Anil Ambani Floats Tech Reliance For IT Foray; May Invest $2 Billion

At least one faction of the Reliance Group has realised IT is an opportunity they missed out on. Anil Ambani’s Reliance ADA Group has decided to enter the IT services business by floating a new company – Tech Reliance (does it sound like the IT foray of another major industrial group – Tech Mahindra?).
It plans to provide IT consultancy, business process outsourcing and software development, among other services.
It will initially look at providing services to industry sectors such as telecommunications, financial services, utilities, entertainment and healthcare. The group is reportedly looking at investing $2 billion in the business.
Apparently the company is on the prowl for top management staff from major IT firms in the country, according to a report in Business Standard. Anil Ambani has already hand-picked a core team of 15 members, including employees working within the group, to head the initiative, says the report.
It remains to be seen if Reliance entry can make life tougher to existing biggies like Infosys Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, and Wipro.

Wishing you a Bigger & Bighter 2008

 Seaons Greetings to all our readers & Contributors!

Have a Safe & a Superb year ahead!

10 Things Recruiters Should Know About Every Candidate They Interview

Interviewing candidates and gauging their fit for a culture and position is one of the most indispensable tasks a recruiter performs. The more a recruiter knows about a candidate, the better equipped they are to add value to the hiring process. That’s why getting to know the candidate and understand what they are looking for, along with overall qualifications, is so critical.

But there is more about candidates you should uncover if you want to do the best possible job of providing information (read: value) to hiring managers. Below are ten points in key areas that all recruiters should investigate for each candidate they interview — before they present the candidate to the hiring manager.

1. Complete compensation details. Understand exactly how the candidate’s current compensation program is structured. This means more than the candidate’s base salary; the base salary is just part of the overall package. Be sure that you ask about bonuses; if, how and when they are paid out, stock options or grants that have been awarded. Compile a complete list of benefits and how they are structured (e.g. PPO vs. HMO; there is a difference) and know when the candidate is up for his or her next review, because this can alter cash compensation.

2. Type of commute. Commute is a quality-of-life issue and discussing it is important. A ten-minute commute against traffic is very different than taking the car to a train and having to walk five blocks to the new organization. If the commute to your organization is worse for the candidate than it is in his or her existing job, bring it up and see how the candidate responds. If the commute is better, use it as a selling point. By all means, be sure that you understand the candidate’s current commute and how they feel about the new one.

3. The “what they want vs. what they have” differential. Most candidates do not change jobs just for the sake of changing jobs. They change jobs because there are certain things missing in their current position that they believe can be satisfied by the position your organization is offering. This disparity is called the “position differential” and it is the fundamental reason a person changes jobs. Know what this position differential is and you will be able to know if you have what the candidate is looking for. If so, you will be able to develop an intelligent capture strategy when it comes time to close.

4. How they work best. Some candidates work best if left alone, while others work best as part of a team. It is your job to know enough about the organization’s philosophy and the way the hiring manager works to see if the candidate will either mesh or grind. Beware of recommending hiring a candidate who does not fit into the current scheme, because, at times, style can be just as important as substance.

5. Overall strengths and weaknesses. Be sure to get some understanding of the candidate’s strong points and the candidate’s limitations. All of us have strengths and weaknesses (even John Sullivan has weaknesses, but he won’t tell me what they are). Our role is to identify them and be able to present them to the hiring manager. Hint: Ask what functions the candidate does not enjoy performing. We are seldom good at things we don’t like.

6. What they want in a new position. Everyone wants something. Find out what the candidate wants in a new position. Be sure to do whatever is necessary to get this information. Feel free to pick away during the interviewing process with open-ended questions until you have all of your questions answered. It is difficult to determine whether a given hiring situation has a good chance of working out if you do not know what the candidate is looking for in a new position.

7. Is the candidate interviewing elsewhere? This is big; I don’t like surprises and neither do hiring managers. I always ask the candidate what else they have for activity. If the candidate has three other companies they are considering and two offers are arriving in the mail tomorrow, this is absolute need-to-know information. If the hiring manager wants to make an offer, it’s time to advise them as to what the competition looks like and move this deal onto the express lane, fast.

