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Follow UsSometime back,
I was looking for a Resource Manager for my operations in Mumbai. One
of the important job functions of the Resource Manager was to recruit
software professionals for the company. While my search was still on,
I got a call from a headhunter. He intended to offer me a job. I liked
the idea and accepted his invitation to meet him in the coffee shop
of a hotel.
I had a two-fold objective for this meeting. First, I was going to meet
a headhunter. So I could offer him the job of Resource Manager/Executive
for my operations. (I had a doubt that he could be the owner/partner
of the firm.) Second was that we could explore the market.
I met him on dot, date and time. First, I checked up about his position
in the company. The visiting card stated his designation as Business
Development Manager. During further discussion, I learnt that he was
a partner in the firm. Oh, my hard luck, my one objective was killed.
No way I could have offered him a job!
He briefed me about the company, its broad plans and the position. It
was a position for a multinational organization. He stated that it was
supposed to be the #2 position in that company.
I primarily had two questions to ask: my job profile and growth prospects
in the company, and pay packet.
He was able to define the current job profile, but got a bit choked
while defining the growth prospects. He did try left and right-all possible
techniques-to define the same, but could not define them clearly.
I think I caught him on the wrong foot quite early in the game. I kept
pursuing on the growth prospects. As we went ahead with the discussion,
he came out that there could be two persons at the same level. In which
case it was not going to be the exclusive #2 position. It appeared to
be the structure of a flat organization.
He asked me for a copy of my resume. I explained to him that this would
be a marathon task for me to prepare one. Anyway, he still had to tell
me the growth prospects in the company. So I refused to forward any
paper until I was clear about my growth prospects.
At that point of time, I had to explain to him that I had always worked
with the mindset of a CEO. Say, for me it was either a project or a
profit center. I asked him a simple question: Since I would be joining
as #2, when could I become the CEO or the #1 in the company?
At that moment, as his body language told me, he was surprised at what
I had said. After some more attempts of convincing me, he realized that
he was stuck.
He agreed to revert to me after collecting the details from his client
organization. We had a little more interaction on 'How I had grown in
my company.' It was a solid session.
The next topic was the pay packet. He offered me a little more than
double the salary I was drawing.
This included an Esteem car with a driver and "decent accommodation"
in Mumbai.
I briefed him about my current salary and salary expectations. The expected
salary had two components: hike for the change and the rest for my trust,
confidence, dependability and loyalty. Plus I also asked him to factor
in my current position in the organization I was working with. I think
by that time he had realized my expectations. Probably, he got the message
that it was too hard to attract or move an old-timer.
Moral of the story
This is all to set a stage to convey a message to all in the IT industry
or dynamic industries like IT. That there is nothing wrong in appearing
for an interview. It is not a crime. If one is appearing for an interview,
one should undertake this very carefully and effectively. It could be
a very self-motivating act. On the contrary, it could be very frustrating.
One should take certain precautions, like:
* The objective for appearing in the interview should be very clear
* The expectations from the interview should be very clear
* As a candidate, you should get into the driver's seat and drive the
interview. If the interviewer starts driving it, the person might be
able to excite you and take you in a world of perceptions
* You should get into the mode of selling yourself and your existing
organization. The selling should be in a manner that makes the interviewer's
job difficult to sell the new opportunity (job profile and organization).
You must sell your existing organization, even if you are not too happy
and/or have issues with the company. You might have all the valid reasons
to look for a change
* Beware. Do not get carried away by fancy factors like Esteem, #2 position,
multinational or other such perks. Evaluate 'what is in it for me.'
SURDHIR AGGARWAL
is Head, Professional Services Unit (Mumbai),
HCL Infosystems Ltd.
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