First Freelancing Experience

In the 7 years of my corporate life, I've never worked so hard for $100. Well, maybe I have as memories of those night outs in Chicago come back now but that was once in a blue moon and it was fun. On one instance Harper and I stayed up the whole night for launch and were dying to get back home early next morning when T asked us to stay on until he came in just to find us crouched under our respective desks. Aaah well I'm digressing.

So I wanted to get a taste of freelancing. V had enrolled me in getafreelancer.com a couple of months back and I was randomly going through some mails while deleting the hundreds in the 'freelance' folder. A lot of demand for PHP so I thought how hard can it be and here I start learning PHP last Monday. After one unsuccessful bid for $65, I bid another one for $50 and this German guy chose me as the service provider. I can't tell you in so many words how ecstatic I was that day. $50 is a very meager percentage of even my first salary but I felt this was something I had earned on my own.  

What ensued afterward was a nightmare working with this person. Thankfully, there weren't many issues on payments or whatever and he subsequently chose me as the service provider for 2 other projects. To quote his words in one of the closing mails, he writes

Let me again say that i really like to work with you and know you tried with 100 per cent to make it possible. please forgive me for beeing a little bullheaded, pickheaded and stubborn about this issue - i was just looking too much forward on exactly this .

I guess that just sums up the experience. What I have come to realize is that the rest of the breed out there (service buyers I mean) aren't going to be any easy either.

Career and Marriage - a reality check?

Forbes article titled "Don't Marry Career Women" Michael Noer is controversial enough to trigger a feminist revolution. Noer defines a career woman who has a university-level (or higher) education, works more than 35 hours a week outside the home and makes more than $30,000 a year. I would fit into that description until the end of September. If you are a woman and reading this, there is a good chance you are one too.

Alright, he has gone a little too far by making a huge statement that "Do not marry a career woman" supported by his references to studies done in the past:

If a host of studies are to be believed, marrying these women is asking for trouble. If they quit their jobs and stay home with the kids, they will be unhappy ( Journal of Marriage and Family, 2003). They will be unhappy if they make more money than you do ( Social Forces, 2006). You will be unhappy if they make more money than you do ( Journal of Marriage and Family, 2001). You will be more likely to fall ill (American Journal of Sociology). Even your house will be dirtier ( Institute for Social Research).

A lot of "if's" there encouraging successful career men not to marry. Does he realize the socio-economic imbalance this would cause? Neither of these high-flyers is going to be satisfied in their lives with just their careers by staying single. On the other hand, if this encourages a trend for women not to pursue their careers aggressively, is he suggesting we head back to the 60s/70s causing a gender disproportion in the workforce? Would people like me "who quit their jobs and stay home with the kids be unhappy?' Is it about the money or is about the social networking and everything that goes with a full time job?

I fail to understand what the motive of this article was or what he was trying to convey. In either case, instead of getting offended outright by Noer's remarks, I think it is good to read it with an open mind. There are valid points – ones closer to reality that is hard to accept. Sure, career woman fail to keep a home that is as clean as your neighbor who is a stay-at-home mom and I've felt this all my life. This guilt drives you to work hard at home over the weekends and before you realize life is a planned one full of post-it notes and to-do lists that never ends! With aspirations of being that perfect coworker, perfect wife at home, perfect mom like your mom was and an impeccable home..in short striving for perfection in everything just leads to an emptiness in life.

Krishna Jayanthi/Gokulashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi

It is birthday time for the Hindu Gods that also marks the beginning of the festival season. Thanks to the diversity in India, each of these festivals is celebrated per different customs in the various parts of the nation. Krishna Jayanthi also known as Gokulashtami commemorates the birth of Lord Krishna and is celebrated on Ashtami (eighth day) of the month of Shravana. Since he was born at midnight, the festivities also commence only by late afternoon. We observed it as it is done in the South with little feet of Lord Krishna drawn on the floor in white flour that signifies HE is entering the home..these feet finally culminate in the place of worship.

