In Search of a Golden Sky

RECKITT BENCKISER TOP 10 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:31:00 +0000

1. Sell yourself to us in 30-60 seconds.
2. What’s your favorite brand? What is it doing wrong? How would you change that?
3. If you were given a choice of working as a brand manager in England, Bangladesh or an MT here in Pakistan, which would you prefer and why?
4. How would you sell Harpic in the rural areas of Pakistan?
5. Are you a good observer? (If answered yes) Stand up, turn around, now tell me, am I wearing a watch?
6. If given a choice, which would you prefer as a boss, a male or a female and why?
7. Describe yourself.
8. Have you been in a situation where you had to work with someone you weren’t fond of? How did you manage it? What was the result?
9. Are you a leader? (If answered, yes) Everyone that’s coming up for the interview is saying the same thing. How can everyone be the leader? What do you have to say about that?
10. Will you be willing to travel to far flung areas of the country?

Work from Home Opportunity

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:49:00 +0000

You can be much more than a HOUSEWIFE!

An exciting and rewarding part time opportunity for you:

- Earn Rs.25,000 a month, working 4 hours a day
- No previous working experience necessary

- Free training and lots of other exciting incentives

Join our Free Opportunity Seminar to find out more!

Wednesday, 15th August - 3:00 to 4:30 pm at
Sheraton Hotel (Mogra). Please call to reserve a place:
540 5440, 0333 3014373

ATTRACTIVE MARKETING JOBS IN A FAST- GROWING BTL AGENCY!!

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:11:00 +0000

COMPANY PROFILE

Empact Activation Services Pvt. Ltd.

Owing its humble beginning in 2005 to Image Graphic Solutions (Pvt.) Ltd. as its BTL division, EMPACT! grew into one of the largest activation agencies in Pakistan and is the fastest growing one.

With offices in all three metros of Pakistan and planned branches in strata 2 cities in the near future, our workforce comprises of the best in the industry. From strategic planning and creative idea generation to production and on-ground execution our team of dedicated professionals is amongst the best in the world!

What we do

BTL Activation
Float Production and Execution
Direct Marketing
Product Sampling
Product Selling
Kiosk Production and Execution
Display Stalls at Exhibitions
Citywide or Nationwide Poster/Banner Placement
Lucky Draws Schemes
Mobile Games and Festivals
POS and POP placement Campaigns
Merchandizing
Event Management
Concerts
Product Launches
Conferences / Seminars
Exhibitions
Corporate Functions
Team Building Events
Festivals

Departments - The Pillars of Empact!
Strategy and Planning (Planning, Creative, and Client Servicing)
Operations (Execution, Production, MIS & Reporting, and Quality Control)
Finance
Administrative
Executive
Opportunities

We are offering Marketing jobs, with great learning and growth prospects, and attractive salary packages.

We're looking for well versed, confident and dynamic young individuals for the following positions:

MANAGEMENT TRAINEE (Strategy and Planning: Planners and Client Servicing Managers)Qualifications: Bachelors or Masters in business.Should have excellent communication and presentation skills, and a fair command over English language.Proficient in MS Office, especially Powerpoint, Word and Excel. Computer Graphics know-how is a plus point.Job Description:Management Trainees will undergo a 3 month training to excel as a Planner, as well as a Client Service Manager. As a planner: Planning activations for our client's brands, compiling and presenting these plans to the client.Devising internal strategies for the business.As Client Servicing Manager: Be able to manage client relationships superbly, communicate all client needs accurately to the planning and operations team. Oversee the execution of activities and communicate them to the client.
INTERNEE (Strategy and Planning)Qualifications:Educational background in Business, or Computer Graphics, or Creative Writing. Proficient in MS Office, especially Powerpoint, Word and Excel.Be able to do data and fact-finding research using the Internet.Job Description:Assisting the department with ongoing projects by doing research work. Compiling different documents/presentat ions/reports using MS Office.Creating/Enhancing images on Photoshop.
Interested?

To apply, send an email to sana@empact- pk.com by Thursday, September 6th, 2007, 3 PM latest.
Be sure to attach a copy of your updated resume, and mention your name, email address, and contact number.

Job Opportunity at Sindh Education Foundation

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:15:00 +0000

Company Profile
The Sindh Education Foundation is a semi-government organization working towards providing literacy and empowerment to the disadvantaged communities of Sindh. The Foundation functions in various districts of the province and has the following core programs:

1. Adopt-a-School Program
2. Community Supported Schools Program
3. Child Labor education program
4. Fellowship Schools Program
5. Home Schools Program
6. Women Literacy and Empowerment Program

The Foundation also works closely with the Aga Khan Foundation through there Releasing Confidence and Creativity Program focusing on Early Childhood Development.

The Foundation has its major magazine Educate!, which gives a critical analysis of the education within the country. SEF has also launched the first Early Childhood Magazine of the country “Nurture” and is also working on producing thematic booklets.

The Foundation is working towards establishing a Quality Assurance Resource Center – a project that works towards improving the education within the country by focusing on the different types of schooling within Pakistan.

For more information visit our website: www.sef.org.pk

Position:
· Associate- Marketing, Advocacy & Publications

Job Description:
The person in this position will be responsible for the following:
· Develop content for SEF publications (newsletters, magazines, brochures)
· Develop content for SEF website
· Develop content for “Nurture” magazine on Early Childhood Development
· Conduct long scale researches on areas related to ECD, School Management, Teacher Education, Quality of Education and ECD policy
· Guide the creative and graphic designers in designing the publications and other advocacy material
· Conduct short scale research studies on various areas pertaining to the SEF programs
· Conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis for research conducted.
· Assist in organizing and managing conferences and seminars.
· Assist in designing advocacy and educational material for programs at SEF.

To be based in:
Karachi - Head Office

Eligibility:
Education:
BSc. in any area / Masters degree in any field
Experience:
No work experience required
Special Skills:
A natural ability to write. Patience to edit, proof read and undertake documentation for SEF programs.

How to Apply:
Interested candidates should forward soft copy of their CV‘s to tatheer@sef.org.pk latest by August 27, 2007 till 12:00 (noon).

HOW TO AVOID THE UNEMPLOYMENT DEPRESSION III

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 20:17:00 +0000

Avoid comparing yourself with people who have already secured a job. This is the second most deadly depression inducing tool after prickly relatives and friends. It’s inevitable that some of your batchmates are going to get better jobs and more quickly as well. It’s also possible that some have a GPA lower than yours and are even your close friends. That’s going to hurt the most.
So choose your comparisons wisely. Focus on those people who have GPA or grade higher than yours and still unemployed. That’s the only way to tackle this monster.

In many cases, the more you try to compete, the less competitive you actually
are.

Kathy Sierra

Of course, it’s a different story altogether if everyone is employed and you are the last man standing.

One of the studies quoted in The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People regarding comparison:
A large group of students was given a word puzzle to solve.
Researchers compared the satisfaction of students who finished
the puzzle quickly or more slowly. Students who finished the
puzzle quickly and compared themselves with the very fastest
students came away feeling dissatisfied with themselves.
Students who finished the puzzle more slowly but compared
themselves with the slowest students came away feeling quite
satisfied with themselves and tended to ignore the presence of
the quick-finishing students.
Lyubomirsky and Ross 1997

What all this means is the root of dissatisfaction is your ability to compare yourself with others. Comparing yourself with examples that make you comfortable about who you are and what you have will go a long way in removing much of the man-made misery in your life.

All said and done, the bulk of your time in any unemployment phase should be spent researching prospective employers, sending customized cover letter and resumes to them, and in some cases following up on them.

I cannot lay enough emphasis on the research part. It’s very much possible that your very first job is not your ideal or dream job, and while you accept that offer, you are still on the lookout in search of the golden sky. Remember that when you get an interview call while you are in a job, you won’t get sufficient time to prepare for that. So unless you’ve done your homework regarding that particular organization beforehand, chances are you won’t be able to do a good job of it on such quick notice. And in the end, you may blow your chance of getting hired by your dream company.

How can you prepare for a interview in a particular organization? Your best bet is to prepare a SWOT analysis of every firm and the industry it is in. Am I kidding? Who would go to the trouble of asking such stuff in an interview?

The PSO interview panel did just that. I agree it’s not a standard practice, but it can happen, and you don’t want to be caught in an awkward situation in an interview for a firm that you desire to be a part of. Even if the interviewer doesn’t ask for the complete SWOT, your having done the SWOT would enable to tackle any question he may have about his company.

Doing SWOT requires considerable time, which you have in abundance when you unemployed. It becomes a scarce commodity when you get hired, so use it wisely. It’s the surest cure to your unemployment woes.

Finally, don’t make a plan beforehand that you’re going to such and such stuff for this amount of time. Just wake up early, and delve into the first unpleasant thing that comes to your mind. Finish that keeping those juicy incentives in mind and jump on to the next one. Keep doing this until you are almost at the end of the day, and then reward yourself with that thing that kept you going throughout the day. You deserve it now. But remember, in all this mayhem; don’t forget to tune with God a couple of times each day. I may offer you all the wonderfully soothing tips, but your best comfort lies in your spiritual connection with the Divine Power. Without that, you are just going to wither away emotionally, spiritually and even physically no matter how much you keep yourself busy.

Try to do most of the things that I’ve suggested here, and believe me, the next thing you know it would be time for the job that you had been patiently waiting for.

Work saves us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need.

