SWETA RAU TRAINER

She should've expected it. Thirty-year-old engineer Sweta Rau's parents hit the ceiling when she decided to work as a temporary employee-a 'temp'-at NCR-Teradata in Mumbai. Was her career in crisis? She had worked as a proper on-the-rolls employee with Wipro, IBM and ICICI Infotech for seven years, with a brief US stint too, and now this.

Rau, though, is cool about it. "I wanted to enjoy life, and not look at it passing by," she says, happy that she gets to earn money on her expertise while also playing mother to her just-delivered baby. She'd be happy too if she could keep it this way for the rest of her worklife. "I'm the kind who never carries work home, and am completely off it once I step out of office... being a temp lets me do that." Otherwise, she complains, "In it, the work hours can be berserk."

Temping, adds Rau, is quite the done thing in the US, and there's no need to chew nails as a temp in India either. With so many short-term projects to go around, especially in it, opportunities are expanding fast. According to one estimate, some 25,000 temps are busy at work in India already, and with temp-placement agencies in the fray, the figure is doubling every year.

Rau used Kelly Services. Arun Kumar Reuben, 29, an hr executive at Dr. Reddy's Labs, took a temp offer from TeamLease, another temping firm. He has been with the firm for almost 18 months, doing a series of assignments, and is thankful for the time he has got himself to "indulge in reading".

Technicolour Option

Companies working under rapidly changing business conditions, of course, are thrilled by the idea of workforce flexibility: it turns manpower into a variable rather than fixed cost. For firms with turnkey projects, it's an ideal way to get work done. As in showbiz: assemble a crew of talent, go into production, disband, and reap rewards. Well, maybe not quite...

Yet, it's a good deal even for employees, avers Iain Herbertson, Senior vp and MD, Asia Pacific, Manpower Inc. "Temping gives those people access to work who otherwise would have none," he says, "Besides, it also enables one to upgrade and acquire new skills."

It works best for the easily bored-people who could possibly hold permanent jobs, but find frequent shifts a lot more stimulating. Multiple job exposure could be quite enriching, at times.

Ask K.R. Prabhakar, who was a permanent salesperson for many years before signing up in December 2002 as a temporary business development manager at a technology MNC, thanks to an offer from Manpower. He is visibly happier now, and more enthusiastic about his job than he has ever been. "New horizons get opened all the time," he says, quite open to the idea of being a temp for life, "I'd be bored to work in a sedentary job all my life. As a temp, one gets to work in different locations and environments on different jobs for various clients."

But then, adjusting to a new job every now and then takes special skills too. "A temp needs the willingness to create employability factors like the capacity and flexibility to blend with different organisations on multiple projects they work for," observes Ashok Reddy, MD, TeamLease. Resilience and adaptability are key. Also, a temp must hit the high-productivity curve right from day one, so if you're not enthusiastic about learning new things, it's best to avoid temping. "There is no substitute for a wide knowledge base and pleasing inter-personal skills," admits Prabhakar, "to adjust to new people without antagonising them, and yet commanding respect for one's abilities."

Security Redefined

Job security, according to Sonal Thakur, a temp group coordinator at a telecom firm in Delhi, is overrated. Temping for some four years now, she has worked with three organisations, and rates "freedom" much higher as a job attribute. What about career-long loyalty? That's out, and everybody knows it. "Even permanent employees are insecure," she quips. "I'd much rather value the experience and exposure in top-notch companies. What matters most is job satisfaction." And that's what Thakur is out to get-wherever she can.

SONAL THAKUR GROUP CONSULTANT

Reuben too says he doesn't bother with job security. "I am too focused on achieving my goals to let feelings of insecurity surface," he says, with an air of confidence. Similar is the experience of Ranganath H.S., a temp at a Bangalore technology unit. Job clarity is a big advantage as a temp. "It is your work that is respected," says Ranganath, who doesn't get drawn into any of the hierarchical intrigues and power games that permanent employees devote so much energy to.

Detached competence is the ruling philosophy in templand. It works. Since temps are clear about their short tenure, they tend to feel less threatened by other employees. It might even be the other way round, with permanent employees feeling the pressure of temp performance.

Finer Motivations

Still, it is hard to believe that a company would trust a temp with a job of truly critical importance. If not 'loyalty' in the dull old sense, what happens to 'commitment' to an organisational mission? Is that being shortchanged?

Well, not all jobs need be relevant to an organisational mission. Most of the attachments people develop, as Rau sees it, tend to be comfort-zone oriented (familiar systems, co-worker companionship and the like), not anything to do with the company's strategic intent or market mission. Besides, a wise company would certainly want to retain the rarer-than-rare temp who can actually contribute to a long-term strategic goal.

SPOTLIGHT
Technical Analyst

Vivek Patil: Reading the stock market's future

Wouldn't it be something to have investors hanging on to every utterance of yours? Try it. Become a technical analyst of stock trading patterns. It would make you a soothsayer, but of a statistical kind. It doesn't call for any formal education, says Vivek Patil, a technical analyst at ICICIDirect.com. "There aren't any courses that specifically teach technical analysis in India," he says, "though most MBA curricula have a section on the same, and the BSE has recently started a two-day workshop to acquaint wannabes with the art." The US, however, has the Chartered Market Technicians programme which could be of use. You must, however, build a career-long reputation for accuracy.