There is a lively spirit in Pune that one has to appreciate. Festivals here are not restricted to your own homes which is typically the case in South. Here people celebrate as a community and for the first time, we saw Dahi-Handi and enjoyed the game. Every neighbourhood has this competition and it is a tradition observed in Maharashtra. A pot of curd and butter (that Lord Krishna was quite fond of) is suspended from a rope high above the ground. The one in our neighbourhood was broken by a bunch of professional teenagers from Mumbai and they bagged the prize of Rs.11k. It was pouring so heavily that day, despite that people had turned out in large numbers to cheer them.Ganesh Chaturthi is observed in the honor of Lord Ganesha – the elephant god. Don't think it's his birthday. This is fun again in Pune as it is observed here for 10 days and you get to see so many different pandals of Ganesh unlike how it is done in South. The first day was on Sunday when we got a small idol of Ganesha…"Modak" or "Kozhakattai" was missing this year..thanks to lil general. Will post some pictures on flickr soon…Let the festivities begin.

Curves: From concave to convex

I am not talking Physics here - so it is definitely not about lenses or mirrors. This is how the shape of a woman's body transforms over months as she progresses through her pregnancy. I'm not boasting of a flawless one before this but the change now is so apparent that stares from colleagues/passersby at work makes me conscious of the bump suddenly. More and more clothes are finding their way to the after-January wardrobe. What fit last week won't anymore. Last Friday was fun when I tried confidently jeans after jeans while getting ready for work and finally settled for some old loose clothes. How can I forrget the smile on Vivek's face as he watched me upto my antics? Well, on the brighter side I get to buy new ones.

I'm still weeks away from being "heavily"? pregnant(yet to find out what it means as the baby-center newsletter keeps referring to this). The baby center newsletter is just about the only literature we have been reading occasionally on pregnancy. And I must say the casual attitude has helped us not to get stressed and ignorance to an extent seems bliss. Friends who have gone through this say they used to flood their Docs with calls asking "the book says this should have happened by week xyz. but hasn't, is it a cause for worry?" Our Doc fortunately is as casual as we are. On a recent visit, I complained of breathlessness and she calmly responded what's the problem? Take a long deep breath 4-5 times." you get the picture :)

Categories: pregnancy, health

Salaries – should it be confidential or made public?

There goes a saying "Never ask a man his salary and a woman her age". With increasing number of women in the workforce today, the saying may not be applicable. But politeness demands we follow this.
Time for some reality check:

1. Do you know the salary of your college friend who joined along with you as a fresher at the same level?
2. 5 years later when you switched organizations, do you know the salary of your colleague sitting next to you?
3. Do you know how much your boss makes?
4. Any idea how much the CEO makes?

While the response to the first question could be an overwhelming "Yes", I believe the number will come down gradually to almost nil for the subsequent questions. It is fair to assume that people guesstimate the packages of people at different levels of the organization ladder that fit an experience-skill set bracket or "band" of job titles.  
This school of thought –"Why secret salaries are a baaaaaad idea" on The Chief Happiness Officer blog - prompted me to write this post.
Alexander argues the case against secret salaries as –

1. It frustrates employees because any unfairness (real or perceived) can't be addressed directly.
2. They're not secret anyway. People talk, you know.
3. It perpetuates unfair salaries which is bad for people and for the organization

He argues the case for open salaries as –
Making salaries public (inside the company of course) has some major advantages:

1. Salaries will become more fair. The system gets a chance to adjust itself.
2. It will be easier to retain the best employees because they're more likely to feel they're getting a fair salary.
3. The pressure is on the people with the high salaries to earn their keep. Everybody has to pull their weight - the higher the salary, the larger the weight.

