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Career or Arrear

S . V i j a y K u m a r

0 1 M E 5 7


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Foreword

9th July 2007

Dear Students,

Mr.S.Vijay Kumar is known to me as a student initially and a friend, subsequently for a total of sixyears. Rearing to go during formative years of his study, he approached me for additional

responsibilities in Placement and Training Cell. He was desirous of gaining first hand experience and

succeed in his career. In the transitional period, many get disillusioned as there exists a vast

difference between ones capabilities and ambitions; more so with adolescence. Planning is an

important phase in ones life and has to be done with meticulous care. More often than not, the

younger generation tend to learn after a debacle. Since prevention is better than cure, a tradition

has to be set and periodically the experiences of the senior batch have to be transferred, faithfully,

to the subsequent batch. For the first time, author has tried, sincerely, to bridge the gap.

The author has lucidly brought out various facets in ones student life and practical solutions to

some of the tethering problems faced by youngsters. He has also summarized the experience of high

achievers and our countrys contribution to the world condensed into a simpler form.

I am sure that this thought-provoking book will go a long way in helping one to understand the

environment better and succeed in ones chosen career.

Dr. Muralikrishna

Placement Officer and Head of the Department,

Department of Mechanical Engineering,

Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College


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Preface

Hi SRECians,

This is Vijay from the 2001-05 batch of Mechanical Engineering. During my college days, I was not a

great guy neither did I accomplish something great. I finally got a job and I am kind of settled for

now but today, the lack of awareness of certain things in the past (Those which I cannot changetoday) due to my negligence/carelessness/lack of guidance are making my path to my dream career

a bit rough (to a certain extent).

Likewise if you do not know the requirements for (say, a dream course you want to pursue), it will

affect your dream career or at least the path will become difficult. Pure technical/academic strength

will not be enough to face the obstacles you are bound to face today. I came to know a lot of things

only after I got a job.

I dont mean to say that everybody will be like me (needing a guide) but there will be some of youwho; if guided, would perform well/better than how you would now and take control of your career.

Hence I decided to start a group (linkedin and facebook) that will help students to interact with

alumni, teachers and present students. Please join and start conversing using the following links

linkd.in/sreccareersupportonln & on.fb.me/sreccareersupportonfb

The above initiative inspired me to write a book with some information to better oneself and to

tackle some day to day problems and also make that person be of use to the society where s/he

lives. The end result was this book.

About the book

I have shared a few things which I felt important in this book. To make these things enter your inner

mind, I have used information from other sources also. There are few places where I have done

some Copy and Paste work with some editing. I am saying this because I dont want to take the

credit for a work which is not purely mine but I assure you, I have put in information only after a lot

of study with respect to your present position. This is a product from my 12 years of school life, 4

years of college life, 2 years of working, few books that I have read, information from the net and

lastly the knowledge, motivation and chastening received from a few people over the years. Thisbook will give you some information to plan yourself in advance. So just reading this book will not

give you every thing you can dream of or help you in achieving your dreams. You have to do your

home work for sure...When I started writing this book, I was more interested in the content and did not give much

importance to the standard of the content. I apologise for this, if you are a student who has difficulty

in English as you may not know the meaning of a few words. I thought of replacing all the probable

uncommon words with simple words but then it occurred that if you refer to a dictionary to

understand these words, it would improve your vocabulary. So, I have left it as it is. Thats not to saythat this book is of the level of BBCs newscast. Its a simple book written by a simple person who

apologizes for any errors. If you have any opinions/suggestion, feel free to contact me at

[email protected]. Happy Reading

S. Vijay Kumar
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank a few people apart from my parents for being an indirect catalyst to this book.

If not for these people, some incidents and attitude changes would not have happened in my life. I

would like to thank

Principal Dr.K.Muhammad Zakariah

(For the impact of the talks I had with him-and for giving me the opportunity to see his managerial

skills first-hand during placement work)

Most admired teacher Mrs.Shanthi, Lecturer, Dept of Mathematics

(Forso many words to pen. she spoke and taught with true sincerity. She was a real teacher. It is

not easy for a lady to control a class full of boys-especially, branch of mechanical engineering. She

did!)

HOD Dr.Muralikrishna, Prof & Head,Dept of Mechanical Engg

(For providing me the opportunity to manage activities of the placement cell

Other Teachers(For letting me see and absorb some good qualities)

Personal Guide Mr.Srikanth, Director, GRD Academy of Management

(For helping me take decisions when I am not able to and for motivating me)

Professional Guide Mr.Babu, C.E.O., Sricom(For advising me on career choices)

Friends/Ex-Friends/Colleagues & Classmates

(Friends; for putting up with my negatives and being there for me, so long,

Ex-Friends; for letting me see myself in a way I never did and for teaching me unforgettable lessons

and

Colleagues & Classmates; for the experiences gained from)


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Index

1 Using college life effectively 1

2 How to become what you want to be 8

3 Coping with teachers and parents 10

4 The unspoken message of the cover 14

5 A few vitamins 16

6 Work Place-Do's and Don'ts 22

7 Run for Tiranga 38

8 Final Message 44

9 Bibliography 47


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College

College Life

I didntfollow everything that I have written here, when I was in college but if I had

Ifis one of the most painful words in the English language.

Return to Index


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No one can make you change.

No one can stop you from changing.

No one really knows how you must change.

Not even you. Not until you start.

But

Once you do-Your Life Changes

LIFE is full of choices. You are responsible for your actions as well as, inactions. For every action ofyours, you had a choice previously-Whether to do it or not and of course every choice have their

own results. Eg: Reading this book is your choice. If you read it-you may think of changing yourself,

at least by 10%. If you dont read it, you may think you are not losing anything but according to me

you are losing an opportunity to change. If you have decided to read, read it when your mind is free

and relaxed andnot in haste.

More importantly, I hope that you derive the maximum from what you read from this book and

apply the learning to your college and professional life.

College

Talking of college, you should first understand the purpose of entering a college-CAREER. Everybody

has different dreams with regard to their career but very few know the path. Be well informed of all

the things you will need to have/do before entering your next phase of life. For some it will be

placements, for some it will be doing a post graduation, for some it will be starting up of a new

business or taking over your family business. Whatever it is, please take the following into your

subconscious mind

1. Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do

I dont mean to say that something should be accepted as impossible and ignored. What I mean by

the words what you cannot do? are

-the things you cannot change

-the one thing you dream of doing but based on your present potential, you are

incapable

-the things you cannot changeEg: You may have wanted to do a B.E. in Information Technology but did not get a seat and you

ended up in say Mechanical Engineering. You may have also not had the influence/money to get a

B.E. in Information Technology in some other college. During such instances, dont waste time

brooding over. You can do something that will make you enter a software company at the end. You

can specialise in ERP where in you will be requiring the skills of a mechanical engineer as well as that

of a software engineer

(ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning-Browse on this topic and find out more about it if you

want) or you can specialise in design by learning various mechanical softwares and enter into firmslike Tata Consultancy etc. Many companies recruit Non-IT people today. There are lot of options

today to switch streams. So search for alternate paths for the same dream destination.

Pg 2 of 47Return to Index


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-the one thing you dream of doing but based on your present potential, you are incapable

Eg: Lets say you did your schooling from a remote part of the country where there were no good

schools and the medium of teaching was not English because of which you find it difficult to

understand the level of English in college. If a person of your category wanted to become a

journalist/news reader for the BBC, it is possible, provided you sacrifice a great deal of the nicest

things that life may offer you. Think whether that one thing will really make your life happy after you

achieve that position. If the answer is yes, proceed but I would suggest you find out what you are

good at or what you can become good at in a short period of time and make your life a success.Dont try to do something because the world is crazy about that one thing. Research on why you

really want to do that one thing-You Will Get Your Answer. For example, you may dream to

become the president of India but the core reason behind that may be that you want to be known to

the world as a leader. Why not become someone like Mother Teresa-You will be known longer than

even the president!