8. What it will take to close the deal. This is a first cousin of #6 above but it is more specific and flavored with a “closing the deal” mentality. #6 relates to what the candidate wants in a new position, but this one quantifies that want. For example, if the candidate wants more money, this is where you will assess how much it will take to close the deal. As another example, while #6 will let you know that the candidate wants to work on different types of projects, this one will tell you exactly what types of projects those are.

9. Can the candidate do the job? Even though, as the recruiter, you might not be able to determine if this is the perfect candidate, you should exit the interview with an opinion as to whether or not the candidate can perform the functions of the position. Furthermore, that opinion must be based upon information that was unveiled during the interviewing process and not just a gut feeling. It has to be based upon what the candidate has successfully accomplished and how that aligns with the needs of the current position. If you can’t offer a solid opinion on this one, you need to dig deeper until you have a solid case for why the candidate can or cannot do the job.

10.  Will the candidate fit into the culture? Predicting the future is tricky business, but someone has to take a shot at evaluating a candidate’s chance for success. Not everyone that is capable of doing the job will have a successful run at the company, because culture does play a role in candidate success. For example, the culture of a buttoned-down insurance company in Boston is very different than the garage culture of a software startup in the valley. If you have a reason to believe that the person is the wrong DNA for an organization, it is imperative that you raise the issue.

There are few things hiring managers value more than solid candidate feedback based upon a well-executed interview. Convey this information to the hiring manager and take one more step towards becoming a world-class recruiter.

Wipro shares data on fake CVs with peers

BANGALORE: Wipro Technologies has started sharing with competitors its database of job applicants who have faked information in their CVs, the first such initiative in the Indian IT industry. The database, containing the names of hundreds of individuals and recruitment agencies, is being made available to two of the top five domestic IT companies and efforts are on for a similar arrangement with many more, Pradeep Bahirwani, vice-president for strategic sourcing at Wipro Technologies, told ET.
He declined to name the companies with which Wipro is cooperating. TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Satyam and HCL Technologies are India’s five biggest software exporters. The informal arrangement will involve the exchange and review of information on CV cheats, preventing lying job-seekers who have been caught in one organisation from joining another.

HR experts say that the manipulation of resumes, especially in collaboration with recruitment agencies, is assuming alarming proportions. They estimate that 15-20% of resumes have some sort of misrepresentation, subtle or blatant. Inflated salaries, wrong designations and incorrect prior experience are seen as examples of subtle misrepresentation while falsely claiming to have worked for a company is regarded as falling in the blatant category.

Nasscom, the software and services industry grouping, is trying to address this problem by creating a registry of individuals employed in the IT and business process outsourcing sector, including job-seekers. Information in the National Skills Registry (NSR), which includes personal, academic and employment details, undergoes checks by a professional verification agency. Top employers, including Wipro and Satyam, see the registry as a long-term solution, but they are also concerned about dealing with the current situation.

“The industry initiative will take time to ensure complete compliance. Fake CVs are a here and now problem and we can’t wait for the NSR to be complete,” Mr Bahirwani said. The number of individuals and recruitment agencies Wipro has acted against is in the double digits, he said.

IBM India, Infosys and TCS, too, have been quietly dismissing employees who have been caught fabricating their academic or professional backgrounds. In March 2006, the issue became public when Wipro Technologies not just fired some employees for faking their CVs, but also filed police complaints against them.

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READY, FIRE, AIM?

TRYING TO FIND A JOB IS ABOUT SELLING YOURSELF. BUT THE BEST WAY TO SELL YOURSELF IS TO FOCUS ON THE NEEDS OF YOUR TARGET EMPLOYER

