below are some points which I have figured out why we need to google every time while programming?

1. Frequent Changes in Programming Languages

Programming languages have become so advanced and new things are coming everyday, every week. As a software developer, you must keep yourself updated with these changes. In race of learning new things, we keep on forgetting basic things, basic language syntax etc. and we need to google every time.

2. Tight Deadlines

When you are working on a project, you have some tight deadline in your mind given by the management. So, when you stuck at any point, you don't want to invest any time in thinking the solution and just google your problem to save your time. Every problem is solved by google search that we all know. So by just typing the problem on google search, you get the ready-made solution in front of your eyes and just you have to copy paste the solution. Most of the answers to my problems are given by stackoverflow and codeproject.

3. Laziness

We know that ready-made solution is there on internet which can be easily accessed by just typing on google search, then why to waste our energy on pondering over the problem. This lazy thinking makes us to depend totally on google. Due to this laziness, we never try to practice the code and remember the syntax and depend totally on google.

My Suggestion:

I am trying to give you the suggestion not to depend on google so much, but I think I need to follow this suggestion much more than you :). If we practice some code daily, try to remember the syntax which we daily use, then I think we can decrease our dependency on google search. I know its hard but I think only this is the way...

Never Switch to Small IT Company from Large One!!

Never Switch to Small IT Company from Large One!!

This article is dedicated to all my software engineer friends. I will try to figure out pros and cons of large and small IT companies. I will try to compare work environment, job satisfaction and frustration, salary packages, job security etc. in small and large companies.

I am a six years experienced software engineer from India and will talk about Indian IT companies. I have worked with one of the largest IT companies (service based) of the India and also with the small companies. As per my experience, one should stay in the large company as compared to the smaller one although the packages offered in large companies are comparatively less. I will share my own experience. I will term large company (my previous company) as L and smaller one as S without naming them public.

I was never satisfied with my job while working with L as my salary was very low although I had got onsite opportunity but only for one month. When I got offer from the small company S, it offered me the great package that I could not deny and moved to it. Although I was getting much more money in my monthly salary as compared to my previous company L, my life became hell. 

Let me tell you what smaller companies do to get the projects and how bad the management is there?

1. Misguide the client about Team Size 

If there are 8 members in the team for a project in company L, company S will put only 4-5 members in the team for the same project and bill the client for 8 team members. In this way, the guys in the team have to do double work in the project as client will assume there are 8 members in the team and he is paying for 8 members and will want his work done as per the efforts of 8 guys but behind the scene, there are only 4-5 guys.

2. Misguide the client about Team Efficiency and Skill Sets

Smaller companies share exaggerated CVs of the team members to the client in order to get the projects. When client gets attracted by those CVs and approves the project, those poor guys have to learn the technology in which they have never done any kind of work (but was written in their CVs which was shared with the client) and also meet the deadline otherwise they are dead.

3. Work on weekends and late nights

As per above two points, its obvious that if one software engineer is doing work of two guys and also new in that technology, he is going to bear sleepless nights and is forced to work on Saturdays and Sundays to meet the deadline.

4. No appreciation, no awards

Once the project is delivered, you will be shown the errors and bugs reported in your delivery and will never get appreciated for what you have done right.

5. No job satisfaction, no job security in a small company

Management can kick your ass at any time when they feel that you are worthless now for them. And if there is a project failure due to any reason, developer is always the victim. They need you to devote your 24 hours to the project and forget all about your family and health.

Lets come to me again. What happened in my case? My S company took a project from a client with impossible deadlines. Deadlines were too short to deliver the project on time. The project was in WPF and a team was formed of four .NET guys who had never worked on WPF. The guys were from ASP.NET. Now we did not know WPF and we had to meet the deadlines too. Our manager dictated us that you all should learn WPF as soon as possible and deliver the project on time otherwise there may happen anything to your job and then don't blame me for the consequences. Even the client knew that deadlines were not practical, but company charged him double and made we developers to work like donkeys. We were under a lot of mental pressure. We used to work late nights, Saturdays and Sundays. 