2. Everybody isgood at something. Even a clock that has stoppedticking is right twice a day

Dont compare yourself with somebody else and feel inferior or make fun of somebody because

he/she is unable to do the tasks you are able to do easily. Einstein was not able to remember the

route to his house but what he has given to this world is something very few people can give.

3. Dont be afraid to ask dumb questions in class

In general, as students we feel hesitant to ask questions in class to avoid embarrassment but

remember, they are easier to handle than dumb answers.

4. Be bold and courageous within

When you look back at life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the one's you did. Be

courageous but dont fight at every situation or be aggressive to prove your point. Even if you

maintain poise and be calm-you can still prove your point. Raise your hand only to block not to instil

pain. Be bold within. It will emerge out.

5. No one makes it alone

Have a grateful heart and be quick to acknowledge those who helped you. Dont use somebodys

efforts and come up even if it is tempting. There will always be somebody better than you. If youcombine and perform, the result will definitely be more than what you all can do individually

(Synergy). Even though, you wont get all the appreciation and be called a hero you will learn more

when you work together as there will be a lot of idea generation and knowledge sharing.

6. Dont justify Non-Performance

Explanation can never make up for the shortfall. Excellence is self explanatory. Where there is

excellence, explanations are not required. Where explanations are required, rarely do you find

excellence. Definitely it is soothing to justify non-performance-It acts as a psychological pain balm

and it relieves you from the burden of hurt. However, self consolation for lack of excellence will hurt

you very badly in life and you will start accepting compromises.

Wake up6:01 is not 6:00. Dont explain (unless it is a do or die situation) even if it is not your fault.



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7. Dont Grumble

If the reason for wanting to grumble is to get alternative solutions, do explain your

problems/weaknesses once or twice (not more than that) but preferably to a person who is elder or

experienced than you or who is not with you all the time (people like relatives, old friends, teachers

etc-especially those with whom you dont get to meet often). If you keep discussing your negatives

with people who are on par with your level or with people with whom you interact often, two things

happen for sure

-First, you will develop a low self esteem (over time) when you work with those people in a team

because you are aware that they know your negatives/weaknesses. Also, you cannot lead that team

by any chance. Your inner conscience will say that you are inferior to them and they are a success

(the very reason why you went to them for advice).

-Second (most important), Though people with whom you interact often may be more sympathetic

to you/your situation (in comparison with the rest of the people); EVENTUALLY THESE PEOPLE WILL

LOSE INTEREST IN HEARING YOUR CONTINUOUS GRUMBLING AND WILL THINK OF YOU AS A

NEGATIVE GUY. Nothing changes for good by grumbling. They will stop liking your company and will

ignore you- unless, may be, you are spending a lot on them .Dont mistake these

people- Do you like the company of a successful person from whom you can absorb or a failure who

speaks of himself and his problems? Your answer is theirs too!

8. Break off; the habit of listening to the majority-your time is limited

Sometimes, it isnt necessarily about earning a good name for yourself but about earning a good

name for your parents or for being accepted as a normal person in the society that makes you to

become puppets in the hands of the public. Remember, it is better to earn a bad name and lead agood life, than to earn a good name and live a bad life. Turn off the social checklist. Rise above the

confines of social definition. Stand above the crowd. Live above the average man. Inspire future

generations to live a life like you did. Better to be a loner than to be in the company of people who

create a new caste. Avoid the company of wrong people even if they are a majority.

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet

death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be,

because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the

old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, youwill gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which

is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out

your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

They somehow already know what you truly want to do. Everything else is secondary.

9. The art of effective communication, irrespective of the form is to be mastered

No matter how skilled one happens to be, mere techniques without effective communication will

produce only a superficial and short lived piece of work. A communication gap is actually a gap

between the preparedness of the communicator and the unpreparedness of the mind of the

receiver. More than What you say and How you say, When you say (Timing) is the most

important aspect of effective communication. Communicate only to a prepared mind.



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Remember the responsibility of preparing the other mind is yours and yours alone.

An earthquake isnt a good time to plough the soil. So wait for moments when there

is a reasonable amount of calmness and composure in you as well as the listener.

First, communicate to prepare the other mind and only then speak your idea out. The

art of communication, irrespective of the form is to be mastered and used as an

instrument to reach out to people.

10. Do not accept things that money can buy, free of cost, especially from people with whom you

do business

Dont try to get everything free. You will be labelled cheap in a short time. Though you will be happy,

initially, after receiving something valuable from somebody free of cost, ultimately you will be

pushed to a situation where you will have to repay with multiple returns in terms of service or

actions which you generally wont do for somebody else. If you treat yourself with gifts etc, your

emotions are controlled or succumb to the giver of the gifts and sometimes, you may even have to

break your principles-So beware. In general, other than family members, TRUE friends/lovers andpeople who renounce life (Saints etc), nobody gives you anything for free. If somebody gives you

money for a good action of yours (Incentive), then you may accept it as you are not bound to pay

back emotionally. Understand the difference between Incentive and Dole.

College Life

Seniors/Alumni/Teachers

Now, talking of college life, the first thing I can remember about college is the impact of seniors.

They are the first people who give you their opinions about the college, teachers etc. Definitely, this

does not happen as soon as you join-only after your unofficial ragging and provided you get along

with your seniors. Slowly, these opinions about teachers become facts. For example, if a senior says

that a particular teacher is good, most students (at least guys) start liking that teacher from day one

and take his/her advices, positively. Even the vice versa is true. This acts negatively for many people.

Also, while most of you would be silent in front of teachers who are strict, few would retaliate,

which is not wise and that could also end up with negative outcomes. So, learn to get along

smoothly with everybody. Develop a good understanding/friendship with your seniors and teachers.

This relationship will be very useful in planning your career, switching jobs, getting ideas to grow inthe company you would work for in future, promoting your own company (if you have one) etc.

Your immediate seniors will be working when you are in your final year and they would have faced a

lot of problems in their company. What you learn from their experience, will help you to avoid the

same mistakes at work. Get in touch with a few of your seniors forever. They will be in touch with

their group of friends and so on. This group will keep broadening beyond count. Most companies

will ask for recommendations-Your seniors may be of help in this aspect (I didnt do this because I

was angry with my seniors after the ragging and felt I dont need them but today I feel I would

have achieved a lot more if I knew some of my seniors really well. Hope you people at least benefitfrom my advice).

Most of the top institutions are developing very rapidly because of the strength of their alumni. Get

the details of your seniors from the placement cell and with support from management, invite a few

of your seniors for a group interaction to college anddiscuss your various problems. If you are not



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able to do that (sometimes dealing with the management is a complex issue)-somebody take theresponsibility-join hands-collect some money (for your seniors travel and stay expenditure)-get

appointment from your alumni-arrange for a meeting in a private place-DISCUSS. Experience will

teach a lot more than what college books teach you (If you are a teacher reading this- I know you

will be against me-I am sorry for that).

Friends

Friends are something I am sure everybody cannot live without. They are the people who influence

you into something more than your parents or teachers. They can make or break your future; that is

they can motivate you to do something or make fun of you and put your ideas to dust. Beware.

Learn to differentiate friends from acquaintances and companions. Learn to accept difference of

attitudes/opinions among your friends-Dont fight for silly matters. Later on, you may have to

forcefully accept the same type of attitudes/opinions in people who are not your friends (while you

work etc). Better accept them as they are than regret/feel later.

