I recently wrote an article for UVA's AAPAAN, an alumni organization (I am one of their board members) dedicated to asian americans and pacific islanders. I thought I would share this article with a wider audience.
The link to the original article is here.
Here goes:
I always wanted to be close to technology and the thought of what should I do once I graduate from U.Va. filled my mind in the months leading to May. It was then that I decided the San Francisco Bay Area is one of the best places to be if you are interested in any sort of technology.
As I went through the discovery process of how to land an opportunity out west, I identified certain key aspects of how things work here. I want to use this opportunity to share those findings with you and hope that they are useful as you navigate your career.
> Recommendations matter most in tech. You may have heard stories of how people succeeded here because of someone who was impressed by their work backed their cause. What this means for UVA students and alumni: Reach out to alumni in your target firms and start a conversation. Remember not to make it a transaction. By having this continuous conversation, you are building your brand and letting the alumni know that you are interested in their firm and have already expressed your knowledge of what they do. This helps in giving the alumni more ammunition to recommend you.
> Action speaks louder that words - if you are passionate about tech, then you should have done something to prove it. Be it class projects, improving tech systems in your previous company, writing a blog, etc. If you already do this, then let people know.
> Be out here - tech firms love it when you are in the thick of action. If possible, attending conferences and tech events help. Besides learning about tech, such events are places to network and expand your network.
> Job portals: There are tons of these portals. The ones that I have used (by no means a recommendation) are indeed.com, simplyhired.com, ventureloop.com, etc. Applying here might seem like you are throwing your resume into a black box, but if there is a good match between your profile and the job description, you can expect a call. In other words, HR folks do read your resume.
> Professors are valuable resources. Assuming you did not burn your bridges, you can leverage your connections to get introductions to alumni in your target company.
> Confidence - Looking for a job here can be daunting, but having confidence in what you say and do never hurts.
> Resume - Tech firms prefer a different resume than other industries. Spend some time looking for a few samples and see if you have to change your resume.
> Recruiters - Working with recruiters is a double edged sword. If you know of a good recruiter, they can be a valuable asset. The only advice here is, proceed with caution.
> Interview - Prepare well for the interview and expect curve ball questions from your interviewer. Tech companies are equally, if not more, interested in fit than technical knowledge. So, be nice.
> Read - I love reading about tech and like the morning paper, I read tech blogs. It’s part of my routine and it keeps me prepared about the latest in tech. I would recommend techcrunch.com, techmeme.com, etc.
Do write to me about your search out west or if you have any comments/suggestions for me.
Friday, March 02, 2012
Sunday, June 19, 2011
In retrospect
It took me most of my twenties and my disdain for what I was becoming to realize that it was time for a course correction. That fateful morning, back in January 07, brought an unexpected email in the middle of some unexpected and more importantly, personally trying times. While hoping to make sense of the grief and loss thrust upon my beloved family, I learnt of a my school's call for an interview.
It was one of the bitter sweet situations that life puts in front of you. On a normal day, I would have been excited and enthusiastic about what can be, but my reflexes were muted and thoughts drifted towards "what if" scenarios that brought back repressed feelings of a loss I was trying to cope with, a loss I was trying to weather like a mountain trying to resist a flowing river.
But that opportunity opened a window to the path I wanted to take. A change I was seeking desperately at a time when the cushion of my cocoon was comforting. Drawing comfort from the hard fact that "everyone" I loved would want me to put my best foot forward, I decided it was time to make a leap of faith and confidence to clear the last hurdle before I began a journey which mattered as much as the destination.
It was one of the bitter sweet situations that life puts in front of you. On a normal day, I would have been excited and enthusiastic about what can be, but my reflexes were muted and thoughts drifted towards "what if" scenarios that brought back repressed feelings of a loss I was trying to cope with, a loss I was trying to weather like a mountain trying to resist a flowing river.
But that opportunity opened a window to the path I wanted to take. A change I was seeking desperately at a time when the cushion of my cocoon was comforting. Drawing comfort from the hard fact that "everyone" I loved would want me to put my best foot forward, I decided it was time to make a leap of faith and confidence to clear the last hurdle before I began a journey which mattered as much as the destination.