Voltaire

National Talent Hunt Program (NTHP) 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 20:36:00 +0000

Institute of Bankers of Pakistan (IBP) has announced a National Talent Hunt Program (NTHP) aiming at developing National Talent Pool (NTP) for banks, financial institutions, corporate and other reputed employers. To begin with we are organizing a Know Your Strength test exclusively for the MBA’s on 14th August, 2007 at 10:30 am at 6 centers viz. Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, Peshawar and Quetta, For details see IBP website: www.ibp.org.pk
National Talent Hunt Program (NTHP)
IBP as a knowledge Institute is committed to provide pro-active and innovative solutions to the financial services sector mainly in the field of Human Resource Management and development. To meet these objective several initiatives were introduced and successfully managed during the recent years. On the sixty first independence day of Pakistan, IBP is pleased to announce a National Talent Hunt Program (NTHP) aiming at developing a National Talent Pool (NTP) for the banks, financial institutions, corporate and other reputed employers.
Banking industry of Pakistan is on a high growth trajectory. The rising volume of business, expanding branch network, cut throat competition and appetite for quality products and processes have brought enormous pressure on the existing human resource inventory. It is felt that there is an acute shortage of competent human resource to meet the ever rising demand. In order to fill this gap the banks resorted to open or targeted recruitment processes. IBP is partnering with eighteen banks and financial institutions in their recruitment and promotion process. During current fiscal IBP, conducted 21 recruitment tests for SBP, NBP, MCB, HSBC, ZTBL, HBFC, Crescent Commercial and Bank Islami in which 17,500 candidates participated. Hardly 1,000 participants reached up to the acceptable pass standard. It is worth mentioning that the participants were from reputed educational institutes and secured good GPA or percentage from them. On the other hand the short listing criteria of the banks are on rise and therefore a good number of candidates may not be eligible to even enter into the test. Our experience in processing job applications and conducting of tests during last five years revealed that a large number of talented youngsters can not enter into the race mainly on account of their low GPA and/or their age crossing the limit.
The banks have their own preferences as to the desired GPA, age, experience, qualification and educational institution, however, IBP as a national Institute can opt for a different set of criteria and thus can effectively contribute towards developing a National Talent Database. Once developed this information will be available to the banks, financial services sector and other reputed employers through a powerful database to be maintained at IBP and will be updated periodically. There will be three specific objectives for this National Talent Hunt Program (NTHP)
a) Offering a chance to all those promising youngsters who cannot enter into the testing process owing to the short listing criteria suggested by the job offeror.
b) Through a scientific testing mechanism the participants will be able to know as to what is their standing in the National Talent Pool
c) Those who fail to reach a minimum pass standard will be advised and offered professional development program
To begin with we are organizing a Know Your Strength (KYS) test exclusively for the MBAs.
Please note, this is not an employment test but it will be a route to enter into the National Talent Pool. The success of this program will open new avenues for the other target groups.
Know Your Strength Test
Schedule: August 14, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. Insha Allah
Centres: Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan, Peshawar and Quetta
Eligibility: MBAs with GPA 2.5 or above and Age up to 30 years as on August 14, 2007
Test Focus: a) English comprehension
b) Logical Thinking
c) Mathematical Intelligence
d) Current Business Affairs
e) General Knowledge
Methodology: Multiple Choice Questions
Duration: 90 minutes
Participation Fee: None.
It is yet another national service offered by IBP without any fee or charges
Result: The test result in the order of merit will be displayed on IBP website
What next: IBP will share this valuable information with banks and other
stakeholders who may be in search of talented youth and may be willing to
consider them for employment
How to apply? Visit http://www.ibp.org.pk/nthp.asp

HOW TO AVOID THE UNEMPLOYMENT DEPRESSION II

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:26:00 +0000

The second most important thing you can afford to do in this phase of your life is what most of us have grown to dread. Books. For some of us, they are a treasure trove, but for the majority, they are useless pieces of junk. However, they are surest way of mental development provided that you get hold of a quality book.
So you next move should be to start reading good books, something that can lift your spirits. Read a bit of yet another good book at the same time, but this one related to your field of expertise. It’s imperative that you know the maximum possible stuff about your field, get a 360 view of it, so that you can speak with authority whenever an interview lands in your lap. But that’s not going to be enough. You have to stay abreast with the latest developments as well in your field. For that you’ll have to either read the latest publications which are probably going to be available in your own university, or try to catch up on it on the internet.

Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.

-Thomas H. Huxley

And while you are at it, read up on material that improves your interviewing skills. There are loads of free ebooks available on knowfree.net that help you in every aspect of this phase including preparing resumes and places to search for your ideal job.

Read the newspaper. It’s simply crucial. The interviewer is going to be asking you about the current affairs irrespective of whether you are applying for a technical position. It’s one of the barometers he’s going to be using to assess your worth to his firm. For some it’s an unpleasant experience, but its one of those things that simply has to be done. In fact the more unpleasant it’s for you, the more pleasure you are going to derive from having accomplished this task.

Having once decided to achieve a certain task, achieve it at all costs of tedium
and distaste. The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome
labor is immense.

Arnold Bennett.

Having said that, avoid the depressing news as much as you can, especially those that are near to the home and are certain to evoke a negative reaction in you. Focus on the international issues, that’s what the interviewer is going to be most interested in. Everyone knows what is happening about him, and with this assumption the interviewer is going to avoid delving into the local scene. The chances of him asking about that are pretty slim, and the benefits of not reading the local section far outweigh the losses.

It is possible that the international scene is filled with dark and dreary news, but then that’s the nature of news. The point is since you’re not emotionally attached to that place, its impact is going to be minimal. Unless of course, it’s about the religious caricatures or Salman Rushdie. The thing is that you have to suspend reality and try to live in a make-belief world, even to the extreme of ‘living in a fool’s paradise’, if that’s what it takes to create an impeccably consistent positive mental attitude.

A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder
drug.

Patricia Neal

In fact, strive to do a couple of unpleasant tasks every day that you are unemployed. It’s a great way to boost your self-esteem. And do them early on in the day when you are still full of vigor. And avoid any leisurely pursuits until late in the day when you are done with most of the difficult tasks.

When you have a number of disagreeable duties to perform, always do the most
disagreeable first.

Josiah Quincy

In fact, get through the unpleasant ones by thinking about these goodies. Use them as an incentive to finish your chores, so that when you finally get to your favorite pastime (be it watching television, movie, going out with friends or simply reading a novel) at the end of the day you feel like you have earned it and you enjoy it more thoroughly. If you do it at the start of the day, there’s no incentive to get the dreaded tasks done. You end up procrastinating, getting bored and then your thoughts wander to the bitter fact that you are unemployed. It’s a vicious circle, and you have to tackle it on a day-to-day basis.

Management Trainee Program at Ferguson

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 17:39:00 +0000

A. F. Ferguson & Co. (AFF), a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), is the largest and most distinguished advisory/ accountancy firm in Pakistan. Our network firm, PwC, is the Global Leader in providing advisory/ assurance services with over 140,000 staff in 149 countries and annual revenues in excess of USD 22 billion.
For the last few years, AFF has been focused on developing its advisory/ consultancy business across all sectors of the economy. In this pursuit, we have developed a dedicated Risk Advisory Services (RAS) Division within the firm along the lines of PwC. This Division serves different Lines of Businesses especially Financial Services (i.e. Banking, Insurance, Capital Market entities etc.), Oil and Gas and Telecom.
Our RAS Team comprises of high-calibre individuals representing diversified disciplines ranging from MBAs, CAs and CFAs to people of specialized skills such as risk management (FRM), actuarial sciences, financial econometrics/ engineering, mathematics and statistics etc. Majority of our team members have served at senior positions in various banks, oil and gas and telecom companies in the past. This mix of skill set from diversified disciplines and sectors puts us in the best position to serve the needs of our clients to their satisfaction.
The following is an indicative range of our services:
Basel II Advisory
COSO/ SOX 404 Advisory
Business Process Re-engineering
ERP Services
Business Process/ Manual Development
Risk Management
Due Diligence
Asset Liability Management and Derivatives Advisory
Strategy Consulting
Internal Audit
Fraud Risk Services
Benchmarking Studies and Gap Analysis
Efficiency Audits
Review/ Design of Organisational Structure and Roles
Regulatory & Compliance Reviews
Solvency II
Our RAS practice is currently engaged in providing above-mentioned services to a number of large and medium sized organizations and has become the largest advisory practice in Pakistan over a very short span of time. The firm is also constantly working on future initiatives and projects and aims to maintain its market leadership in advisory.
We have recently introduced our Fast Track Management Trainee Program for 2007 under which we are seeking dynamic and enthusiastic Fresh graduates from renowned institutions. Individuals selected under this program will form a key part of our RAS Financial Services Practice and will have access to the methodology and tools developed by PricewaterhouseCoopers worldwide. They will also undergo internal and on-job training including those conducted with the help of our local and PwC Subject Matter Experts/ Trainers.

Eligibility Criteria:
MBAs graduated in May 2007 with specialization in Finance.
Candidates should possess excellent oral and written communication skills.
Internship in renowned consultancy organisations/ accountancy firms with specific focus on risk management advisory / process development in banks will be considered a Plus.
As a first step in the selection process, we have already conducted an orientation/ group discussion session for a group of interested candidates to explain to them about AFF and in particular RAS, RAS product profile and services and most importantly the key features of our Management Training Program for 2007. The session also highlighted the career prospects and progression opportunities and a description of the role of Management Trainees during the training period of six months and going forward when they would be serving as consultants in our organization.
We would like to provide another chance to those individuals who could not make it to our earlier session. You are accordingly informed that our next similar session is due to be held on July 17, 2007 at 11:00 A.M (Sharp) at the following address:
A.F. Ferguson & Co.
Chartered Accountants
State Life Building No. 1-C (First Floor)
I.I. Chundrigar Road,
Karachi.
If you are interested in attending the session, please send soft copy of your resume to saad.mukhtar@pk.pwc.com by July 14, 2007.
For further clarification, kindly contact the following:
Saad Mukhtar Ahmed
Risk Advisory Services(RAS)
AF Ferguson & Co.
Phone: 021-2426711 (Ext) 313
0300-8208210

Job Opportunity at AAJ TV

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:32:00 +0000

AAJ TV is a part of the highly credible Business Recorder Group and is one of the biggest Urdu language television channels. AAJ TV is the logical progression of the group's mission to dispense unadulterated information through easily accessible mediums. Extensive planning, spanning over 2 years, has gone into perfecting the organizations operations. Now AAJ TV employs over 350 employees and has fully equipped bureaus in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. AAJ TV is the only digital satellite channel to have an Earth Station in Pakistan that broadcasts directly to the AsiaSat satellite with a footprint of over 60 countries. This Earth Station provides exceptional flexibility and control in responding to local and international events.
AAJ TV is in the process of hiring fresh graduates from Institute of Business Administration, Karachi for its Marketing department.
The incumbent should:
Be holding MBA degree
Having 1 - 2 years of experience. Fresh graduates can also apply
Have Marketing major
Be positive in approach and attitude
Have ability to understand business requirements
Be self motivated to learn new features and tools
Interested candidates should send soft copy of their resume to marketing@aaj.tv latest by, July 14, 2007 (noon

MT Program at Askari Bank

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 17:42:00 +0000

Askaribank, an institution, which aims to provide innovative financial solutions to its customers, is seeking highly talented, innovative and resourceful candidates with strong academic background for induction in the Bank as Management Trainees to go one step further in achieving the desired Excellence.
The program is a unique and challenging opportunity for those who strive for excellence. It is enriched with rigorous classroom training, job rotation and personal mentoring. The objective of the program is to develop high potential leaders who will be able to implement the growth plans and strategic imperative of the bank.
Eligibility Criteria
The candidates should possess MBA, MPA, M.Com, M.Sc (Banking & Finance), MA/M.Sc (Economics) or equivalent degrees in related disciplines from HEC recognized or well-reputed foreign universities. Four Years Bachelors Degree Program holders in the above-mentioned disciplines are also eligible to apply.s
Candidates having highest degree passing year of 2006 and 2007.
Maximum age up to 26 years as on December 31, 2007.
Interested candidates who fulfill the above mentioned criteria may post their CV on the www.askaribank.com.pk latest by July 06, 2007.

