Obstacles to Opportunities

For the freshers out of the college, it has almost been a year since their placement has happened and by this time that euphoria and excitement would have died down. Now the expectation will be as to when will the call letter be received to report for duty. This is also the time when the parents will be at their peak of anxiety than the candidates themselves! The selected candidates knowing pretty well their student days will conclude when once they report at the office where it will be a different ballgame will now be busy extracting the last drop of fun from their college friends. Let them be… Let them enjoy before they enter the corporate world and start immersing themselves into the endless nights and early morning calls.

But the recent updates are dampening and all does not appear to be too well on the horizon. Last week, Infy reported in the media that their calling the new employees will be delayed due to the slowdown. Many more giants have also indicated that they could also follow suit and it appears some turbulent period is ahead before things settle back again.

It is important that the selected ones handle this carefully. There is nothing to despair about this and absolutely no need for long faces please.  At least in 2001, it was the first time and both the management as well as the aspirants were at sea as to how to get over it. Now that it has also happened again sometime in 2008, all are aware that this shall also pass. The rookies need to capitalize on this situation to acquire or enhance their skills. Getting into an office is not the end of life- it is rather the beginning. Within weeks of induction, by self comparison, one will easily realize one's  gray areas and where an improvement is required. But, having stepped into the arena with all the bulls racing against you, it will be too challenging , if not late, to keep the student days tempo to gain new skills and knowledge. So, better use this God given opportunity prudently.

The young ones could easily focus on improving their soft skills such as oral communications which is an integral part of the road to one's success. Acquire knowledge and certifications in software testing, Java .Net etc., Even a basic training on a language such as French, German or Japanese could help one in the long run. Having joined a corporate by virtue of their academic performance, they need to realize that they have to start all over again to prove themselves and show differentiators to climb at the new place. It would pay well in the days to come to focus and convert these obstacles into opportunities and gain additional skills rather than spending time and energy in frivolous chats and networking sites.  These are to be had as side dishes and not as wholesome meals!