personal

I won’t go in to the details of what prompted this topic since it might get a little too bitter for my own taste, but there is a serious need for reforms in the way the government looks at internet income.

To put it in a concise way, I am regretting that this blog ever made any money at all.

There is only one piece of advertisement remaining on this blog, but I am positively sure that after a few months/years of unsuccessfully negotiating with the organization involved, the issue will remain successfully unresolved (for the lack of any clear guidelines to either party) and the money will be eventually donated to charity …or something of the sort.

Then, I heard someone say something about how there are stupid laws and stuff. On that I have only one thing to say - laws are only as stupid as the people who make them.

Anyways, the point is that there is a need to take a second look at internet income regulations. In one way or other I am sure some other bloggers feel the same way.

Lastly, to put a closure to this incoherent rant I have another thing to say. This “equal opportunity employer” legal statement thing is a big load of crap. Here is an example:

” … to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race color, national origin, religion or creed, sex, age, disability, citizenship status, marital status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, sexual orientation, …”

Almost every one of those issues listed in the statement has an effect on employment opportunities. Sometimes we are just blind enough not to notice it.

Or may be I am just jaded because of not being able to blog for so long.

Finally, it’s time to implement what I have been talking about on my blog over the last year or so - it’s time to address lifestyle inflation!

The first salary after getting a job is always a tempting  excuse to indulge in a shopping spree. Plus, a new unfurnished apartment cries desperately for a several-hundred-dollars expenditure on furniture/bed/accessories.

However, with great restraint, I have finally managed to convince myself back into a sleeping bag. I have had some good (and prolonged) experience with sleeping bags, so I don’t mind it.

Also, most other things were acquired at much lower costs than what I had imagined earlier (new leather shoes - $50, trousers - about $25 each , shirts - about $20 each, etc.) - so most of the inflationary items have been under control. Plus, I threw away an incredible number of clothes/accessories during my moving/clean-up spree - so I ended up with a lot less “stuff” in the new apartment.

May be it’s lifestyle deflation or whatever… but it certainly feels good to carry less baggage and live light.

Lost in thought and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life

I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the waiting had begun
And headed straight..into the shining sun

- Coming Back to Life - Pink Floyd (The Division Bell) (video)

I don’t know why, but I feel sort of connected with that song about now.

After 6.5 years of considerable efforts (not always successful) and some really bold and unconventional steps (and super-anxious waits) in the last few months, I finally have a job/career I have been dreaming about for a long time. I feel rejuvenated. Alive. Back to life.

However, this dream comes at the cost of another dream: my PhD degree. It was extremely painful to let go of several hundred hours of research and painstaking work, but ultimately, I had to be more practical than theoretical.

I don’t know how long this goodness is going to last, but I am going to enjoy it as long as it does.

With major distractions out of the way now, the inspiration to blog is slowly coming back to life too.

There are so many things happening in our lives right now that I don’t really have the time (or the patience) to elaborate on all of them.  However, I just wanted to post a few words to say that I am still alive!

Here is the latest development. After a few days of research into various compact cars, we finally went ahead and bought a 2008 Honda Civic for ourselves.

Long-time readers of this blog will remember that we purchased a 2005 Toyota Corolla less than 6 months ago.

Obviously, a lot has happened since then to warrant the purchase of the new Honda.

Astute readers will quickly draw conclusions based on this, this, and this.

A couple of weeks ago, I described a particularly interesting interview that I faced during my ongoing job hunt. Throughout the entire job search process, I had several other interesting learning experiences and thought it may be appropriate to condense some of them in this blog post.

Below is a compilation of some salient points that resulted either from my personal experience or from discussions with friends, peers, interviewers, and current and former bosses. Although, this is a fairly long post, it is certainly not intended to be any kind of a “comprehensive guide” for job search - so feel free to voice your opinions (positive or negative) on the subject.

1. Keywords in your resume are important: This was a disappointment to me, but this is what I have observed (perhaps people in different industries have different ways of doing things) - your resume is essentially worthless without some keywords relating to the position you are applying for. This is especially true if you are posting your resume through a mass online resume posting service (like Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, or through company websites).

Keyword search is the first filter that many employers will use - I personally don’t like it, but that’s what makes it practical for employers to sift through thousands of resumes. The only time you could probably get away without keywords is when you communicate personally with someone higher up in the hiring ladder - because of which you will bypass the initial filtering process. However, keep in mind that once you pass through the initial filtering process, keywords don’t hold too much importance. So, pay attention to keywords but don’t get too hung up on them.

Usually, the title of the position your are applying for and the corresponding job description provide enough clues as to which keywords you should try to include in your resume.

