The recession begins to fade

Job market doors are beginning to open once again. Thanks to the buoyancy across countries and locations, “enterprises are hiring, internal and third-party HR professionals are back in action and employees who maintained a stay-put status have started looking out.”

The IT/ ITES sector seem to be faring the best as they are said to be up for hiring “at least 150,000 people over the next year, against 100,000 this year and 350,000 to 400,000 [people later on].”

Economic Times said that “many companies have started reworking their hiring mandate. Infosys Technologies, which previously planned to hire 18,000 persons this year, has said it will hire an additional 2,000 during the third and fourth quarters of the current fiscal. A large number of product firms, R&D companies and mid-tier MNCs have also started hiring.”

“‘‘There is a sense of stability in the market. The next two quarters are expected to bring more clarity,” says T V Mohandas Pai, head of HR, Infosys. Pradeep Bahirwani, vice president for talent acquisition, Wipro Technologies, says, ‘‘There is a clear uptake in hiring, though it is too early to conclude if it is a temporary spurt or full-blown recovery.””

Third party recruiters – and otherwise – say that “hiring is currently more evident in non-IT sectors and it will take another couple of quarters before IT/BPO hiring picks up momentum.”

According to them, “recruitment is more evident in non-IT sectors. Industries like banking, retail, realty, healthcare, education and housing have been the early beneficiaries of the stimulus package. The thrust on infrastructure roads, ports, airports, highways, bridges will mean additional hiring in these spaces. Domains like telecom, oil & gas, energy, education, government (e-governance) and utility are also expected to be more active than the tech space.”

It certainly looks like those hiring “will be busy for the next two quarters with non-tech sectors, though the tech sector too has also started showing signs of recovery, says B S Murthy, chief executive officer, HumanCapital.”

Employees are beginning to step out of their recession-hit careers with hope for better salaries and regained positions. “There was virtually nothing in the market for almost a year. Many of us had no option but to stay put. Now, the situation has definitely changed, maybe it is time to start exploring again, says Kiran Kumar, an employee in a large telecom company.”

So candidates and recruiters alike, look lively! The market is slowly turning around and making changes in our favor.

Pay Hike coming up for Indians!

On the 22nd of October, Economic Times posted an article on pay hikes in the coming year. Apparently a survey showed that “companies in Asia are set to offer bigger pay rises next year as the region continues to rebound from the global recession’ and that too, ‘notably in India where base salary levels are poised to jump nearly 10%.”

According to a survey by Hewitt Associates, “salaries in Indonesia and China will also surge by 8.7% and 6.7%, respectively, whereas workers in Japan can expect a paltry 2.1% pay rise”.

This survey covered over 2,000 local as well as joint venture companies in the Asia-Pacific area. Hewitt said that “salaries — or annual guaranteed pay — this year in Asia’s fast-growing economic powerhouses, China and India, at 4.5% and 6.3%, respectively, were the lowest since 2005.”

“Salaries barely grew at all in Hong Kong and Japan, this year as companies cut staff. More than 60% of companies surveyed in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore froze wage levels, compared with only 26.1% in India and 30.8% in China.”

“Next year, only 6% of companies in India and 8.3% in China expect to freeze pay compared with 12-14% of companies in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.”

So, it looks like it’s just about party time for us in the Indian market! The recession is on its way out and pay hikes will be all the rage in just a few short months. Hold on to your seats! Here comes your salary hike.

TimesJobs Launches GlobalConnect!

Isn’t it so nice to get unexpected surprises? Well, TimesJobs has a couple brand new tidbits just for you our faithful candidates! Brace yourself!

For the first time in India, TimesJobs.com launches GlobalConnect that allows candidates to connect their social media links to their resume. With TimesJobs GlobalConnect, users will now have the option to link their professional online identities and work to their TimesJobs.com resume.

The concept behind this new feature is that a candidate can link their chat ID’s, work samples, professional profiles, etc, and by viewing the candidate’s GlobalConnect profile, a recruiter will be fully informed of the candidate’s strengths and achievements before they contact them for future interviews, thus reducing the interview time by half.