Lucrative Job Opportunity

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 17:47:00 +0000

Title of Position
Financial Analyst & Planning Assistant

location
Islamabad Based

Client’s detail
To be shared later

Gender
Any

Qualification Required
Masters Program

Desired experience
1-3 years experience in similar position within a multinational or international environment in FMCG

AGE
No preference

Core skills
Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Job Description & Required Personality Traits
• Assemble spreadsheets and draw charts and graphs used to illustrate technical reports, using computer.
• Analyze financial information to produce forecasts of business, industry, and company statement for use in making investment decisions.
• Maintain knowledge and stay abreast of developments in the fields of, business, finance, and economic theory.
• Interpret data affecting financial statements, such as price, yield, stability, cost variances, future trends in investment risks.
• Monitor financial & corporate developments through the analysis of information obtained from financial statements.
• Recommend investments and investment timing to companies, investment firm staff, or the investing public.
• Prepare plans of action for investment based on financial analyses.

PACKAGE DETAIL
Rs. 50-60,000 per month
CLOSING DATE
July 02, 2007
How to Apply
Please send your CVs on hyshah1@gmail.com

HOW TO AVOID THE UNEMPLOYMENT DEPRESSION PART I

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 20:32:00 +0000

‘Abey tak naukri nahi hui?’, a friend or relative would exclaim. ‘Kya kar rahey ho bhei!’, the person would spew out almost accusingly. And a wave of depression would suddenly hit the person at whom these remarks were targeted.

It’s all the more worse if the person is a graduate of a top-notch university like IBA or LUMS, for then there would be an extra remark intended to rub as much salt as possible on the open wounds.

‘IBA ke to graduates ko final semester start hotay hi offers aani shroo hojati hain’. Which is the last nail in your coffin, hammered by your own near and dear ones. What this remark actually means is that all the people from your university get jobs right away, if you are still unemployed, that means there’s something terribly wrong with you.

No matter how plausible an explanation you give to these people and even if you have them convinced that the job market is down, the effect of their remark will still pierce your heart. And you will have a bout of depression, unless you have impenetrable mental shield around yourself, which chances are you won’t, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this piece.

The only thing to do is to avoid these people at all cost, no matter how good a friend or relative they may be. Isolate yourself from all such people. Avoid the social gatherings where you likely to meet such people. If it’s an important wedding or funeral, then there’s not much you can do about it. Maybe donning a burqa would help. Or maybe not. The best you can do after such an encounter is to go straight to a friend’s house with the same predicament and vent out your frustration.

Or if its too late for that, rent an outrageously raunchy comedy and see it before you hit the bed that night. But be careful which comedy movie you pick, for that can have an adverse effect on you. For instance, don’t pick Fun with Dick and Jane. Although it’s a good comedy starring Jim Carey, the movie is all about employment woes which are all exaggerated (like people out of work for so long they become desperate and start robbing banks!) for the sake of comedy.

Try to stay amongst people who understand your position and trust you to do the best for yourself rather than bothering you with negative stuff.

Research on unemployed adults has found that the length of
unemployment was less important to a person's self-esteem than
the amount of social support received from parents, family members,
and friends.
Lackovic-Grgin and Dekovic 1996

However, you shouldn’t be frustrated to begin with. Being unemployed should be a wonderful opportunity for you to get up to speed with those skills you always wanted to either acquire or hone, and now is the time to do it.

But if that’s not working, which doesn’t for many. It so happens that almost all of us spent our crucial time of the exams brooding about all the wonderful things we are going to do after this hell is over, and making exquisite plans. However when the storm has subsided, for some reason we lose the will to execute our plans. Boredom coupled with frustration sets in.

One of the first things you should do is keep yourself on the move, meaning keep doing different things each day.
The very first thing you’ll have to do is to keep yourself healthy. It’s not just about your body, but your mental being as well. The more you do something with your arms and legs, the more positive effect it has on your mental state of mind. Don’t ask me why. It’s just the way it works. So go out for a walk, jogging or anything physical.

UNILEVER TOP 17 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 17:21:00 +0000

What do you think about the economy of Pakistan?
Impress us.
What do you think is the best marketing campaign ever in Pakistan? Why?
What’s the worst?
Who has inspired/impressed you lately?
What has Jack Welch done to become famous?
We’re a seth-based company. We’re giving you 20 people to help you sell a non-branded pencil in just two days. How would you go about it?
Would you be willing to work in Gujranwal? Why?
What’s Pakistan’s GDP in absolute terms?
What’s the per capita income?
What’s the population and its division?
Tell us about a time when you led a team to success. What was the result and what was your contribution? How did you do it?
Tell us about yourself.
What’s your biggest weakness? And don’t give us that crap disguising your strength as your weakness, like being a perfectionist and all. We’ve been tired of listening to that crap the entire day from the entire IBA. Be honest about it.
Why should Unilever hire you?
Why should Unilever hire an MBA with a technical background and not a BBA MBA?
Tell us three things that your friends will identify you with.

Job Opportunity at KASB Securities

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 18:15:00 +0000

KASB is the oldest investment bank and stock brokerage house in Pakistan. This investment banking group is well reputed and provides advice to the government and private corporations on privatizations, mergers, acquisitions etc. KASB Securities is a Merrill Lynch affiliate in Pakistan. This relationship alone gives it an edge over other domestic securities firms.

KASB Securities is in the process of hiring fresh graduates from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi.
The incumbent should:
Have an MBA degree
Have Finance or MIS major
Be fresh graduate
Have strong communication and presentation skills
Interested candidates should send soft copy of their resume on nsaqib@kasb.com latest by, June 11, 2006 (noon).

PIRACY AND HYPOCRICY

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 11:06:00 +0000

This Article was published in the 9th January 2005 issue of Dawn Magazine

The child goes ecstatic looking at the huge collection of pirated Cds of different games I the shop. His father allows him to pick four of them, which cost a mere Rs.100. Had they been original, the cost would have been a whopping Rs.20,000 to Rs. 24,000( A single CD costs between $40 and $100).

In a piracy-free world, this scene would not have been possible in a Third World Country. They dynamics of piracy in the West and the Third World are quite different. Consider ourselves for a moment. There’s no denying the fact that most of us are a bunch of hypocrites. Everyone cries foul when his or her intellectual property gets infringed upon. You can see celebrities every other day on the idiot box exhorting people to stop using pirated stuff. Just catch hold of one of these people and go through their computer. You would be hard pressed to find even a single person with genuine software installed.’Who gives a damn about multi-billion corporations losing a few bucks?’ is the general perception of anyone who buys pirated stuff. This may also mean that it is alright to steal from the rich. The double standard that is prevalent in our society is a result of this kind of hypocrisy. If you yourself don’t refrain from using pirated stuff in any form, how can you expect other people to do the same?

Come to think of it, I myself have hardly in my life bought a genuine thing whose pirated copy was available. Why would you want to buy, for instance, a licensed version of Windows costing a fortune( about Rs.5,800) when you can get that for a meagre Rs.25? This line of thinking is not restricted to software only, but applies to any product which has a cheap pirated version available.

In the beginning of the new millennium, it was said that the piracy rate in Pakistan was 98 per cent. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out it must be cent per cent now. The Washington-based International Intellectual Property Alliance ranked Pakistan one of the world’s largest producers of pirated CDs and other optical discs for export in both 2001 and 2002, and alleged that Pakistan alone cost the movie and music industry around $72 million in 2002.

So the thing is, even if I did want to buy genuine stuff, I couldn’t know the difference between the two. Going by the rampant corruption here, it may after all be the same pirated stuff sold at an exorbitant price to pass off as original. In fact it does happen.

A known international company marred by the pirated games of its first Playstation, came up with an anti-piracy measure built into the hardware of Playstation 2. But even that could not stop the ingenious gurus of piracy, who designed a chip which bypasses this anti-piracy system so that you can play all pirated games. And it is so widespread that you can get your system altered to run the cheap pirated games anywhere in the Saddar electronics market for a mere Rs. 80 to Rs.150.

Right now the company is embroiled in a row with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over the use of this devious chip.

Likewise in the music industry, major record labels have been fighting a vain battle against the P2P(peer-to-peer) networks like Napster and Kazaa for the last couple of years. The only anti-piracy measure which worked here in Pakistan was the efforts of the depleted local music industry to get MP3 versions of the local artists’ music removed from the entire market. It is the sole instance where a consensus has been reached as far as piracy is concerned. But even that looks like a mirage, particularly when you consider that the local pop industry is taking the help of piracy dons to further its own cause, a relationship very much akin to the one between the Indian film industry and their underworld.

It is indeed ironic that our own music industry, which does not waste any opportunity for piracy bashing, itself gets its music released from a company based in a famous market located in Saddar, Karachi, which was, and is, a proponent of pirated entertainment material not only in Pakistan, but in the Middle East as well. The day that market gets sealed down, the music industry would come down with it. It’s a vicious circle. When you rely on shady corporations to get yourself in the limelight, you can very well face the music with them.

However, it would take a Herculean effort to wipe out that market, the fountain from where piracy sprouts in this part of the world. Why? Well, with the staggering scale of operation involved, it couldn’t really happen without the connivance of higher authorities. And then the question arises, would we be able to live without the hub of piracy. The thing is, once that get eradicated, with no lawful measures in place to import foreign flicks, and our cinemas rotting in peace, this entertainment starved nation would lose one more means of recreation. Are we willing to live without it? The local cinema owners always harp on about piracy taking away their livelihood. Would they be able to fill in the vacuum once piracy gets eliminated?
The local cinema houses, at least those showing international movies, are themselves partially to blame for their present predicament. Hardly have they ever shown a Hollywood movie within a month of its release. There was a time when the media was not as penetrative and people seldom knew when a new movie was actually released. Not anymore. Even before a movie is released, its attractions are being beamed to us via the cable TV. So why would people wait almost half a year to watch a movie when they can do so in a matter of days? This very fact brought about the downfall of a company which was authorized to release Hollywood flicks here. The company took ages to get the movies released here and even then at extortionate rents. No doubt the company now is on the verge of collapse, partly because of piracy, but mostly because of its own inefficacy.