2. It’s not just about how brilliant you are, it’s also about how well you communicate: Communication issues can be real deal breakers. I personally know at least two extraordinarily brilliant persons who didn’t make it to even a single job in the industry because of communication issues (of course, it is implied that their jobs required communication between employees - I understand that this may not be really necessary for certain jobs).

Many employers place a lot of importance on good verbal and written communication. In my case, at least two companies asked for a few writing samples before considering me for on-site interviews - and later, made it sufficiently clear that they need this initial writing filter because, in the past, they had terrible experiences with people who couldn’t even compose simple emails properly and someone had to communicate with the customers on their behalf.

Unfortunately, communication problems don’t have instant remedies (unlike keyword problems) and are hard to correct; you really need some dedicated efforts very early on.

3. You don’t need $500 suits and jackets to make an impression: Seriously, I don’t know who has the time to look at the richness of your suit fabric or the brand of your leather shoes during an interview - unless you are interviewing for Martha Stewart or something. Dress decently and neatly, shave, and comb - that’s about it.

May be I am too insensitive or something, but from a distance of about 2~3 feet, I absolutely can’t figure out any difference between a $500 blazer and a $99 blazer - I have quite literally tried this experiment several times in our town mall.

Formal clothing is supposed to invoke a sense of professionalism and to boost your confidence (I don’t completely get this, but that’s what everyone says). I don’t see why expensive clothes would make it easier in achieving those objectives.

4. It’s not just about what you know, it’s also about who you know: I am not sure what percentage of resumes are rejected in the first cut, but I have a feeling that most resumes do not make it through. It always helps if you know someone in the hiring organization who can take your resume directly to the next level by bypassing the initial cull.

Also, in some organizations, open positions are first circulated among the employees before they are made public - if an employee recommends your resume at this stage, you will have a much higher chance of getting noticed. Of course, after the initial boost, the rest depends on how well you handle the hiring process.

5. Timing is very important: This is something I am learning the hard way. The way things are going with my job hunting process, I think I missed the “prime time” by a couple of months. Most industries have a particular “season” in which the bulk of the hiring takes place. Try to find that sweet spot well in advance and plan accordingly. Bigger organizations usually have a lot of time lag between the time you submit your resume and the time they actually read it and act on it.

6. Luck plays an important role: With this, I am just acknowledging the fact that there is a strong luck factor in determining whether you get a certain job or not. By making some wise choices you may be able to influence this factor a little bit, but you certainly cannot eliminate it completely. As such, a successful job hunt deserves a little humility (especially when you talk about it to your friends/peers who may not have been equally successful).

7. Don’t burn your bridges behind you: The most obvious “duh” suggestion here is to not leave your current job unless you get a written confirmation about your new job - whenever possible. Word of mouth is not a confirmation. Also, let your job search anxiety be your own problem - if you are not sure about leaving your current job, don’t start harping on your efforts to find a new job; uncertainty leads to anxiety which in turn leads to panic. In short, make sure that you are in a position to continue with your current job peacefully in case your job hunt ends unsuccessfully.

8. Keep smiling and be positive: This advice comes from my advisor. He probably realized that I am a little bit on the cynical side and sometimes can’t resist the temptation of a casual sarcastic remark. Negative attitude doesn’t help. People like happy people. People like positive people. Keep your sarcasm restricted to your blogs and comments on blogs (note to self).

9. Maintain good relations with your potential references: This is especially important for students (strained relations between students and their academic advisors are not uncommon). References are taken seriously in this country and all your good work can turn out to be useless if you can’t get your professors to say a few good words about you.

If you are not sure whether your boss/professor will strongly recommend you for a job, don’t give his/her name as a reference. If you don’t get along too well with your boss, try to cultivate good professional relations with other people in your department so that you can forward their names as references if needed.

10. Improvise: Be prepared to improvise on what you want to say/do during the interview, depending on how the interviewer is reacting to what you are saying/doing. It helps to watch your interviewers closely - it’s not too difficult to see that you are boring them to sleep; when that happens, you need to bring your boring activity/story to an end and switch to something more interesting. On the other hand, if you sense that your interviewers are showing interest in a certain topic, try to feed them more of it and convert it into a selling opportunity.

If you are more of a planning type of person, instead of relying on your improvisation skills, have a plan B ready (or maybe even plan C and plan D).

11. Other things that can cause embarrassment: A few of my on-site interviews culminated in the companies asking for background information (and for my permission to pull up my background information from third-party sources). To my chagrin, I had to mention something unexpected over and over again - a speeding ticket! Yes, a speeding ticket is considered a criminal conviction (albeit a minor one) and you may probably need to present some explanation if you have a whole bunch of them. I wish I had this wisdom before I got the ticket.