Even we had spent 9-10 nights in the office. We work late night and when we come late in morning, HR used to mark us half day. That 1.5 months, we had lived like hell. I got totally depressed. 

But my days changed and I got a call from a very good company. I gave interview there and got selected and finally KICKED OFF that S company. HR tried to stop me from leaving and tempted me with huge hike but I just refused to talk to him anything. Now finally, I am at good place and thank my god every day and night for taking me out of that hell. 

At the end of story, I will only suggest you never to switch to the small company in any case. Never get tempted by huge packages they offer. Always maintain healthy relationship between your job and life.

Well, these were my personal remarks, your opinions may be different from me and I am not generalizing my thinking. If you have some words to add, please share them in comments below.

BTW, Thanks for reading.....

5 things to remember during an exit interview

5 things to remember during an exit interview

 

If you have resigned from a company and you are being called by HR for exit interview, you should face HR very politely and maintain a positive attitude. Here are some points I wanted to discuss with you on exit interviews.

 

1. Maintain your composure: You might come across very trivial questions but maintaining your composure is very critical, no matter how irrelevant you feel they might be. Be graceful and witty while answering tricky questions.

 

2. Emphasis on your experience: Discuss your experiences and key learning from them. Always mention about the opportunities those were given to you and how you were able to perform on them, which has enhanced your skills for future endeavours.

 

3. Don’t be negative:  Focus on the key learning from difficult situations at the work place. You should portray that every crisis had given an opportunity for you to be adaptable in different situations and be a quick fixer to any given problem.

 

4. Comments should be constructive: Be honest but polite while putting across your grievances. Instead of accusing anyone or any process, try giving examples on how it can be improved for better results.

 

5. Don’t take out personal grudge: It’s better to express your problems in a non-personal way rather pin-pointing it to any individual. Remember, it is unnecessary for you to comment on someone (negatively) who you are not going to see for much longer.

How to crack a Telephonic Interview? Things to keep in mind while Telephonic Interview

How to crack a Telephonic Interview? Things to keep in mind while Telephonic Interview

 

A telephonic interview is usually organised to short-list candidates, to minimise the cost of conducting face-to-face interviews or to screen outstation candidates.

 

This is an important step for both the interviewer and the interviewee. Just as a personal interview, there are some basic dos and don’ts. It is very critical to follow these as the difficult task here is to impress the interviewer on the phone and hold their attention for the entire conversation.Therefore:

 

Be serious: It is a job interview at the end of the day. So first rule is that one must treat a telephonic interview just as one would treat a face-to-face meeting.This means keeping your resume handy, making sure you get the name and designation of the interviewer right and most importantly avoid multitasking.

 

The same rule also applies to an interviewer. The interviewer must spend some time before the call to study the resume and also must ensure that they are not distracted by any other work at that point in time.

 

Avoid distractions: It is important to choose a quiet place to take the call. You don’t want to be distracted by background noise. If possible use a landline to avoid call drops. If you are using your mobile phone, ensure that your call-wait facility is switched off.

 

For interviewer it is equally important to show seriousness. Don’t interrupt the call. This can be very discouraging to an interviewee.

 

Maintain the tone: The difficult task in a telephonic interview is that one needs to put forth their best voice. Yes, that’s right. That’s the only interface you have with your interviewer. So maintain a normal tone, don’t get excited and more importantly don’t raise your voice at any given point. Further it is important that the candidate speaks slowly and clearly.

 

Be positive: You have to be extra careful about expressing the right attitude. So, say your ‘hello’ with a smile. Studies have shown that smiling on the phones creates a positive image. Also, it kind of adds a spring to your voice, makes you sound professional and confident.

 

Listen intently: Listening attentively is an important aspect of an interview. This is more so in case of a telephonic interview. It is important to listen carefully and answering honestly. On a telephone any slight hesitation is evident. However, don’t jump to answer a question immediately. Listen carefully and articulate it well before saying out loud.