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Crazy Social Media???
I found a funny t-shirt that was hanging on one of the professors door the other day and it was really meaningful in what it had to say. Here is a pic, but the message went a long way in communicating the state of affairs today. I also had some interesting discussion with my friends a few days back about the same and I am curious to see how these platforms will evolve. The general concensus from that discussion was that they did not like some aspects, but since others were doing, they thought they would too. Call it the network effect, or peer pressure, interesting times ahead. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words:
Strategic Intuition
I read through Strategic Intuition by William Duggan a month back and found it to be an interesting book to read on how the creative spark of strategic intuition occurs. Duggan presents findings from various sources and identifies the moment of strategic intuition that lead to the idea. At the end of the reading, I realized the many moments when I had the spark on big and trivial things could be called as moments of clarity or strategic intuition.
All of Duggan’s subjects were very knowledgeable of their respective fields, had read widely and had deep involvements or firsthand exposure to some of the larger problems or the Karma of the field they were in. While strategic intuition can happen at any time, the problems they were tackling were upon them. What I find that Duggan does not elaborate on is the role that necessity plays. While Duggan rightly mentions that there is no identifiable way to generate the creative spark on demand, I believe that by following the points listed below, I can be better positioned to identify my Dharma at an apt moment:
1. Read. Read. And Read. Through personal experience, I find that reading puts content on the shelves of our brains. The more variety we read, the more content our brain can use to connect the dots and complete the creative spark.
2. Observation. As Duggan points out, Allen and Gates look at the magazine article which ignited the spark eventually leading to Microsoft. By having a keen eye, we can identify an opportunity or get inputs which would give us our moment of clarity.
3. Persistence. As with all the examples cited in Strategic Intuition, I find a common thread called persistence. Despite rejections and earlier failures, if we stick to our Dharma we can eventually follow that path towards our goal. This leads to my final point on Belief.
4. Belief. While having a spark in time and getting the required clarity can expose our Dharma, not having faith or belief in our capabilities or in the validity of the strategic intuition can unravel our confidence and lead to a path of failure.
The key takeaway for someone looking to enhance their understanding of strategy and improve their strategic thinking skills is:
1. Be open to ideas from outside the organization for they might provide the creative spark required. It is not necessary to act upon all that we hear, but it is imperative to hear out ideas, criticisms, and suggestions from different sources and keep them in the shelves of our brain.
2. Collecting and analyzing data gives us a deep understanding of the situation we are in. It does not give you an idea for what to do about it. The importance of insights from analyzing data cannot be ruled out in generating the creative spark, but without the other aspects described above, analysis does not give us strategic intuition and show us our Dharma.
I find myself reflecting more these days and as I obediently reflected on Duggan’s work, I find an uncertain fear at the back of my mind telling me that despite being prepared, what if you miss the spark. While I know that there is no answer to that, I think that having an appetite for knowledge, enthusiasm for your actions, active engagement and having belief will position you better to finding your Dharma no matter what your Karma is. And this extends to my personal life as well.
All of Duggan’s subjects were very knowledgeable of their respective fields, had read widely and had deep involvements or firsthand exposure to some of the larger problems or the Karma of the field they were in. While strategic intuition can happen at any time, the problems they were tackling were upon them. What I find that Duggan does not elaborate on is the role that necessity plays. While Duggan rightly mentions that there is no identifiable way to generate the creative spark on demand, I believe that by following the points listed below, I can be better positioned to identify my Dharma at an apt moment:
1. Read. Read. And Read. Through personal experience, I find that reading puts content on the shelves of our brains. The more variety we read, the more content our brain can use to connect the dots and complete the creative spark.
2. Observation. As Duggan points out, Allen and Gates look at the magazine article which ignited the spark eventually leading to Microsoft. By having a keen eye, we can identify an opportunity or get inputs which would give us our moment of clarity.