Culture

In school, the majority of students are from the same town/village and hence share similar cultures

and the minority (students from other places) are forced to merge with the majority. Hence, culture

clashes are scarce. But in colleges especially in hostels, it is the other way round-many cultures mix

and it is difficult for a teacher to look into the negative effects of this mix.

The following is an incident which happened when I was a hosteller-One of the hostellers (who had

come from a family where he was taught to have good table manners) did not like sharing his plate

in the mess while eating as he found it disgusting but other students who had come from village side

did not mind sharing their plate and they looked at this classmate of mine as abnormal and hence

nobody sat with him in mess. Things like this will prevent a student from being treated as equal.

Things like this are not simple issues as they affect the student mentally.

There were so many things like these which were happening when I was in Hostel and nobody was

there for students who suffered situations like these. I really felt a

lot for these students because the society cant expect everybody to be a team player or a leader-I

really dont know whether it is the job of teachers/wardens to look into problems like these but if

something could be done to solve problems like these with the present set-up-it lies within you.

The culture you have come from and the culture you see in the college/hostel may be very different

for most of you. Dont be shocked-You will fit in somehow. Try to be smooth with everybody for

sometime by being flexible till you get to understand your environment. Every new environment is

different and has its pros and cons. The difficulty you face may be something that does not affect

anybody else.

Identify where you look different from your environment-Find the solution. For example if you are a

student from vocational stream or from a Tamil medium background-see if there is at least onestudent who speaks English and is also friendly. Make friends with that person and try to listen to

the way he/she speaks. If you cant find out somebody like that-join for self-improvement classes.

Dont do this in the final year when you will understand the importance of having good

communication skills-It would be too late. If youdont have the money for going to classes-join with

like minded people and talk to your English professor and bring a solution to it.



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Communication with the opposite gender

If you are a student of mechanical engineering, occasionally you have girls in your class (Mechians

Problem) and some of your classmates may start flirting (kadalai) with girls of other departmentsbut a large part of the class will not approach girls because

-they dont like them for personal reasons, or because

-they dont want to lose their dignity etc

If you belong to any of the above categories, it is fine but if you belong to the category of boys who

are scared of talking to the opposite gender-Please remember-This could affect your growth

greatly. This applies to girls, also.

An example to make you understand: I was a member of the colleges music club and one of my

classmates (not a member of music club) was very good at drums-He avoided becoming a member

of the music club because of the presence of girls in music club. Once, I took him to the music club

practice hall during lunch when nobody was there and gave him the sticks and told him to drum-He

was drumming really well and thena girl entered-The minute he saw her, he stopped drumming,

put the sticks down and said to me, I cant drum and left the hall. Except for a few hostellers, no

one heard this drummer. Do you want to be in such a situation? Do you want to be this nobody?

It is quite natural for people who have not studied in co-educational schools and for those who

come from a conservative family to develop these kinds of inhibitions/feelings. It is a pity that some

students who have studied in co-education, make fun of other students who are nervous to speak to

a person of the opposite gender. If you feel you are one person who makes fun during situations like

this, please step into the other persons shoes. It isnt funny.

In life you will have to deal with people of the opposite gender. In college, during placements when

you work out all those puzzles and prepare yourself for interviews, there come group discussions

where you have to speak to a group (mix of gender). I have seen students who could not speak in

group discussions because of the fear to communicate with the opposite gender. Their dream career

shattered due to this. I dont want anybody reading this to be one of them. So, please try to come

out of the fear in college itself. Test the waters, fall in and swim out before college life ends. Your

college life is a very short span in the years between birth and death. So dont worry about failures,

especially with or due to people of the opposite gender during college because in college it may end

up with embarrassing moments only but in life, it may lead to even loss of career or lack ofconfidence in the long run. You need to get to speak to them. See others and learn this art. Sorry-

There isnt anyone taking classes for this in India .

My Advice:

To boys: As I belong to the male community, I tell this from my experience, What most girls tell and

what they do are miles apart. Dont listen to their words but watch their actions. The truth is out

there.



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Linkedin

linkd.in/sreccareersupportonln

Facebook

on.fb.me/sreccareersupportonfb

The reason which inspired me to write this book-To bridge the present students andteachers with the alumni for a life long fruitful relationship. Every successful school,

college and university around the world boasts of alumni strength. For this purpose,

we have created the above mentioned groups. Through these groups we want our

college to create a bond which will help in the growth of the colleges reputation and

your career so that when you have the power to recruit employees for project or

employment, you will remember this college.

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Everyone with even little enthusiasm in life wants to be somebody in future but how do you become

that somebody? You may just know the final dream destination but the steps in between the

present position and your final dream destination are the deciding factors. You must know where to

put your leg into.

For exampleIf you tell many people that your final dream destination is to become an industrialist

and seek their advice for becoming one, some may suggest that you start your company right away

and then develop your skills, some may suggest that you work for a few years, equip yourself withan MBA degree and then start your business, others may give you many other choices. Each person

will give opinions based on his/her mindset/experience but if you are going to listen to everybodys

choices/thought processes and alter your career, it will affect you adversely. The final decision must

be yours but decide considering the perspectives of experienced peoples suggestions. Deciding

between the choices as in the above case will take you to different paths but to a common

destination. While one path may keep you motivated, the other path may discourage you. Once you

get the opinions of experienced people (who are in your dream career), analyse which path will suit

your character, attitude and strengths better and go with that. Dont seek further advice. If you keep

on getting advices, you will be wasting time creating strategies and plans on reaching your dream

career but will never advance a step forward.

Tip: You can meet people who are right now in your final dream destinations and get their advice. It

wont be that easy and also this method wont work for all dream destinations. For example if you

want to become the President of India you cannot meet him/her to seek advice. In such cases, you

can browse the net and find out-There is really a lot of information on the net. To continue with the

above example, you can download the government criteria to become the president but of course

you cant download the required political experience.

But for the general information like- Strategies for ME/MS/MBA

- Strategies for placement

the advice will vary depending on your profile and interests. So I do not want to give you all a

generalised preparation plan. So you may contact your alumni using the following links

Linkedin

linkd.in/sreccareersupportonln

Facebook

on.fb.me/sreccareersupportonfb

The more the number of members, the more support we can offer teach other. If you have any

queries, you can contact me at [email protected].

Please type SREC in the subject column before mailing.



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Labelling through comparison

Academics and the other requisites for placement

Teacher-Student Relationship

My message

While writing something for the benefit of my juniors, I felt I should add something

about teachers and parents because the relationships with them play a major role in a

students career.

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Labelling through comparison(One of the commonest errors seen to happen in academic institutions as well as in families)

Teachers and parents are like sculptors. From a shapeless stone, the sculptor creates a marvellous

image that appears as good as real. Similarly, parents and teachers must bring out something

wonderful from their children or students, respectively. Just as a sculptor saw a magnificent figure

concealed in that block of lifeless stone, if a teacher could see a magnificent human being in the

person they feel fed up with, they will be better humans (more than students) and will also learn tosee the good in others. But often the vice versa happens and some of you may be labelled as dumb,

unfit etc. Though, you may keep quiet in front of teachers or parents who label you, eventually these

labels become a part of your psyche and you will really end up becoming that label and sometimes

the way in which you react to situations in future also gets affected.

Generally, most teachers and parents judge their students or children by their academic

performance only. Because of this, even if you are good at something else, it may become less

noticed and you end up being not able to satisfy the expectations of your teachers and parents. This

ends up with you being compared with somebody who is better than you and you are labelled asdull, misfit etc.

Labels; good or bad, need the right kind of environment to survive, grow and become strong.

