Job Ek Khoj - Colors!!!

I was
waiting for my interviewer. After a few minutes of waiting, one of the senior
guys came, shook hands, introduced himself and sat down.
“Hey.
Let’s start. What I would like to do is to give you a bit of color about
ourselves – what we are doing, since when we have been doing, how are we doing,
why are we doing, shall we be able to do it or not. Once I am done with that, I
would like you to give a bit of color about yourself. Does that sound okay?” he
said with a colorful smile.
“Yeah,
sounds great. I love rainbows.” I said expecting a really colorful time.
He started
talking. He talked, and talked, and talked. All I could understand was that he
worked for some investment bank in UK. That bank, couple of years back, had
sent him to India to set up their business. If you read between the lines, it’s
plain and simple case of “Either you get fired or take an asylum in your
motherland”.
Once he
stopped, he threw the ball in my court “So why don’t you give me some colors
about yourself.”
In front of
his digital quality picture, VFX enabled, DTS Dolby, 3D movie, I looked like
Alam Ara ().
“Tell me
something. In your last job, you changed from one industry to another. Did you
do your homework before making this change? Did you enquire about the industry
you were moving in, I mean this industry?”
“Yes.”
“How did
you do it?”
“I asked a
few friends working in this industry”
“Okay. But
don’t you think that wouldn’t have been the best way.”
“Why is
that so?”
“If you
ask a frog, he will only tell you about the well because that is his well. He won’t
be able to tell you about the world outside that well”
“But if
you are outside the well, you know all about the world outside. Frog can
enlighten you about the world inside the well. That completes the portfolio, isn’t
it?” I replied.
He changed
the topic, “You have such an impressive profile. Why do you want to be in this business?
You can do whole lot of things.”
“Well, I am
in this industry because I like it”
“Yeah but
you can do a world of things other than this kind of job. You have such a good
profile”
“As I said,
among all those world of things, I like this profile”
This went
on and on. He kept asking me why I was and where. I kept telling him why I was where.
Finally I asked
him, “Why are you in this industry?”
“Well, I have
been in this industry for quite some time”
“The way
you said it, looks like you want to move out”
“Well….”
“Why don’t
you move out?” I asked before he could complete.
“What do
you think?”
“You may
not like my answer” I warned him.
“Shoot” he
sounded confident.
“All I can
say is that either you don’t think that your profile is good enough or you
think that you cannot do anything else” I said with a smile. I was looking like
two colors which never make an entry in a rainbow – black and white. But it was
red that started to take control.
Thankfully,
he changed the topic and asked me “Have you done CFA?”
“No”
“Have you
registered for it?”
“Neither have
I registered for it not I intend to do so” I said in a rude tone.
“But why?”
he asked while looking a bit shocked.
“I don’t think
that the certification will add any value to me.”
“Why?”
“To be
fair, I know very little about the course structure. But what I know is that the
course structure has very high US flavor in it whereas I am working in Indian markets.
So I see no relevance of the certification to the skill set I should be
building upon. If I have to do it for a CV point, I don’t think after more than
six years in job-life, I need a certification as a CV point” I tried to be
logical.
“But I don’t
think you have even seen the course structure. How can you say so?”
“I
consulted my friends” I replied.
“Tell me
something. If you have to buy a stock, will you do your own research or you
will consult your friends”
“Well,
there are 5,000 stocks listed in BSE. If I go researching each and every stock,
I may not get a chance to buy anything, at least in this life. So I will have
to consult my friends and then, do my own research”
“So you apply
the same logic to certifications”
“Yes”
“I don’t know.
Your logic doesn’t sound convincing enough” he looked a bit pissed off. By now,
it was clearly evident that he himself had done CFA.
“Okay. Let
me explain. If I do CFA affiliated with US, you would say – why have you done
US affiliated CFA when you are working in Indian markets? If I do Indian version
of CFA, you would say – US CFA is like Pink Floyd and Indian CFA is like Altaf
Raja. If I do both, you would say – why haven’t you done FRM? If I do
everything, you would say – why you keep doing all these certifications, you are
either zero confidence in your experience or you are totally confused. Hence I have
decided that I won’t even touch any of these certifications” I was pissed off.
By now,
only color left in the room was red with maroon tinge in it – resembling blood,
real bad blood. Both of us had developed a strong disliking for each other. Before
the disliking turned into hatred, we needed to end it. End it we did.
He stood
up, shook hands with me, thanked me for coming, and said a few more formal
words. But he didn’t say what I was waiting for.
Like every
life has to end with death, like every Anshan done by someone other than Anna
Hazare has to end with Police Lathi Charge, like every Hollywood movie has to
end with a kiss, like every Ajit Agarkar over has to end with a boundary, every
interview has to end with a particular sentence. Yes, THAT sentence.
While he
was continuing with his monologue, that sentence was still awaited. I was
getting impatient. I was about to ask, “So will you get back to me or not?”
before he said it “We will get back to you”
Back I was,
with loads of colors.
Comments
he won su some mathces