The owner of the company thinks otherwise though admits to sales being almost non-existent. The same is the case with our theatres. Today a decent home theatre system costs less than Rs.50,000. just because advancements in technology are taking place in leaps and bounds, does that mean you ban the entire entertainment appliances because they are taking away a big chink of your business? No. you evolve yourself, something which our rigid cinema owners are reluctant to do and are thus facing the consequences. This trend is not confined to this region only, but is sweeping the entire globe. But theatre elsewhere are not whining or packing up their business. They are facing the music head on. The IMAX theatre system is a result of such changes which has yet appear on the local scene, although it has been around since 1970. With a gigantic screen eight-storey high and 120 ft. wide coupled with a 14,000 watt, 6-channel pure digital sound system, not many people would be able to resist this electrifying experience even if exorbitant rates are charged.

If all this was not enough, a conspiracy theory has been doing the rounds for an entire decade now, that the pirated software available in the Third World are there with the support of their creators, that these corporations want their products to reach the maximum possible audience by fair means or foul. Their aim, the theory continues, is to build up a cheap labour force to be available at their disposal by offering their softwares dirt cheap to the intelligent but cheap wages masses. The way things have gone in the last ten years or so give ample credence to this theory. You only have to look at the large number of expatriate computer specialists hailing from downtrodden countries in the G-8 block to realize that. Even the recent trend of outsourcing the workforce leads to this very theory. Had it not been for piracy, the IT boom may never have taken place in the first place. So, does the end justify the means?

In a country where mugging and vehicle snatching are resignedly accepted as part and parcel of life, where innocent live are taken away for a mere cellphone, how can you expect the natives to look down on piracy – a petty crime in the eyes of the people which at least does not get anyone killed. In fact, it gets the scarce luxuries of life within an affordable range. It’s not to say that this intellectual theft can or should be accepted, but that the menace of piracy is so deeply entrenched in our psyche that unless there is a complete overhaul of attitude in all spheres of life, this apparently ‘lesser evil’ is here to stay for a long time.

LEARN YOUR WAY TO THE TOP

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Sun, 20 Feb 2005 16:40:00 +0000

“In the business world, an executive knows something about everything, a technician knows everything about something and the switchboard operator knows everything.”
-Harold Coffin

This quotation may be intended as a pun, but the truth is not father away as I’ve learned from my own experience. The amount of knowledge a person holds about his company is inversely proportional to his position in the company. It’s an altogether different ball game that some people ‘sleep their way to the top’ but here we’re discussing strictly legitimate means.

What I’ve observed is that the worker class holds the maximum amount of knowledge which more or less affirms what Mr. Coffin said. It’s true that the view at the top affords one a perspective which cannot be had from down below. For instance, consider standing at the top of a tall building. The things you’ll observe thence would give you a crystal clear view of the horizons. You’ll notice thing you didn’t know were within your sight’s grasp or even existed. Now look down and you won’t be able to make out much except tiny dots moving around.

It’s a bit different in the job world. If you’ve ascended from the very bottom, you would have a fairly good idea of what these dots are and what they are really up to. Consider my case. Right now I’m a trainee engineer; almost at the bottom. As such, I’ve no qualms or hesitation about interacting freely with the workers; the lot that knows it all. A GM or even a plant manager would think twice about intermingling with them the way I can afford in my position. Hence, in this respect I’m eons ahead of them. I’ve been here only a short while, but I’ve come to know who are the villains, the spies, the politically motivated trouble-makers as well as the influential ones.

Another amazing thing I’ve found here is that the workers are more technically sound than their superiors. The same person who appeared larger than life to us( the trainee engineers) during the orientation with his intricate knowledge of all the plants in the factory now appears a mere mortal. The reason: most of the time when he tries to explain something new to us now, we already know it, in fact we’ve have a better grasp of that matter. Sometimes when one of my colleagues has gone to him with a problem, he has been unable to arrive at a viable solution. The logic is simple enough. You can’t gain experience without going through it. There’s only so much you can learn by observing things from a distance.

This knowledge which I’ve been able to glean from the workers is going to be invaluable should I decide about staying here for a long while. Which brings me to the buzzword of the job-market: “switch-over”. The last decade has seen an increasingly number of people spending a couple of years in a certain job then moving onto another, as opposed to the trend of the your where people stuck to their jobs with the same till-death-do-us-apart dedication they put in their marriage. Now the institution of marriage is itself inching towards the ‘switch-over’ trend. But let’s not sidetrack from our topic.

What the switch-over does is add a hefty increment to your existing salary, and sometimes even enhanced fringe benefits as well. For instance, a brand manager of Insta-one who was getting Rs. 55,000 p.m. changed loyalties to U-fone for – get this – a cool Rs.110,000 p.m. She really hit a jack-pot, didn’t she? Now this maybe a rare case, but there are sure monetary benefits of ‘changing lanes’.

But as the old adage goes; all that glitters is not gold and the downside of this trend is the lack of specific knowledge about the new organization. Whatever that means? And more importantly, how on earth can that possibly hurt? Let me quote a real life case. Our maintenance incharge is a competent person, technically sound in his field, and yet he has to face embarrassing situations every other day owing to his lack of knowledge about my factory. He has been here only a short while and obviously joined this organization in search of that golden sky which every one of us yearns for. He got the financial reward all right. But the thing is that facotyr has it’s own sets of indigenous technical glitches for which there are equally technical ‘Jugaars’. You can’t make do without them and you can’t possibly know them unless you’ve been ‘knee-dirt’ involved in their rectification.

So whenever he suggests a remedy for a problem to the workers which they know won’t work, sometimes it is downright absurd for that particular case, he inadvertently ends up making a fool of himself. It may be a completely viable solution elsewhere, but since it doesn’t work in this factory and in this plant, the workers think it is outrageous and end up making the slanted conclusion with their dogmatic mentality that their boss is a goof-off. He thus undermines his authority.

And if this happens more than once (which it does in the case at hand), you’re preparing a recipe for disaster for yourself. The adaptability to the new workplace becomes all the more difficult, and you won’t be able to last long in such a place with your dignity intact. Of course, different people have different priorities. Some people override their need for respect from others for materialistic gains, and go on working in the same place where they’ve been deemed worthless by all and sundry. Others value others’ opinion about themselves dearly.

Now this scenario may not be as prominent in other professions and occupations, but it still exists most of the places with varying degrees, and when you’re shifting lanes for a better future, be sure to remember that it will come at a price. You’ve to decide for yourself how steep that price is and whether you’re willing to pay it or not.

If you’re aspiring to be a CEO early on in your career, then the best shot you can have at it is to stay with a company as long as it takes. It may happen that down the line you may be offered a high-ranking managerial post at some other company, but remember that getting a good post is not the hard part. Sustaining it with dignity is. But whatever path you choose, remember to make friends with the switchboard operator. ;:))

THE DILEMMA THAT IS PRODUCTION

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 18:36:00 +0000

The field of production isn’t much appetizing and attractive enough if you’re just starting your career and your hunger for learning the tricks of the trade is insatiable. It’s not that it doesn’t offer the scope. In fact the chances of getting ahead if you’re tied to this field are unparalleled to every other. There’s only so much you can climb the hierarchical organizational ladder if you’re in the maintenance or the quality department.

The vista of learning is the greatest in the maintenance department, which obviously raises the bar of satisfaction higher. But then this is the toughest job in the business, and the ‘Ragra’ is equally tough if you’re just starting out as a trainee, as Bilal learned the hard way in Abbott.

It’s not that you don’t get to learn much in production; I learn something new every day. Maybe that’s because we get breakdowns almost every other day, and so the maintenance factor comes into play in the learning curve of production as well. But somehow the production people are preferred for the top level posts. You’ll seldom find the GM of a factory hailing from the maintenance side.

The quality department is the most fun-filled and trouble free; not to mention lethargic as far as my observations go. I’ve asked around quite a bit, and at least in the middle-size organizations there’s a remarkable consistency of mediocrity all around. Maybe they do a significant role in the top-notch industries of Pakistan, but in the majority they are there just to justify ISO requirements. But this I’ve got to admit. They do a hell of a good job looking busy day in and day out.

Coming back to production, it has its own set of problems and scope pf learning, but it’s really charming or appetizing if you have a penchant for forging ahead through your sheer skills rather than some relative in the top echelon of the company

Most of the people I’ve come in contact share this view, including my friends and colleagues at my workplace. On paper it looks quite fascinating and impressive when you narrate your job description, but the ground reality is a bit different. All you’ve got to do is look, observe, or to sugar coat it a bit: supervise. It gets quite monotonous after a while; not action-packed like a Hollywood flick which would keep your adrenalin pumping throughout. But then that’s life. And by the way, all that surge of adrenalin would likely give you a heart attack than a sustained excitement level.

Maybe it’s up to you to break the shackles of monotony and do things a bit different. True, you can go horribly wrong, but at least you’ll have the satisfaction of learning something new. i.e. what doesn’t work. But don’t go overboard and try to reinvent the wheel by trying things which have already proved to fail. And whenever trying something new, don’t try to change many parameters at once. That way you won’t able to pinpoint exactly what went wrong.

And don’t worry about losing your job. That won’t happen. Unless you blow up the factory or make the company go bankrupt. Or worse still, your boss is already pissed at you and looking for an opportunity to do away with you. Otherwise, the chance of you getting fired especially early in your career with no downsizing changes looming on the horizon, are pretty slim. And it makes no difference whether it’s the private or public sector.

I work in the process industry where production can affected by altering even a single of the numerous parameters involved. And this happens all the time. So what harm can come if I intentionally change one of these parameters myself? Even if something goes wrong, I’ll at least know what doesn’t work. Thomas Edison failed almost 9,999 times in his endeavors to invent the electric bulb. When a friend of his tried to talk him out of it citing these failures, he merely replied, ‘These are not failures. These are 9,999 ways I know a bulb cannot be made.’

If we were to persevere this much, wouldn’t all of us be genius? After all, genius they say is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

‘It’s better to be risky than sorry’ should be your motto if you intend to get somewhere. Whether you make it or break it in your career solely depends on your ability to take
calculated risks. You can either content yourself with what little you get and let your career stagnate to mediocrity, or you can go all out in search of that perfect life. You have the rest of your life to take it easy; why not try to find out how far you can go now?
Mark my words. You’ll almost certainly get, not what you want but what you yearn for. Merely longing for something is just not enough. You have to thrown in whatever emotional energy you can generate behind your desires. Persistence and an inextinguishable desire are the only difference between success and failure, between people who get the life of their dreams and those that spend their entire life brooding over where they went wrong. Remember that your ability and aptitude don’t make much of a difference if you have the will.

