Do you prefer IT to a Product making Company ?

Did you know that 0.5 million engineers pass out of Graduate engineering colleges every year ?
Well that is just a part of many statistics which i dont care too much for....

Lets take an example: (Please assume "He / She" for "He" everywhere)

Two class 12 students; say; "A","B" work hard and get through with flying colours. Their possible careers options could be related to one of the following:
1) A technical career; say BE/BSc/ME/MCA/MSc etc.
2) A management career; say BBA/BBM/MBA etc.
3) A medical career or
4) A career in Fine Arts.

So i will confine myself to the technical career.
Both "A" and "B" take up engineering; in the same stream.
"A" & "B" struggle through engineering and get through (sometimes with a history of arrears; like me....). "A" prefers to get into the IT Industry because he feels he can earn a lot and get an opportunity to see the places outside the country. "B" prefers to get into Product making Company which would focus on a particular field of work.

As the final Year approaches; both "A" and "B" have to appear for placements in their college.

"A" looks out for the first IT company coming in; say IT1. He gets to see the eligibility criteria and decides to appear for it. The guys from IT1 present all aspects of work available with their company. They show a promising future for everyones' career aspirations. So "A" is highly impressed and starts preparing for the Aptitute test from R.S.Aggarwal, GRE Word Power and placement papers of IT Companies avaiable online.

Finally; the D-day is here. "A" is excited. He sits for the Aptitude test and answers all the MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions) almost similar to the Engineering entrance he wrote long ago. He knows most of them; and hence answered them quickly (Probably using Inki...Pinki....Ponki....) !! He was on Cloud-9 after the exam coz. he knew most of the answers. He has to wait for a painful 3 hours before the results are announced and unfortunately he has been rejected because of his High IQ !! God !! He is depressed, and has to wait for the next opportunity to come his way; say IT2.

So IT2 also has a similar process; but luckily "A" gets through. He treats all his friends and goes on to get his offer letter. But here comes the twist:
1) IT2 has a service agreement for a period of 1 year. If "A" breaches that; he has to cough up 1 lakh.
2) IT2 has many locations out of which it operates and wants "A" to be flexible enough to keep travelling for the first 3 years or so.
3) IT2 is expecting new "projects" which would need more man power.

"A" is not too worried and thinks all this normal; and signs the service agreement is into it.
He is assigned to a training (which is irrelevant to his field of study) for a period of 1 month. He finds that there are many people who are comfortable with that because they had basic / fundamental knowledge of the same. He compromises on that. He is asked to appear for an "exit" test on that after that training. He crams through the stuff unlike his peers (like he did during his engg. days...) and gets through the exam. But then; suddenly he has been assigned to another training because IT2 has new projects related to this and there is a requirement of manpower there. So that takes; say; another 2 months. Again; there is an exit test. Again the cramming etc. etc.

"A" is satisfied he is through. Now comes the question of getting into projects. "A" finds he is among atleast 2000 other people waiting to be put into projects. He also heard that the selection of candidates would be random. Now "A" was beginning to get frustrated. He was uncertain about his future work. But then the news is delivered to him; that he has been allocated to one of the older projects and would have to refresh what he had learned during his 1st training. Another Blow !! He neither has the material that he used for tat nor does he remember anything about it. So there goes another cramming session. He wasnt interested in working at this anymore.

After a week he is into the project. His Team Leader tells him that the project is about to be closed and the schedules are getting tight; so he has to work atleast 16 hrs a day. He is given loads of documents to read; and has to be prepared to give a presentation within 2 days time. Another Night-out and cramming session !! Frustration starts building up as the D-day approaches. He is unable to grasp half the stuff; he cant concentrate because he has lost his sleep. His Team Leader cant help because he is too busy with his own work. He manages to present something for which the Project Leader smiled weakly and asked him to get to work. The Team leader was depressed with his performance and thrashed him with words.

Then "A" is given his schedule and asked to work for the next 4 weeks, 16-hour days except for 2 Sundays. Well... "A" is definitely feeling miserable. "A" got his first appraisal in another 6 months time and found that he was no where in the top performers, while the people who were from the relevant backgrounds where high up the ladder !! He also found out that people from his background had done better because they had done additional certifications apart from the training !!

What is " IT " doing to the Young Crowd ? ;-)

What happened to "B" ?
"B" appeared for the placement interview of a Product Company say P1.
The process here was also similar; with a slight difference. The aptitude test and the interviews were relevant to his study during Engineering. The interviews he attended were tedious but interesting. He managed to get through to P1.

Earlier P1 had given a presentation representing those aspects of work and the location which they were recruiting for. "B" felt this was his relevant field of work and opted for it.
"B" had to revise his engg. subjects alone to see himself through the interview of P1. He was successful and given the offer letter. "B" had an option to choose his specialization at P1 and also the location was feasible for him. He was asked to undergo a training and orientation which were absolutely relevant to his stream of study. He thoroughly enjoyed it. He was willing to work. He was given flexi timings to work. He had a Team Leader who was impressed with his enthusiasm to work and helped him muddle through tough areas. "B" found it good to work there because he had the freedom to innovate and thus keep his mind occupied. Withing 6 months "B" was given his first appraisal; and his performance was very impressive.


Now...... by the above example you can clearly make out the differences between the operations of an IT company and a Product making Company.
To summarize -
The IT Industry is:
1) Dynamic; beacause of which faster adaption is needed.
2) Time constrained; which leads to physical and mental pressure.
3) A rat race; where your peers could get past if they had relevant backgrounds.

But the Product Company is:
1) Static; needs just the technology related competencies.
2) Time is only a constrain only for product releases which happens at fixed times.
3) Effort alone governs the appraisals.

So Choose !!

(Comments and Criticisms are welcome !!)