Thursday, July 23, 2009

Of Hari Sadu and the rest of us...

2 years of working in the IT industry has taught me a lot of things, besides writing really confusing emails, even more confusing self-appraisals (which I like to call self-aapu), where to keep my mouth shut (yes, I do that sometimes) and some stuff like that. But more than all these, I have learnt to observe people – you do not have much choice when you are on bench for almost a year before you get your first ever project. But hey, I am not complaining. I, in fact, liked the observing part so much so that I wish I was on bench and there was no recession ;-)

There are different types of people in the IT world. There are a few similarities – they all have the dog band (company ID card) around their necks, they all wear formal clothes (although a lot of them look funny in them), they all are good at staring at their computer screens (work or no work) and they all are in the process of losing their sense of humor (if you didn’t at least smile to yourself until this point of the post, I bet you are a part of the great Indian IT field).

And yet, there are so many different kinds of IT professionals.

The “Visionaries”: These are the ones that always think, feel and breathe their projects. You can usually find them sitting at their desk with their heads so close to the computer screen that you think he/she has a romantic affair with the monitor. At the cafeteria, they tend to sit alone, have lunch (while replying to business emails through their blackberries/laptops) and leave - all without attracting much attention from anyone nearby. Chances are these people were toppers in their colleges. Chances are they are already/soon-to-become project managers, who expect/would expect their subordinates to be like them too. They are well on their ways to become “Hari Sadu”s (for people who don’t know Hari Sadu, you are already becoming one. So please watch more TV and catch the naukri.com advertisement or at least google ‘Hari Sadu ad’)

The “Friends”:
These are the people who like to spend time with their friends so much so that that is probably the only reason they come to office. They do complete their work on time and efficiently so (although they seem to hardly do any work from the outside), but would rather hang out with friends after work hours than romance their computer screens like the Hari Sadu’s. They are very good team players and make friends with everyone around them very easily. At the cafeteria, these people make the largest group, taking a lunch break of over 2 hours and a tea break of 45mins (twice a day). Chances are these people were the most popular guys/girls in their college. And there are lesser chances of them becoming project managers; although they could consider taking up a job at the Human Resources.

The “Snails”: These are the kind of people who are extremely hard-working and sincere in their efforts. In fact, they work as if the company’s profit depends on just what they do, but are not fast/ efficient enough in their work. They also, like the Visionaries spend very little time at the cafeteria and slog for long hours and still end up working during the weekends. They were probably not very bright students in their colleges either. Neither do they make good team players as their speed slows down the team. Tough luck, people!

The “Kids”: The freshers. They are just out of college; they think their managers are “cool” people (oh puhleeeze); they think their company is the best (oh puhleeeze, again); they are hyper-active and enthusiastic; they are generally found lunching/taking a break with their college-mates (who are still in the same location) and sending Good Morning, Good Afternoon and Good Evening and other equally dumb forward mails and make complete use of the internal email portal. They are forever online on the internal communicator and have at least 3-4 chat windows open – in short, they are still kids and think IT life is actually like how they show it in the movies. They have a long way to go before their eyes open up to face reality.

The “Players”: These are the ones who are eternally on the bench. Your truly was a part of this group until April 2008. But then, I had to start working (big sigh…) Anyways, the only things that interest this group are blogging, surfing the net pointlessly and downloading small flash games (remember Copter, Bow and Arrow, Beat Him, Sudoku and the rest). I can hear a lot of you saying that this is exactly what I still do at work, but hey I am in a project now and there are no complaints on me (really, ask my PM)…

I am sure there is the whole “Others” category – people who don’t fit into any of these or are a part of more than one category. But this has been a long post already and I should probably save my words for a next one.

27 comments:

  1. San - You need not be on bench to do this..U r lucky, your project is a virtual bench, You are billable for the observing, flirting, writing and blabbering! Keep the good work going!

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  2. @Anju
    I am what I am only because you made me so... You taught me all this stuff (remember I replaced u?)

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  3. Hey the title is perfectly apt for this post,and you have made Hari Sadu a really popular name :-)

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  4. Agree with Anjana...vettiya vedika paakarthuku 'observing' aama....No wonder you people get peanuts as performance incentives;-)

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  5. Welcome to IT, It took me almost 12 years to understand this and come out with a post like this :)

    http://www.iyerpaiyan.com/2009/01/murphys-laws-for-it.html

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  6. Good one... But cant generalize the observation in a bigger canvas ' IT World' may be you can make it specific with 'Indian,Offshore,Services,support' world ....

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  7. @Shankar
    Mr.Sadu was popular even before this post. :-) Thank you for your comment!

    @Gayathri
    Do you even know the amount of work I do everyday? Bah :-\ Why am I even arguing with you? You are right ;-)

    @Satish
    Did I ever tell you I was a fast learner. But I am amazed at how fast I am ;-)
    Murphy's laws to the IT world - perfect!

