19 years in MECON and 13 years in MphasiS, must be loyalty. Did you not get any other job, hanging around for so long , especially in MphasiS ? No, I did not get any other job. I did not even check my market value. All my needs – job, finance, regular appreciation (food for ego), positions to make a difference to many lives (spiritual experience), were met. I got more than, what I thought, I deserved. I kept preaching loyalty, commitment, dedication to my team. Many of them got converted, hope they are happy and not looking out for me. Now that’s one way and here is another
A friend sends me this interview.
Dear friends
With no hard feeling towards my present OR past employers, I would recommend you all to read this mail … Read it, and try to understand the underlying truth in it…!!!
Don’t miss last 2 Questions…!
Some, rather most organizations reject his CV today (I would have) because he has changed jobs frequently (10 in 14 years). My friend, the job hopper (referred here as Mr. JH), does not mind it. well he does not need to mind it at all. Having worked full-time with 10 employer companies in just 14 years gives Mr.. JH the relaxing edge that most of the company loyal™ employees are struggling for today. Today, Mr. JH too is laid off like some other 14-15 year experienced guys “ the difference being the latter have just worked in 2-3 organizations in the same number of years. Here are the excerpts of an interview with Mr. JH:
Q: Why have you changed 10 jobs in 14 years?
A: To get financially sound and stable before getting laid off the second time.
Q: So you knew you would be laid off in the year 2009?
A: Well I was laid off first in the year 2002 due to the first global economic slowdown. I had not got a full-time job before January 2003 when the economy started looking up; so I had struggled for almost a year without job and with compromises.
Q: Which number of job was that?
A: That was my third job.
Q: So from Jan 2003 to Jan 2009, in 6 years, you have changed 8 jobs to make the count as 10 jobs in 14 years?
A: I had no other option. In my first 8 years of professional life, I had worked only for 2 organizations thinking that jobs are deserved after lot of hard work and one should stay with an employer company to justify the saying ˜employer loyalty™. But I was an idiot.
Q: Why do you say so?
A: My salary in the first 8 years went up only marginally. I could not save enough and also, I had thought that I had a ˜permanent™ job, so I need not worry about ˜what will I do if I lose my job™. I could never imagine losing a job because of economic slowdown and not because of my performance. That was January 2002.
Q: Can you brief on what happened between January 2003 and 2009.
A: Well, I had learnt my lessons of being ˜company loyal™ and not ˜money earning and saving loyal™. But then you can save enough only when you earn enough. So I shifted my loyalty towards money making and saving “ I changed 8 jobs in 6 years assuring all my interviewers about my stability.
Q: So you lied to your interviewers; you had already planned to change the job for which you were being interviewed on a particular day?
A: Yes, you can change jobs only when the market is up and companies are hiring. You tell me “ can I get a job now because of the slowdown? No. So one should change jobs for higher salaries only when the market is up because that is the only time when companies hire and can afford the expected salaries.
Q: What have you gained by doing such things?
A: That’s the question I was waiting for. In Jan 2003, I had a fixed salary (without variables) of say Rs. X p.a. In January 2009, my salary was 8X. So assuming my salary was Rs.3 lakh p.a. in Jan 2003, my last drawn salary in Jan 2009 was Rs.24 lakh p.a. (without variable). I never bothered about variable as I had no intention to stay for 1 year and go through the appraisal process to wait for the company to give me a hike.
Q: So you decided on your own hike?
A: Yes, in 2003, I could see the slowdown coming again in future like it had happened in 2001-02. Though I was not sure by when the next slowdown would come, I was pretty sure I wanted a ˜debt-free™ life before being laid off again. So I planned my hike targets on a yearly basis without waiting for the year to complete.
Q: So are you debt-free now?
A: Yes, I earned so much by virtue of job changes for money and spent so little that today I have a loan free 2 BR flat (1200 sq.. feet) plus a loan free big car without bothering about any EMIs. I am laid off too but I do not complain at all. If I have laid off companies for money, it is OK if a company lays me off because of lack of money.
Q: Who is complaining?
A: All those guys who are not getting a job to pay their EMIs off are complaining. They had made fun of me saying I am a job hopper and do not have any company loyalty. Now I ask them what they gained by their company loyalty; they too are laid off like me and pass comments to me “ why will you bother about us, you are already debt-free. They were still in the bracket of 12-14 lakh p.a. when they were laid off.
Q: What is your advice to professionals?