I don’t think people can deny you a job based on your speeding tickets (or may be they could, I don’t really know), but it sure is embarrassing to exhibit your lack of driving discipline to your potential employers.

Apart from the general discussion above, here are some pretty useful tips specific to the interviewing process; be sure to take a look.

~$$~

Another observation, that didn’t find a place in the above list. It’s about interviewers who start interviews with this: “So, tell me about yourself“. More often that not, in my case, it has turned out to be a sign that the interviewer has not prepared well for the interview. It sounds to me like a filler when you don’t have any intelligent questions to ask. Observe your interviewers closely after they throw that “tell me about yourself” at you … in all likelihood, while you are trying to construct a history of your life for them, they are probably reading your resume for the first time.

We spent our Thanksgiving weekend in New Orleans and did what people are supposed to do in New Orleans - eat jambalaya, eat beignets, travel in trams streetcars (see Lauren’s comment below), walk on Bourbon Street, watch alligators, and just take it easy.

There were a few interesting episodes regarding our stay - especially related to our “five star” hotel, but I will write about that in a couple of days. For now, here are a few snaps to capture a part of the awesome spirit of New Orleans. It’s too bad you can’t hear the jazz music playing in the background through the photographs.

By the way, this was our second visit to the city; the first one being just a couple of months before Hurricane Katrina. In spite of all the pain and suffering that New Orleans experienced after the hurricane, it was nice to see that the city still rocks!

• Let’s start with an interesting FEMA t-shirt.

• Parking rates: Compare these to parking rates in New York City - hourly rates in NYC seem outrageous, but overnight rates are almost comparable. By the way, “valet parking” is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen (more about it later). In this photograph, the “overnight” rate seems to have been inflated unnecessarily to make the valet parking option appear more attractive (think in terms of tips for valets).

• Typical snack: Beignet (pronounced as “bin-ye”) and coffee make an awesome breakfast - or a general snack at any time of the day. The one place you shouldn’t miss in New Orleans is Cafe Du Monde; this particularly untidy cafe (consisting of tables, chairs, and waiting staff - all covered with powdered sugar) serves the most popular beignets in the city.

• When in New Orleans, think sea food. It’s all about sea food - even when it comes to candy.

• Pralines: This, by far, is the most expensive confectionery you can buy in New Orleans. $17.95 will get you just about 10-12 pieces - a casual eater can finish that in less than a day.

• And then there is beer. A whole lot of it, available cheap and served in a variety of mugs/glasses of various shapes and sizes. To keep this beer-drinking crowd in control, you will generally see swarms of horseback riding policemen keeping an eye on the busy streets throughout the night.

• Here is some stuff you can expect to see only on Bourbon Street. Obviously, that’s the only thing I can publish here … the rest of it is.. well, you got to see it yourself.

• If you are romantically inclined, there is this dinner and jazz cruise on the Mississippi river. It’s worth the money ($58 per person) on nice cool days - if you want to try something different than the usual stuff.

• Or you could spend time traveling around the city in tram cars. This is the most efficient and traditional way of getting around in New Orleans - after walking. A three-day unlimited travel pass in these trams costs $12 and it effectively solves all the potential parking problems. The photograph below shows trams on Canal Street.

• Or you could hide yourself behind a mask and do unmentionable things on Bourbon Street.

• One thing that I didn’t quite understand is people’s attraction towards the “French Market”. It seemed like any other market to me … selling overpriced and commonly available stuff. You could walk a few blocks away from the market and buy the same stuff for a much lower price tag - and yet you will see a lot of people buying a lot of stuff from the market. Anyways, if you miss the French Market, here is a photograph for you.

• A trip to New Orleans is incomplete without visiting some swamps. It’s fun to touch and hold alligators (small ones), and generally these alligator swamp tours are not too expensive. The way our tour guide was treating the alligators, they almost seemed “domesticated” - and he was also feeding them marshmallows, which the alligators seemed to particularly like. Below is a photograph of a relatively small alligator jumping out of the water to grab a marshmallow on a stick.

• Now, here is another FEMA t-shirt before you go.

Au revoir!

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been very busy applying for jobs and preparing for interviews and some such related stuff. I was expecting to steal a couple hours each day from myself to post something on this blog, but it looks like I totally underestimated the amount of time and energy that job hunting can demand. It’s probably typical with students (in certain areas) who are new to the entire recruiting process (?).

The stress of the entire process eventually starts to take a toll on health, general state of mind, quality time, and what not. And then, there comes an interview that almost puts the nails in the coffin. It was one such interview that caused a big break in my blogging between last week and the current one.This interview in fact consisted of 13 one-on-one interviews with technical people (not a single HR representative) at various levels of the organization and one presentation (about my current work) - which was basically an invitation for interested folk to vent their general frustration on me. All this culminated in a series of written tests which included everything from IQ/EQ to some serious technical stuff.