Anybody thrown into a dull environment will become dull eventually. He/she will never change

unless the environment changes and one has little chances in a hostile environment. The

environment where growth can happen has to be created.

From a historical perspective, you will notice that spiritual environments produced spiritual giants.

Great` warriors and generals flourished in countries where conquest was the rulers main

occupation. Today, it is the age about great businessmen. We also keep reading about 5 year old

computer prodigies. In a favourable environment, even a fool can achieve great things but how do

we manage in adverse situations?

The first step would be to put off the label that your environment has already stuck on you without

your permission.

The second step would be to understand yourself better and accept your present strengths and

weaknesses. Improve your strengths and more importantly overcome your weakness by seeking the

advice of the very teacher or parent who stuck that label on you. Dont take these labels too

seriously as your character/attitude is only temporary and not an unalterable, permanent god givenfixture.

The third step would be to have a good peer group who are constructive in their criticism. As said

earlier, your friends can make or break your future-choose your friends wisely.

During my college days, one of my classmates was always humiliated by his parents in front of his

house servants, friends, neighbours, relatives, teachers etc. His parents thought that this would

change his attitude and habits (which they didnt like) but it didnt do any good. Actually, he lost his

confidence over a period of time and regarded himself as misfit and unworthy (till his third year ofcollege). He used to always grumble about his parents in class and his friends used to consider him

as boring-Finally, during final year somebody motivated him and he also attended some personality

development classes-It made him take the labels, positively. He struggled a lot to come out of his

old mindset. Nowadays, when we meet at get-togethers, he says that his parents understand him

better than before and that there are no mental pressures. I was very happy to see that he has got a



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stronger self image andhe has been able to give the criticisms (labels), the place it deserves.

A very close friend of mine gave in to depression and mood swings because he was subjected to

labelling by his parents and teachers for accumulating arrears. He was forcefully admitted into an

engineering college while he wanted to pursue a career in animation. His next target was to do his

MBA abroad and he thought that if he gets a good GMAT score he would be able to get into any of

the top business schools and hence he wasnt bothered about his history of arrears. Later on, he

read a book on planning to get into the top business schools and learnt that the requisites for doingan MBA was not just a good GMAT score but among others undergraduate academics was also an

important one. After reading the book, he felt like dropping the idea of doing an MBA itself.

Apart from the above, the reasons were that

-he had made his decision that if he does his MBA, it would be in a reputed university only

-the profiles of students in those reputed schools where he wanted to join were miles apart when

compared with his profile. Eg: One of the applicants to his dream school was a design engineer at

Boeing who had done his engineering at IIT. My friend couldnt compare himself with candidates of

this sort.

-When he spoke to his friends (including me), we advised him to take his GMAT and join any school

that would take him in. One of my friends said this,

If you and I were skilled enough to study an MBA at Harvard, Stanford, IIM, ISB or any other

reputed B-School, we would not have studied at SREC, we would have studied at colleges like IIT

,BITS,Anna University etc.

But the core reason was this: The negative labels awarded to him when combined with the above

made him think that he is trying to be something he is not . It took him so many sleepless nights to

come out of this feeling and start preparing for his GMAT. He is yet to take the test but the reasonfor getting de-motivated was not because he cant get a good GMAT score or that he cant face his

MBA interview but because whenever he is down, these labels try to assure him that he is weak. In

spite of all this, he keeps assuring himself that he will get into one of his dream schools (If not this

year, may be next year). He is fighting against his own self for mistakes he didnt do. Hope you

understand how labels can affect you adversely. In situations like this, motivate yourself as much

possible and try at least a few times before changing your career plan as my friend is determined to

do so. Though chances may be lower from your perspective, it may be the other way round from the

admission committees point of view (since academics though important is not the only criteria for

entering a good b-school).

Academics and the other requisites for placement

The present education system (Tamil Nadu) is not really standardized enough from my perspective. I

feel that the way most students learn and do many things are out of forced necessity than interest.

The content of information we learn is far outdated. For example-A young Indian has proved that

Einsteins theory of relativity is wrong as he has proved the presence of a particle which travels with

a speed faster than that of light. But for this information to come into the 10 th standard text books,

it will take a long time, till next revision (since the syllabus was revised very recently only). I dontmean to say that, you as a student must fight to make changes in the education system but as a part

of class you could get yourself more involved into activities which will really help you in your career.

During my college days, a lot of assignments were given as a part of Anna University curriculum.

Honestly speaking only 2 to 3 boys wrote the assignments by referring the books from the library



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while the rest of us would come to college a bit early and copy-paste the same with slight changes.

None of us got benefited. But if instead various topics which echoed the present days technology or

current scenario where this subject had its influence were given to group of students and if we were

to present it as a seminar, we would have learnt many things like

-overcoming stage-fear

-working in teams to gather information

-delivering a content within time-knowledge (we will have to study a lot of information before we can present, even if it

is for 15 min)

Assignment is just one example. There are so many ways in which things can be improved and as a

student you may think this is the responsibility of teachers (even I did when I was a student) but if

you see it from our education systems point of view-it isnt their job. Dont blame your teachers and

parents. Till our education system changes-learn to adapt and succeed with the available resources.

Form groups with other classmates who have similar dreams Eg: all those who want to pursue an

M.S. degree can combine and prepare for GRE. Today, computers are ruling us-It has become a

necessity in most streams-So if you are not computer savvy-spend time learning things like sending

mails, browsing, creating Spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations using MS Office etc. This is a

requisite even if it is not pronounced loudly from the placement point of view. And, lastly, when you

are given a chance (to take a seminar, run a symposium etc)-PARTICIPATE.

My Message

We cannot change the system but we can change ourselves. So even if parents and teachers may

seem unhelpful or hindering at times, it is no use blaming them and allowing it to affect us. As

stated earlier-Adapt and succeed with the available resources. Be like the weed which can grow in

any environment.

The teacher is not there to create a walking encyclopaedia out of you but a powerful being who can

put that knowledge to the best possible use. The greatest gift one human being can give another is

an environment where the other person can develop and flourish. If you come across teachers like

that-seek their advice.

I am really not satisfied with the content regarding this section. One of my dreams is to build schools

and colleges and run it in ways I dream it has to be. I have so many ideas to put forward but I really

dont know whether as a part of the management, teachers would accept my opinions and ideas

since though today management style has replaced the old style of keeping the Top management in

the top, at least most people still follow the old style. It is in the blood, the ego to say, I am the

boss. You dont tell me what to do etc. Hence I have shared some things (very few) which I felt

important.



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Counter Choices

Greatness

Stay in the game

Logic and creativity

The front cover shows what you can be in life in comparison with the game of chess-

King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook or at least a winning pawn. How you can relate the

game of chess to todays world, is what you are about to read.

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Counter Choices

Life is like a game of chess. You play this with a partner called god (existence). One way of looking at

the game is that after every move of yours, god makes a counter move.

Gods move: Milton became blind; but Miltons counter move was to write the greatest

compositions on nature-Paradise Lost.

Gods move: Beethoven became deaf; but Beethovens counter move was to create the worlds

greatest symphonies.

Legends like Helen Keller and Albert Einstein are living testimonies to counter moves. God doesnt

give you ends, but only bends. For every choice, there is a consequence. True! But also remember-

for every consequence, there is a counter choice. Be a choice maker and move ahead in life.

Greatness

Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. The

queen, the rook, the bishop and the knight are born great, while the King has greatness thrust upon

him. The pawns are few squares away from achieving greatness. For the pawns, there will be

challenges as well as support; its certainly going to be hard work to move from one square to

another. You can endure anything in life to become what you can become. Most of us are like the

pawns. We have to achieve greatness. Begin with the end in mind. Whats important is not where

you are, but the direction in which you are progressing in life.