A: Like Narayan Murthy had said “love your job and not your company because you never know when your company will stop loving you!” In the same lines, love yourself and your family needs more than the company’s needs. Companies can keep coming and going; family will always remain the same. Make money for yourself first and simultaneously make money for the company, not the other way around.
Q: What is your biggest pain point with companies?
A: When a company does well, its CEO will address the entire company saying, “well done guys, it is YOUR company, keep up the hard work, I am with you”. But when the slowdown happens and the company does not do so well, the same CEO will say, “It is MY company and to save the company, I have to take tough decisions including asking people to go”. So think about your financial stability first; when you get laid off, your kids will complain to you and not your boss!
- Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people! Barbara Bush
- Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase! Martin Luther King
Rajmenon's Blog 
This is a brilliant one. takes me back to my career. worked for four years at my first job, changed three in the next two years and then bettered with a 3 year stint and then now current one will complete two years. So makes it 6 jobs in 14 years….but let e say i am loyal to myself and to the job till i feel that either i am not being taken care of or the enterprise lacks vision…
I think it may be the general perception of today’s employees. I also think that the inner and external environment of a person also has a lot to contribute. In particular, in big cities and if you happen to live in dense population, you are likely to get a lot of information on earnings of different people and their progress.
It is like each one with a team in different boats racing in a water way. So, when you see another person advancing in a different boat, you feel like doing something to advance. One way is try to motivate your team (you may not be the head) and advance fast. The other way isjump on a boat that is moving ahead of your boat. The first choice is tough and the second one is easy.
Imagine, another scenario where there is only one boat racing in a water way. The team moves the boat at its intrinsic need. The team has nothing to compare. Even if some one gets a news that at such and such race the boats max speed was xx, it is sufficient to motivate. The team will row the boat at their own speed.
Take, co like MECON at Ranchi. At least, I never had anyone to compare at Ranchi. 90% of the batch mates were moving in their career almost at same level. People like me were like rowing a lonely boat. Now, compare my friends like you at Bangalore. You were sitting in a boat and thousands of boats were moving around you, ahead, behind and nearby. Naturally, some jumped to boats moving ahead.
The question is: Should we conclude that one shouldn’t get into single boat race?
I think today the youngsters are smart and that is the reason that majority of them do not join companies that operate in remote places. I think this is also a reason that even mechanical students prefer software industries because 99.9% of them are located in tier-1, 2 may be 3 cities and only cities!!!
sakthi
P.S.: In this mail the word “passion” is missing!!!
This good one sir. The statement “love your job and not your company because you never know when your company will stop loving you” is an enabler. Just felt, it may be another info in similar line … may be read already.
Just want to share the below article link, from Silicon India.
http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/10_reasons_why_people_quit_jobs_in_IT_industry-nid-64897.html?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Subscriber#pstcmnt
Good article….
thankyou for your information so very helpfull to me. Keep the good work!!!
Dear Sir,
Loved this article to the core!!!
Trust me, there is nothing called “Loyalty” in today’s corporate world. End of the day, it all boils down to business. Wish if employers could uphold the old world values. The world of business is a mirage…Today it is there, tomorrow it may not be…
I am loyal to the company because I have so much time and effort invested over the past 16 years. And because I don’t have many other options. Is the company loyal to me? Time will tell … I sincerely hope so.
Different situations dictate different decisions. Opportunities. Wants. Needs. I came to work in this office to get out of the shop environment. In the shop we were exposed to: noises loud enough to damage ears, heavy lifting that posed risks to backs, and chemicals known to cause cancer and other problems.
This job offered me an option to continue to work in the automotive repair industry and use my experience and training without the negatives of being in the shop.
I didn’t change jobs for money. It was a lateral move monetarily. Eventually I moved up in the company … but I like to think that what brings me in each morning is the challenge of moving the company forward and making sure we do the right things for the people who work here. Most days I enjoy my job. (and I may love this company too much … time will tell)
Nice article,
BTW I was in company “A” during first global recession and saw the company throwing out the employees left and right. So, want to move to a stable company, after working for 4 yrs. I saw X & Y during that time who did not lay off employees. So, I was attracted and joined “X” company. After working for 7-8 yrs, during 2009 recession, companies X & Y laid off left and right.
Again, looking for a stable company 🙂
Greetings! Quick question that’s completely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My weblog looks weird when viewing from my iphone 4. I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to resolve this issue. If you have any recommendations, please share. Thank you!
I shall get back to you on this. I require help from experts
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