I believe in the policy that salaries should be kept confidential because ---

1. Avoid chaos: In an organization like mine that employs over 30,000 people, you would like the HR to perform other functions effectively rather than resolving conflicts that arise because of salaries known to everyone. You don't have a choice to ignore because it is official. Cases such as "They're not secret anyway. People talk, you know", employees wouldn't have substantial proof to question because it is hearsay! There are many instances where people inflate and announce their salaries to boost their egos.
2. Respect Privacy: Just as the date of birth of a person is confidential known only to the HR folks, compensation and benefits is something that you have earned (by hook or crook) and should be respected. By allowing someone to question, you are basically allowing the person to question the decision making capabilities of all involved in the recruitment process – the interviewer, the HR manager, the candidate for his proficiencies and negotiation skills.
3. Fairness does not mean openness:  Fairness does not necessarily imply openness. Organizations make policies and stick to them if they have to run efficiently and smoothly in the long run. Salaries cannot generally be prejudiced or subjective drastically. They don't give a person $10,000 more in his/her package because he/she looked hot or was well behaved. Sure, that would have had an influence but the scope of variation would be a small percentage. To allow for this is why salary brackets are created. This takes care of human judgement errors if any.  Fairness does exist to an extent as employees in many organization do know what the salary bracket for the various designations.
4. Are appraisals and salaries the same? While most people would agree with me that performance appraisals should be made public within a company, I don't think the same can be extended to salaries. Just as your client contacts or list of customers is confidential information, so are salaries.

Would you like an openness that leads to more distrust and an environment where the camaraderie between employees is lost? Would you like to be in a workplace where you are constantly judged by yoru subordinates and peers if you justify your salary? Is this productive?

E-mail me your opinion on this –should a open book policy be followed or should it kept secret?

Categories: business, HR, salary

Fresh MBA grads as Business Analysts in IT projects – useful or a pain in the …?

Let me make myself clear first. I don't have anything against the Business Analysts per se. But don't get me started on these fresh off the boat MBA grads from "so-called" premier Management institutes of India such as the IIMs and ISB, Hyderabad. The way management education is pursued in India is a little different than the west. Here, as soon as you complete your 3/4 year undergraduate program you get into one of these Management institutes. Experience has little or no bearing as an entry criterion. With absolutely no industry experience, these kids at the end of their 2 year program join various top tier IT firms as Business Analysts boasting of expertise in the Finance, Systems, Marketing, HR domains.

Problems: Their primary job responsibility in IT services firms such as mine calls for involvement in the requirement analysis phase of the software project lifecycle and that's where the trouble begins. There is a huge misfit between what they know, what they can do and what they perceive of "technologies" and in some cases "computers" itself. Some problems below:

1. Language: Developers talk technical and BAs talk jargons. Developers are realistic / pessimistic with respect to deadlines and BAs are optimistic or should I say overzealous.


2. Who is the smartest? Both the sides – technical/BAs think they know the system best and the other is a fool. I have seen situations such as these multiple times. While a developer thinks it is possible to freeze a stock price during intra day trading, a BA believes it is no rocket science to develop pagination of 1000 records in a day.


3. "Office Boys" – One of the analysts I worked with recently proudly calls themselves as the "Office Boys" due to their allegiance to Microsoft products. And this is one suite of products that developers hate and the deliverables that go with it – documents, documents and more documents.

Possible Solutions:

1. IT and domain Business Analysts: A clear demarcation of IT BAs and domain oriented Business Analysts (some of them are industry veterans with 10 years of banking experience) is necessary. Their tasks should also be aligned towards their experience which is more driven by profitability for an account than this.


2. Training: Basic computer training is mandatory else do NOT recruit them. It is not worth the effort teaching how to check mails in Microsoft Outlook (believe me, I have been doing that and makes me wonder – gosh maybe I did the right thing not doing an MBA). Similarly basic domain training is required for the technical folks as well.

to continue…

Categories: domain, business, analysts, mba, IT

Lil General takes over

Lil General (as we fondly call the kid-to-be-born) has assumed full charge of my system dictating when I eat, sleep, talk etc. Funny enough, I get a good kick as though in appreciation when we talk about Ferrari or football and goes off to doze as I read blogs and books. The butterfly flutters after every meal have transformed into martial
art kicks when the food intake is delayed. Most nights, I sleep walk around midnight like a zombie scaring V away. As you can see, it is not fun, but we'll sail through!