Stay in the game

Have you made some blunders? Have there been a few oversights? Is your position actually weak?

Hold on. Demonstrate the will to stay in power. Your opponent can be as vulnerable to mistakes and

oversights as you are. Just one opening and the game can again be played on even grounds. Dont

resign. Dont quit. Play the game. Play the game a little longer. Anything can happen. Things can turn

around. During tough times, staying in the game can be your greatest virtue. Wait and await for

possibilities and the dice will roll the way you want it to. Till thenstay in the game.

Logic and creativity

Think about it-Chess is one of the most logical games, as the possibilities are so well defined. Yet the

scope for creativity, imagination and intelligence is the highest in

this very game. Without logic, there will be chaos; and without creativity, you cannot

outsmart the competitors. So it is with life. Perfect your grammar, but play with the language. Let

there be poetry even in prose. Stick to your lane, but run the fastest lap. Hold on to ethics, yet

outsmart the competitor with your strategies. Hear the spoken. Infer the unspoken.

Even a simple phenomenon, when viewed with heightened awareness, can unfold new avenues oflearning. Every moment, every encounter, every activity and experience has within it an unspoken

message. There is something even in nothing, and there is everything in something. Live consciously,

moment after moment. Hear the unheard, see the unseen, feel the unfeltunravel the unspoken.

Remember, you are an evolving consciousness-Voice of Love



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Knowledge is power

Creativity is advancement

Change is life

Self-Esteem is your Boost

Conquer Fears

Finally write your future

Unleash the potential within

Some Vitamins to start taking during your college life

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Knowledge is power

Knowledge gained through education teaches us limitations which are to be broken. For instance, by

nature-a bumble bees body is not aerodynamic. Its body is too heavy to be lifted by the short wings

it possesses. Now as per Physics the bumble bee must not fly but it flies as it does not know Physics

(Ref: Youcan win-Shiv Khera).

Similarly we put limitations to your knowledge because of the way of thinking education gives us.When you are explained a fact-ANALYSE and INVESTIGATE (A.I.). Be a student (follow the fact) in the

exam hall else you lose marks and be a critic (Question the fact) to your knowledge outside and get

your solutions. Who knows-YOU MAY BE CORRECT!

Lets see if you can solve this(Hint: Break mental barriers)

Creativity is advancement

Abdul Kalam was made fun of by everyone when he planned to make a hovercraft as a project in

college. But later he designed it. He was different-Thats why he stands out. (Ref: Wings of Fire). To

be creative-break assumptions-imagine the unimagined. It might be the future.

To Girls: the new cooking recipes and the designer jewellery are due to creative cooks and jewel

designers, respectively

To Boys: The girl next door suddenly looks beautiful because of her new creative attire

Pg 17 of 47

Without lifting your pen /

pencil up, join the 9 dots

using a maximum of 4straight lines only.

Hint : Break Mental barriers

Solution : See end of this section

Solve aptitude based problems (Books: R.S.Aggarwal,

Puzzles by Shakuntala Devi etc), Crossword Puzzles in News

papers and Net. This will improve your Analytical and Lateral

thinking Skills. Perform some simple addition and

subtraction while driving etc where you get to see lot of

numbers on number plates. Hope I am not being very

strictYou may look at the guys and gals on the roads

too

Normal humans idol Creative humans idolDoing things the usual way Doing the usual differently

Thinking the usual way Thinking differently

Expecting the usual result Expecting a different result

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Change is life

Changes that last for a life time begin in a moment. With persistence, only time stands between you

and your goals. See changes in your life as normal and positive events rather than as a threat to

being in comfort zone. Accept changes that you are destined to face as you cannot do anything

grumbling about it. Also, learn to change before the necessity arises so that you dont regret later. Of

course it is difficult to change even when you know that it would solve your problems or make you

better, because even CHANGE IS STRESSFUL.

To over come this - WRITE down, what you get if you change (atleast 5 benefits). Similarly what you

get if you dont change (atleast 5 disadvantages). Now it would be easy to find out whether that

change is worthy or not. Be ready to face new unexpected changes by learning new skills now itself.

You may have been born with a silver spoon yesterday and may be still using it even today-

Tomorrow you might not even have a morsel of food to feed yourself. Change before change

changes you. Dont be a drop out in this rapidly changing world-Be a person of substance. The more

you avoid change, the more you hinder the process of growth in your life.

Self-Esteem is your Boost (Secret of your energy)

Why is it that other people manage to achieve what they want? But whenever I try, it never

seems to work outright?

You may not be as good as somebody else in something. This doesnt mean you cant do anything

right. Just because somebody criticizes you or because you keep failing at something, dont get

depressed or feel rejected. For everybody something is easy and something is difficult. Its just

matter of time, effort and a bit of luck. Till then dont lose hope. Always feel good about yourselfand your achievements however small it is. Have a good opinion about yourself-If you cant learn to

like yourself, who else would you like.

Pg 18 of 47

Attending classes in the arts (playing musical instruments,

singing, drawing, painting, photography etc) will make you

very creative. You can even do the things you do normally in

a different way. Eg: Brushing your teeth, combing your hair,

attending the phone, opening the door etc with the left

hand if you are a right hander, else vice versa. Things like

this will trigger your brain cells and keep you active.

Who moved my cheese by Spencer Johnson is a verysimple yet good book which will help you to realize theneed to be ready for change. Please read it if you can.You can complete the book in an hour (even if you are a

slow reader).

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Conquer Fears

Ican do better than him/her but I justcantget on the stage

Everybody fears something in their life-The more you expose yourself to fear, the more it decreases.

If you are afraid of 10 things - Face the most fearful one first and repeat this for some time. You will

see that all the fears would have vanished. Get the shock of your life and not even current can shock

you. If this method is too scary-go one by one.

Pg 19 of 47

Produce confidence The first time you ride a bicycle you fall, but with

practise you can become a good cyclist as anyone.

Act the part Try to bring solutions to your problems.

Learn from your mistakes You can make new mistakes to learn something

NEW but never commit the same mistake again.

Mix with people who make you feel good.

Be the best you can be on the inside

and your beauty and confidence

will be reflected on the outside.

Be the burning candle from which

others can light themselves.

You dont have to be the wax

burning yourself for others.

Write down your fears What are you afraid of?

Understand your fears Where did it come from?

Learn some relaxation

and distraction techniques

to slow your breathing

Go for yoga or meditation classes or do

some exercise daily. It will bring down

nervousness. Coffee aggravates

nervousness but you dont have to avoid it

entirely-you can avoid it on the day when

you have to go on stage if you have stage

fear etc.

Face the Fear With time it will decrease

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Finally write your future

On the long road

You may know what you want to be and might have even planned your future (If not, do it NOW).

But still, if you put your goals in WRITING (with specific dates), it has more power.

Be patient - YOUR time is coming. With time everything passes from old hands to new. Write down

the possible obstacles and changes that you expect and find suitable solutions for them now itself.

Give some extra time for every goal you have written down as unexpected barriers will surface.

Unleash the potential within

You may know this and that of engineering. Try to know something more outside engineering;

and also inside engineering which is out of your syllabus books. Use the net to know the

advancements in, say the department you belong to or the field you want to specialize in.

YOU werent born tired. Nature created the human body to withstand great stress. God

endowed all of us with generous plan. We have such an amazing abundance of tissue in our bodies.