LIZ RYAN

   Warren, the sales manager at Company A, takes a call from Chris, the CEO, and boy, is Chris excited. “Warren! I’ve got a great sales lead!” says Chris. “You know that we’ve been wanting to get our products into XYZ Industries since forever, Warren? Well, I’m at a CEO luncheon over at the Hyatt right now, and the CEO of XYZ just said in his remarks that his company is on the hunt for a product like ours. We need to a get a proposal in there, pronto.”
   Warren tells Chris he’s on it and dashes down the hall, looking for Wanda, the salesperson in the territory where XYZ
company is located. “Look, Wanda, now is the time for us to go after XYZ Industries for a sale. Their CEO announced at a luncheon that they’re looking for a product like ours. Chris was there, and he just called me. We’ve got to put a killer presentation together and get in there to see them.”
   “I’m way ahead of you, Warren,” says Wanda. “I sent off a package to XYZ Industries this morning.”
   “Uh—you did?” asks Warren, slightly nervous. “What was in it?”
   “Well, I’ve got a lot of information about our products, and an introductory letter talking about our company,” answer Wanda.
   “Is it customized for XYZ Industries?” Warren asks, a little more nervous. “What did you say about them?”
   “About them?” asks Wanda. “I didn’t talk about them. I talked about us.”
   “But our products do a lot of things,” Warren explains. “Did you make a guess about what their specific need might be? What’s in your letter that will compel them to read the materials you sent over, and call us in for a meeting?”
   “Look, Warren, you worry too much,” Wanda
replies. “Our products are tremendous. XYZ already knows it needs a solution like ours. All they have to do is review what I’ve sent over and we’ll get that call.”
   “But they don’t know us from Adam,” Warren protests. “Did you talk in your letter about the way their business has grown so quickly, and how our product above all our competitors would be perfect for their next stage of growth?”
   “Oh, Warren,” says Wanda, “I just sent them a standard package. Believe me, it’ll do the trick.”
   It gets worse when Warren finds out that Wanda sent the package to the attention of the Purchasing Manager—no specific name—at the P.O. box XYZ shows on its Web site. Wanda’s assurances that Company A’s products are the best don’t do much to make Warren optimistic.
And with good reason. Company A doesn’t get the order, nor even a chance to show its stuff. Warren is annoyed, Wanda is philosophical, and Chris is fit to be tied. This kind of thing happens all the time; not just when people are selling products, but when people are selling themselves.
Wanda lost the sale because she blasted off a package full of information about the product, that is, about herself. Don’t make that mistake when you’re looking for a job. And it’s an easy one to make, filling up a cover letter with glowing language about your own accomplishments, never giving a moment’s thought to what the customer—the hiring manager—is hoping to hear. Your résumé won’t get read if your cover letter doesn’t sell the customer, and like Wanda’s boilerplate “enclosed-please-find” letter, a generic cover letter simply won’t cut it.
As a job seeker, you’ve got to start by identifying, as closely as you can, the customer’s, that is, the employer’s, need. You’ve got to review the employer’s Web site and conduct enough online research to make an educated guess about the problem the company is trying to solve. No employer posts a job opening unless there’s a problem that needs solving—whether it’s customers waiting too long on hold, products taking too long to get out the door, or an inventory database beyond repair. What is that problem? Your research and your experience will give you the most likely answers. You must speak to that problem in your cover letter and describe your own ability to solve it . A boilerplate cover letter does you no good at all.
   Wanda didn’t even take the time—and it probably would have been just a few minutes—to learn the name of the Purchasing Manager at XYZ. In a job seeker’s case, a few minutes of online research on Google (GOOG), LinkedIn, ZoomInfo and the company’s own Web site should yield you the name and the title of a real person in the hiring department. You have a much better chance of your material not going to the Black Hole of Unacknowledged Résumés. Those few minutes are well spent. In fact, they’re critical.
   Don’t make Wanda’s mistakes when selling yourself. “Ready, Fire, Aim” is a bad strategy—whatever you’re selling. -BW