3. Persistence. As with all the examples cited in Strategic Intuition, I find a common thread called persistence. Despite rejections and earlier failures, if we stick to our Dharma we can eventually follow that path towards our goal. This leads to my final point on Belief.
4. Belief. While having a spark in time and getting the required clarity can expose our Dharma, not having faith or belief in our capabilities or in the validity of the strategic intuition can unravel our confidence and lead to a path of failure.
The key takeaway for someone looking to enhance their understanding of strategy and improve their strategic thinking skills is:
1. Be open to ideas from outside the organization for they might provide the creative spark required. It is not necessary to act upon all that we hear, but it is imperative to hear out ideas, criticisms, and suggestions from different sources and keep them in the shelves of our brain.
2. Collecting and analyzing data gives us a deep understanding of the situation we are in. It does not give you an idea for what to do about it. The importance of insights from analyzing data cannot be ruled out in generating the creative spark, but without the other aspects described above, analysis does not give us strategic intuition and show us our Dharma.
I find myself reflecting more these days and as I obediently reflected on Duggan’s work, I find an uncertain fear at the back of my mind telling me that despite being prepared, what if you miss the spark. While I know that there is no answer to that, I think that having an appetite for knowledge, enthusiasm for your actions, active engagement and having belief will position you better to finding your Dharma no matter what your Karma is. And this extends to my personal life as well.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Predictably Irrational
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely is an interesting book to read and presents some interesting and surprising insights about human psychology and behavior. Most of the topics Ariely talks about will help us understand human behavior better and, hopefully, improve our decision making process. One cause of concern would be that armed with this knowledge, people could potentially create situation where human behavior can be exploited for illegitimate purposes.
Through some interesting experiments and observations, Ariely appears convincing as some of the examples he talks about seem very real and gives me the feeling of déjà-vu. While the book does not talk about strategy and how the readings contained within affect the strategic process, a reader can weave those insights into different levels of strategy. At the corporate level strategic direction can be managed based on stake holders’ expectations and vice versa. On the product front pricing strategy, for example, could be influenced by understand the psyche of the targeted user.
The key personal takeaways for me from this reading are:
1. Be aware of people’s behavior when dealing with or managing them: people tend to compare things with one another.
2. Manage expectations of the people you work with: As expectations lead to perceptions about reality, managing those expectations early on and setting your goals and requirements upfront will help in building good relationships and creating effective teams that, cohesively, produce superior output.
3. Procrastination can really harm a person as well as create an atmosphere that is not conducive.
4. While it is good to have options, I have to be aware that there might be definite timelines that I would miss in trying to keep multiple options open.
5. Try to be yourself weather at work or at home. This will make things more simple and straightforward.
The key takeaway for someone looking to enhance their understanding of strategy and improve their strategic thinking skills is:
1. Ensure that options available are not a drag on the organization and that switching cost between options is minimal. Internalize the process so that a creep in does not result during strategic planning.
2. Manage expectation of stakeholders when planning. This also translates to effective communication, both from a personal and organizational stand point. Ensuring that we are conveying what we intend to would help reduce confusion and misunderstanding of the goals of the strategic planning/implementation process.
3. Not to make strategic decisions when one is aroused.
When I put the book down after reading, my first instinct was to think how I had been affected by the different aspects that Ariely talks about. Going through the process, I realized that, while it is not possible to completely avoid all the aspects, it makes sense over time to recognize such behavior and plan ahead to ensure our decisions and personal conduct is such that we can talk about it in the open.
Through some interesting experiments and observations, Ariely appears convincing as some of the examples he talks about seem very real and gives me the feeling of déjà-vu. While the book does not talk about strategy and how the readings contained within affect the strategic process, a reader can weave those insights into different levels of strategy. At the corporate level strategic direction can be managed based on stake holders’ expectations and vice versa. On the product front pricing strategy, for example, could be influenced by understand the psyche of the targeted user.
The key personal takeaways for me from this reading are:
1. Be aware of people’s behavior when dealing with or managing them: people tend to compare things with one another.
2. Manage expectations of the people you work with: As expectations lead to perceptions about reality, managing those expectations early on and setting your goals and requirements upfront will help in building good relationships and creating effective teams that, cohesively, produce superior output.
