Chapter 16: How I Got My Job ??? :PART 2:

Okay ... So, Why exactly did I write those words ???
I sincerely apologize for those who got pissed off by seeing the sentence "TO BE CONTINUED." It's because, I dozed off while writing the last paragraph. But I had a target of finishing at least one post for the day. I've been told that the best possible way of ending something abruptly is to add that magical sentence, "TO BE CONTINUED."



Coming to the point, where I left, I was shocked to hear that! 'Twenty minutes walk from Taramani Railway Station.' I replied to that staff with the same phrase "I'll get back to you soon." I spent rest of that afternoon thinking about that station (Why??!!). Later that evening my friend Pavan Kumar called me. That conversation took an entirely different direction.

Pavan "What are you doing? It's so ****ing boring"
Me "I got an offer for an interview. I'm in a dilemma!"
I shared my past experience about that place with him.
He said "I have a bike and I need a job"
After an hour or so, myself, Pavan and his bike reached the gates of a eleven-storey building. I didn't believe my eyes. The building was magnificent! I totally didn't expect that. We went in and met with Human Resource Manager. I asked about the job, instead she said something about a written test. I was a bit nervous. We were seated in an air conditioned hall and the test began!



That computer based test consisted of hundred multiple choice questions covering all the aspects of English language. We finished the test within an hour and finally found that the internet was connected. We could have googled those answers !!!



Within a day's time both of us were called for an HR interview. The same bike travel again, same building and same time as the previous day. It was a personal and professional interview. HR manager asked about my future plans, my past experience etc. She checked my memory. She made me read a huge passage from the newspaper 'Los Angeles Times.' She asked some questions based on that and finally she offered a gentle handshake and said 'Welcome Aboard.'



She then explained about the job (Confidential !!!)
It was better than I expected. The company had that so called 'Corporate Atmosphere.' The company has two branches. One, in Chennai and other one in US. There were lots of foreign faces including our Managing Director. The job is a 'nine hours-regular job.' It required lots of writing. I was okay with every terms and conditions. But, I had a question. I usually have this question when am new to some strange place or atmosphere. "Would I fit in here??"



As I already stated, I was nervous. But then, I was happy to know that Pavan got the job too. We treated ourselves in the nearest restaurant. Within the next day Pavan managed to piss of the HR Manager. He had an argument with her about quitting the job. He decided to reject the job offer. I was left alone !!!



On the date of joining, I had lots of questions and confusions. I reached the office on time (Bus travel). I was seated in the same room where I took the test. That floor had a centralized AC. The room was severely cold and I started shaking. Soon, few others joined me in that room. At first I was so hesitant, to even ask the time. Things started happening then. A corporate trainer joined us in that room. He seemed like a jolly guy. He started taking marketing class. It covered self marketing, personality development blah blah blah .... We underwent two continuous weeks of training and finally hit the production floor yesterday. So, what could have possibly happened in that two weeks ??? Well, according to me, lot of things happened!

To name a few, I earned few good friends, I slowly learnt the job, My English grammar was refreshed, I earned a friendly smile from a cute girl, I finally got over my fear of 'TARAMANI RAILWAY STATION.' (because I travel by train and I have to set foot on that haunted station on a regular basis!)
What more one could ask for ??!!

NOW, SOME OFFICE PICTURES ... EXCUSE ME, FOR THE POOR QUALITY. IT'S A 'VGA CAMERA.'









Finally everything is shaping up in a good and unexpected way! I assume that it is fair to say that my job hunt started and ended in Taramani Railway Station.
Now you know the story of 'How I got my job ???'

Chapter 15: How I Got My Job ??? : PART 1 :

I'm proud to say that finally I got a job. Finally everything is shaping up in a good and unexpected way. By everything, I meant my study-abroad plans, financial conditions, getting all my degree certificates and stuffs from my college etc etc. Out of all this, I want to mention few things about the study-abroad plans. Studying abroad can be an easy and exciting thing to plan, but to execute ???!!! It is the most toughest thing to do. I'm going to dedicate a separate post for all that confusions, dilemmas and decisions. It totally deserves that. Now, coming back to the job part, again, am proud to say that I finally got a job with a good pay but without a single bond and time restrictions.



