Time to move on

This week, I have completed 4 years in my current company and I will be leaving Atos Origin for another opportunity. Exactly 4 years ago I joined Atos Origin with new dreams and with a lot of anticipation about SAP world. I have gone strength to strength in SAP, learned a lot, got certified but there is still a lot to learn. That’s one thing I like about SAP, the learning never stops. Almost everyday you will face a new error, interesting issues, new findings, a different method to do things, a challenging customer and tight deadlines.

These four years have been truly enjoyable here and have made a lot of friends. While working here I got a chance to work in The Netherlands and thanks to Schengen visa I could visit few wonderful cities like Amsterdam, Rome, Venice, Paris, Brussels, Interlaken and Luzern. I still cherish those memories of my stay in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Working with European colleagues was a completely different and enjoyable experience. I developed interest in cycling during this time ( had had a fall as well, with swollen eye ) and bought a cycle here in Mumbai too, although it’s not easy to cycle in Mumbai.

Now, I’m looking forward to join my new organization with new hopes and new set of expectations. I know it’s not easy to leave your comfort zone and adapt to new company’s work environment and culture but still I hope that transition would be smooth and I will provide value to my new employer.

What is the right time to switch job?

It’s a human nature. We get bored of things very fast and our jobs are no exception. Sooner or later we all start to get a felling of switching job, we have n number of reasons to switch like pay package, moron boss, a drowning company , peer pressure, hunger for more work/better role, no recognition/appreciation at work et al.

Although, no job is perfect and grass always looks greener at the other side. We think that our jobs suck here and in other companies all is hunky dory. But still, considering all factors normal, when one should optimally switch a company.

I have observed two kind of persons ( yeh jo world hai na world isme 2 type ke log hote hain) the ones who think that working longer period of time would look good on their resume and shows the loyality for the company and others who don’t give a heck about it and keep hopping the jobs every other year and their salary package keeps getting fatter by every switch.

I am old fashioned and used to think that a person should work in a company for at least 2 years. After these 2 years if there are enough reasons like you feel stagnant then you should think about switching your job. However, I have recently observed that no period is optimal/ minimum to stay or switch. People leave companies in even 6 months of joining. However, I understand that no matter how hard you work you will not get a decent raise until you switch the company unless you have a very good luck but does that mean you should greed and strategically keep switching the job every other year?

At the end of it, it’s your call to stay in a job or to move on. However, I am still puzzled what’s the optimal time to switch the company considering all the factors stay normal? I remember, NIIT had this tag line in 90s, if you are not studying at NIIT, you are missing something. I think in today’s scenario there is no such thing like loyalty for company and this tag line can be used as: if you are not switching your job in every 1-2 year, you are missing something.

The following e-mail forward makes me think whether it is really a good plan to switch jobs every other year without giving much thought to career plan. (the origin of email not known).

Interesting…..Don’t miss last 2 Questions…
Some, rather most organizations reject his CV today 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 etc 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 etc 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.

The Rishikesh Experience

One of the New Year’s promises to me (not resolutions) was to go on few trips (mostly adventure trips). I explored few possibilities and settled in for water rafting in Rishikesh. Although, it is quite far from Mumbai and travelling time was a lot, however, the experience was well worth it. Here is my Rishikesh experience.

After searching for rafting information and several packages we zeroed in for booking from this company. (link removed because of virus infected pages, nonetheless website is raftinginrishikesh.com). The plan was simple, get a train to Delhi, preferably, Garib Rath, because it’s departure timings suited us and the fare is low as compared to Rajdhanis’ then get a car to Rishikesh. However, the Murphy’s law “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong” did not fail to impress and the great Indian railway’s website (irctc.co.in) did not work while booking for Tatkal tickets to Delhi and we had to settle for a holiday special train that derailed our plans and we struggled to get a car on hire in Delhi to Rishikesh.

Finally, we managed to reach Rishikesh and on first sight of the Ganga and our river side camp, we forgot all our tiredness and sleepless night. We spent 2 days (almost) and one night in camp (without light) and it was pure fun. On first day, we did rock climbing and a small stretch of trekking to a water fall (can’t remember the name of waterfall).

The next day was the D day, after small session of instructions on how to sail, swim and survive in rapids we started the water rafting. The water rafting is an amazing sport, when cold water splashes on your face, the feeling is awesome, when you see the rapids ahead of your boat, when your boat inclines for more than 80 degrees, when your oar doesn’t find water because you are in air due to rapids.
The food and service in camps were good; however, the toilet facilities could have been better.

I couldn’t help but remembering the TATA Safari Dicor ad.

If you looked back on your life, what would you remember?
The corner office?
The corporate powerplays?
The VIP lounge?
What would you remember?
Reclaim your life.

This is one of the satisfying holidays I have ever taken. I would suggest one should do river rafting at least once in life.

Expense statement:

Mumbai-Delhi-Mumbai Train fare (AC III tier): Rs. 2300
Delhi-Rishikesh-Delhi (Innova)- Rs. 6000
2 Days/1 Night in camp including food and all activities: Rs. 1700
Verdict: Satisified

Why you should not blindly trust your financial agent

I have learned it the hard way. You should never blindly trust your financial agent. I have two bitter experiences with financial agent and here they are:

Incident-1

I wanted to get a equity linked policy. An acquaintance’s agent suggested me for ICICI prudential’s Life time policy. I had the choice to invest monthly/quarterly or yearly, the money would be invested in equity depnding on my risk appetite (maximizer-all in equity, balancer-50% in equity and 50% in debt or minimizer- more in debt and less in equity) and I can withdraw the complete or partial amount after 3 years lock-in. Needless to say, I chose for Maximizer.

After almost two years when I got to know that I can create an online a/c with ICICI Prudential for tracking my policy and can change the type ( remember those fancy words, min, max, balance ?). I created my account and to my disbelief the fund value was 10% less than what I have paid till now and in this duration, Indian stock market reached to 12000 from 6000 . While digging more into the problem I got to know that the agent irresponsibly chose option minimizer and so, very less portion of my premium was invested in equity.

And due to this fatal mistake this month when I complete 3 years of my policy lock-in period, I just have Rs.1000/- more than what I have paid.

Incident-2

I opened an savings account in HDFC Bank and there an agent approaches me to go for a XYZ policy from HDFC standard Life Insurance. It was also an Unit linked policy and had features more or less the same as above scheme. I decided to get this policy and chose Maximizer.

After two years, when I visited the HDFC standard life Insurance office for an address change request, to my shock I got to know that it was a conventional insurance scheme not an Unit linked and also I could only withdraw my money after 5 years.

I lodged a complaint with HDFCSL insurance for misinformation and asked for policy money refund. After several followups and two months, I got my money back but only the principal amount.

Conclusion: After these two incidents I am more alert about my finances. I inquire a lot before going for any scheme, I try to read the policy terms and conditions (smartly written in a font size of 5-6) and I do keep a track of scheme performance.

On a relative note, I would advise you to stay away from your relatives/acquaintances/friends who are financial agent. I have experienced that they will not give you the complete information about the product, will give you a product most of the time you don’t need because they enjoy good commission on that product.

Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.- Vernon Law