I am a workaholic. I am among the first to arrive at the office and usually the last to leave. I like my work and can never get enough of it. I work as a programmer with a leading software company in Bangalore. I am 26, single, hardly find any time for a social life and wouldn't have it any other way. Recently, I seem to have annoyed my boss a little when I asked to be given more responsibility. I am already a team leader and have only recently been promoted to that position. I am not seeking a promotion or even a raise. I just constantly seek a greater challenge. Do you think I come across as too aggressive?

There is never any harm in asking your boss for more work as long as you are not doing it just to impress him. All bosses like motivated workers and you will certainly be handed more challenging assignments as and when they arise. On the other hand, workaholism is not a very healthy habit. Not only can it lead to occasional bouts of frustration during lean periods, it can also harm your relations with co-workers who might not love their jobs as dearly as you do. Besides, if due to any unforeseen circumstances, you are forced to quit this job, you are likely to have a huge problem adjusting to a different work environment. I would recommend that you take out some time from your work and get on with other things in life.

I am a MBA with a degree in telecommunications engineering and am working for a major Indian telco as a sales account manager. Previously, I was an operations and production manager. I have been with this company for the last five years. I aspire to become the chief operating officer of the company some day and manage the operations side of the business. What career path do I need to follow to realise my ambition?

You seem to be on the right track to achieving your goal. You have already gained experience in both operations and marketing, which is what a company's chief operating officer needs to have. For now, you just need to be more patient, work harder and prove yourself in your current position. Target the opportunity to manage an entire division or profit centre in the company after this. That would be the ideal next step in the path to becoming the COO.

I am a senior-level executive with 20 years' work experience in multinational beverage companies both in India and abroad. A year ago, I decided to quit my job and switch over to the consumer goods sector. I have been very selective in my search so far, focusing only on the top consumer goods companies in the country as I am not willing to compromise on the size of the company I work with. Although some companies have shown interest in my qualifications, I haven't received a job offer yet. Do you think there is something wrong with my approach?

The pyramid always narrows at the top-in any company, the number of positions are inversely proportional to the level of seniority. Moreover, you seem to be operating within a very narrow field, which makes your task of finding a job even more difficult. It appears that though companies acknowledge your rich experience, they just don't have a suitable slot for you at the moment. In case you haven't explored this option yet, you would do well to consult a head-hunter. If that doesn't work either, you need to widen your field of search to include other industries.

Being a medical representative with a pharma major, I mostly work outdoors-meeting with doctors and chemists, fraternising with them from nine in the morning to late in the evening. Though I like this line of work, I have been, of late, facing some problems at work. Whenever I visit my office (say, four times a week for three hours a day, on an average), I get a yelling from my superior-complete with the choicest expletives. For example, just the other day, he used the F-word seven times in one sentence. Is my absence from office reason enough for this abusive behaviour?

No-it does not have anything to do with you or your absence from office since your job requires you to stay outdoors . These days it is considered fashionable to use expletives in the workplace. And, of course, some people have the habit of using expletives even in the course of a polite conversation. If it offends you, you need to talk to your superior. I must warn you though that this step involves a certain degree of risk. You may also face a lot of pressure from colleagues who might say that you are making a big fuss about nothing.

Answers to your career concerns are contributed by Tarun Sheth (Senior Consultant) and Shilpa Sheth (Managing Partner) of HR firm, Shilputsi Consultants. Write to Help,Tarun! c/o Business Today, Videocon Tower, Fifth Floor, E-1, Jhandewalan Extn., New Delhi-110055.

SECTOR WATCH
Beating The Blues
The semiconductor industry has not only survived the tech slump that's left deep scars on the job market, it is aggressively hiring for positions both in India and abroad.

Praneet Mehrish, Country HR Manager, ST Microelectronics

These may not be the best of times to be looking for a job in the information technology sector but if what's happening in the closely related semiconductor industry is any indicator, things can't stay that way for long. Clearly, the recession in the allied sectors has done little to slow down the semiconductor industry's growth. A host of companies, including global majors such as ST Microelectronics, Intel, and Cadence have announced plans to hire more people as part of their plans to develop India as a chip design hub. ST Microelectronics will be hiring 500 more engineers by the end of this year.

The semiconductor industry's journey in India can be broken up into three phases. In the first phase, the focus was on the design and manufacture of components for the electronics industry, albeit on a modest scale. This soon gave way to the second phase beginning in the late eighties with companies realising that design services could be done independently of the manufacturing process. Ergo, many global companies saw a value proposition in setting up extensions for their engineering groups in India. The third phase that began in the late nineties, when Indian design engineers proved their mettle not only in digital and analog design, but also in the field of embedded software. Encouraged by low costs and high quality output, many global companies set up new centres, or expanded their existing ones, in India to tap the designing talent here.

What's been giving the semiconductor industry this seemingly unstoppable momentum is a rapid acceleration in the recent years of convergence. There is a sharp focus now on recruiting people who specialise in embedded systems software. Embedded systems software is essentially software that resides on the chip, as distinct from application software running on PCs or workstations. The applications of embedded software range from small, stand-alone systems such as those found in appliances, to the real-time, networked systems responsible for the control and performance of cars, aircraft, and production plants.

Electronics and computer science engineers having expertise in C, C++, telecom, Bluetooth, Wireless Wide Area Networks, communication protocols, multimedia applications and mpeg software are being sought after, especially by companies involved in chip design, embedded systems, and multimedia. Bangalore-based C-DAC is already offering a six-month course in chip design with others likely to follow suit.

With the leading semiconductor companies determined to put India on the global map, the recruiting binge in this sector seems to have just begun.

Jargon-Bender Making Sense Of AC And DC Factors

No, this is not about a bunch of scraggy rockers from Down Under who've scorched the charts with hits like 'Ballbreaker' and 'Stiff Upper Lip'. In hr parlance, ac would read as Assessment Centre and DC, as Development Centre. ACs have been consistently shown to be one of the most reliable of all selection techniques, and can be used for all levels of employment-from shop-floor to board-level. Here, the employee is assessed against a set of competencies, which are required for doing a job well. The assessment centre is normally run over a period of one day and the participants are taken through business games, case studies, and fact-finding exercises. The objective of the assessment centre is to evaluate the person for a job position. A development centre adheres to similar structure and design of an ac. However, here the objective is to assess a person against a set of competencies so that development areas can be identified. The idea is to assess an individual's capabilities and chart out a development path.

-Moinak Mitra