-2/3rd of both kidneys may be removed without serious detriment

-normal breathing can be carried out even if a great part of our lungs were destroyed

-removal of one ovary or testicle doesnt interfere in the slightest degree with their functions

-thyroid glands possess 4 or 5 times the amount of tissue necessary for the complete maintenance

of a healthy life

-we possess 10 times as much of vital substance (produced by adrenal glands) as is necessary

-we usually have twice as much blood sugar as we normally need for energy purposes

(Ref: The wisdom of the body)

Other medical authorities point out that nature has supplied us with special organs with

potential energy far beyond normal needs. Use the potential to break the barriers of engineering. If

everyone read about what has been created already-Nothing would have changed. Since someone is

changing his mind set, the world too changes simultaneously without notice. Dont think that, that

someone is one in a million. Why dont you be that one person who changes the world. Dont

Pg 20 of 47

Attend self-development classes if you have stage fear.

Go for English Classes if you are from a Tamil-medium

background.

Experience beats Inexperience

Smart beats Uninformed

Effort beats Laziness

Polite beats Rude

Generous beats Selfish

Fit beats Fat

Interested beats Bored

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think you cant. If you think you can-You can! Dont accept things as they are.

Your professor - from his college days might have said, be saying and continue saying the same

thing regarding a problem in engineering till he dies without thinking whether a simpler solution is

possible for it. When you say 2*3=6 from standard one, it is difficult to say 2*3=3! (Factorial) but you

are new to engineering. You have many sources for increasing your knowledge and questioning the

facts. Use them effectively.

And finally dont forget

NO MATTER HOW RIGHT YOU ARE, I SAY TODAY AND FOR EVER,

YOU ARE WRONG, IF YOU ARE NOT SURE YOU ARE RIGHT

You have to be sure to persuade someone else to back you.

Solution to puzzle on Pg 27



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Dealing with workplace failures

Intangible qualities for success

Blowing the whistle

Managing your managers

Take a new job or stick on?

Negative workplace perceptions

Beating the Peter Principle

Benefits of teamwork

Make your move to move up

Street lessons

This is a section which will be of use to you greatly when you start working as a

professional. Please read this section once before taking up work as a professional and

once after you have a year of experience as it will be very effective by then. As of now,

if you can relate the lessons that you learn here with your work in college where teamwork skills are required (club activities, placement preparation, projects etc), it will be

of some help to you.

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Dealing with workplace failures

Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM, said, Ifyou want to increase your success rate, double your

failure rate. As you try to leave an impressive mark at work, failing at any given task can bring

unexpected twists and turns. How you deal with failure, is what will ultimately help you succeed?

The question is: Are you smart enough to learn from your mistakes? Workplace failures are part of

the job, but if dealt properly, they can lead to greater success in the long run. Here are some

strategies to fix common workplace failures.

Missing a deadline

A lot of work that you will do will have a deadline. You are bound to feel frustrated and upset when

you miss an important deadline, but don't grumble about this and make everybody know about it. If

you are repeatedly not able to finish tasks on time, you can improve yourself by considering a course

in time management. Then you will know whether you have taken on too much work and set an

unrealistic deadline? Tip: Trust your instincts. When you feel overburdened, speak up. It may take

some guts initially, but it will help you save yourself later on. If you didn't say something when youwere initially assigned the work, request a private meeting with the person who has given you the

work and explain your position about having to meet such a tight deadline.

Starting a conflict

In this age of teamwork; conflicts and petty fights with co-workers are definitely labelled as failures.

Tip: Find common ground and avoid taking sides in the case of a conflict. If you must involve your

supervisor, tell him how the problems within the team affect your productivity and morale. That

way, you will not sound like a complainer. Remember that criticism of your work does not mean

your colleagues or customers are targeting you as an individual. If you goofed up during an

important presentation, it doesn't make you a bad employee nor does it negate your prior

accomplishments. Don't get upset if you are criticized; take it like a man.

Lets say you had a great idea and it failed miserably? Here's how to deal...

Failing on a commitment

Your customer's product is not ready on time or has not been delivered. It's a massive service failure

and you have no idea on how to salvage the relationship. Tip: Be honest with your customers andtell them you will do whatever it takes to fix the problem. Never hide behind policies or procedures.

Your clients are human and most of them will appreciate your honest effort but in the rare case that

your customer does not behave like a human, apologise to the level you feel you should but not

beyond a limit. If it goes beyond control, say sorry and seek the support of your supervisor. The next

time they give you business; surprise them with super-fast delivery to gain back your credibility.

Evading a responsibility

If you make constant excuses, you could be labelled as undependable and untrustworthy, andconsidered overly defensive and resistant. You may be strong otherwise, but if you're always

covering up your shortcomings with excuses, your negative reputation will make you succumb to

failure. Tip: Face the facts and stop procrastinating. Ask for other people's help to get things done. If

you still fail, apologize and fix the issue without hiding behind fictitious explanations. Ask people you

can rely on for feedback on your ideas. In an already competitive world, you should welcome any



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help you can get. A sincere feedback will help prevent you from having bad experiences in the

future. Many people like being independent as they think it is great. Don't try to be independent.

You can achieve a lot more as a team or independently with advice from co-workers or supervisors

as they will give you better ideas from their experience. Actually, they will be happy to help you. If

you dont believe this, imagine someone seeking you for advice on something you know well. Wont

you feel happy that this person seeks your help for something? Wont you feel that this person is

seeking advice from you because he/she feels that you are good at that something which he/she is

not?

Executing a bad idea

Lets say you convinced your supervisors on a project/product and spent the company's money for it

and finally it fails. While you were expecting laurels for your creativity, your boss asked you for a

report to justify the investment. Tip: So what if your idea failed? You should use this to your

advantage in preparation for your next big project. Analyze what went wrong or what could have

been altered. Maybe you could have done more research or tested your idea before you went public

or perhaps you could have taken the advice of senior members of the team. Taking ownership of

your mistake is the first and most important step in dealing with a failed project. Blaming others

rather than yourself will create tension at the office and spoil your working relationship with others.

And remember: Risk-taking is a skill that is required for you to succeed. Whether you failed because

of your own sloppy work or because you made some hasty decisions and misunderstood your job's

profile, failure is one of the best teaching tools life can offer you. Even if you fall flat on your face,

you can always use the valuable lesson you learnt on your way to the top.

Intangible qualities for success

Whether you are starting out in a new job or trying to get your career on track, the fundamentals of

success are always the same. Time and time again, certain traits will help you get to the next level

and the next after that. But what are these traits that separate you from another person of equal

skill? Brains account for a lot, but they are not everything. If you have reached a certain level of your

intelligence or if you are trying to rise above others of greater skill, you need to take into account

the intangibles of success.

Broad perspective

My colleague once discussed a software development issue with a programmer: While the

programmer was concerned about the efficiency of the code, which would not have become an

issue for months, my colleague was concerned about getting it to work as soon as possible because

it was a show stopper for the rest of the business and also because he expected bigger problems as

soon as the software was put to use. So the programmer would have more pressure to handle then.

What do you see when you look at a problem, specifically a problem that seems to have no obvious

solution? Do you feel a rush of anxiety or do you try to look at it in the context of everything else

and determine how important it really is? If you want to be successful you have to learn to

differentiate between matters of great importance and matters of least importance. Making a bigdeal out of everything will only serve to work you up and leave you racing to catch up on the issues

that truly matter. Successful people learn to get the work done on time and iron out the flaws

(minor) later.



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Vested interest in the company

In the company I worked, I saw a lot of people doing their work just for the sake of the salary. They

didnt have the passion to work and they had to be supervised all the time. I dont blame these

people alone for the lack of passion-It is connected with the way the management functions also

but still IF they had worked with passion, the result would have been unimaginably good. In the

same way analyse (when you start working) whether the company you work for really matters to

you? Im talking about

-the devotion that you will/will not have when you talk about your work with friends and family

-the devotion that you feel when you are deciding if putting in those extra hours will make a

difference to the company.