I’ve seen people shown the door literally overnight by the company for no apparent reason after having put almost two decades of their life in that company. God forbid if the same fate befalls you, at least you’ll have the satisfaction of going the extra mile when the going got tough. Why to be cautious when you never know what tomorrow hold, or if it ever comes?

TELECOMMUNICATIONS Dethrones Computer Systems

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 21:01:00 +0000

Pakistanis are a peculiar species when it comes to almost every aspect of life. Take choosing careers for instance. The moment a new career sprouts up with potential for high-paid jobs, a gold rush starts which is probably unprecedented in the entire world. Institute of Business Administration, popularly called the IBA, has been around since 1955, associated with the distinguished Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania; one which is credited for churning out CEOs(that are ruling the world by proxy) by the dozen. And yet only a handful ventured there. The perception was: who needs to get a degree in business? It is something to be learned in the field, not in a classroom. The medical and engineering sector was the darling of the nation at that time. But then out of the blue came the MBA trend and IBA began to be worshipped reverently. “MBA Universities” began springing up in each gulley nala of the country. If you threw a stone randomly, 9 out 10 times it would hit a so-called MBA. Then the all too famous IT rush began and consumed the nation more rapidly than the previous one.

Now there’s no denying the fact that these phenomena were more or less synonymous with the world trends. But the intensity and stupidity of what was happening (and still is) was unparalleled elsewhere. Take the case of this guy who came up to me for advice as to which career he should choose. I asked him what he loves doing. He replied sketching. Then when I further queried him, he revealed that he was fascinated by architecture and stuff and had considered applying for the architectural program at NED. I asked what’s stopping him, and he delved into the all too familiar droning that it was not a financially viable profession these days and that computers was where the money was. I replied by asking him didn’t he know that the architects and civil engineers are one of the highest paid people in the engineering profession. He said he knew that but it was all in the past. I asked why is that? Have buildings stopped being built? He didn’t look convinced. I then began a lengthy lecture about how much life is bitter and from now on he’ll have to spend more than half his life working. So why not do something in which you are genuinely interested and can easily bear for the rest of your life. Then there’s the dilemma of competition. If you venture into a field which is ready to burst at it’s seams, chances are you are gonna face cutthroat competition, and finding a dream job in these conditions is going to be tough, unless you are damn good at it. So why not do something for which you have the aptitude and can carve out a unique niche for yourself? He still didn’t look convinced, and as he left, I had the sinking feeling that he was going to jump onto that about-to-be-doomed bandwagon.

This guy easily personifies the uncertainty and the lack of common sense amongst our youth. They are eager to jump into the well if everyone is following suit, without questioning what they are going to get out of it. And it isn’t as if the average Joe and Jane have this line of thinking. The ‘cream’ of the young intellectuals is into it as well without even a semblance of common sense.

While I was waiting for my interview at KU for the B.S. program, I struck up a conversation with a guy who was my fellow Adamjian, though I didn’t know him back then. He had scored 84% in the Intermediate and had applied for Computer Systems program at NED. I knew almost everyone having a score in that region was doing the same blindly. I asked him why did he chose that program of all the others. He looked at me like I was some sort of inconsequential being and replied, “Because I like computers”. I didn’t have the stamina to argue with him that it was a dead-end career as far as Pakistan is concerned. Not many knew that back then, and even those that did, just followed the others thinking if so many intelligent people are hooking up to it, something good would surely come out of it.

But how did this chain reaction start? The thing is, in the 90s when there started revolutionary advances in computer technology with Intel churning out processors with double the computing power than the previous almost every other year; most of the top dogs that came out of college each year, bedazzled by these surrealistic developments, started applying to the Computer engineering (hardware) degree program at NED. One thing led to another and before anyone realized it, in Ned especially, to award admissions on merit the percentage required had climbed to above 80%. That meant a sort of an elite class was created, and everyone getting an A-one grade wanted to be associated with it. So it was more of a question of honor rather than interest in the field that got people to opt for it. That’s how myopic our future intelligentsia is. But the bubble burst sooner than later. Telecommunications now ranks number one choice for the aspiring candidates followed by Electronics and Electrical. Computer engineering ranks a pathetic fourth. It just ceases to be elite all of a sudden. And most of those that chose it are now facing the harsh reality, which was evident even then but was shrouded by their own prejudice. The thing is, Pakistan is solely a computer consumer. There’s hardly any production, let alone research, going on here apart from a few like Inbox Business Technologies which is manufacturing local branded computers. Microsoft has decided to put a plant here now but even that is going to be in Lahore. The only places of interest are the local software houses but even those require mostly software engineers. The only viable option is to go abroad for higher studies and stay put there.

Now coming back to the situation prevailing at NED, although Telecommunication rules the roost at the moment, there’s no telling what twist and turn it may take in the future ala IT. Even Electronics and Electrical engineers are finding it extremely hard to make a living. The electronics group is still doing relatively better because there are no Telecommunications specialists coming out of the universities as yet, so the electronics ones are the best bet for the companies like Mobilink, Instaphone, and Ufone. And now two licenses have been awarded (the most lucrative in the history of this country) to two new contenders who’ll start operations probably in a year. Initially, everyone was saying that Vodafone was certain to penetrate into the local market, but it seems like these two new kids on the block outbid Vodafone. So while the competition is heating up, so is the job market for Telecommunication engineers. But I wouldn’t put my money on the initial few batches churning out from NED, for Ned has a habit of starting a degree program first and then catering to the needs of the students. Teachers come and go at the blink of an eye. The Electronics department at the beginning didn’t even have proper labs. There is a consistent haphazard way of doing things in there.

How well the Telecommunications sector (and in turn the Tele engineers) fares in Pakistan will depend as much on the public demand as on the prevailing economic conditions. In India for instance, there’s a very definite growing demand for telecommunications capabilities. The integration of multimedia is the most decisive factor for this. The gaming industry for mobiles in India is estimated to be worth billions of dollars! So the software and telecommunications sector are providing each other’s bread. But all this depends on more computing power to handle efficiently the increasingly sophisticated 3-D games as well as high- quality audio. So things will go from good to better once the prices for high-end cell phones come down drastically.

The Pakistani market lags far behind India even in this sector. And this isn’t because Pakistan is home to a meager 159 million souls while India to a staggering 1.08 billion people, though it does play a part. The thing is, right now in Pakistan, a respectable all-purpose cell phone costs anywhere between Rs. 15,000-25,000. That’s quite expensive by local standards. But people have been so caught on in the mobile frenzy that those (mostly youth) who can’t afford to buy these devices somehow manage to save enough money to get them. Trouble starts after they have bought them, and it’s the current lawlessness which holds the key to all this. The thing is, most of the people who do manage to buy these costly things travel by public transport, and there’s a very high probability of getting mugged. In fact the other day a friend of mine got mugged in broad daylight in a crowd bazaar just because of his mobile. In fact the mugger was gracious enough to return his sim and he just took the set. Imagine that; this scoundrel has enough time to take out the chip and hand it back to my friend and then walks away calmly for all to see. In this pathetic environment people are wary of buying costly cells to avoid getting mugged. This is a very real danger to the growth of the sector.

Then take the case of PTCL. This lethargic giant has helped no one by dragging on with its monopolistic shenanigans. Leave ISPs and other private firms dealing with it aside, even the public doesn’t trust PTCL in the least bit. Take the case of the recent decision by PTCL to make local call free from 12 am to 6 am. Now they may have taken that decision in good faith to show their sincerity, but rumors are doing the rounds that this is just another trick to entrap people into making more calls during this period so that more revenue can be generated. And no one can find out since there’s no record a local call. But the most popular is that the calls are free for the first 15 minutes, then they start being charged as usual. So in order to beat the system, you talk for 15 minutes, hang up, call and talk for another 15 minutes and so on. So people generally are wary of this suddenly sugary approach of the PTCL, which shows the extent of distrust between these two. And PTCL is to blame for all this. Companies are eager to get into our Tele- market and would have made great strides by now had it not been for the evasive policies of the government.

Considering everything, the telecommunications in Pakistan is pointing in the right direction, but whether it does move ahead in that direction or changes course midway, remains to be seen. In the current environment it is a bit of a risk venturing into this field. My advice: go for it by all means but once you’ve established that you’ve the aptitude for this kind of work, for if you’ve don’t have that; you’re going to get burned out pretty soon, prosperity or no prosperity.

MECHANICAL ENGINEER: FLUCTUATING FORTUNES?

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Thu, 12 Aug 2004 11:21:00 +0000

There was a time in Pakistan when people heard you were an engineer, any type of engineer, you were literally revered by them. Mothers would fall over each other to grab an engineer for their daughters, and if a girl did it, she was considered nothing short of Einstein. Then when I was undergoing the engineering program; the era of IT prosperity; people would ask what you were studying. When you replied engineering, they sulked a bit and asked which field. Upon hearing the word mechanical, they looked down at you like you were their mechanic. Yep. People in their infinite stupidity don’t know their mechanic from the mechanical. It all seems the same to them.

Times have changed again for the better as far as mechanical engineers are concerned. Job advertisements for mechanical engineers are splattered all over the classifieds and word is spreading fast that the mechanical field has been resurrected. People are claiming that the “Second Coming” is holier and more glorified than the first. I doubt it, especially because this field never got to be crucified. Sure it received a dent when the IT boon was happening, but the industries didn’t stop working, did they? And to run the industry you require these engineers.

This job boon has got more to do with the economic growth rather than the receding IT ventures. It’s really very simple: when the economy is booming, that means more money is pumping through the economy, people are buying goods, demand is higher than the supply, production has to be increased to counter that, and viola! Work force gets increased which includes the engineers as well.

Unfortunately, this hasn’t really translated into prosperity for the engineers. Sure, they are employed by the dozen, but what are they being offered? Literally peanuts.

A mechanical engineer has the toughest job of all the professions. It is not only physically debilitating, but mentally taxing as well. You would think with this sort pressure, the person should be properly compensated for his work. No sir. Nothing of this sort in our industry. Most of the factories have working conditions which are despicable. I‘ve already pointed that out in the case of Textiler. God knows how many places have such working environments, or maybe even worse. And these are supposed to be good times for the mechanical engineer. Imagine what the bad times would be like. But I’ve a strong suspicion that these conditions are only applicable to Pakistan. I can’t imagine other nations maltreating their mechanical assets to such an extent.