Get your trend-reading right, publicise your predictions-and watch the response.

-Ananya Roy

COUNSELLING
Help, Tarun!

I am a 28-year-old engineering graduate with a specialisation in instrumentation. I completed my MBA in international business from a top-rung B-school in Delhi two years back, and have been working in the US as a marketing manager since then. However, my H1 B visa expires in June 2005 and before that happens, I am planning to return to India for good. What is the most opportune time to move to India so I can optimise my chance of getting a good job, given that most companies have a fixed recruitment schedule?

The best way to do go about long distance job-hunting is to plan your trip in advance and give about six weeks' notice to the employers you are targeting. This way, they are sure that you have a visit planned, and that you have made the effort to give them sufficient notice in terms of appointments. Companies here usually recruit around March/April, though that's the time people are busy with campus interviews as well. So the best time for you to visit India would be around the end of June or beginning of July when you could get a few interviews scheduled. However, as I mentioned, you need to begin correspondence a lot earlier.

I am a 40-year-old commerce graduate with a degree in law. I have about 20 years of experience in handling branch accounts, taxation and administration. I have been working as a commercial executive with an FMCG company for the past five years now. However, I feel I need to go in for further education if I want my career to grow. What course should I opt for to maximise my growth prospects in my present company or even to get a better job elsewhere? Is it too late for me to go in for further education given my age?

Age does make a difference, since employers here have a misplaced notion that education should come early in life. However, since you have taken a decision, one option for you is to go in for a full-time MBA if you can afford to take two years off. The other is to enroll yourself for an ICWA or a ca course. If, however, you feel that taking a few years off from work would not be possible, you could start looking for jobs where the skills and experience that you have gathered over the years would come in useful.

I am a 32-year-old major commissioned with the Indian Army 11 years ago. Though I enjoy my work and have done reasonably well throughout, I have now decided to quit the Army and go in for a corporate job. I graduated in history from Delhi University and did my executive MBA in international business from a good B-school through correspondence, vide a facility accorded to servicemen. I have also done a few courses in computers and have adequate working knowledge of the same. What are my chances of getting a good job and which industry would I fit in best?

Industry should not be a limitation for you as you do not have prior work experience in a particular sector anyway. The question you need to answer here is what industry would you want to be in. You could be in administration or liaison, which are traditionally functions that ex-servicemen tend to veer towards. However, you are young and have an MBA degree behind you, so you could also look into marketing, sales or exports. Decide where your interests and skills lie and select the best company and function accordingly.

I am a 23-year-old student pursuing BHMS from a reputed university. I plan to do an MBA in marketing or a specialised course in pharmacy once I complete my graduation. Which one of the two would enhance my opportunities in the job market? Or should I go in for some other course of study that will ensure my getting a good job after I graduate? Please advise.

Career wise, an MBA will offer you more diverse opportunities-you could still stay in the pharma industry if you choose. Pharma sales would be a good function for a person with your educational background. Doing a specialised course in pharmacy will make you a specialist. The US market, for example, has great demand and value for such specialists. In India, however, an MBA would give you more flexibility at the moment, unless you are committed to pharma research or something similar. If you do not want to get into research, an MBA would be the best bet for you.

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

Personalised Workspace
Just how much can you do up your workspace?

Think creative?: Bizarre decor could fertilise your mind some

Liberty-is that a 'limited resource'? That's what you might hear in the ad business, where it's bland spaces that raise eyebrows. Ram Jayaraman, senior copywriter at JWT, is doing okay; he has a charpoy bang in the middle of his cabin-in case he needs a nap. There's also a skeleton hanging from the ceiling, 'Orgasm Donor' imprinted helpfully on the skull (don't ask). "We are creative people, and apart from nudity and vulgarity as a fallout, we are allowed anything that makes us feel comfortable," says Jayaraman alias Ram Cobain.

At Adobe Systems' office in Noida, you have to tiptoe around a tent to avoid disturbing software quality manager Nandan Jha's chain-if that's the word-of thought. "He likes it that way, so be it," shrugs Vivek Tripathi, Senior Manager (hr), Adobe Systems.

Is this the new corporate culture? "No," says S.P. Raheja, hr consultant and CEO of Fast Track, "Most companies have a blue book on office ethics. The hr at Jagatjit Industries, for example, stepped in when an employee started doing puja with agarbattis et al in office." Oh so where does a company draw the line? So long as no offense or discomfort is caused to others, "we allow almost everything", says Tripathi.

-Ananya Roy

The Hot Five
The five hot sectors for the job you want.

IT rules: India's forever hot sector needs you

You know a sector is hot when long lost relatives get in touch to get the jobs lowdown on it. By that not-so-scientific yardstick, these would be the hottest five in India for the moment.

» Information Technology (IT) is India's perennially hot sector, with digi-dollars being earned in ever greater orders of magnitude.

» Information Technology Enabled Services (ITEs), or good old call centres, could take in 1.5 lakh people over six months, by one StantonChase estimate.

» Retail is booming still, with a thousand malls set to bloom. Trained manpower would be needed to get sales jingling too.

» Auto and auto ancillaries would need recruits in diverse functions, with more and more wheels hitting the tar.

» FMCG is showing signs of overcoming its growth pangs, as the challenge of 'vibing with the consumer' promises hot careers to the passionate.

-Payal Sethi