A manager, knowing that the members of his/her team have an interest in the well-being of the

company will give greater autonomy to his/her team members during work since even without

his/her constant supervision, they will work for the good of the company. Employees with a vested

interest are seen by their superiors as people with a passion for what they do; this attitude tends to

garner fruitful rewards. If you want to guarantee your success, increase your threshold of pain and

work with passion else seek another job that you feel passionate about. Dont work without

passion.

High tolerance for punishment

If you are given more work than others, you shouldnt feel wronged because of it. It may take a

while to understand this concept, but the idea is that taking on more work gives you more

responsibility. Your reaction to the additional responsibilities is part of what determines your

success. Though you may feel that you are not fit for the task, you never know unless you try. Eg: Iwas once told by my CEO to devise a method to calculate the cost of production of various products

as the method which was in use was not very accurate. If I had to work on the costing part which I

was not aware of till then, I had to get in touch with the person who was responsible for the costing

method that was prevailing then and that was my PM, (Production Manager not Project Manager)

but he was not very supportive. So, I told my mom to send me the book I studied in College-Process

planning and cost estimation-I studied once again or rather only now with renewed interest-Apart

from this I browsed the net, contacted a few of my fiends in other companies, spoke with a lot of

shop floor personnel to get some extra information so that I can standardize various processes in

production. They gave me lot of information which I didnt know before. After all this I spent a weekdeciding the method on how I should proceed-kept simulating things in my mind and finally after a

month, I did it (after a lot of failures). I really didnt think I would do it. I learnt; perseverance yields

rewards.

Ownership and accountability

What does an assignment mean to you? Do you just go through the motions or do you seek to fulfill

a role? The truth is that each job you do is more than a set of tasks. If you can see it as such and

complete all the auxiliary functions related to it, you might find yourself enjoying newfound

authority. The idea of ownership is to perform a certain function within the company so well that it

becomes your domain of expertise. When you slip up, you must take responsibility for your mistakes

and rectify them so that they are not repeated. Follow through on all your commitments, no matter

how small they may be. Small acts such as this will make a difference when it comes to promotion-

the impression that you are on top of things.



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Confidence

You can't be a leader if you are afraid. Being a confident leader is more than simply knowing when

you should speak up; it also involves backing up your position with credible and concrete sources.

You do not want to become a weak leader who argues for the sake of argument. Many times, I had

encouraged a few receptive employees/colleagues to voice their concerns or to take the lead in a

discussion when I saw that they were itching to say something. I respected their thoughts and ideas

a lot-They gave me more knowledge on tackling some problems but I felt if they were able tovalidate themselves, they could rise up the career ladder fast.

Opposition

Whether your boss agrees with you or not, speaking out when things are contrary to your views can

earn you the respect of your superiors and peers. They will rest more peacefully knowing that they

can count on you to speak up when things aren't being done the right way. But, remember not to do

this too aggressively. Know how to present negatives. You can use the famous sandwich method-

Put forth one negative statement or suggestion between two positive or appreciation

statements.

Opportunism

Many of my colleagues who were capable of doing great work kept waiting for somebody to give

them or handover responsibility. Do not sit back and expect things to be handed over to you. You

could end up waiting a long time. Seize opportunities as they are near to you. Dont wait for a

promotion; instead, work towards it and make sure that your boss is aware that you are hungry.

However do not act rashly, boldly or with arrogance. Declare your ambitions through your actions

and with the quality of your work and your extra effort. Dont just ask for it - Earn It. Make thingseasier for your boss by winning the right to take on those additional responsibilities that are up for

grabs. Keep in mind that your boss or supervisors job is to look after the business and that your

happiness is a secondary issue unless it affects the business. Make yourself an important person to

the company and lay claim to the opportunity of your dreams. You cant do this as a fresher unless

you are a go-lucky kind of person but over a time you will have the possibilities. Practice the basics.

Succeeding takes time and effort; it comes more easily to some people than to others. It is the

intangibles that set them apart. These fundamental philosophies or principles, when put into

practice, could be the difference between a career of mediocrity and one bursting with

accomplishment.

Blowing the whistle

There may come a time in your professional life when you are faced with the moral dilemma of

whether or not to report an act of treachery or deceit in the workplace. Often you may come across

examples of people who misrepresent the numbers, adjust figures or, quite simply, lie. Though these

types of cases may be much less scandalous than the headline cases in the news, such as those you

would read in the subject Professional Ethics (Final Year Subject), they may still cause considerable

damage to the company you work for and its reputation. Professional Ethics is a subject inengineering which deals with case studies about acts of whistle blowing but the safe method to

blow the whistle and the impact on the personal life of a person who blows the whistle is never

explained in our undergraduate text books.

In life, most people wont look at whether you are ethical or not. They will just see whether you are



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successful or unsuccessful. You may blow the whistle and call yourself ethical but ultimately if you

lose your job because of it-all those dependent on you will suffer but in some cases it is better to

blow the whistle than keep quiet and become part of the act. It is obviously a very difficult and

conscience-wearing task to rat out a colleague. This article is about helping you judge when to blow

the whistle and how to do it properly when the time comes. When is it best to speak out? When is it

best to stay silent? Below are some hard-and-fast rules for when you should stand up and when you

should not. Experience will teach you to add up some more points here. Anyway, these are for

now

When not to speak out:

-When you are substantially removed from the incident, such that it is none of your

business,

-When the violation is of minor consequence and will quickly blow over and

-When the act of dishonesty is likely to result in a greater good rather than harm.

When to speak out:

-When there will be serious ramifications for you if it is discovered that you were

aware of the deceit and did not report it,

-When the act will have repercussions on the reputation of the firm if it were

revealed,

-When the act of deceit significantly and negatively impacts your work and

-When the act is illegal,

-When the act affects the firm in the long run.

Pros and cons of whistle blowing:

1- There are implications of trust. In the workplace there is usually an attitude of us vs. them.When you speak out, whether you are justified in doing so or not, you cannot avoid shattering a bit

of that camaraderie. Your peers will wonder whether you can be trusted and whether you will pass

the office gossip back up to their bosses.

2- You will make an enemy if your role in implicating the wrongdoer were to be revealed; therefore,

make sure the crime is worth punishing and worth the trouble it will put you through, especially if

the guilty party is more senior than you.

On the bright side, speaking out may win you the trust and favour of your boss. But dont do itsolely for this reason - it isnt worth it. The boss is not the power holder in most companies.

RememberIn the corporate world (as in chess), except the pawn and King everybody else have

more access than and they will know how to tackle odd situations than you (if you are just a pawn).

How to talk

If you have decided to blow the whistle there are a few important things to consider:

1- Gather evidence first

Without evidence, it is your word against theirs. If the culprit is a person who has been in the

company for years, the trustworthiness he/she would have developed over the years will be very

strong and difficult to be shattered. Make sure you can back up your accusations or you could find

yourself on the defensive.



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2- Keep things discreet

Some whistle blowers are not smart enough to keep their mouths shut about their part in revealing

an infraction. The possible result is that the working relationship between said whistle blowers and

their peers is significantly impaired to the point that the team might be disbanded. If you are going

to rat out your colleague, do it in private and with a promise that your role will not be revealed.

3- Do not wait to talk

If you linger, there will be questions of why you did not bring things up sooner. Wait for the rightsituation (for example, not in front of everyone) to bring things up to your boss, but do it as soon as

possible.