When everyone was singing Information Technology’s praises, the IT specialists were being pampered all over the world, more so in Pakistan. They were demanding and getting exorbitant salaries, even the fresh graduates. No one came forward and objected to this trend, or even termed it crazy. Hell, even these days they are getting away with ‘murder’. I met a FAST (NU University) graduate at a friend’s wedding who had recently graduated. He was getting Rs.22, 000 monthly from a local software house plus a car (Suzuki Mehran). But when it comes to a fresh M. engineer, even the people in the industry consider it crazy to demand or get respectable pay when starting out. Consider the case of Bilal Ahmed Siddiqui. One of the brilliant students of our batch, of not the brilliant student, I’m sure he would make for a great engineer. A couple of people narrated this incident to me that when Bilal applied for a job at Hino-Pak Pvt Ltd, he wrote the expected salary Rs.60, 000 monthly. The people there were incredulous as to how could a fresh one demand so much. But since he was the star of the batch, the darling of all the teachers, the Hinopak had to check him out. May be he made a mistake or something. So he was called for an interview. The operations manager who was conducting the interview asked him if he had made a mistake. To which he replied in the negative. He then told him he was the manager and he was getting Rs. 42,000, so how could they give that much money to him, who had no experience? All he said was that if they couldn’t pay him that much, why on earth did they call him? Arrogant, huh? That’s what most people have been calling him since learning about this incidence, including the people who narrated this to me. They say he thinks he’s above everybody. But their envy is nothing new, but more like a historical affair. He has been accused of going where no civilian has gone before. And they are right. Bilal did his internship at the Heavy Mechanical Complex Taxila which is a heavily guarded military installation. Almost everything is manufactured there. A truly unique place. So once you gain experience from such a place, you are obviously going to be far ahead of the competition. No one else got the chance, and Bilal also was able to get in only because his father is a retired brigadier. People grudge him for even that. Then he was able to design as well as fabricate some sort of micro gas turbine, an expensive undertaking, because he was able to afford it. So that’s one more strike against him. Others fret that they are not able to pull off these wonderful feats and get the accolades from the teachers and all, because they don’t have the resources, otherwise they are as good as him, if not better. What these people don’t realize is that he has been involved in this stuff from the day he set foot in the university. He isn’t just interested in engineering, he’s passionate about it. And once you get in that frame of mind, doors of opportunities start opening for you left and right. Then it doesn’t matter if you have the resources or not, things just start to fall in your lap. But to achieve that state, you’ve got to go the extra mile, do things that others leave out merely due to inconvenience, for as the saying goes:

“When you want what you’ve never had, you must do what you’ve never done.”

Coming back to the question, was he justified in asking for that kind of pay? Why not? If he’s able enough, why shouldn’t he get it? He’s not forcing anyone. He’s merely asking, though what he’s asking may be a tad too much. And don’t get me wrong. While I may endorse his demand for such a salary, I do not necessarily have the same expectations for myself, though I’d love to get something in that region. The point is, if you are good enough, you have every right to negotiate the terms of your employment. Right now, we mechanical engineers are in shambles when it comes to pay. We don’t have any union which can set a limit to the minimum wage. And there’s no real unity among us; if one of us rejects an employer for paying scrap, another one would grab it greedily. The employer doesn’t even have to think about increasing the wage since someone is always ready to take the job.
There are examples of mechanical engineers earning respectable income. For instance, take the case of Arslan’s manager at Adam Motors Pvt Ltd. He was drawing about Rs. 42,000 monthly from there when he was suddenly offered a job at Ali Motors for about Rs. 58,000 plus a KIA Pride while here he was given a mere Daihatsu Cuore. Immediately he applied for a leave at Adam’s and switched to Ali’s. The leave part is the trend in the industry. You just don’t resign from your job, but apply for a leave for 2-3 months. In that way, if you don’t like the new job, you always have the option of falling back on the former one. Everybody, including the M.Ds know when an employee applies for leave that he’s leaving them for good, but they don’t do anything for there isn’t much to do really, is there?

Coming back to the guy, he did have about 7-8 years experience in the industry, and he was just a graduate from NED. But these success stories are few and far between, and I would bet a person in some other profession would be earning a lot more after this period.

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING: PROS AND CONS

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Tue, 10 Aug 2004 20:26:00 +0000

In Pakistan, mechanical engineers are at the lowest end of the pay scale when they start out. Even simple semi-literate salesman earn twice of what they earn. And this is the state of affairs despite the fact that there is a high demand for them these days. I don’t want to think about what they’re going to be paid when the market goes into recession.

The edge they have over most of the other professions is that they can grow with leaps and bounds if they plan their career carefully. In the domestic market there is a high demand for them, and if they manage to get in the right company and spend a few years there, they are truly on their way up. Many a time it is even not necessary to get the right company. Consider the case of Textiler, an unremarkable medium-sized industry which produces solely socks and exports them. Most of the people of my batch started out there but soon moved on to greener pastures. Had they stuck to Textiler, it wouldn’t have been a bad choice either, for your salary their really rockets up after a couple of years. There’s a man working there who’s literally completely illiterate, and yet he’s raking in Rs.40,000 a month, which is more than four times what a fresh engineer is earning these days. His only asset is that he knows the machines inside out. At the moment, Textiler needs literate workers (in other words engineers) who are willing to stay put, because they are vying to get ISO certified; what with the January 1,2005 deadline fast approaching. But yeah, there is a limit here as to how much you can grow in terms of your career. It’s just the financial aspect which is enticing in that company.

The other advantage to the mechanical engineers is that they can switch between fields pretty comfy, it being a diverse field as opposed to Electrical, Electronic or even Computer engineering; which are more of a specialization. For instance, a mechanical engineer can easily get a job in the petroleum industry or even get to do a masters program in geology, petroleum, aeronautics, oceanography and a million others. A site I came across once even claims the petroleum industry to offer the highest paying jobs of all engineering disciplines combined, in every nook and corner of the earth. This is no surprise though, since black gold (crude oil) is the one commodity that makes the world go round. Just take a look at how the recent oil crisis and the burgeoning oil prices are worrying everyone to death, and you’ll know what I mean. Take that out of the picture, and you get right back to the Stone Age. And mechanical engineers have the opportunity to step onto this gold mine. No doubt every student of mechanical that passes out these days has the dream of venturing into this field, either directly or after doing Masters. It’s not easy though, here in Pakistan. Some say the market is saturated, others that the senior engineers of the handful oil and gas companies in Pakistan(BP,Total,PSO,Carltex,Shell to name a few) make sure no newcomer enters there, since almost all of the senior staff are either diploma holders or just plain bachelors. As such there’s a strong possibility that a more intelligent fresh engineer may rise above them hence breaking their monopoly. If I were earning a delicious Rs.200,000-3, 00,000 per month, I would probably do the same. It’s a dream job really for the Pakistanis, and to tell you the truth, most of the new entrants (myself included) don’t know jack about the pros and cons of this field, apart from the financial aspect, of course.

However, the other disciplines of engineering mentioned above have benefits of their own. For instance an Electrical graduate can relatively easily do a Masters in Computer Science compared to a Mechanical one. A Computer engineer has access to better working environment, and with a few relevant courses under his belt, he can very well venture into the software side.

And then there is the adverse conditions factor. Danger and mechanical engineering go together, that’s true throughout the world. No matter how safety conscious the company you’re working for is, the risk factor is there all along. In Pakistan it is all the more relevant, it being a Third World country and all; where the human life isn’t worth a penny. Well, that’s true anywhere in the world, but the Western world at least tries to pretend being concerned about these matters and act towards that end. But in the third world, there’s no such pretense and hence no need to do something about it. Which brings us back to the adverse conditions factor and the lack of effort to do something about it. The biggest culprit which I’ve come across is the Textiler which a few paragraphs ago I had praised. Complications relating to sinus are an eminent danger due to the presence of fumes and what not in that factory. But since they are offering relatively good wages, not many seem to mind; others who have trouble breathing in that environment just pack up and leave.

But the biggest disadvantage that everyone unanimously agrees upon is the distant work places. If you want to be a real engineer, the only working place to learn the tricks of the trade is the industry, which is as far removed from the city as possible. Commuting back and forth from the workplace drains half the energy from you. And then if you’re working in a hazardous factory, it’s not really what you had in mind when you opted for this field, is it? Even Electrical and sometimes Electronics engineers have to face this dilemma, but let’s just focus on the M one. Take the case of Beltex which is located even further than Landhi, almost a 2- hour journey, and they are making you work for 12 hour shifts. So now consider this scenario. You leave your house for the 8 O’ clock nightshift by 5.45 pm. Spend the night there, return home by about 10:30 am, have breakfast, go to sleep, wake up by 4.30 pm and then prepare for leaving again! A shift lasts a week. Pretty dismal, isn’t it? Imagine working that way for the rest of your life! Even when the monetary rewards are good (not great), it doesn’t leave you much else to do with your life, does it? So you have to be darn motivated to cope with such monotonous, debilitating rigorous work schedule. But you can’t really complain once you have entered this field. You should have thought twice about venturing into this field if you think you can’t undergo this routine. Things, however, need not remain the same. It’s just the initial 3-5 years that are such energy sapping. Once you’ve got adequate experience, you can really come into your own if you plan carefully. You can enjoy a consultant position within the soothing confines of the city, or you can climb to a senior position even at the site, so that you don’t have to work your ass off every single day. If you can get through the initial crunching period with your wits intact, you can very well lead a relatively satisfying life.

But then you are likely to face hardships in any profession you choose. That’s the reason I’ve time and again emphasized on the point that you should choose something you are likely to enjoy doing. Otherwise you’re going to end up making your life as well as the lives of your wife and children miserable. Be bold enough to take up an obscure profession if that’s where your passion lies.

LOVE YOUR JOB, OR LEAVE IT!

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Mon, 09 Aug 2004 09:42:00 +0000

A bomb ripped through a Honda civic killing two people. Hardly a breaking news in the present circumstances, though the fact that it happened in D.H.A, one of the posh areas of Karachi did raise a few eyebrows. But the news of the day was that Ramiz Hasan Raja had resigned as CEO of Pakistan Cricket Board. In spite of the fact that almost everyone believes this was a sacking disguised as resignation to save face; I would go along with the official version, largely because it makes sense. Ramiz was criticized viciously from all quarters, including the Pakistani public; the most ferocious of them all, for the humiliating test and one-day series defeat at the hands of the Indians on our own soil. He became the bane of every Pakistani, and any decision he made from then on would have been regarded with suspicion. So let the job go in favour of commentating for Ten Sports. On the face of it, it looks like a bad decision, leaving a position of immense power and privilege for a mere commentary job. If I were him, I would have done exactly the same thing. I saw on TV a Pakistan-India match in Sharjah where Geoffrey Boycott was commentating. Suddenly the camera zoomed in on him eating a pizza. He looked like he was having the time of his life. That moment is etched on to my mind; a man enjoying his work. If you ponder over it, a commentator is the one person (as far as cricket is concerned) who enjoys the sports the most. He has no worries, particularly if he does not belong to one of the countries playing, and there’s complete freedom of expression these days, so there’s no one holding a sword over his head. He literally get away with murder. On the other hand, a cricket administrator has all the tensions in the world, and when the team loses it is he who gets to get the blame even more so than the captain or coach who are the real culprits. No wonder he chose commentary. And it does look like he’s enjoying commentating going by his tone, choice of words and the fluency of his language, which wasn’t the case back in 99’ World Cup final when Pakistan was being thrashed by Australia and Ramiz looked like he himself was being thrashed by his fellow commentators. He’s come a long way since then. But why are talking about Ramiz or cricket and commentary at all? What’s the point?