With GlobalConnect on TimesJobs, candidates can project to potential employers a comprehensive resume which – apart from the TimesJobs resume – will also intelligently put his profile and work from sites like Linkedin, PeerPower, Blogs, Slideshare , YouTube, Google docs etc, on the same platform.

Here’s the list of all the fun and effective ways in which you can now job hunt:

Connect Via Chat

You can now chat with recruiters directly by simply adding your Gtalk, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, AIM, and Skype to your TimesJobs GlobalConnect profile.
Adding your messenger ID to your profile also allows you to cut your future in-person interview in half. This is because when you add your messenger ID, it allows recruiters to directly chat with you online while they view your resume. Cool, huh? Ready for surprise #2?

Link A Site

Have you been safekeeping a professional Linkedin and/ or PeerPower profile just because you didn’t know where to link it so that recruiters could check it out before they contact you? You can now link it up to your very own TimesJobs resume! You can even add your professional blog and/ or the websites of the companies you have worked for or contributed toward.
This is an important feature through which recruiters can view samples of your work, and see what you are like professionally. Of course, you want to make sure that ‘the story’ a recruiter puts together from viewing your profile is as up-to-date as possible.

Showcase Your Work

You can also add Youtube videos, Slideshare and Google Docs! Any videos you add should be strictly professional though, as you want to show recruiters what you can do professionally. They aren’t hiring you for the front lawn you tended to last weekend.
It can be any type of samples of your work, a video resume, a voice clip (if you’re looking for a voice-centered job), seminars you conducted, conferences you participated in, etc. Be creative, but don’t forget to keep it professional.

With these brand-new TimesJobs features, you can professionally connect to recruiters and allow them view your professional profile without leaving your workplace for a minute! Allow them to get an idea of who you are and what you can do before your interview call.

Are BPOs still a good career-choice?

Talking on the topic of the BPOs current popularity and success rate in the market today, Suryaprakash Kukyan, the Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer at OPI Global, hosted a High Tea session with TimesJobs candidates. Some highlights of his opinion and advice include:

“I would say BPO is a stable industry to work with not just in India but globally where such services are provided. Even when the global economy was on a down trend BPO industry did grow. So this industry is here to stay.”

“Attrition itself tells us that there are opportunities in the market and in a global recesion the first thing that comes to mind of a CEO is to manage cost and that is where the additional work comes to countries where we can deliver cost effective and quality solution. Therefore recession cannot be the reason for some one to take back the work.”

“Obama’s statement will definitely have some impact from the company’s who have taken stimulus money from the government, otherwise if you remember even five years back same topic was raised and the politician made the same statement we have grown multifold in outsourcing opportunities. Therefore it is not a threat.”

“BPO jobs are not going out of style. BPO industry is here to stay and if make a educated decision on what type of a BPO sector you want to join then you can easily have a career growth.” To read the full transcripts of the chat session, click here.

Are BPO jobs still career-worthy?

Are the latest rumors true? Are BPO’s really going out of style? Or is it all just a farce, when really, they’re doing better than ever? Has Obama’s rise in power meant that outsourcing to India was cut back considerably? Has his move to create more jobs for resident Americans done irreparable damage to the BPO industry of Southeast Asia?

To find out more, catch a High Tea Session with Mr. Suryaprakash Kukyan, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, OPI Global!

He will be live on chat to answer your questions on 7th October, 2009, between 3:00 PM & 4: 00 PM.

The high tea sessions have been met with smashing success on the TimesJobs site. Both recruiters and candidates alike have been flocking to hear the news and views of guest speakers on the site.

You can also click here to see the transcripts of our previous High Tea sessions.

TimesJobs partners with RAI to make a retail job portal

In conjunction with TimesJobs.com, Retailers Association of India (RAI) launched RAI.TimesJobs.com. Focused solely on the retail industry, this online job portal will be promoted actively among the 400+ members it has. This portal is expected to aid those in this industry – both employers and jobseekers – to efficiently recruit/ get recruited in a time-saving, low-cost way.

R Sundar, CEO, Times Business Solutions, has said, “This partnership is the beginning of a long and flourishing relationship between the country’s leading retailers’ body – RAI and TimesJobs.com.” Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI, has added, “We are proud to be associated with TimesJobs.com and are sure that RAI’s alliance with India’s premier recruitment portal will provide tremendous value to our member companies.”