4- Back off once you have had your say

Do not stick around for the kill; say what you know and stay out of things. Let others deal with the

consequences and the sentencing. Your job is over. You arent acting in a

movie to see it finish-Time to exit. If you try to pronounce judgement it will raise suspicions about

your intent as to whether you are using this as an opportunity to further your position? Neither your

boss nor your colleagues will respect you for that.

Making the right move

Blowing the whistle is often a test ofones morals and values. Nobody likes doing it, but sometimes

you are put in a situation where you have no choice but to choose the righteous path. Use your best

judgement to make the decision that is right for you. Dont discuss with colleagues and decide. Then

you blow your cover and lose the trust of everybody. Nobody said life was easy, and this definitely is

not one of the more pleasant parts .

Managing your managers

Imagine a situation in which you are cornered by the requests of several people. Sometimes you

may have to report to more than a single manager or be as a mediator to your immediate manager

and a manager of a different concern so as to complete a project. During such instances conflicting

demands from every side will make you question yourself regularly as you may not know which way

to turn - whether to respond to a call for help or another. You may doubt whether it is wrong to

support one manager and oppose the other because the first manager says something which

opposes the methods of the second. How do you cope with all the work? How do you decide the

stance you should take? Work situations such as these are real and they happen to people whoreport to multiple managers. Without proper coordination, these parties can make unrealistic

demands on your time and place you in situations that have conflicting instructions. I have struggled

under the burdens of differing opinions and instructions, but I have prevailed and learned (from

others with time) how to prevent these situations from getting out of hand. Here are some methods

to deal with multiple managers when you are in a similar situation

Who has ultimate authority over you?

Once, a colleague of mine was in a situation in which he was reporting to the Vice president of thecompany - I believed so. For six months the Vice President was the sole person tasking my colleague

and he conducted the performance reviews; I assumed he was my colleagues boss. It turned out he

was not his boss. Moreover, when his/our real boss found out, he was questioned for taking

assignments from someone else even though he was the Vice president of the firm. At this point, I

learnt that position and seniority do not necessarily determine who has authority over you. Many



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times the authority is decided by whichever manager stands firm in his resolve to take responsibility

for the work that you do. If you are unsure who you ultimately report to, ask your boss/es. Have it

resolved between them so that you do not make the mistake of following the wrongdrum beat.

When you receive conflicting instructions

No matter who you ultimately report to, you will always feel uncomfortable when you are given

conflicting instructions on a matter. In the company I worked, there were two product divisions,namely connector and antenna. When I first started my career as an engineer, I was put in the

connector division. I also started involving myself in the work that went on in the antenna division.

Eventually, I was told by my supervisor not to involve in work that went on in antenna division and

that I concentrate myself more in the connector division so that I dont get out of focus. Later, after

some months, I was told by my CEO to assist the Vice President in his work. This is where the

problem started. I was given works which related to antenna department only and guess what I

didLet me keep it suspense because I didnt do the right thing. I later realised what I should have

done. The best thing to do when you are faced with conflicting instructions is to let all the involved

parties know that there is a contentious situation.

Exercising your freedoms, silence is a success secret to learn

Avoid taking sides that would challenge the authority of your direct supervisor. There are times

when you may feel that you are doing well, but your actions could be seen as disrespectful toward

your boss. Sometimes during such unfortunate situations, it is better

-To accept your success as a failure and

-To say you dont know, even when you know

When you have conflicting amounts of freedom

Sometimes one supervisor will give you more freedom to do something, but another gives you less?

Do you exercise that freedom? The key thing here is to know your boundaries and to know your

supervisors. In general, the safest thing to do is to exercise as much freedom as your strictest

supervisor would afford you - keep in mind that this is probably not the most efficient way to

perform your job. If there is absolute need to exercise a particular freedom to complete your

responsibilities, seek written permission from the supervisor who tasked you. Explain the conflict

and let your supervisor decide what to do about it. If the decision is to proceed with the set of

freedoms, make sure you have written documentation in case anyone challenges your authority.Even mails are a form of documentation. This will be very effective when you communicate with

people of authority or those in senior positions. Written communication is very powerful. The

minute they reply, you got it covered. They cannot deny later. Of course, some will not reply. Then

use your tongue and take a

paper and pen with the same filled up. If they say yes-ask them to sign in the paper-There is nothing

wrong in this though it may sound and look odd, compared to the after effects (if you get unlucky).

Prevention is better than cure (Age old recipe).

Managing excessive demands

Create a physical list of all your upcoming tasks. Ask your supervisors to indicate, in order of

importance, which tasks they feel are the most important. Ensure that they know that not

everything can be marked as a top priority; ask them to assign a unique number to each task,

thereby creating a discrete, sequential order. Now combine all your priority lists into one master list



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and prioritize your duties according to this list. In my experience, it is most effective to review your

priority lists with your supervisors periodically. New issues will give rise to new priorities.

Keeping your secrets

When working for multiple managers, you will occasionally come across things that they would

prefer the other manager of yours should not know. Often, there is a fine line between what shouldbe said and what should not -- it takes a fair bit of judgment to navigate this situation with

diplomacy. For instance, I was once asked to withhold certain information from my direct supervisor

about how badly a project was going to be delayed. Unfortunately, I also knew that this information

would have a dramatic impact on my supervisors work. So I struck a bargain; I allowed him a grace

period, but explained to him that I had to eventually inform my supervisor. No one likes a tattle-tale

so try to avoid being one. Exercise diplomacy and avoid taking sides if possible. Picking sides can

lead to a loss of favour from one of your supervisor/boss/manager (whatever you call them),

whereas keeping a consistent policy of silence among bosses keeps you from blame and earns

respect. If you are forced to take sides, let it be known where your loyalties are so they do not put

you in an awkward situation of mistaken identity. Make the most of the situation. When you are

working for multiple managers, it takes preparation and diplomacy to keep everyone happy. Be

consistent in your actions and keep an open dialogue with each boss. Keep them abreast of the

situations you face and do not be afraid to ask them for advice.

Take a new job or stick on?

Over a point of time you will be in a state of perplexity or uncertainty, esp. with regard to

progression in your career

-To continue in the current job or move to a different company,

-To be in service or start your own business,

-To keep working or take a break for a higher educationthese questions haunt every person in the

corporate world today,

In case of two alternate routes, he should march in a region suitable to himself(10.2.10)

-From the bookArthashastrawritten by Chanakya (Indian), the worlds first management guru

The above advice is self explanatory. But the choice taken subsequently could either make or break

you. And not just for choosing jobs-Such a conflict management situation can arise for anyoneduring every aspect of life. At such times, you have to think through your head and feel through your

heart. Keep a check of your strength and weaknesses. How does one do this? Well, here are some

tips for you to follow when facing that tough decision:

1. Ask Yourself

The first person you have to consider is yourself. Ask yourself if you are doing the right thing. If you

feel that - in the current company and industry - your growth has stopped, then, prepare yourself for

a change. It would actually be great to have an open discussion with your boss or seniors to get adirection (just incase they had planned to give you new responsibilities). If you still feel the solution

is not forthcoming, then seek external help.



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2. Speak To Others

You can consult the experts of your field and check if you are capable of doing something better. If

this is too difficult, look at the websites that can guide you in this matter. Join an online group of

like-minded people and seek guidance and tips for better understanding of your situation.

3. Follow that gut-feel (My favorite)

Finally, after all this analyses, the important part is to take a step in the direction where you want to

be in the future. If you continue doing what you are doing, you will continue getting what you are

getting. So if you want to be different from what you currently are, do something different. Once

you take this first step, half the battle is won provided you want to fight for something better!

career or areear_vj

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