Categories: pregnancy

KANK fails to create magic!

The verdict is out. I have to confess that I have never been a fan of Karan Johar’s movies and he has proved why again. Had he spent some more time on a more convincing reason for this pyar-mohabbat soap opera than promoting everyday on NDTV and other
television channels, the movie stood a chance of appealing to the viewers. It is too long, too flashy and melodramatic. There was more than once when I thought the movie was over. In short, with all the hype built around this so called bold movie, his
success formula hasn’t worked this time around and comes across as a satire on the institution of marriage (arranged and love) itself.

The BOLD plot: Shot in New York, with infidelity and extra marital affair being the central theme, the story is about 2 failed marriages – that of Dev Saran (Shah Rukh Khan) – Rhea (Preity Zinta) and Rishi (Abhishek Bachchan)-Maya (Rani Mukherji). Sam
(Amitabh Bachchan) plays the role of Rishi’s father and Kiron Kher as Dev’s mom. Dev meets Maya, clad in a dashing scarlet red wedding ghaghra, sitting alone on a bench in the sprawling lush green garden on her marriage day – pondering over the difference between pyaar and mohabbat. In his usual melodramatic way, Dev offers her advice and the movie takes a turning point – he is hit by a car outside the gates of Maya’s mansion and he becomes the cranky Khan for the rest of the movie.

Dev turns into frustrated soul after the accident leaves him limped for the rest of his life. Not able to pursue his dream of playing football (or should I say soccer) he turns mean and vents out all his pent-up anger on his successful fashion-diva wife, Rhea, who runs a magazine called “Diva”. His obsession with football doesn’t fade however and it is hilarious when his son picks up the football in a game and hands it over to the opponent’s goalie.

Three years later, Dev’s and Maya’s paths cross again, and their animosity gives way to friendship which blossoms into love as they find ways to save their marriages with the help of books and discussions over top-notch cafes of New York. Yet I fail to understand why Maya is unhappy with her marriage. Rishi sounds like the perfect husband who runs an upstart party planning firm, is successful and a loving husband. All he demands of her is a bit of social life and passion in the bedroom while she engages in her mundane champa bhai activities of cleaning the spic and span
apartment clad in expensive clothes! For a change none of the lead actors die except Big B who had to go for he couldn’t go around sleeping with all the white females when everyone else was weeping.
There is no twist per se in the end with Rishi finding new love.

The KJ Formula: Karan does it again what he does best – making his protagonists sob. The entire family was found weeping time and again in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Khan and Mukherji don the crying hats this time. Other ingredients of KJ’s moviemaking are in abundance as well with Shah Rukh again in the lead, Amitabh/Jaya Bachchan take turns in his movies with both of them in K3G followed by Jaya in Kal Ho Na Ho and now it is Big B’s turn. Once again, you can see the larger than life size lifestyle with all of them donning designer outfits, driving swanky cars, beautifully furnished apartments – the sophisticated life. Khan has to patronize a game in every movie. If
it was Basketball in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, it is football in KANK.

What to watch out for: The chemistry between the Bachchan duo and the screentime they share together account for the only lighter moments of the film. The first half has many such jolly scenes and passes by quickly. Definitely a movie worth seeing if you get free tickets as I did.

Categories: movie, review, KANK, Kabhi-alvida-na-kahna

5 Tips to Manage Notice Period Woes

Typically IT organizations in India impose either a 1, 2 or 3 months notice period for employees who quit. Of late, many are reducing 3 month period to a more reasonable 2. While there are overheads for the organization in forcing an employee to stay for this duration after he/she has put in his papers, in general, companies mitigate the risks of a sudden knowledge loss due to attrition by utilizing this time for planning transition and a smooth handover. Generally, the new organization pressurizes its recruits to come on board as early as possible to fulfill their requirements. In both the cases, it is the individuals who are caught in a catch 22 situation and have to negotiate their way, either by serving the entire notice period or by paying the shortfall in notice from their own pockets. Without proper planning on the part of individuals, this can be really stressful and financially damaging.

