Job Hunting - A big headache!!!

Somebody said...
"... don't love your company... love your work..."

And somebody else said...
".. it is not for money most of them change jobs... but it is because of the bad managers..."

Well... I have loved my company... and have loved my work... and it is for both money and because of my manager I am changing jobs...

The thought to go for job hunting didn't start all of a sudden... but it had grown over a few years now... and it became stronger after a recent incident... And now.. I am in the middle of it... i.e. serving notice period in my first company... and waiting for the D-Day on which I will be joining the new company.

I had been telling my friends that I'd be changing jobs very soon... but that "soon" had not come sooner!!! The main reason why I waited for long before ultimately deciding for a change is because I needed some time to prepare for the interview and a strong reason to go for it. But that, fortunately or unfortunately, never happened. I never prepared anything for any of the interviews and I couldn't find a strong reason to leave the current employer until recently. Ultimately I decided to move on and look for the new employer in the month of January 2011.

One particular night early January 2011...I couldn't sleep... I had this strange feeling... I felt that I can never change job and I will be struck with the current one forever... The fear was so strong... that it made be switch on the computer at that moment, create my resume upload it into a job portal... and only after I did this was I able to sleep... The strange feeling I had that night was actually triggered by another incident that had happened in my current company.

What happened after I uploaded my resume was as expected... I got "calls" from multiple companies (consultants) for various types of positions in the IT field... Within a span of around 2-3 weeks, I attended a lot of interviews... including interviews from companies like IBM, Patni, HP, Microsoft, NDS, ITC Infotech, JK Technosoft, Kyro, Dell, Volvo IT, Sonata. Except HP, I passed the technical rounds in all the companies. I liked the interviews with Kyro, NDS and Microsoft. Though HP questions were good, I somehow didn't feel good about the interview... and from the very first question, I somehow knew that I wouldn't be selected by HP!! Kyro has become a dream company for me now... After the tech lead from Kyro explained about the work they do... I was just overawed! And decided that it is a company to work with. But after the 2nd round of technical interview, I wasn't called for the 3rd round. I do not know why... and I did not ask them why! Currently I am looking for the outcome of the 2nd round of interview with Microsoft... If I pass the 2nd round, then I need to go to Hyderabad for the 3rd round of interview and probably the 4th one too.

If I was happy because of the amount of interview calls I was receiving and the number of interviews I was attending after a 5 years break, I was tired  at the same time because of the amount of travel that I was making by running around various companies for interviews. And after 2 weeks of continuous interviews I was dog-tired, and nauseated. But as the saying goes.. "All is well that ends well"... I did end up with a good offer from one of the companies... though I am currently looking forward for the outcome of the interview with Microsoft, I am not attending any more interviews.

The biggest challenge for me during the entire process of job hunting was to reject the offer from Patni... When the interview was scheduled, I wasn't informed either by the consultant nor by the Patni HR, that the position was for Dell.  I was only told that the client was Dell and the first interview will be conducted by the client. Only after attending 2 rounds of interview from Dell, did I realize that the opening is actually for Dell and Patni was doing what is called as "body shopping". And at the same time the news about iGate taking over Patni was announced. All these made me not to go for Patni... But saying "No" to Patni was the biggest challenge since the consultant was hell bent on making me, forcing me accept the job offer from Patni. I had to have a couple of professional fights too with the consultant and more than half-hour discussion with the Patni HR before making them understand that I was seriously not interested in moving to Patni. and to Dell. I  had/have nothing against Patni, Dell or iGate... But it was just that I didn't want to join Patni and work in a different company day-in and day-out.

We learn something or the other each and every day... and this entire process of job hunting did teach me a thing or two. The first thing I learned after the Patni incident was that the life of a consultant is not easy. They get perks, extra money only when a candidate gets a job offer. No job offer no proper salary for the consultant and he might even lose his job which is in a way ridiculous and in a way embarrassing. The second thing I learned was that do not ever accept too many interview calls in a short period of time. It will  not only exhaust you physically and mentally but may also become a reason for failing in interviews!!

Wishing myself a happy future in the next company. :)