The point I want to drive at is; what makes a man do his job diligently? What’s the difference between a winner and loser? The answer is simple: it’s his interest in his job. The more interest he has in his job, the more successful he will be at it. Sometimes the interest isn’t there naturally, but people through sheer motivation are able to achieve that level of interest which gets them doing. The motivation can be induced by any number of reason; love of money, power or anything else, but the love factor is there all along. Sometimes people choose a profession simply because it themselves instead of indirect love of some other material gain. These are the people that make history. You can pick up any profession and you’ll find that all the people in its hall of fame were in love with it.

That’s how crucial it is to choose a career you feel you can love whole heartedly. When I was standing at the crossroad of choosing a career, which was pre-9/11, every other Pakistani was jumping on to the IT bandwagon. Leave aptitude aside, these people didn’t even know if they were interested in it or not. Some of them had not touched a keyboard ever in their life and were ready to dive into this pit. Their motto: show me the money! It was hard even for me to ignore all this commotion. It was December 1999, I had given the Karachi University B.S(Computer Science) aptitude and had bagged the fifth position among a total 2,000 entrants. I had also managed to get accepted in the NED Mechanical Engineering Department at the same time. My dilemma; I didn’t love either of the professions, or if I did, I didn’t know at the time. I applied for Mechanical Engineering because I had always been fascinated by cars and planes since childhood; dissecting my toys feverishly just to make sense of how the heck they worked. But then this is a common trait of every little boy. So can you base your career on this childhood fantasy? I had my doubts. Why Computer Science? Well, that’s where the gold rush was at that time. But since I didn’t own a computer at that time, and was dying to get one, I wasn’t sure my enthusiasm was either for this field or just for owning a PC. In the end I went with my gut instincts, supplemented by a bit of advice from my teachers and parents. I didn’t do that well at engineering as I would have liked, but even then I have no regrets about opting for this field. And not particularly because the software industry has been still reeling from the after-effects of 9/11, but because I thoroughly enjoyed learning about how the entire world depends on this field, rightly named as the ‘Mother of Engineering’. Friends of mine still call me a fool for what they considered to be a golden opportunity i.e. the B.S. program at KU. What can I say? Everyone has to lead his own life, and you can’t base your life’s decisions on someone else’s perception of what is good or bad, for it’s you who has to face the consequences of your actions. Might as well make your own decisions, so if things don’t turn out right, at least you’ll have the satisfaction of being bold enough to make and stand up for your decision.

Coming back to the topic at hand, how important it is to love your job? Well, consider this. Once you enter the ‘job stage’ of your life, you’re going to spend a hell of a time of your life on it. So if you don’t love your job or worse; hate it, then your life is wasted away buddy. You only get one shot at living, and the only way to live it up to the max is spend it doing something you love. Your job or profession may look rotten to others, if you feel this is it for you, go for it. You’ll be surprised how far you can make it. Consider Muhammad Ali (whose autobiography I happen to be reading these days), he underwent swollen ribs, broken jaws, puffy eyes and God knows what physical agony during his career as a boxer. But he loved it, and not only that kept him going, but excel in his trade so much so to be unanimously acclaimed as the greatest of all time. That’s the sort of enthusiasm I’m talking about. No matter how much you love your profession, the first job is always going to be the toughest, and its this enthusiasm which is going to keep you afloat in that tumultuous time.

I still remember when I was starting out as a freelance writer (for the second time in my life). The very first assignment that I got was to review the movie The Hours. Talk about tough luck. That movie is as complex as they get. Needless to say, it got the butterflies in my tummy playing around. To my own credit, I did not procrastinate much. Just went out and rented the movie, saw it, immediately jotted down the first impression while they were afresh. Then went online to do some background check on the movie. In short, I was able to put together the first draft of the review on the same day as I got the assignment. Taking early action is always the best policy. Since then I’ve been able to tackle reviews of all kinds, and the reason I’ve been able to do that has been my enthusiasm rather than any ability. I had some rough seas steer past but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, and that’s the attitude you’ve got to have to sail through life. As Colin Powell said:

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure."

When I first started as an engineering student in NED mechanical department. I faced the toughest six months of my life. I felt I had made the wrong decision, and that I should have chosen software engineering. Fortunately, common sense prevailed. But it was not before I did my internship at Pakistan International Airlines(P.I.A), or more specifically, at the Jinnah Terminal; that I really got into this field mentally. It was an overwhelming experience, and all the while I was there, I was besieged by awe and wonder by these mechanical birds. I had flown a zillion times in them before then, but never before had I looked at them with such admiration. It was then that I realized without this field, we would still be in the Stone Age. Not even computer science would have been possible without it. Remember, the very first computer was merely a mechanical machine invented by Charles Babbage in the late 19th century. So yeah, mechanical engineers rule!

Having earlier confessed to my not having any innate infatuation with the mechanical field, I can’t advertise to the prospective employers, “I’m the Greatest” ala Muhammad Ali, or even feebly pretend to sneak into the mechanical hall of fame. However, the world is abundant in exceptions, so you never know, I may be that exception that disproves the rule. In short, grab me before anyone else makes a beeline for me and gets hold of all that gold I’m worth (maybe).

THE STIGMA OF ‘JUGAAR’ (SOURCE)

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Sat, 07 Aug 2004 22:20:00 +0000

Rizwan gave the test conducted by PSO for recruitment a few days ago. I asked afterwards how it went and he replied that it was a difficult test and that he didn’t do that well. He further added even if he had done exceptionally well at it, he wouldn’t be optimistic. Why? Because PSO is government owned, and that in order to get in a government organization, you need to have the source, a theory which is unanimously accepted by all and sundry.

The word ‘source’ holds a very important place in the Pakistani mindset. Its meaning is a bit different in our culture. It is considered ‘positive’ by those who have it and ‘negative’ by those who haven’t. This bipolar term is called ‘Jugaar’ in Pakistan. Mostly the illiterate types used to use this term, but these days everyone uses willfully.

But why is the term ‘source’ so much synonymous with ‘job’ in Pakistan? Well, if you look at the broader picture, this phenomenon is common throughout the world, but more so in Third World countries.

Let’s just consider my batch (1999-2000) and how this phenomenon has affected us all. Even before we had passed out, it was at the back of everybody’s mind that in order to get the dream job, they had to make contacts with influential people; those firmly entrenched in the big shots of Pakistani industry. But we are all taken aback by what we have seen and observed over the past few months. Your percentage does not hold much ground if you are after a really good job. To an extent it does, but only if you are in the top 10. You go any further down than that, and it begins to lose any relevance. The notion that government-owned companies are biased in their recruitment process began to take solid form when Suparco, the sole Pakistan space agency went and selected Asma and Afaaque for the job. Now these were the position holders of our batch and no doubt they deserved that job. But they both had failed the written test which our entire batch plus a couple hundred other had given. Many passed the initial test but were shot out in the interview following the test. So when they heard that these two had been given the job, naturally the entire batch got infuriated. And their grievances were genuine. They argued that if Suparco had wanted to employ the position holders in the first place, why did they waste others students’ money (the test cost about Rs.500-600)? A couple of other students were also employed who had passed the test, but ‘coincidentally’, even they were position holders; falling in the top 10 slot. Then PIA gave their advertisement, for which you had dish out Rs. 500 again. Candidates cried fowl even in their selection procedure. In short, the government-owned companies’ reputation was never great amongst these people, but now it is dead and buried.

But this shady selection procedure is not limited to the government institutes, but even the private firms, in fact even the multi-nationals operating in Pakistan are not immune to this epidemic. People even allege they ( the multi-nationals) are the biggest culprits. Sometime back, a friend of mine who had done his MBA from the IBA, told me that almost all the companies in Pakistan employed people who had clout within the company. The Ad was published in the classified merely to give an impression that they were fair in their dealings and employed people on merit. Who would want to deal with a company who didn’t even induct fairly? So in order to uphold a spotless image, they go through all the trouble of conducting written tests and interview after interview while they have selected the ‘desirable’ candidates long before hand. Sometimes they go for a mixture; selecting one meritorious person from this process, while inducting a dozen others merely on Jugaar. So according to him, this whole fanfare is a sham. I don’t blame him for this theory though. This guy had done his Masters in Banking and Finance from IBA, the most reputed business school in Karachi, if not in the entire country. Not even that, he received an award from the then governor Moinuddin Haider for some exceptional work he had carried out. In spite of all these credentials, he had to sweat it out for almost six months before he got a job! And people say that IBA graduates get recruited even before they have graduated. So much for that. This guy really has some dirt on many firms to go along with his theories. And if you reflect on your observations of the job market, you’ll realize that his allegations do hold good. For instance, he alleges that rarely a multi-national bank goes through a recruitment process advertised in the media. That should mean they seldom hire new hands, right? Wrong! Just sift through your relatives, friends and contact you may have made in your life, you’ll soon come up with a person recently employed by so and so bank. Just like that. Sometimes the candidate is not even an MBA; just plain B.Com and yet he gets a lucrative job in a grandeur bank.
I didn’t give much thought to this conspiracy theory but it was there with me subconsciously, so when the Suparco people came with all that sweet talk, I immediately sensed something fishy. I had rational reasons as well. It so happened that two weeks before these people came, an anonymous ad appeared in the local classifieds with the application form printed there as well along with a demand for Rs.500. So when these Suparco guys showed up and started to build up a hype with their sugar-coated sweet talk, I knew they were just here to extort money by fooling all these fresh graduates. Then when I looked at their application forms, they were the same from the classifieds, and my suspicion was confirmed. Naturally I didn’t apply and exhorted others also to avoid it, since these people didn’t look likely to pick candidates purely on merit. No one listened and the rest is history.