I talked and talked (mostly about myself), and then I listened to everything that was being said - and did this from 8:00 am in the morning to 7:00 pm in the evening, with a 15 minute lunch break. Fortunately (and ironically), I was suffering from a pretty acute diarrhea which carried over from the previous day, and that led to several small breaks in the ordeal. I never really saw the positive side of diarrhea till then.

Anyways, the shortest interview was about 30 minutes long and the longest lasted for about an hour and 15 minutes! By the end of it all, I guess they probably knew everything about me except the size of my underwear.

Save a few distant recollections of terrible stomach cramps, I don’t have any memory of my journey back home from the interview. It took about 14 hours of sleep, starting later that night, to regain my lost senses.

But hey, who said good jobs come easy?

A couple of weeks ago, I discussed about my default habit of leaving the original plastic covers on consumer products … for as long as they keep sticking to the shining surfaces. Along similar lines, here is another “save it for later” habit that I have developed over the years.

I nibble on chocolates for as long as it’s humanly (and hygienically) possible. I eat a very small portion, bit-by-bit, on any given day, and then I wrap the rest of it for future bit-by-bit sessions. Generally, the habit extends to any food item that I really like - although, it’s more obvious when it comes to chocolates because they are more readily available than other tempting foods and can last for several days (probably even months). In case of rare dessert treats, especially if it’s a very nicely prepared portion of tiramisu or flan, there is a good chance that I will spend more time on dessert appreciation and consumption than on the entree - in spite of the small serving size of the dessert.

Again (like for the earlier “saving it for later post“), as I introspect on the possible underlying reasons, the only explanation I can come up with is the desire to make the pleasing experience last as long as possible. I don’t remember having to consciously build on this habit in the past - so probably, I must have had one of those “light bulb moments” during my childhood, when I suddenly realized that instead of wolfing down that well earned chocolate bar (which, by the way, was extremely rare in those days) in a few minutes, I might as well enjoy the goodness for the next several days! [well ... that's more like a "duh" moment].

On further introspection, I think it’s one of the most valuable self-taught lessons in my life on efficient resource management. Over the years, I have applied it to food, pocket money, salary, clothes, good will, accidental gifts, windfalls, campfires, etc. and I have to say that it has worked pretty well in most cases. It always feels great to save some good fortune (or valuable resources) for later use instead of blowing everything up in a matter of minutes.

Here is another example: think in terms of an awesome 4^th of July fireworks celebration - how would you like it if, instead of a 40 minute dazzling display, all the firecrackers were exploded in the first minute itself?

On a cautious side, there is obviously a limit to how far one stretches this habit of saving the good stuff for later. All nice things (food items or not) have a viable time frame - in the sense of a “best if used before” date. Delay the “consumption” for too long and things will start to rot. The trick is to find the right balance - and as trite as it may seem, that’s always where the buck stops … doesn’t it?

Image credit: concise.britannica.com

I know this is selfish and evil, but I need to get this out of my system.

Of course, the rising oil prices cause sharp momentary pain at the gas pump and gradually increasing pain at retail stores; but, there is a silver lining to this dark cloud that I am discovering about now.

If you head over to a campus recruiting department at any college around this time of the year, you will know what I am talking about. Companies are picking up students like hot cakes - full time, part time, interns, and co-ops.

It’s difficult to trace the exact routes of all the excessive oil profits, but I guess you can observe some end effects when it comes to recruitment stats. Big companies, small companies, service companies, manufacturing companies, software companies, and many other companies … the money eventually trickles down to all of them and then they all try to get a piece of the action.

The rising demand for oil (one of the reasons why oil prices are hovering high up) and record oil profits in recent times have spurred a major chunk of the industry into a frenzy of new projects, all over the world, worth many billions of dollars. And now, they are needing thousands of people to work on these projects - in US and abroad.

I cannot say whether this is just a short term boom or a fairly sustainable trend, but unless all the developing countries (currently developing … and those which will be on rapid development paths in future) suddenly stop using oil or unless they figure out a way of using sea water as fuel, I would stay bullish on the prospects of this trend sustaining itself for several years down the line.

Right now, “strike while the iron is hot” seems to be my favorite phrase. It appears like a good time to head out there and grab a piece of the recruitment pie.

Ironically, a couple of days ago, I wrote something about oil consumption and environmental concerns. Oh, well … three cheers for hypocrisy .. hyp hyp hypocrisy!

Image credit: edweb.sdsu.edu