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  8. @Ravishankar
    My target was the 'Great Indian IT field' - pertains only to us (the offshore folks). But I hear there are quite a few nuts at onsite too ;-)

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  9. Sandhya,

    I had read ur post completely and enjoyed every word of it,But remember there are some people who are of mixed type.

    They are The “Visionaries” till they get their first chance to onsite and after that they become "kids".

    I do not know that you have observed these type of people or not but I am one of them.

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  10. So yet another IT prof getting to terms with the industry :P. Nice blog...

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  11. @Ramandeep
    Hmmm... What can I say? I haven't seen anyone at onsite so far. Maybe I'll write about them in a couple of months :-D
    The last para accepts the fact that there is a whole 'Others' category. I just wanted to keep the post short :-)

    @Chan
    Yeah, slowly and steadily I am getting into terms with IT. Thanks for your comments. Keep visiting!

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  12. damm gud....damm damm gud..
    a lot like wht i do while bangin my system in thr! i ws thinking to write on it...u steal my idea(nyways i frgv u)..
    read lotz of sigmund frued, i guess!!

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  13. Sandhya,

    10 out of 10 to the way you put your thoughts into words.Seems you spend quite a amount of time for drafting before clicking "POST".

    K.Kiran.

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  14. @Mukesh
    Hey, I have never read Sigmund Frued yet :-)
    But thanks for ur encouragement. Keeps me writing!!!

    @Kiran
    Thanks for ur comment; but I just typed it out, read it once (to check and correct typographic mistakes) and posted it. No time wasted for drafting :-)

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  15. And the worst part is people enjoy the work they are doing... I m sure 90 % dont even know what they are doing .. The rest 10 % being managers, who anyways dont know anything .. In short , no one knows anything and still the industry survives....amazes me ! :)

    Super post :)

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  16. @Vinod
    I guess as long as we don't forget there is a life outside of work and concentrate more on family n frnds, we are on the sane side :-)
    I know what I do from office. Catch me on Twitter while I update top-secret official activity ;-)

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  17. Bulls Eye!!

    On a sunday morning, i have enough time to look for your manager through finder and forward this link to him.!! The "visionary" him would let your appraisal rating through his blackberry @ lunch..!!

    Few that you missed was "THE HOGGERS", Gosh, there are also people, who are born to win, oops... eat. Who starts off eating right from when then get into the bus to when they reach home!!

    Hmm..., well not the least, I gotta think, where am i right now and probably, I would have one of these option in my OBJECTIVE UPLOAD at the next appraisal.

    You rock Sandy!! Luv/Dhinu!

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  18. @Dhinu
    Glad u liked the post :-) HOGGERS, huh? I don't see many of those around these days (now that u are gone) ;-)

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  19. Beta..., did u not know that i used to ride to office, than to take the bus?

    But then, i still remember Murugan Idly shop.! I was left not even worth being defeated when you are opposite me... Good for u, it hardly shows up..

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  20. @Dhinu
    Ok ok, no damaging my supermodel image! ;-)
    You so don't belong to the HOGGERS category.

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  21. Well to start with I don kno anything about this IT industry but I start making comparisons with my so called office (articleship is such a pain in the a**) I can't take a stand on who I m in the list given above... I think I belong to the Friends category... I take ample timeouts during work but work late and hard... But I wish I get the responsibilities as in the Visionaries case.. :-) So I would put it in the others category...

    Btw Sandy... really nice post.. long but swift... I rated it a 5... So which category do U belong to?

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  22. @Sriram
    I belong to 'Friends' - thnx for rating it :-)

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  23. No Mention... it deserved that much... :) Friends category is the best in this but only with frequent promos and job appreciations...

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  24. Hey . . .first time here . . .great post! Doin my BE currently and I'm trying really hard to avoid working for an IT company :p. . .Il only end up becoming one of those 'kids' that you mentioned :o

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  25. I am a new friend to you and may not know you well. I could feel the frustration you are experiencing. Dont let down your spirits. Develop a positive frame of mind and fighting spirit. Whatever you do make sure that you love it. Every activities has certain values associated with it and work experience which you inculcate in your daily routine would help you to grow to a pinnacle in a short term prospective. May be your current job must not be aligning in your area of interest or may be the boss whom under which you are working is not making you feel comfortable. Sit comfortably and explore what are you interested at??? Keep on updating your knowledge in your area of interest and try to switch your career to your field of interest. When there is an opportunity your preparations should make sure that you grab it. Think twice before rendering your resignation. What you require currently is the patience and love?? Be attached with family and never let yourself down. Positive mindset and confidence in your mindset would make sure that success is at your door steps in the upcoming days. I wish you all the best for the future.

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  26. ha ha...Then simply put a mail like me and get out of that hell ;-) coming to blogosphere after a looooooooooooooooong(yes its very long) time

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  27. perhaps u can give my mails link ;-) anyway how s sabal?

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