Hiring fever runs high in IT companies

Sujata Dutta Sachdeva | TNN
New Delhi: Dollar meltdown, rising rupee, sub-prime crisis, high attrition. Year 2007 has been a rollercoaster ride for the Indian IT industry. While some companies continued growth despite hiccups, some others have reported lower margins. However, on the positive side, the sector generated enough jobs for the economy. It accounted for more than half of the total jobs created by the Indian industry in the last financial year. Even, salary growth too was not bad either as it varied between 12-15%.
However, 2008 maybe a different story for the IT sector, at least when it comes to hiring. Indeed, many IT/ITeS companies have already drawn out their hiring plans for next year. Accenture India whose headcount crossed 35,000 this year, says it will continue to grow at 30-50% annually. Capgemini India, which currently has 17,500 employees will increase the numbers to 40,000 in the next three years.
Birla Soft says they expect to add another 1,500-1,700 people across various levels in 2008. ‘‘There are never enough good people. The net addition this year was higher than last year. Or campus in take was 600 this year and we are looking at 1,000 next year. Even at the senior and middle management levels we are hiring aggressively,’’ says Narendra Puppala, Senior VP (global HR), Birla Soft.
Cisco too plans to stick to its hiring target. ‘‘The company has a target of having 10,000 people in India in the next three to five years and that is on track,’’ says Subash Rao, director (HR), Cisco India.
Wipro echoes the same. ‘‘We had announced 14,000 offers to freshers in 2008-09 and we are on track,’’ says Pradeep,
VP Strategi Resources, Wipro Technologies.
However, not everybody shares the same optimism. A recent study by Assocham revealed hiring by IT companies have slowed and employment outlook for the current fiscal is not as encouraging as it was last year. Patni Computers for example, recruited only 60% of their target numbers this year. The picture may not change too much next year.
‘‘The overall business model is undergoing a change. With pressure on margins, we are looking a the productivity and employee pyramid ratio. The flatter the pyramid lower the costs,’’ Deepak Khosla, senior V-P (marketing and head) APAC and Japan, Patni Computers. The company hired around 1,800 people across the board this year, — 40% below target, the situation may not change too much next in 2008.
InterraIT says they have an aggressive growth plan for 2008 and recruitment number will be equally aggressive. ‘‘We will resort to just-in-time hiring to keep the bench strength to manageable levels,’’ says Asoke Laha, president, MD, InterraIT.
Experts say, the trend among IT software firms may be slightly different from others in the sector. As Rajeev Mehtani, MD, NXP Semiconductors India, a chip manufacturing firm, says their recruitment will depend on how the chip business goes worldwide. ‘‘This year too our salaries grew by 12% and hiring was on target. That will not change next year.’’
Some say, since the dollar melt down started towards July-August 2007, most IT companies did not feel the pinch this year. Things may change somewhat next year. ‘‘Hiring will remain low but will pick up by mid-2008 when IT firms have wrung out the slack in resource pool. There will be much more focus on recruiting the ‘right fit’ and better utilisation,’’ says Arun Jethmalani, CEO, Valuenotes.
However, the basic business model is expected to remain robust. As Mukund Menon, global head, talent acquisition, Satyam Computers explains, ‘‘2008 will be wonderful year from the opportunities perspective. Most Tier I IT firms will be 50,000 plus employee organisations.”

Adhysteria.com – Innovative Classified Portal

adhysteria.com (India) – launched on October of 2007, like the name implies, is an informative base for communities to place and find free advertisements along with other key features. Advertisements can be posted and searched for within a wide range of useful categories, which include Vehicles, Real Estate, Jobs, Resumes, Matrimonial, Community, Items for Sale, Want Ads, Free Stuff & Barter, Coaching Classes, Showbiz, Reviews, Services, Luxury goods, and Events. These categories are further divided into an extensive list of sub-categories, which are also very relevant and to the point. In addition, the site offers individuals and communities the ability to place and search for ads along with video, audio and image components, which definitely sets it apart from the classified lot. In fact, the founder’s mission, is to “enable everyone to find their basic day to day requirements in an efficient and simple manner”.I had a chance to talk to the creator of this innovative classified portal, Rajiv Unnikrishnan, and this is what he had to say:

Why is your site different than your competitors?

“There are few sites doing free classifieds in India however no one is offering free video classifieds and integration of Google maps for this region.”

What is your business plan or model?

“None yet saw a gap in the market and decided to dive in”

Why did did you start this website?

“To fill a gap in the market and provide a useful service to the community”

How are you planning to market it?

“Initially, mainly the web then go in for press ads Adhysteria”

Adhysteria speaks for itself as an excellent source of relevant information for individuals, hence the modest dialog from the creator. Personally, I found many of the strong points of the site to be simple yet effective. The search engine for classified listings is an excellent idea, which offers two search queries: keyword and location. An improvement to that might be to insert a java script feature that automatically suggests keywords and locations so that individuals are aware of what content is searchable as apposed to guessing. This is a minor concern as the site will definitely evolve to accommodate more classified content. For the most part, the aspect that impressed me the most is the extensive subcategories for advertisements that include carpool, childcare, volunteers, writers, and tutor. These are subcategories that can be expanded over time to meet the demands of users.