Is a career or a job more important?

It is a cliché that building careers not finding jobs that helps in being successful. But is there a real difference between the two? Let us first take a look at what is the typical approach practised by many young people. As soon as education is completed, most of the youth look for a ‘job’ and the jobs are evaluated on the basis of the earning potential, promotion possibilities, the opinions of friends in the industry and the perceived value of the ‘job’ in the known circles. Once someone is on the ‘job’, the next most important aspiration is to get promotion or more money with the same company or with another. Very often he/she could hop from one ‘job’ to another with ease for better ‘prospects’ as experienced talent at entry levels has always been in short supply and the employers have been willing to pay a premium to attract such talent.

But then, the scenario is changing now. Firstly, jobs are not easy to find, not only because they may not be in as many numbers as were in the past, but also because the employers have become choosy and their expectations are changing. If, in the past, employers were willing to recruit freshers and provide them training anywhere from 3 weeks to 9 months, today they expect the ideal recruits to come equipped with skill sets they would have to otherwise train them in. Once the candidate joins the organization, promotions and entitlements do not come easy anymore, he/she is expected to demonstrate competence and also willingness to stretch beyond the ‘defined expectations’ of the role to capture the attention of the bosses and the peers. In order to manage this shift taking place in the workplace, it is imperative to appreciate how to plan the work phase after education.

The starting point for planning one’s work phase is to distinguish a career from a job. A job should be seen as a step towards a career and not as an end in itself. In order to plan a career, therefore, it is important to understand and identify one’s own potential and strengths and embark upon a path that is built around them. The gaps identified to meet the industry expectations can be filled by relevant training programmes in order to be equipped with relevant skill sets to launch into the career of your choice. Just having several strings of qualifications in one’s resume are not enough, training and qualification with reference to the career are accorded more value by the employer.

Career orientation would require one to be focused on developing one’s skill sets in the specific domain as well as develop the all round capabilities beyond the narrow definition of the job. While it may not be easy for all to have a very clear vision at the start of the career, being focused on doing the best at every stage of the career and have willingness to learn and adapt continuously would bring in sharper focus on career goals and build the resilience to navigate towards these goals.

Give a superb interview

Many say that the ‘tell me about yourself’ question is something that an interviewer asks when they are out of things to ask you about or say. Many times an interviewer may simply be asking you this just because they have not yet had a chance to look through your resume yet.

Assuming your interviewer is in this position, you can make the most of it by relating how your specific skills and talents coincides with the needs of the organization. Having read up on what kind of candidate they’re looking for helps when using this approach to get the job.

Other reasons that interviewers ask this type of question are because they want to:

Hear your thought pattern

See what’s important to you, by assessing what topics you talk about

Assess your language and grammatical skills

Buy time while they look over your CV Confirming what you have already written in your CV

Look for loopholes in your resume

Gauge your personality, etc.

Remember that this question can make or break your interview. Answer it by summarizing your accomplishments and academic achievements in a chronological way.

Be yourself and stick to the truth. You can’t go wrong if you follow these guidelines.

TimesJobs Messenger

So you’ve heard about it, but do you know what it really is, and what an asset it can be to your job hunt? Job Messenger is one of the tools in TimesJobs.com through which you can receive job(s) directly into your mailbox. Cool, huh?

In simple terms, the Job Messenger is created as soon as a candidate creates their complete (note the word complete) profile on TimesJobs. After being created, the Job Messenger settings can be edited anytime by any candidate as per their requirement.

Here are some FAQ’s you might be wondering about:

FAQ 1: How do I set a Job Messenger for myself?

Solution: Login. Go to ‘My TimesJobs’ section. Click the ‘Edit’ button under the Job Messenger Settings section.

FAQ 2: What do I need to keep in mind when setting a Job Messenger for myself?

Solution: You don’t need to be a rocket scientist. All you need to do is fill the following fields correctly:

Step 1. Key Skills – Remember to fill in as many key skills as you can and just separate them with commas. For example you can write: Java, Oracle, Servlet, SAP, Strategic Planning, Market Analysis, Product Development, etc.

