A byte prized out

FIRST DAY, first show. Serpentine queues, smartly clad youngsters, but anxiety written all over their faces, and impetuous to get in. The counter is buzzing with activity. Can we make it? Mad rush for a matinee idol's latest blockbuster, eh?

Nope. This was a job carnival of IT aspirants and the long line in front of the fair, the animated conversation of the aspirants about bits and bytes and more crowds said it all. On offer were 2,000 jobs, both Indian and overseas. And yes, 600 in the US alone! (Did you hear that all ye dollar dreamers of the Telugu land who think a visa to the El Dorado in the West is their birthright?) All one had to do was walk in with a resume and tonnes of confidence and if lucky enough, walk out with a job or at least with the satisfaction of making a mark in one company or the other.

Across the counter at the two-day IT fair being organised by prizedjobs.com, an IT career portal, at the Ramada Manohar Hotel were smart IT professionals, read the job givers, who had a sound business reason for being there. On the other hand were the young and the not so young who came armed with an arsenal of software languages.

Oh yes, this was a market-manic world and just the tip of the software iceberg and people on both the ends were testing waters - one for talent, the other for a job. "It's like one of those marriage alliances. A lot of job seekers come to evaluate the companies. For the employers, this was an opportunity to feel the pulse of the job market. It's a kind of market intelligence," smiles Sarath Sura, managing director of Sierra Optima, a city- based software company with a presence in the US.

For a young software programmer, V. Jagadish, this was a chance to take a shot at the computer job market. "It's rare to find so many companies under one roof, that too, at the same time. It saves so much of time, Imagine the kind of running around one is required to do for applying in so many companies," he says.

Companies like Sify.com, Bharti Telesoft, Tata Consultancy Services, Quark Media, BITTech, USA, CBSI, and others took part in the job fair. Says Capt. Mohapatra, Head, Human Resources, Tata Consultancy Services, Hyderabad: "This is the most cost effective way of finding prospective employees."

Whatever it is, visitors to the fair had a lot to talk about and a lot to learn too interacting with employers and the prospective employees. K. Lakshmikanth, Managing Director, prizedjobs.com, rounds off, saying: "The global shortage of software professionals is going to remain for a long time and fairs like these will provide a platform for job seekers and employers." Prized possessions for both, eh?

By K.V.S. Madhav

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