Here are a few tips on how notice period issues can be better managed:

1. Know your Company's Policy: Much before you plan on quitting or even attending any interviews, be aware of your company's notice period policy. During interviews and negotiations , make it clear to the HR of the recruiting company what is the current company's notice period .


2. Plan your exit: Plan on leaving during a period when the project pressures are not high and no immediate deliverable is on the horizon. The chances of getting released will be relatively high. Be prepared on how you would want to take the discussion forward when your manager announces you will have to serve the notice period. Please ensure to maintain atleast a cordial and good working relations with your immediate manager for the next few days or weeks. He/She can make or break things for you and smoothen out your transition. So even if you have not shared a great rapport so far, keep it under the wraps and work out an amicable solution.


3. Try for a waiver: As far as possible, serve a month's notice and negotiate a waiver against your accumulated vacation. Thereby, you don't have to pay any money either from your own pocket and neither does the new organization which you intend to join.


4. Confirmation with HR well before the last date: It is a general practice for quitting employees to state "I would like to get relieved on xyz date". And even if this last date has been mutually agreed between you and your manager, do verify with the HR so that you don't end up paying money towards shortfall of notice period and under some mysterious rules which might be shown to you later. Make sure you get a confirmation by e-mail and let the HR do the calculation of your last date. From my own experience, there's always a difference between how you calculate 60days and how they do, though it's the same calendar.


5. Negotiate Notice period with the new Company: In cases where you are being pressurised to join immediately at the new organization, discuss with the HR of your new company of how much you would have to pay if you were to join on the date requested. Most companies these days are ready to shell out to get resources on board as soon as possible. If there is a positive response, get this confirmation in an e-mail. Also , enquire in detail as to what documents they will need for reimbursement of this amount, such as a photocopy of the DD attested by the HR of your old company or an FFS (Full and Final Settlement) sheet etc.

Finally, remember to part on good terms with everyone at the existing organization. It’s a small world after all!

Categories: career, quitting, notice period

The road half-traveled : 20 weeks to go

"Turn and lie on your left", said the doc doing my ultrasound, with a sudden grim look on her face. This was my second Sonography. After 15 minutes of moving her rod-like equipment (that so looked like the churner of my food processor) over me, she finally threw her hands up in the air. "I want to see the baby's orientation but there is no movement. Go up and down a flight of stairs and come back in 10 mins",
she said. So I took a walk round the hospital as if I were doing rounds ... I went back in 10 mins and the nurse would not let me in. She said, "you gotta walk more to orient the baby". This went on for 2 more times. It was 7:30 p.m. and a long day at work. I felt like saying "Sure, I'll lose my orientation if I do this one more time". V was more than supportive and sarcastically remarked, "the kid has all our traits…lazy right from his/her roots.."

I went in finally and the doc started examining again. No improvement. As if to reassure myself and avoid another stroll outside, I told them I had felt the movement through the day and he/she was probably tired now J And then suddenly they smiled and turned the monitor towards me..there was a teeny weny form with stick like arms and legs and a peanut sized heart beating rapidly (140 pm I got to know later) and a
huge head. It was now moving swiftly within the limited space available. Turns out everything is alright! And for the first time, it sank in that something was happening… 20 more weeks to go.

Categories: health, pregnancy

E-mail Manners: Why spelling names correctly matter?

More often than not, the local folks in Pune address me as "Laxmi" in e-mails and it is annoying. Can’t you see the e-mail address? My name is spelt as “Lakshmi” and not "Laxmi". Incidentally, the CEO of my organization has the same name as mine. It would be funny to see these senior folks address him (yes, CEO is a ‘he’) by the wrong spelling. If you don’t get it right internally, what’s the assurance they address customers correctly?