 

Lastly, don’t rush through the interview. Take your time, sound prepared, take notes, if required. This will help you to create a positive image. Also, remember since it’s a telephonic interview you get a chance to keep all the information you may require handy. This could be your resume, notes about the company, job profile and so on. This is your cheat sheet – use it wisely.

How to handle Office Politics?

How to handle Office Politics?

 

"Office politics" is a very dirty term in corporate world. This is the sad reality, and it exists in proportions across offices. After all a dysfunctional office makes for unhappy employees, high attrition and low productivity. Even then, sometimes you get pulled into without your knowledge and at other times you create a scenario to save your misdoings. When things get out of hand, ask yourself does this really help? You will get the real answer.

 

The key to stay clear of office politics is honest communication. Sometimes, people tend to lie or giving excuses when they are caught. Or they try and drag other people to clear their wrong. This only intensifies the situation. So, the best thing to do here is to accept your fault and as an adult give solutions to repair it. This will make your seniors trust you again.

 

Remember to err is to human. So, if you can accept your flaw and be honest about it, you have nothing to fear. However, don’t make the mistake of discussing office details or expressing your anger in public places like elevators or cafeterias or even indulge in long phone conversations over the phone in the washroom. You never know who is listening in. Though this might be innocence on your part, it could come and backfire if someone decides to use it to their advantage. There is a time and place to vent out your anger.

 

In such cases mostly the issue is personal. Thus, the key to avoid politics is to associate every problem with the issue and not with the person. In most cases people tend to get personal. And within no time the issue takes the shape of ego. Thus, starts the pulling down game. So, the key here is to remember that no one really has anything against you.

 

So, if employees don’t use tools against each other and not make an issue or a problem a personal war, offices could be happier places. For instance, employees should realise that emails are used to ease the workflow and not as a charge sheet against a person.

 

In case you are pulled into the game, be honest, accept your responsibility and get your seniors on your side. It’s always best to keep your manager in the loop or to have supporter from the senior management. This will only happen if the manager to gain your manager’s trust by being honest.

 

Thus, the key to steer out of office politics is to be honest and to work outside of your ego.

How to Face the First Day in Office?

How to Face the First Day in Office?

 

What is common between a fresher and one with eight years of experience? The nervousness of making it through the first day of work! After all as the famous adage goes: you don’t get a second chance to make the first impression!

 

The good news is that your boss and colleagues have gone through it, so they will make it easier for you to settle in. First day of work is filled with nervousness and anxiety for anyone, and this is irrespective of age or experience. But, the trick to is to keep your outside appearance calm and confident. What will help is to wear a warm smile, a confident gait and keep eye contact.

 

And to make it even simpler, try:

 

1. Wearing a positive attitude: This will make your new job exciting and will help you to develop a strong foundation. However, don’t fake it or overdo it. You don’t want to fall into the trap of over-committing, where you eventually fail to meet the expectations. So, remember to keep it simple and easy.

 

2. Wearing the right clothes: Yes, clothes make a man. So, it doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman, spend some time grooming yourself before your first day. It’s best to learn about the company culture and what kind of clothes people usually wear at work. For instance, you don’t want to walk into an advertising agency, where the environment is causal, wearing a suit and jacket.

 

3. Taking a break: It is always best to take a week off before joining your new office. It’s always good to start on a fresh note. If that’s not possible, take enough rest before your first day. A fresh mind will help you fight the nervousness better.

 

4. Letting go off the past: Don’t compare your new office to the last place of work. And, most importantly don’t expect to create the same environment. This will only add to your frustration, leaving you miserable and grumpy on your first day. Give yourself time to adjust to the new place and do try to mould yourself to the new surroundings.

 

5. Expressing your gratitude: Be kind and appreciative to everyone. This will help you to ease into the process and system easily. People will be more open and willing to accept you. After all no one really wants to welcome a rude newbie, isn’t it?

