23rd MMA All-India Management Students’ Convention 2024
Uma Srinivasan, Head-Talent Management, L&T, on how we always remember our first job and how to go about choosing it.
I hail from a small town called Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu and did my entire schooling at a government school there. Then I did my engineering in Metallurgy from NIT, Jaipur, completing it in 1994. I started my career as a metallurgist. Now, I am an HR specialist. What an irony! It has been a journey of self-discovery. I started my` career as a metallurgical consultant and realised it was not my forte. I also understood that I enjoyed connecting with people, networking, and influencing. I wanted to leverage my strengths and what I enjoyed doing.
For the next six years, I was in the IT industry, selling mainframes and mid-range IBM systems for 12 to 15 lakhs. Sales gave me a high. I thought sales and marketing were my true calling. I liked capturing opportunities and solving problems. Then, in 2001, HR happened. There was a recession in the industry, and I joined Ma Foi Consultants (now Randstad), staying with them for 17 years. I stepped out in 2017 as President of the India Operations. Since then, I have been with L&T, a 24 billion group.
Need for Self-Awareness
First and foremost, you must be self-aware. Second, understand the market and external ecosystem. Third, prepare yourself. I like the concept of Ikigai, the Japanese secret of a joyful life. When your passion, vocation, mission, and profession align, you have a joyful career. I love interacting with people and am a change agent. I get paid for it and promoted for it in my profession. That is what you should aim for and work towards.
At L&T, we always have many interns working with us. I asked them what they need. They said, “We need jobs. When we look at company websites, they look like black boxes. We don’t know where to search.” I asked them, “What is it that you want to do?” Then they started introspecting. Understand your key drivers. Is it money or a large brand that you want to work for?
I wanted to start in a large, well-known organisation. Introspect on your strengths and weaknesses—not just technical skills but also soft skills. When we hire freshers, we look for attitude and teamwork. Do they have curiosity? Can they stretch? Remember, organisations will have people from multiple generations. You have to align with your bosses. Speak up with respect. Familiarize yourself with the ecosystem.
Understand the sunrise and sunset industries. Look for the job and brand that resonate with you. We have large and medium-sized organisations, family-run businesses, and startups. Find out the genre of the company and if it aligns with you. In large organisations, systems are well-established. You just join and plug and play. If you are a free-thinker and want to innovate, maybe a startup is better suited for you.
The stage in which the organisation is defines the competencies needed. The ability to handle ambiguity is necessary for a startup. One of the jobs I applied for rejected me because they did a psychometric test and said, “You are a perfectionist. You will find our job frustrating.” So, understanding oneself and getting into the right organisation is critical.
The Power of Networking
Next comes lead generation and job search. How many of you closely network with your college alumni? Networking is one of the most powerful tools in landing a job of your choice. Connect with your family and friends. Browse company websites and understand what sorts of jobs they offer for freshers. You can also try job fairs and job portals like LinkedIn, Naukri, Shine, Freshersworld, Internshala. Register your profile on these sites and try to get job alerts. Do not use one standard profile for every job. Tailor it to the requirements.
Be Mindful of Keywords
One of my friends’ son won an award in a global AI competition but did not mention it in his CV. Intrigued, I asked him why he did not mention it in his CV. His response was a revelation: “Aunty, if I mention it in my CV, the keyword tracker will pick me as an AI person. What I am looking for is to be a Data Engineer.”
Do not make your profile more than one or one-and-a-half page. In the covering note, do not repeat what is in the CV. Talk a little bit about yourself in half a page at most. Highlight your achievements and leadership roles. When you attend the interview, be well-prepared. Research the organisation. Have an elevator pitch about yourself.
Look for a Career
When asked about your strengths and weaknesses, handle that with tact, especially your weaknesses. For example, I am a workaholic, and I can easily say that. At the end of the interview, when asked if you have any questions, ask some smart questions. When you look for a job, don’t just aim for a job. Look for a career. For the first five or six years, focus on learning; then you can start earning.