You might ask what’s in a name? That’s your identity. And it matters because that’s the first impression you form and repeated mistakes in subsequent e-mails reinforces the image you have of them that they don’t really care! So spell right for success (exception being that of Indian movie stars whose spelling change every month - thanks to numerology).

What’s in a job title?

Job titles are for business cards, organization directory, offer letters and matter during that promotion for the pay rise.

Most titles in Indian IT firms have the words “analysts, associates, engineers or systems” in their designations at entry levels. On promotion a “systems analyst” becomes a "senior systems analyst” while still performing the same role and fitting into that mysterious "salary band". The roles one performs have little to do with the titles. And some organizations have stretched this too far with titles such as Project Manager -1 , Project Manager -2 so that you can get promoted every year. More link Equality-7345, Equality-2321 in Ayn Rand's Anthem.

“Team Member, Team Lead, Module Lead, Project Lead or Project Manager” or more familiar terms that one can relate to. When you interview for a position, the question one asks HR is "whats my role" and the reply is one of the above - not the designations! So I wonder if we can't have more meaningful job titles or have a job title and a position title defined as here.

Categories: job title, career, hierarchy

What do you do for a living?

Should I say "I’m a to-be stay-at-home mom" or "I’m a freelance programmer and blogger aspiring to be a writer"? Neither of these would really “earn” me a living. Not yet atleast. I have 2 months and all the resources/freedom to decide on what I want to do and start planning and doing the ground work for it. For now, it is kissing the corporate life goodbye.

Quitting the job calls for “I want to quit my job” conversations with some important people along the way – boss & spouse/family that can either be pleasant or otherwise and sometimes very stressful as my earlier ones have been. It calls for a lot of resilience and persuasion while being assertive in making the other person believe why you think the move is good for you.

No doubt, I’ve had my share of practice but this one was easy….My boss didn't initially believe I wasn't going elsewhere. At one point I felt like saying, "Hello, don't you see this huge bump and you think I would work somehwere now?" The only moment when I was a little startled was when my boss (after convinced I wasn't going elsewhere) with a puzzled look asked "you're giving up your career just like that?". I didn't say anything. For whatever reason, if you don't do a 9-6 job at an IT factory, it is perceived you don't have a career.

I would like to hear from you why you do a job? Social recognition or personal gratification or financial obligation. Definitely there would be all 3 but what figures the highest on your list and is a job the only means to it or is it the easiest and risk-free path?

Categories: career, quitting

Time to quit

So I officially communicate tomorrow. Two more months to go after that. It was simple to decide this time and almost like a dream come true or that’s what I think now. No debates surrounding “to quit or not to quit”, no interviews/negotiations and no what/where/when next. While this pregnancy made the reasoning for leaving easier, the truth is I had decided way back in April that this is not my calling and the only thing motivating about going to work is the pay at the end of the month.

It’s a temporary pause to the corporate life and whether this marks an end to the 7 year long career or not is too early to say.

Things that I’m apprehensive of:

1. My paycheck every month


2. Being recognized socially just as X’s wife


3. Loss of independence in the head.


4. Just a listener to all work related talks hereafter (how silly)

Things that I’m not going to miss (here at Pune):

1. The cramped office space


2. Getting up at 6:30 every morning to take the 8:30 a.m. bus

Things that I’m looking forward to:

Over the past few months that I’ve been contemplating of giving up my fulltime career, I’ve been compiling a list of things on tadalist that I would like to do before the kid arrives.

1. Complete my writing assignments


2. Tanjore Painting : Aladi Krishnar


3. Glass Painting


4. Take Keyboard lessons

My love for technology hasn’t come down a bit. It just gives me the freedom to pursue projects that I like and deliver it that suits my schedule and work out fo home out of a comfy chair. So if you know of any freelance projects, please do let me know.

India Inc. late to jump on the Internet Bandwagon

None of the Indian companies feature in this list of the 100 earliest .com domains that are still active today. No cts.com is not that of Cognizant Technology Solutions.