I hate Unpredictable schedules in IT Jobs...

Here in this post, I am going to write about something that most of us hate. Frankly, there is lot of uncertainty in our schedule (IT people).

Do we work from 9:00-5:00 PM ? Answer : Very rarely, Do we spend 9:00-5:00 in office ? Answer : More often. So what is the difference huh? spend time vs work. This happens when we have no work or very less work. I call this as "Allocated Bench". We are allocated to a project but still don't know how to pass the time. One reason for this could be that the project has moved to production and sometimes some work crops up other time we enjoy. Another reason could be project is continuing to exhaust the allocated budget.Anyways lets stop analyzing this and return to the point.This is one side of story.

On the other side, we have so much work that we end up spending 12 hours in the office. Most interesting point is that this comes suddenly without notice in most of the cases. Today, my manager walked to my bay and said "All the days of enjoyment are now getting over. Business wants some enhancements and we have very tight deadlines to fulfill them." Gosh !! I have heard this many times..The very first thought that comes to my mind is "If planned properly I would not have to work for 12-14 hours suddenly ..The reason for this is that "IT Services business" is more of reactive in nature than proactive. Business users wont do anything until they are in complete shit. Later they will enforce strict deadlines.
On the other hand, I have seen "IT product development" more streamlined in the approach. They have regular routines.

This uncertainty in schedule puts serious limitations on the extra-curricular activities that one can get engaged into on a regular basis. This requires strong will and commitment. No wonder , why IT guys applying to B-schools have less to show on this front. I hope somebody from Ad com reads this entry and excuses us to certain extent on extra-curricular / community service front.

Also few updates in past few days:
I recommend two books that I read in recent times - "Discover your destiny with Monk who sold his Ferrari" by Robin Sharma, "Where all leaders have gone ? " by Lee Iaccoca. Currently also reading, "What Color is your parachute ?"
I have started learning Spanish and my efforts have become serious now over past week. If anybody is interested in learning Spanish, I recommend http://www.studyspanish.com

Cheers ..

Enough of procrastination..Its time to act !

Lot of time has gone already. 3 months have already passed by since I landed in US.

During the weekdays, typical lifestyle has been : wake up at 7:30 - 7:45 ,have frozen Paratha or something for breakfast , prepare lunch box, head for office @ 8:45 , lunch @ 12 :00, take a coffee break @ 4:00 , leave office at 5:30 - 6:00, reach home at 6:45, sometimes go to gym / play tennis , & then TP till 11:30 -12:00 in the night.

Weekends used to be passed in activities such as laundry, cleaning , grocery shopping and sleeping.

There are lot of distractions on the internet such as facebook , orkut , HotOrNot, online movies etc etc which used to consume lot of my time. But there was kind of no option for me. In Tampa - FL , the place where I am based, there is barely any public transport available. I knew that I have to get a car before I can start any activities outside of work. Recently I have bought one so that makes me mobile.

Now its time to limit all online time pass stuff and concentrate my time and effort to improve my profile otherwise. There are tons of things to do.

I must better get going. The activities outside work will not only help me make life more interesting but also help to make profile good for B-school and distinguish among other applicants.

Merry Christmas !!

Ho Ho Ho!!

I wish you all Merry Christmas !! & Happy New Year

I think this is the time when one should reflect on past one year to find out what milestones were set and what were actually achieved. Analyze the gaps and come stronger next year.

Also, this is the time to set new year resolutions. I wish all of my blog readers "All the best" to set up creative new year resolutions and achieve them subsequently.

Most of the people who have applied this year in R1 have got interview calls by now and some have completed interviewing as well. All the best for the final admits.

Back to square one

I am returning to the blogging world after a long time. This year I will be out of MBA applications scene. I will only witness the admits / dings received by people on this blogging community. So this is the time for introspection (Analyze the goals), read & research more. If possible visit schools build more contacts & work on extras to improve the profile.