Our batch although comprised of 150 students divided into two sections, and yet for some inexplicable reason in this big lot also, everyone knows where each person belonging to the batch is employed, how he got the job, how much he’s being paid, etc. It’s the biggest gossip network I’ve come across, which should make CNN and Fox TV proud. So no one is immune to harsh criticism if he gets the job by Jugaar. He may be the nicest person in the world, but once he gets in a company by foul means, he gets tainted as the bad guy. The better the job, the more scathing criticism he’s prone to by this amazing network. Quite a few people have been awarded the best villain titles up till now. Let me retract a bit. People getting inconsequential jobs through contacts are spared this attack. It’s mostly those that get the high-flying jobs that have to face the wrath of this network.

The very first to get this ‘honor’ was Umair who got in Engro. Although he droned on about how he had to go through five grueling interviews before they finally decided on him, no one believed, in spite of the fact that he’s a top notch student and probably deserved what he got. But the thing people focused on was that he’s a Punjabi ( Karachiites have a disdain ranging from minor to extreme for Punjabis on the pretext that they rule the entire Pakistan by proxy). Then the fact that his father holds a high-profile position in the industry didn’t help his matters. But the reason that pissed everyone off was the fact that Engro didn’t go through even a farce selection procedure which other companies do to save face. They just went ahead and picked this guy who, no doubt, was deserving, but may not have been the most deserving one. And Engro didn’t give much of a chance to anybody else to find that out.

Then there’s the case of Honda Atlas owned by the Sherwani group, one of the most influential and successful groups here. Their selection process was a huge fanfare with expectations running high for all the participants. And it looked to be pretty fair as well till the very end. It was only later a guy whose father knows people around Honda disclosed that two out of the three trainee engineers selected by them were done so through Jugaar. The three were Ahmed, Mohtashim and Furrukh. The grapevine has it that the father of either of the two had known people in there, who got both of them in. Arslan and Noman were two people who were most disappointed by this, since they were their till the very end of the selection process. Noman was shown the door in the fourth interview whereas Arslan was cut out in the fifth and final interview. There were only five people left in the last interview and Arslan was pretty confident that this was going to be pretty much a formality and that they had selected the five of them. Suffice to say he was devastated when he wasn’t offered the job. And who wouldn’t be? Honda is located in Shershah, and this guy had to go there by bus five times with God know how high expectations. And what does he get? Not even a phone call to say that they couldn’t offer him the job. He found out about it from the chosen ones. How cruel can you get? There’s a serious lack of courtesy in Pakistan, and the multi-nationals landing here adopt the same callous attitude. Tell me honestly, don’t you think you owe a guy a response after having taking him for not one but five ‘roller-coaster rides’?

These were some of the high-profile cases. Then there are some minor ones as well, such as Danish and Fahad getting into Dewan Farooque industry in Sajaawal. Asad getting into Air Blue, a new local airline. Not many people knew about this asad Jugaar, it was Bilal who told me that they accepting only licensed aviation engineers, so Asad couldn’t have got in without the ‘help’.

Recently, Faisal got into PRL (Pakistan Refinery Ltd.) and this seems to have irked a lot of people. The thing is, PRL only called candidates with percentage above 70%, but Faisal has got 63%, so this was a dead giveaway. Then the fact that they actually selected him overlooking most of the 70%s was ample proof it wasn’t a ‘clean selection’. PRL isn’t offering a lucrative package or anything, but the fact that it’s a petroleum job is mouth-watering enough for the people. The job market in petroleum industry in Pakistan is considered saturated, so you can well imagine people’s indignation when a less deserving candidate slips in. Faisal was working before in Pak Suzuki and people even consider that job now Jugaar. That’s what a Jugaaro job does for you; strips off your credibility. Faisal may make great strides in PRL on the basis of his own abilities, but people will only remember that this guy had the source, and that any achievement he pulls off isn’t his doing but the work of his ‘source’.

What all this does is make people lose faith in the system. Arslan has been bickering since that bitter experience that your marks don’t amount to shit when searching for a good job. Many people have developed this perception over the past few months, that getting a satisfactory job in the Pakistani market is as dirty a game as politics.

In the end, all I would like to say is that this gossip networks is nothing but a bunch of hypocrites. They may shred a person to pieces with their venomous mouth, but give them a Jugaaro job and they will grab it with both hands without a second thought about the very stigma they righteously loathed. But then, that’s no big deal, since we as a nation thrive on hypocrisy. It makes the world go round for us.

And I’m no different. The only thing to my credit is that I refused to work for PIA when my father could have easily got me in, a job most people would die for. But now give me a job through foul means, and I will not hesitate for a second.

The Big Breakthrough?

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Fri, 06 Aug 2004 23:27:00 +0000

My sole goal after graduation has been to land a job with a multinational firm. It has been my belief from day one that if you work your hard enough for them, they’re going to notice you at some point or the other. Working for the local ones which are owned by either semi-literate or utterly illiterate ‘Seths’, is like banging your head against the wall. And this belief of mine has been further augmented by what I get to hear from acquaintances who are working in such places. It gives me great pleasure that I’ve been right all along, only for a split second, that is. The euphoria is almost instantaneously replaced by the growing concerned that I’m still unemployed. In the backdrop of this scenario, I was quite excited when the multinational giant Wartsila called me for an interview, and the excitement transformed into ecstasy when they short listed me for a second interview. I thought I was finally going to get that breakthrough which I had been yearning for all this time.

They called in the last week of June to inform me that I had been shortlisted for the second round and that I would be getting a call in the 2nd week of July, since the guy who was going to conduct the interview had gone for an Umrah. In the meantime I should polish my grey areas and wait for the call. I thanked the girl who had called me from the core of my heart for this courtesy call. How many companies are out there who inform the prospective interviewees well in advance about an interview? Not many, I’m sure. Needless to say, this simple act earned them my deepest respect and admiration. I was sure more than ever this was the company I would toil away for as long as it took.

I got to work immediately, reminiscing about the blunders I had committed in the first interview and trying to come up with better response. I also started revising more vigorously whatever I’ve learned in the last four years of my life. The second week came and went; then the third and fourth. I’ve got to say that I wasn’t worried that much throughout this period. Problems can arise, delays can occur, and a multinational just doesn’t back itself out of a commitment. But my friend Fahad who was also shortlisted was getting restless; every other day he would call me and exhort me to call the company and ask them about the delay. The first time he pleaded, I called the company and they replied; when the time came they would call me myself; I need not worry. But Fahad was getting desperate and wanted me to call them up again and again. I told him to calm down and just be patient. What else could I say or do. I certainly didn’t want to piss them off by calling again. Once was enough, which by the way had also confirmed that I had indeed been short listed and wasn’t dreaming.
It was finally on 3rd August that they called to inform me that I had an interview the other day. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I had just recovered from illness and was prepared for whatever lay ahead.

My interview was to start at 10:20 and although I got lost a bit getting there, in the end I made it right on time. But when I reached there, three people were already there waiting; two of which were scheduled before me; 10:00 and 10:10. This baffled me a bit, considering that the first one had lasted well more than half an hour. Anyway, the interviews didn’t start well after 11, and they were quite brief. But before the interviews we (the interviewees) had an in-depth chat about the job. It so happened that a few of the second-round interviews had already been conducted before this day, and Fahad was one of them. He didn’t call me to tell about it, but Noman who was there now, had talked to him. The revelation by Fahad was really mind-boggling. According to him, they had told him that the salary was going to be a measly Rs.3000 which was going to remain that way for 2 years! This could mean quite a few things, either Fahad is lying about it, people at Wartsila are out of touch with reality, or they were just pulling his leg to see how he responds.

Now when our turn came, each one got an entirely different dose. To one person they said that this job was quite messy, to other that the work required was more strenuous than that of a car mechanic, that he would be required to fly to different locations throughout the country for this work, and that for 2 years this will remain as it is. After two years, they may think about inducting the workers in the company on a permanent basis. To me, the two people who were conducting the interview revealed that this sort of work doesn’t have scope anywhere in the world, let alone Pakistan. Diesel engines provide the function of an auxiliary power source in the industry and as such they are not deemed as important. Then they asked me what I have to say to that, to which I replied that you have to take calculated risks throughout your life. Even the aviation industry is going down the drain and yet people are still venturing into that hellhole. You have to carve out your own niche. And that was it. This reply was enough for them to come to some conclusion which I’m not aware of as yet.

Just now as I’m writing this down, Fahad calls and gives me his version. Noman was right. They had stated that amount to him which they say is a stipend for two years training. Apparently, they had cross-examined him the most; asking whether he had done any worthwhile work with his hands in his life, why did he want to leave his current job, why was he interested in diesel engines, and so on.

My enthusiasm for working for Wartsila has dampened to some extent after this experience, mostly because I’m unable to make out their intentions. Are they bluntly stating the nature of the job so that we don’t have any qualms about it when we get in the middle of the action, or are they just testing us? It’s hard to figure out from the different versions I’ve heard or the bland expressions of the two interviewers. They didn’t discuss the stipend part with most of us, so I can’t vouch for that. However if it is true, then I don’t think anyone in the right frame of mind is going to opt for this ridiculous package. It’s preposterous for them to think they can keep their employers motivated to deliver the goods on such debilitating pay for two long years. They did complain to one of the interviewees that people leave us in just 2-3 weeks, and then they have to start the recruitment process all over again. They should expect that without any reservations. Wartsila without doubt is one of the biggest suppliers of ship power in the entire world. It owns a Nordic steel company, manufactures, supplies and then services power plants all over the world. In short they have poked their nose in every business and that also very successfully. This Finnish company has been around since 1884 so there’s no question about it’s reputation. Obviously, anyone who applies for a post here expects at least a package at par with the local industry, if not better. So when people are going to be offered what I’ve heard they’re offering, then the reaction is going to be either of disbelief, anger or disappointment.

If you ask me, I think they may have been putting on an act. It was something which the older guy, the field engineer who had gone for Umrah and caused the delay, said. He said diesel power
plants do not represent much of a scope anywhere in the world. But just the other day I was surfing the net and came across an article which claimed that Wartsila-Sulzer had produced one of the biggest and most powerful diesel engines in the world. The RTA96-C turbo-charged two stroke diesel engine, which is actually manufactured for Wartsila by Aioi Works of Japan’s United Diesel Ltd.; is one of a kind. It is available in 6-14 cylinders configurations, all in-line. The engine produces an enormous 7780 horsepower and weighs a whopping 2300 tons( the crankshaft alone 300 tons)! An engine of such gigantic proportions is required by large container ships since ship owners prefer a single powerful engine over a number of small ones. Here a few snaps of it’s monstrous parts.

noreply@blogger.com (Saqib) — Thu, 05 Aug 2004 22:30:00 +0000

The first completed 12 cylinder engine.