In 5 years of experience, my life was similar to the Life of An IT Engineer mentioned;
College -> My Startup –> Job Seeker —> Employee of IT Service Company –> Big Brand company –> My Own Startup –> Now. It’s always very easy to complete one step after another.
When you are going to start your career in any startup / MNC remember you are going to do following. Sometimes it may happen you want to leave the job but you can’t, sometimes you think this is the end of your career, and your life seems to be the worst and boring.
A few reasons could be:
- Monotonous work
- Long working hours
- Constant pressure to meet deadlines
- Continuous competition, to perform
- Lack challenges and creativity
- How to balance family with work
- Inherent urge to earn more
This is how we work at EngineerBabu, where work and life are AWESOME.
Games
Yoga
What is it like after working as an IT Engineer/ Programmer for 5 years at an Indian Services Company?
In the thread some points are already discussed. Here is my take.
1. You are not FIT to be a Chai-Wallah. A Good Chai-wallah can make and demonstrate the “one meter Tea” with alacrity, with out spilling the Tea on the floor and serving you a hot cup of tea. That is a result of his training, learning and skills & expertise gained on the job. I think you get the idea!
2. You are not fit to work in the branch of your specialization – Electrical, Mechanical etc as an IT Engineer. Because you have forgotten all that you have learned. You are a blank slate.
3. You can not call your-self a specialist. Because if you are a Good programmer – you are likely to be promoted as a “Lead” or a Junior Manager in 3-4 years. So you are now a man-manager chasing Time sheets & Milestones and have no time for practicing your specialty. After 10 years – you are a Senior Manager/ AVP who is at best a manager- part of the IAND – International Association of Name Droppers! You are at ease dropping Customer names, success stories, Greatness of your company, 3/4/5/6 letter acronyms that nobody understand, have a huge following in FB/LinkedIn and write blogs that nobody reads! After 15 years – you are an SVP – you are now a big-shot…a Honcho. You have no demonstrable skills but now preside over a huge army of Engineers – you freely dish out advises ( because you are the Boss!), Vision, Mission and Strategy. You know you are obsolete and useless and you are scared of being pink-slipped. But you specialize in a different domain – The Art of Sucking, kow-towing and part of YMC – Yes Man club.
Who is at Fault?
1. Not you. You were a kid out of the college lured by Slick HR pep talks, HR Melas and Campus placement circus.
2. Not the Company that hired you? No! They are very clear and have no other option. They need Warm Bodies to fill the Benches and Trenches. They are either Coding Factories or Tech. Call centers. They know that their projects ( Multi-Millions Multi -Year contracts) require IT Clerks who can do what they are told to do 27/7/365. Its very simple. They are not working on launching Rockets, speaking to Genomes or designing the next BIG thing!. These companies are outsourced with mundane, repetitive no-brainer Processes and IT systems to manage. Its a Cost Optimization Game.
Why Blame? You got a better starting pay, enjoyed the Fun etc. So no one needs to be blamed.
So what to Do?
1. Work for 3-6 years. SAVE. SAVE.SAVE. But Do a Good Job at Work.
2. Have a Vision of Your Future, Clarity on your strengths/Weaknesses and what you want to do – the rest of your life. ( you only have one!)
3. Go and Do that!
It can be higher studies, learning a new technology, a start-up, or even a Barber shop – sorry – a Boutique or a Tea Shop with a difference. Remember Starbucks is nothing but a good old Coffee shop with a difference! Flipkart is nothing more than a Billion Dollar Kirana/Book shop.
Source http://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-work-as-a-programmer-at-an-Indian-IT-services-company
Make your work as fun.
You just need to follow simple steps to make your career hot and happening,
- Have a Girl friend . It has two logic; One you have guts to impress a girl . Second, she will help you to make you look human. Singles are not stupid though, even they are more happy for their own reasons.
- Learn 33% Rule :- Spend 33% of your time in your work, 33% to take help from those who you want to be, and 33% with them who want to be like you.
- Real books(Motivational) at-least once in a month. But please don’t read Savita Bhabhi on other days .
- Believe in sharing knowledge. Don’t believe in the hypocrisy, if he learns, you loose.
- Play games, go for Yoga, keep yourself fit in any ways.