Citigroup has been recently in news because of several reasons. Chuck Price, CEO of Citigroup , resigned after huge losses in the subprime market. Citigroup lost close $50 billion in market capitalization. Now suddenly, the focus is on expense management and cost cutting. Citi has development center in Singapore and this lies inside the corporate firewall. Many jobs are likely to move to singapore / offshore in India. So most likely several job cuts are likely and lot of contracts were not renewed. But fortunately, my contract is renewed till June,30 2008.

Since, I am working here on H1B. The option of part time/ weekend MBA has also opened for me. This has now forced me to think on my "Why MBA" stuff one more time.
Can I accomplish my objectives with part time MBA ?
Can I get my MBA sponsored from my employer ?

I can see that R1 results have started coming out. I wish all the best to my friends on blogging community who applied in R1.

I will return shortly with some more stuff...

One step ahead..

I'm writing this post after a long time. Last week of September went in getting myself ready for travel. Then on 02-Oct-07, I traveled to Tampa, Florida, US.

I'm still not done with many formalities, but on my way to completing those.
This week I joined "Citibank Center" here in Tampa ,FL.

Regarding my applications, I have requested for Transcripts.
Still thinking over whether to postpone by 1 year or go with applications this year in R2. I will not be able to make it in Round 1.

Lets see how it goes !!

Down but not out..

Its been long time since I posted anything out here.All these days I was ruminating over what all things could be done if I postpone my MBA by an year.

I honestly evaluated my candidature, I realized many of my strengths and weaknesses.

1)WE: This August I completed 4 years of work experience. By next fall it would be 5 years. If I postpone by 1 year I would have close to 2 years of international experience.

2)WE: Also, in the US I can diversify my profile work experience in some enhanced role or shift into relationship management or sales. This could add another dimension to the work ex.

3)Build Transcript: I can build my transcript by taking some credits in economics / accounting from near by university in the US while I am working. (May b U of Florida)

4)Learn Foreign Language: China is making huge strides in global market place and its economy is showing sustained double digit growth and is destined to be super power in a decade to challenge dominance of the US. Will it be good idea to start learning Mandarian ? But thats hell difficult to learn..If not possible I will start learning french.

5)Extra-Curr & Community service : I had taken salsa classes till level 2. I will further my interest there..may be learn tango too :) Can indulge in some atheletics and sport activity too... Regarding community service I will do anything if it comes naturally...not thought of anything as yet but something like fund-raising for some NGO working to address global warming ..would be great ...

WOW !!! Several things to add....

May be I should be able to put in solid app in top (10-15) if above things materialize....I am hoping that within 1-2 weeks my date for travel should be fixed.

Currently, I have put up "WORK IN PROGRESS" board on many fronts of life...praying hard to make things work for me..

Few Random thoughts...

On friday, I went to US consulate for H1B interview. My visa got approved in 2-3 minute interview. Since the time visa processing started, my focus on applications and MBA is slightly getting diverted.

I never had a doubt about whether to do MBA. For me,a person from middle class background, money is important and can not be ignored. H1 B is giving me opportunity to earn huge and will let me save good amount of $$ for MBA. This will reduce the debt in great deal once I start MBA. Even in IT people from similar background as mine were hired by investment banks like Merryl Lynch, Goldman, CSFB at a salary of $100 k +.

Despite of this earning, I know the work profile will more or less remain same. I dont want to move out of IT or technology field completely even post MBA. I would prefer to get into business development in IT or IT Strategy Consulting. Since I dont want to change my career completely, some additional work experience might be helpful too.

There are some downsides too. I may get addicted to the life in the US and $$ that I may not get back to studies...I will try hard with strong determination that this will not happen. I will age by one more year. So I will start my MBA at 28 and end when I am 30. Will this be too late??

Whether to do it this year or not in the context of opportunites that I'm getting currently and my future goals is very very tough decision.

Lot of these thoughts are coming in my way of writing good quality essays...:(
Today, after posting some of these things out here my mind has become free.