 

Lastly, don’t go by old theory of a firm handshake is a confident handshake. Times have now changed. You don’t want to send out wrong signals. Thus, in case of a handshake follow the lead and modulate your pressure in accordance to the other person.

 

Of course, try and reach at least 20 minutes earlier. You can use this time to calm yourself before taking the first step into your new role.

How to face your rude boss in the office?

How to face your rude boss in the office?

If your boss or manager is rude, your life may become difficult and hard. In this article we have tried to mention some points which may help you in handling your rude boss as you have to spend 8-9 hours of a day in the office.

1. Keep your boss posted: It is important for your boss to feel in control and aware of all aspects of work. He may be a delegator or a dictator but each boss wants to be updated on progress of work on a regular basis.

2. Find the root cause: Rather than whining over a bad boss and his attitude towards you. Try and find the reason for such an attitude. Find out if he reacts the same way with all his subordinates. At many times the boss is not aware of this attitude and the problem it causes you. Openly discussing the problem with the boss may be the easiest solution.

Every boss values a loyal subordinate. It is important to be faithful to your boss. No matter how he handles his work, it is a bad idea to bad-mouth about him to everybody. Chances are somebody will tell him about your antics, creating more trouble for you.

3. Meet your boss outside the office: If your boss never seems to have the time to listen to your ideas, take him out for a drink. Many people have a Jekyll-Hyde personality. They have a very different attitude when they are at work and very different once in a casual environment. This extra effort of taking out time for work related issues will surely put you in your boss’ good books.

4. Reach out to the authority: It would be unfair to say that no matter what your boss does, you do not report it to anybody. The point here is to get the right people to notice the problem. Talking about the problem to people junior to him will not help. But reaching out to his superior or even the HR department might do the trick for you.

If all these tricks fail, then it is good to blame it on luck. Maybe the job or the opportunity was not quite right for you. The best thing to do under these circumstances is to get transferred to another department. This is better than quitting the organization altogether as it will not show on your resume. If that is not a possibility then put in your papers and walk away. As nothing is worth your self-respect.

Finding the perfect boss-employee equation is like a dream come true. Bosses should understand that employees like to be mentored but dislike being managed. Bad management can lead to the loss of employee, as well as all the training and intellectual investments that were made in making him/her suitable for the job.

For Working Mothers: How to balance work and child after maternity leave?

For Working Mothers: How to balance work and child after maternity leave?

When you come to office after maternity leave, its very hard to maintain a balance between office work and your new born baby. Its very tough situation you have to cope with. So we have tried to chalk out some key points which may help you to tackle this hard time.

1. Planning is the key: Realistically planning for family priorities and workplace commitments help in managing varied and multiple demands. Be honest and realistic when listing goals, needs and expectations of both, family and workplace. Planning should ideally start before you actually resume work. Arrange for childcare well in advance. Make a daily to-do list and stick to it. Prioritize work and adhere to deadlines. Take out few minutes before leaving the workplace to plan and organize for the next day.

2. The balancing act: Spell-out job responsibilities and obligations to understand workplace expectations after maternity leave. Maintaining a good work-life balance is a must. Do not take work home and don’t bring home-related issues to office. Identify tasks at office and home and fix ownership. Further divide these tasks based on what can be kept on hold and what can be skipped. Seek permission for flexible hours, telecommunications or working half-day or part time, if a full-time job is posing difficulties.

3. Move over that guilt: Remember that being a working mother doesn't make you a bad mother, at all. Returning to work after maternity leave will pose emotional conflicts for new mothers. But, don’t feel guilty about leaving your little baby at home. Remind yourself that whatever you are doing is for the benefit of your family. Be confident to take up the challenges of balancing work and life after motherhood.

4. Know your worth: Never underestimate yourself. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance post maternity is not rocket science. However, you need to push yourself to multitask and focus, to successfully accommodate work and home obligations. Tell yourself that you are a valuable asset for your organisation and precious for your family.

