On the real state of India's IT-power, this is a very different piece by an IIT-computer engineer who spent 25 years abroad, mostly in the US, but went around Europe, South America, the Gulf and Asian countries as a consultant. Presently, he is in Kolkata,associated with Bandana Infotech, a small but technically sound IT company.
SR
In Perspective: (http://deccanherald.com/Content/Jul142008/editpage2008071378620.asp)
Two faces of the Indian engineer by Sitanshu Ray
Pressures of employers in India or US have promoted a sub-standard market of IT talent.
When dot.com revolution was in full throttle ten years ago, a conversation between two Indians, seated next to me, made for interesting eavesdrop. I was travelling by New Jersey Transit Train Service back to Princeton. I could guess they were in the IT profession. The Y2K mirage was on. Companies in the US were hiring thousands of IT engineers from India to ride these dot.com and Y2K waves. Indian IT industry was smiling.
Santosh's cell phone rang. He asked his friend Milind to be quiet. He answers on the phone – "Yes Sir, this is Santosh". He said that he had eight years of experience with Java. Obviously a technical interview was being conducted.Finally Santosh said that he could give the mobile number of his manager for a reference. He then cupped the speaker, and told Milind that he would give his mobile number to the interviewer . He advised Milind to tell the caller that he was his manager.
After five minutes, Milind received a call from the prospective employer, and he promptly replied that he would happily recommend Santosh for the job.
This deceptive duo from India operating in the US is but a small example of the massive fraud and deception being carried out by Indian IT workers, organisations and placement company owners. Having worked in the US and Canada for the 18 years, I came across hundreds of such cases. Imagine the agony of numerous genuine engineers and scientists from India, who travelled to the West and painstakingly built up the brand name of rare-breed techies through hard work and dedication.
In 2002, NJ, USA, I was returning from a party, and stopped at a gas station. The person who was filling gas asked me if I was an Indian. He told me that he was a Java programmer and was looking for work, while making his living at this gas station. I have met scores of such Indian IT engineers working at such places and the current economic crisis in the US has only aggravated this situation.
Why should we Indians resort of these practices? The young Indian engineer does what the system demands him to do. Because of the pressures of a materialistic society and their employers in India or in the US, they have to stoop so low.
These are two faces of the Indian IT engineer. One that is described in his/her resume. The other is the sub-standard engineer performing at work. Unfortunately, the second one is the real face. I have been in the industry for 27 years, and I have yet to see a world class "Software Product from India". All this hype about the Indian IT industry is created by self serving corporations that need to promote this substandard culture. But the truth is emerging. The changing political and economic climate in the US and other Western nations will stop this practice in a big way in the future.The flow of outsourcing tide is away from India.
IT giants give the so-called "captive training" to their new hires. They are subjected to gruelling hours of training by sub-standard trainers. And these hires are projected as experienced "software professionals". Their resumes are embellished and through "labour arbitrage" the companies make billions. The solution is to fix our education system. Stop and audit private companies running education as a business to fatten their books. Check their standards of quality, their faculty.
Indian education has shifted from a "talent meritocracy" to a "exam passing meritocracy. Most educational institutions today teach you how to pass exams rather being productive at the work place. This has resulted in the huge "employability gap" between what is taught and what is required within the industry. We must reverse this trend.
Certificates and degrees issued by prestigious educational institutes must have RF IDs to authenticate them at any place in the world, so that no one can make duplicates. Fix our government schools and attract talent from all over the world to teach in these schools. Build a national database of real talent and let that talent be allowed to seen by all companies needing them. We would love to see only one face of the Indian IT engineer — the honest one.
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