Viswanathan, velai venum!
Verizon’s aptitude test for freshers on May 21, 2005 in Meenakshi College was the talking point of the town. Verizon offers a fabulous salary for a fresher (3 Lakhs). It’s true that Verizon has about 1000 openings. But the numbers that turned up was about 15000 I was told. Even conservative estimate put it above 10000. And Verizon had quite a standard criteria – 70% and above from x,xii, Graduation( BE) and Post-graduation (MCAs). The test was limited to 2004 & 2005 pass outs alone. My friends’ roomie, an ME candidate, who had gone to the venue at about 6 in the morning had to face a crowd who had come all over the country with their luggage and assembled at the place even before that.
Ithanai padicha pasanga, nalla velai illamal ivlo pera?
It is true that there are lots of openings in the IT industry. It is also true that the opportunities are good. But many people do not take into account the supply side of the resource factor in India. To me frankly, it is all a bit scary. This Indian IT industry is heavily dependent on the outsourcing phenomenon. Even the most optimistic will not bet anything beyond 2007-2008. But none of the realities are taken into consideration when parents send their children spending lakhs for some BE/MCA. Those who finish and who manage to get a job do not think twice about getting a housing loan for 20 lakhs that has a repayment period of 20 years.
I don’t want to sound pessimistic but ennamo enakku bayama irukku. All this does not feel healthy at all.
This scenario also puts in perspective about my qualification, skill sets and the salary for the kind of work I do. Reality bites. Its high time i shaped up.
Last but not the least, I am also told that Verizon will also be conducting similar mega-exams in Bangalore before calling the short listed for interview and selecting the required 1000 + candidates.
I feel like humming this “Vishwanathan velai venum” from Kadhalikka Neramillai…