Whats wrong with IT ?

I know I could have cooked up a better headline than that, but considering that my writer's block is worse than

I got prompted to write this bit after hearing a whole lot of IT bashing that is happening around. Especially among the starry-eyed 20-somethings, fresh out of college and brimming with an almost adolescent optimism, wanting to conquer the "new" world, slay the mystical monsters that real-world poses. Unfortunately all they end up caught in the same skullduggery that has come to become a trademark of IT today.

However, having said that, let me try widening the perspective by presenting a scenario.

Just imagine you join a company and the only thing you are supposed to do is turn some levers and shafts (that too computerized) and generally monitor the status so nothing goes wrong. There are emergencies once in a blue moon for which you might need to do some firefighting. Else everything else is related to monitoring some numbers (which in turn controls some valves). The job is some remote village in Madhya Pradesh or Gujarat. A company bus that takes to you work at 8am and drops you back at 5pm. There is no computer, no internet .... heck not even a personal phone. Now, add to it, you are slated for a promotion once every 5 years come hail, storm or highwaters. And you know that there is no room for meritocracy and no one above you will move any faster. You come into a company planning to retire there (or atleast spend a few decades). There are no airconditioners in the office. But you had to wear formal clothes - possibly a uniform - blue shirt and gray trousers. Only a rickety old fan that goes ..making a plonk, plonk, plonk sound. And here is the icing on the cake. You get paid about 2000 bucks a month. That too with once a year. No formal appraisal, no one to report your issues to and worst of all, no chance of escaping from this scenario. Everyother company is like this.

Like it ? Niet ? Well, this was a typical job that a fresh engineer would get in any manufacturing company in the early 90s. Not too far off. Just about a 15 years ago. Sounds scary ?

Now let us revisit where we were. A swanky office, fully airconditioned with smart people wearing jeans and sneakers all around. A pay of around 20,000 per month with annual appraisals happening more than once a year. Entirely performance based 360 degree appraisals. Opportunity to travel around the world getting per diems which will help you make a hefty package at the end of the year. More importantly, a work place which gives you an opportunity to be heard if you have a problem - an ombudsman perhaps. Not to mention, 24X7 highspeed internet connections and a personal phone to boot. Proper training program, certifications for which the fees are remitted if you pass it, value addition through a variety of different forums and seminars. And the final deal - an ability to directly deliver to the bottom-line of the company. I mean, I know that I need to fix "n" number of defects before the product can get to the Beta-stage, which means I have to adhere to the SLA, which in turn means I am directly contributing to the revenue of the company by putting in "x" hours per day. Sounds great ? Atleast a lot better than turning knobs not know how you are adding value to the company.

So, I hear the next question "Do I get complacent about whatever crap that is thrown at me without complaining ?" Nope !! I don't want to sound like a "hamare zamaane mein" grandad. The stereotypical Indian engineer is hyper-competitive and never known mediocrity all his life. The best college, the best clothes, the best mobile phone.........so why not the best job ? But what I want to emphasize is that Indian engineers and any other people in the knowledge industry have an opportunity that hitherto unheard. You are at such a junction in time, which anyother era would give an arm and a leg to have. Yet no one seems to be understanding the importance of it. Just another day at office when you return without having learnt a thing at office is going to motivate anyone. Not you, not me, not anyone. That is just human psyche. So do you expect the HR team to come over to your desk and beg and plead you to "grow". Heck, no one cares for that either. If you are out, there are plenty of others to choose from - its common knowledge that India produces the highest number of Engineering graduates each year.

So what does one do about it ? Though I hate putting cookie-cutter solutions, here are some that I have to offer:

(1) Certifications: A great way to establish credentials, learn new stuff and more importantly stay motivated on the job. Choose the technology or the career path that you want to follow and take certifications in it. By itself they won't give you a job. But when supplemented with some real world project experience, they can go a long way in knowing your current (or even potential) employer know that they have people who have skills which can be readily deployed. Maybe there is an onsite opportunity and there are a couple of people marked for that position. A certification would clearly evince your mastery (albeit theoretical) in your area of specialization.

(2) Training programs: Don't just take it, also involve yourself in creating them. I am sure if you have enough bandwidth, requisite experience and good communication skills your company would love to have you on the team which designs these courses. One of my classmate who went onto join Patni. A smart chap, he was bored sitting on bench when projects did not come through (around the slowdown in 2001) and went onto write numerous articles for IT magazines and finally a book on J2EE.

(3) Soft-skills: If there were every a number one factor why people fail to get ahead in career, Im sure "lack of soft-skills" would top the list. And I am taking about a plethora of different things under it - facilitation skills, communication through email/phone, networking, understanding human behavior, doing your own personality assessment to see where you stand. I am sure there are plenty of stuff available in your company intranet or there is always google. Plus, maybe improving your general awareness. Start quizzing. Or maybe pickup a topic and do extensive research on that. "Greeky mythology" for starters. There is no dearth of stuff on the internet. We all know that.

(4) Domain knowledge: Frankly how much about your industry vertical or domain do you really know. There is life beyond pointers in C and objects in Java. Do you want to know more about finance ? How about doing a PG diploma from ICFAI ? Or maybe even taking up one of the exams offered by NSE. All in all, there are various ways in which you can gain competence in any industry though education is not the only (and certainly not the best) way to do it. But heck, that is as good a starting point as any whitepaper. As mentioned in point (2), certifcations have a huge benefit than not having any. It not only looks good on your resume, it also shows people that you learnt things by going through a structured curriculum.

(5) Have a goal: More specifically read it as - Career planning and mentorship. Pick a mentor to bounce ideas off. Either in your own company or from someother place - your professor, neighbourhood uncle etc. Unless you know what to do there is no way you can get there. Once you figure out what you want to do, say 5 years from now - equip yourself with the right skills. If you want to be an architect trying learning design patterns. Try putting up a website where you can share this knowledge. Or maybe what is written in point (2). Infact a lot of what has been written in the previous points is tied closely to this one. This is the lynchpin. Unless you know the destination there is no fun in taking up a journey in the first place. Having a clear goal (which ofcourse can be changed depending on circumstances) gives you something measurable, something tangible and something definitely motivating than any pep-talk.

The usual caveats apply, this is not intended to be a guide "What to do when you are on bench ?". Rather, re-read the subject line and you will understand the original objective of this post. So enjoy work, be happy and have a good night's sleep. IT is good. Not only for the country's economy but also for you and your career. Come to office with this realization and see things around you changing for the better.