Screening fake CVs turning into big business

Mumbai: Candidates fudging CVs to get jobs beware! Employers can catch you using services of Background Screening Industry, which has the wherewithal to check a potential employee’s background.
   The new industry, which is less than seven years old, is gaining popularity globally as more and more companies are realising that a “bad hire” has the propensity to inflict immense damage to the image and reputation of the company.
   “We help the companies to recruit right set of people in their organisation as the character and competence of an employee is of paramount importance. In today’s world, the last thing that a company would want is negative reputation,” First Advantage Private Ltd. Managing Director Ashish Dehade said.
   The company offers background checks on employees with customised services. But unlike private detective agency, which carry out undercover operations, the background screening industry operates in a transparent manner with the consent of the prospective employee who knows that company where he has applied is verifying his credentials through an outsourced background screening agency.
   It is the growing incidences of fraud, negligence, data theft, danger to employees and loss of reputation of the companies because of nefarious activities of employees of questionable character and integrity, which has created a demand for creditable organisations that can verify the credentials of a candidate like a private detective agency.
   Appointing a candidate without verifying the claims in his CV have cost many companies dearly. For instance, a Bangalore-based employee of one of the world’s leading bank was arrested some time back for his involvement in stealing confidential data of a UK-based customer by hacking into computers, Dahade said.
   The employee had joined the bank by producing forged qualification certificates. In another instance of “bad hire,” the anti-terrorism squad during investigations into the 7/11 serial blasts in Mumbai, which took more than 180 lives in 2006, uncovered that two of the blast suspects used degree certificates from an unrecognised institute to get jobs in well known companies.
   One was hired as a programmer with a multinational software company in Bangalore while the other was a computer engineer with a Pune-based IT Major, Dehade said, adding that had the companies checked the claims in their CVs, the companies could have saved themselves from severe loss of reputation. PTI

Satyam is Official IT Services Provider to the 2010 and 2014

Satyam has been signed up as the FIFA World Cup Sponsor and the Official Information Technology (IT) Services Provider to the FIFA World Cup. The relationship covers two event cycles – the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 edition in Brazil – and each cycle includes the a FIFA Confederation Cup tournament.

Satyam is one of four FIFA World Cup sponsors announced for the 2010 event and is the sponsor in the IT services category.

Each FIFA World Cup is the culmination of a two and a half year preliminary competition involving around 200 national teams. The 2006 FIFA World Cup broadcast more than 76,000 hours of coverage over 376 channels worldwide, cumulatively reaching more than 26 billion viewers – more than any other sports event in the world.

As the Official IT Services Provider to the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, Satyam, which already enjoys a business relationship with FIFA, will play a crucial role in developing the core IT event management system for FIFA and its Service Partner for IT, Accommodation and Hospitality – MATCH AG, as well as Local Organizing Committees during the next seven years. With a presence in more than 57 countries, Satyam can fully leverage its global expertise and therefore enable FIFA not only to deliver world-class events but also focus on generating a long-lasting legacy for the host countries through hiring and educating local event staff.

The sponsorship also builds on Satyam’s fast-growing presence in South Africa and across the region. Satyam’s business in South Africa doubled this past year, and the company will soon be opening offices in Ghana and Kenya. Satyam is a significant investor in South Africa and leads a skills development initiative for South Africans under the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) program. Currently, more than 80 South African students are enrolled in a year-long technical training program at Satyam’s campus in Hyderabad, India.

Satyam named as the first Indian FIFA World Cup Sponsor

Durban: Satyam, an Indian global consulting and information technology service provider, has become the fourth sponsor after Anheuser-Busch, McDonald’s and MTN to sign up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

This historic agreement awards Satyam global rights for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and the two FIFA Confederations Cups which fall within the 2007-2014 period. The partnership, sealed by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter and Satyam chairman and founder B. Ramalinga Raju at a signing ceremony on the eve of the Preliminary Draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa in Durban, represents the first major sponsorship deal the IT services company has entered into – a further indication of the enduring appeal of football.