Step 2. Experience – Mention your work experience in the range of years. It should look something like this. If you have a work experience of 3 years and 5 months then select the range as 3 – 4 yrs.

Step 3. Functional Area – Don’t forget to mention your Functional Area correctly. This is key. You can select multiple Functional Areas, but it would be better if you select only 1 Functional Area so as to make it stand out more.

Step 4. Area of Specialization – Make sure you mention your Area of Specialization correctly. With this field, you can select multiple areas of specialization.

Step 5. Preferred Location – Select the location where you are looking to work, the location where you want the job.

If you follow the above advice, the Job Messenger settings will get you jobs in your mailbox.

In order to save your time you can also use TimesJobs to directly apply for a job without you logging in specifically just to apply. All you need to do is click and apply and you will get automatically logged in with your application sent to the respective employer immediately.

Apart from the Jobs based on your Job Messenger settings your Job Messenger will also contain Jobs similar to the jobs last applied by you and Jobs similar to the last searches performed by you on TimesJobs.com.

So keep searching and applying to Jobs in order to avail more benefits form your TimesJobs Job Messenger! All the best!

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Job hunt the easy way

What would you do in the following situations?

You’ve to reach the 10th floor in an office tower. You can go by two ways:
a. Climb up the stairs
b. Use an elevator

You want to write a message to your friend. You can write in two ways:
a. Send a handwritten letter by post
b. Send an e-mail

You want to withdraw money. You can do so in two ways:
a. Visit a bank
b. Use an ATM

There is nothing tricky about these questions, and the answers are so obvious. Can you, however, see the not-so-obvious phenomenon underlying our everyday choices? We like to spend least possible effort to accomplish our objectives.

Our tendency to spend as little effort as possible is so strong that most of the technologies, products and services are aimed at helping us achieve just that: least effort! Behind the auto-redial function on phones, Internet banking and ready-made food stuff is our basic need to minimise the effort.

The hiring process is not immune to our nature to spend the least effort. The only catch is that when job seekers take the path of least effort, they invariably create a path of more effort for the employers and that doesn’t work. On the other hand, when job seekers consciously enable the employers to follow the path of least effort, they stand to gain. Here is how it works:

Resume
As a job seeker, the natural inclination is to prepare a resume as fast as possible and shoot it out to as many employers as possible. When you do that you create two problems:

First, a resume prepared in a hurry is likely to be long, complicated, unfocused, and may contain mistakes. Second, a generic resume fails to connect with the unique needs of different employers. When recruiters look at such resumes, they are unable to figure out candidates’ suitability as quickly and clearly as they would like to do. As a result, hurriedly prepared, generic resumes go to the rejection pile.

The smartness lies in spending more effort in preparing your resume so that employers spend least effort while dealing with it. Specifically, that means:

• tailoring your resume according to each employer’s unique needs
• keeping it short—2 pages or 3 pages (max.)
• ensuring it contains only the relevant information
• keeping it simple, credible and without any mistakes

Interview
Job seekers appear at interviews expecting employers to question them and assess their suitability. But when you follow this common approach, you demand more effort from employers. They have to first dig out all the relevant information from you, and then make an assessment whether you fit into their needs.

On the contrary, if you take the initiative during an interview to show your understanding of employer’s needs and then demonstrate how you can fulfil them, you take them along the path of least effort. And employers would prefer such candidates.

Job hunting
Typically, job seekers focus on job openings advertised in the newspapers or on the Internet. For employers, however, the route of advertising vacancies, then getting flooded with applications and interviewing scores of candidates is a route of “more effort.”

A quick way to find a job would be to get in touch with potential employers either through contacts or directly. That way, you’ll save them the extra effort. That’s the reason why many smart job seekers get jobs by networking or showing the guts to approach employers directly.

The bottom line: To enjoy success in the job market, consciously help potential employers to take the path of least effort. Invariably, this would mean making more effort on your side at every stage of the hiring process. But isn’t that extra effort worth it if it helps to shorten your job search?

Atul Mathur is the author of three ebooks: 5 Quick Steps to a New Job, The Best Career Move: Know Yourself and The Secret of Finding the Right Career Direction.