3. Procrastination can really harm a person as well as create an atmosphere that is not conducive.
4. While it is good to have options, I have to be aware that there might be definite timelines that I would miss in trying to keep multiple options open.
5. Try to be yourself weather at work or at home. This will make things more simple and straightforward.
The key takeaway for someone looking to enhance their understanding of strategy and improve their strategic thinking skills is:
1. Ensure that options available are not a drag on the organization and that switching cost between options is minimal. Internalize the process so that a creep in does not result during strategic planning.
2. Manage expectation of stakeholders when planning. This also translates to effective communication, both from a personal and organizational stand point. Ensuring that we are conveying what we intend to would help reduce confusion and misunderstanding of the goals of the strategic planning/implementation process.
3. Not to make strategic decisions when one is aroused.
When I put the book down after reading, my first instinct was to think how I had been affected by the different aspects that Ariely talks about. Going through the process, I realized that, while it is not possible to completely avoid all the aspects, it makes sense over time to recognize such behavior and plan ahead to ensure our decisions and personal conduct is such that we can talk about it in the open.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Brazil
Brazil...phew...just got back from a wonderful spring break from my first visit south of the equator. The actual reason to go there was for the Global Business Experience (GBE), a week long exchange program with Darden's partner school IBMEC that seeks to give us a sense of the business climate in those countries. But lets talk about that some other time.
I had a lot of fun in Brazil, and the best way to get a sense of it is to run into me sometime and you will find me gloating about that place. Sao Paulo is alive and the city gets you pumping. It might have been so because I was surrounded by undergrad students and guys from Darden who thought they were on spring break (we actually were) or the fact that I got to see an active night life and other nice places there. What really boded well with me was that people were laid back, liked to have a nice time and were forthcoming in helping me, even though my language skills were limited to a few words of Portuguese and a lot of hand signals. Maybe the fact that I was there with 30 people I know helped he have more fun.
I got to see the art scene in Sao Paulo, visit their corporate giants (Abril, Azul, Embraer) and see Ronaldo in action in his comeback game (he scored a gooooooooooooool). All this meant that I am glad I decided to go to Brazil as part of the GBE. My first visit down under,at least from the equator if not Oz, was a huge blast. Look forward to seeing another part of the world next year.
I had a lot of fun in Brazil, and the best way to get a sense of it is to run into me sometime and you will find me gloating about that place. Sao Paulo is alive and the city gets you pumping. It might have been so because I was surrounded by undergrad students and guys from Darden who thought they were on spring break (we actually were) or the fact that I got to see an active night life and other nice places there. What really boded well with me was that people were laid back, liked to have a nice time and were forthcoming in helping me, even though my language skills were limited to a few words of Portuguese and a lot of hand signals. Maybe the fact that I was there with 30 people I know helped he have more fun.
I got to see the art scene in Sao Paulo, visit their corporate giants (Abril, Azul, Embraer) and see Ronaldo in action in his comeback game (he scored a gooooooooooooool). All this meant that I am glad I decided to go to Brazil as part of the GBE. My first visit down under,at least from the equator if not Oz, was a huge blast. Look forward to seeing another part of the world next year.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Charlottesville
The hidden secrect of getting a Darden MBA and going to school at UVA is the city of Charlottesville as evident in the following video.
Darden MBA
:)
Darden MBA
:)
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Communicate Baby
Over the few months I have spent at Darden, the one thing that I have observed is that you need to communicate to be successful. You build rapport, friends, relationships and all that matter using effective communication. I have seen naturals as well as people who cringe at that thought. But I believe that everyone can communicate well and its just that they have developed a mental block. It helps if you are well read as you can pick up a conversation about any topic and lead the conversation into something meaningful. And Everette Fortner's(Executive Director for Corporate Relations and Career Development, Darden School of Business) blog is an excellent reminder of the efficacy of communication. I would encourage a read.
Happy reading
Happy reading
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