To be precise, my job hunt started and ended in Taramani Railway Station. For those who don't know about Taramani, it is an industrial suburb of Chennai city. Unlike other city railway stations, Taramani has a unique one. Unique in everything! It is a place which scares me. Yeah! You heard me right! It SCARES me. The station is deserted all the time. If you're lucky enough, you'll find some two or three passengers on a sunny afternoon. The place has some never ending dark tunnels, leaking pipes, squeaking mouse, bats and what else ??? To be exact, picture a haunted mansion in your mind. That's Taramani Railway Station for you. Some may think that this description is a bit over-exaggerated. But it's not!



Coming back to the story, me and my friend Ravi reached the legendary Taramani Station on a fine sunny afternoon following an interview call from a person unknown. I think this incident, happened before a month's time. I couldn't recall the date. He called from a consultancy and left us with an address. He told something about an interview for graduates. It was the time when we were desperately searching for a job. We found our way out of the station (took us more than ten minutes!!!) We started walking and after twenty minutes of walk, we managed to find a small two storey building which matched the address. We then waited for about fifteen minutes to be received by a man who called us. Another ten minutes in that building and we finally figured out the nature of that job. To sell 'caller tunes.' The script goes like this ...
"Hello, I'm calling from XXX cellphone company. Are you interested in activating a caller tune which is new in stores?" Later that hour a woman, who is an employee of that company inquired about us and she said few things in return. The context of what she said was 'There are two types of customers for this company. First type of customers would disconnect the call at 'XXX cellphone company' part. Rest would disconnect after hearing all of it. The fact is that no body would buy! But the target is fifty buyers per day. If not, the management wouldn't let us go home. The salary is below Rs.5000/month. (Doesn't even cover my conveyance charges !!!) We gently smiled at the person who interviewed us and said "We'll get back to you tomorrow. We have to give it a thought!"



As I said, I gave it a thought and from then on, I never attended any interview until last week. I got a call from a consultancy (again!!!).
"I'm calling from XXX consultancy. I saw your resume in naukri.com (job site) I assume that you are a writer" (I do a lot of writing, but writer??? Nooo !!!).
She went on saying "I have a job which matches your profile. An article and profile writing job. Rs. 15,000 basic pay with no time restrictions or bond." I was so excited. That's the exact job profile I was looking for. I thought 'I couldn't ask more'. I asked in an overwhelming tone "Where's the company located?"
She replied
"Twenty minutes walk from TARAMANI RAILWAY STATION ... "

- TO BE CONTINUED -

Chapter 11: The Art of Doing Nothing

I guess it's been a long time since I wrote something in this blog. That's because am now in the process of learning a very valuable art which is the most essential thing for every human to learn. THE ART OF DOING NOTHING ...



Still one more month to go. The most important phase in my life is coming to an end. As I already stated, the phase which brought out the MAN in me. College life's coming to an end. In a month am gonna be a complete engineer. Actually am very happy that college life's gonna end but at the same time I'm gonna miss those crazy days with my friends and all those night stays and horror movies we watched, Especially the rainy as well as the scary night of REC!

Here are some of memorable moments of college life :)


That's me alright :P


Ram showing ****


With Bus mates


Sai Shyam's exam paper


Toy Story 3D








Anyhow, back to the topic of NOTHING, you gotta ask the engineering students ... "What's the most toughest job in this whole damn earth?" They'd say "Spending the final days of engineering"
Watching TV - Sucks ...
Downloading Movies - Can't watch more than 3 films per day ...
Talking to strangers in Omegle - Can't do it for more than a hour ...
Riding along the streets of different countries in Google maps - 2 hours tops ...
Facebook - Once in 5 minutes :P



Nothing else to do ... But I'm guessing this is the only chance that's given to me to learn this beautiful art. Everyone's real life starts after they finish their college. I remember someone saying this to me
"Enjoy your college life, after that, you're on your own son, May God not be so hard on you"
Definitely these words are the voice of the man who faced some harsh experiences in his life. Everyone's stating the same quote again and again
"Life's not full of roses" or "Life's not the same after your college" or "You're gonna face the true color of life after your college"



I don't know what's with these different quotes, but I have a small hunch that am gonna enjoy all the above stated experiences. For all the final year students out there, 'We know that something big is waiting for us, maybe big enough even to swallow us, but let's be prepared, and not give a damn about that thing ... Till then we could simply enjoy the blissful 'ART OF DOING NOTHING.'