5. Winning with support: For any new mother, returning back to work after maternity requires a lot of family support. A supportive spouse and family instill confidence and takes off the emotional stress of being away from the child. You tend to be at ease when you know that you have people you can trust to take care of your child at home. Be open and share your concerns and feelings with your family and acknowledge their support.

Overall, maintain a positive attitude and be proactive. Remember that this is a temporary phase and will pass. Once you get into the groove, managing home and work will not seem tedious. Finally, take pride in yourself – Be a proud mother and savor achievements at workplace.

When to switch the job?

When to switch the job?

There are many circumstances when you get fed up with your job and want to switch the job. There are many things to keep in mind while taking the decision of switching the job. Following are the situations when you consider job switching in search of better career opportunities and mental satisfaction.

1. You are far from your individual goals: We all have goals for ourselves and we all want to reach them at a certain time. But, if you feel that the present can’t offer you that opportunity, then it’s time to reconsider your options. This is very individualistic and the person must be very clear about his or her vision. One must carefully analyse whether the organization has the ability to offer the right opportunity or not before taking this decision.

2. Work is equal to boredom: If you are always bored at work and you feel that the company is not allowing you to utilize your full potential, then instead of whiling your time and hoping for things to turn around, it’s best to look for other options.

3. Colleagues or bosses are bringing down your morale: This is rated as among the top three reasons for job switch. This may or may not be right reason every time. One has to learn to fight their way through and differentiate between personal and professional life. Thus, if the organization has the potential to help you grow, don’t blow it away because your have problem with colleagues or your boss. However, if it is affecting your confidence or ability to perform or it’s also affecting your health, personal life then it’s time to speed up that notice period.

4. Money, money, money: A common reason why people want to quit their jobs. It’s valid to a certain extent. More money is always right. Here, the person has to evaluate or draw a balance between personal growth and money. More money in another organization doesn't always mean progress. Sometime if one sticks to an organization, chances are that they may grow faster and eventually make more money.

5. You are an emotional wreck: You are upset with everything – big or small – that’s happening at work; you are looking and feeling stressed all the time; you are avoiding people; you are not sleeping or eating well; and your anxiety levels are always high then you have most certainly reached a break point.

Career Growth: Small vs Big Companies

Career Growth: Small vs Big Companies

In this article "Small vs Big Companies", we try to compare small companies with big fishes. Which one is better for you for better overall career growth in terms of salary, learning, work-family balance, work culture and job satisfaction. What are the advantages and disadvantages of working in a big or small company?

While there is no general rule why a smaller company is a better place to work than a larger company, small organisations do offer advantages, which are otherwise difficult to avail in a big company.In the case of small organisation, focus point is not salary or career growth opportunities but better discretionary perks to recognize employees’ contribution, which give these companies a competitive edge over bigger players. The advantage of working in any small company arises out of this ability to attend to detail.

Small companies tend to be flat, typically 4 levels at most. So it is easier to get the attention of seniors. If the seniors and the individual are good at their work, it is much easier to find opportunities for individual advancement.

Since, small companies have limited areas of operation, so it is much easier to understand the overall business. If one can make the effort, then an individual gets an understanding of an industry in a shorter time than in a big company. In small businesses, you are exposed to the entire gamut of business, rather than just your function / department. You can feel the impact of your decisions and work on the overall business performance.

Experts have named flexibility and work-life balance as the biggest benefits of working in a small-scale organisation. Reward and Recognition is another area where employees of small companies are treated well in comparison to large-scale industries.

For this same reason, salary negotiations tend to be simpler because the relative value of the contribution is more easily demonstrated. Better performance elicits better discretionary perks because the relative contribution of employees is higher.

Lastly, you really get a lot of autonomy while working with small businesses. Autonomy to think, to experiment, to fail, which actually fascinates. This also involves you emotionally in your work, encourages you to take your new initiatives and ultimately leads you to success.

If you have an entrepreneurial drive and out of box thinking capability, then you must work in a small business set-up to see the overall impact of your work and have a greater sense of achievement.