Berozgar Job Article Section

Be Early
Make a winning impression by showing you are reliable and organized. Get directions in advance and take a test drive if you are unfamiliar with the area. Also, check out the parking situation or public transportation schedules. Allow enough time for traffic and unexpected delays.

It’s All About You
Review your resume thoroughly, but don’t memorize it word for word. When talking, focus on your skills and accomplishments and how they correlate to the position you want. Hone in on how your experience has prepared you for this job and what you can bring to the table.

Dress to Impress
Follow this simple rule of thumb: “It’s better to be over-dressed than under-dressed.” Even if the work environment is casual, your appearance still must be neat, clean and professional. Unless the interviewer specifically tells you to dress casually, a classic suit is always your best bet. Also, limit your use of jewelry, makeup and cologne or perfume.

The Name Game
Make sure you know the correct name and pronunciation of the interviewer. Listen carefully when the interviewer states his or her name and repeat it back when you say hello. Before you leave, ask for a business card from each person you met. This gives you the necessary information to write thank-you letters.

Hand It Over
A firm handshake is a sign of confidence, but avoid the bone crushing vice grip. Weak and clammy handshakes typically make a bad impression. Don’t forget to look the interviewer directly in the eye when initiating contact.

Body Language
Appear confident by sitting up straight and maintaining good eye contact throughout the interview. Poor posture may translate to low self-esteem. Refrain from fidgeting or chewing gum or candy.

Be Nice
You never know who you’ll meet in the parking lot, elevator or lobby, so be polite to everyone from the receptionist to the CEO. After all, they could have an influence in the hiring process.

Short and Sweet
Avoid long-winded answers. Practice in advance and you will sound more focused and polished.

The Sounds of Silence
While it may be golden, silence can be uncomfortable. However, jumping in with irrelevant comments just to fill up airtime will only make you look nervous. If you are experiencing trouble forming an answer to a question, wait a few seconds before responding. The use of “um, uh, like, well, err …” sounds well, um … stupid. Take your time and think before you speak.

Cold Hard Cash
Although salary is an important factor in your job search, don’t let it be the driving force behind your choice. In interviews, it’s more important to talk about why you’re the right person for the job. Do not bring up salary unless the interviewer asks.

Practice Makes Perfect
Rehearsing is not just for actors. Take time to review what you want to say by asking a friend to play “the interviewer.” By practicing your responses to typical interviewing questions, you will significantly reduce your stress level and improve your chances of making a winning impression on the interviewer.

Since you need to connect with the person responsible for the interview, it is helpful to discover as much as you can about that person as well. Is this your prospective boss or someone screening applicants? If possible, discover what the person is interested in and where he or she previously worked or went to college. Gather information that will help you establish an easy rapport.

Your quest for information can seem elusive without the ability to conduct an audit of the company’s financial statements or at least interview employees of the company. With a bit of networking, the latter might be more feasible than you would initially think. Several other resources will help you:

• The company website
• Company statements and brochures
• Newspaper and magazine articles
• Reviews of best and worst companies
• Employees of the company
• Public records
• Information held at local job search agencies

The three main ways of making contact are telephone, email, and snail mail. If you call your potential interviewee, it might help to write down what you plan to say ahead of time. If you send something written, be sure to proofread your missive. It is especially important that you do not say or do anything that makes it sound as though you’re trying to get the person to hire you. While that would be nice, it’s not the point of the informational interview.

Telephone calls, emails, and letters basically follow the same structure:

1. Introduce yourself

2. Explain that you’re interested in the field in question, but that you would like to learn more about it through someone like your potential interviewee, who has a lot of experience and wisdom.

3. Give a specific reason you’re interested in talking to the potential interviewee - you’ll show you’re serious and focused when you, for example, tell the head of a public relations firm that you know her organization does a lot of work for environmental groups, and you’re specifically interested in that aspect of PR.

4. Ask if the person has time for a 30-minute meeting during which you could learn more about the interviewees’ work and thoughts about their career.

This whole process of contacting interviewees might make you a little nervous - if you’re new to the working world and low on the totem pole, calling up a business executive can be a little frightening. You may be especially hesitant because you feel like you have nothing to offer in return for that executive’s time. Relax. Most successful members of the working world have an intimate understanding of the networking system. They know that when they were inexperienced, seasoned professionals helped them out. And now that they’re the high-level executives, they’ll talk to you at a business conference or grant you a 30-minute meeting - with the understanding that when you’re a big shot, you’ll take a few minutes out of a busy day to advise a newcomer about your line of work. And, if that answer doesn’t satisfy you, remember that most people love talking about themselves and relish the experience of feeling like an important expert in their field.

Pakistan is emerging as the destination of choice for IT outsourcing in Pakistan for the following reasons:

• An IT workforce of 133,000 with good English language and people skills growing at a phenomenal rate of almost 20,000 a year.
• A hundred and ten ISO-certified IT companies, with over 25 undergoing CMMI rating.
• A reliable digital telecommunications infrastructure with backup and reliable energy and transport networks.
• An ambitious program of world-class IT Parks, with a rental rate of approx. US$1 per sq ft /month.
• A prosperous economy that offers lucrative domestic opportunities and is attracting increasing amounts of international investment.
• A steadily improving risk rating and a tightening environment for intellectual property protection.
• A streamlined government regulatory process of one of the most attractive incentive programs anywhere, which includes tax exemptions, 100% foreign equity and earnings repatriation.
• International leaders such as BearingPoint, NCR Teradata, Mentor Graphics and ZTE have chosen to locate their development and consultancy center in Pakistan.

Government Incentives
In order to promote its IT industry, the Government of Pakistan has provided several incentives to investors. The establishment of a reliable IT infrastructure and the provision of an incentives package are instrumental in the development of the local IT industry.

Other benefits provided to the IT companies are in the form of tax holidays for 15 years and 100% foreign equity ownership. Because of these incentives, an increasing number of foreign IT companies have chosen Pakistan for their outsourcing operations. Some of the areas in which the Government is facilitating the private sector companies include:

• Information Technology Parks with low rent, fiber optic connectivity, libraries and conference rooms
• Provision of funds for software companies to get ISO-9000 and CMM-level certifications
• Foreign investors allowed 100% ownership of equity in “IT/ITeS companies”
• Tax exemption for IT companies till 2016
• 100% repatriation of profits allowed to IT companies
• Seven years’ tax holiday for Venture Capital funds
• The rate of depreciation on computer equipment is 30%
• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has allowed the opening of Internet Merchant Accounts by banks
• Instant, reliable and high-speed connectivity available
• Over 85% of telecommunications infrastructure is on fiber optic cables
• Internet access is available in over 1862 cities/towns across Pakistan
• Pakistan is the first country in this region to establish DWDM telecommunications infrastructure
• Several cellular companies are using digital transmission (GSM and TDMA)
• The cost of 2 Mbps connection has been lowered to US$ 1000/month
• Redundant backup connectivity is available through PTCL for call centers.

Part of the job search process can include salary negotiation. With a basic knowledge of negotiation, your anxiety will be reduced and your success rate for negotiating will increase. There are several ways to make the process of salary negotiating effective. Start by taking a good look at your own salary requirements as well as developing an understanding of what your skills are worth in the current employment market.

==> Research salary ranges before you begin the interviewing process. Contact the professional association which represents your career field for salary information. Look at your monthly cash requirements. Keep in mind that your pay cheque after taxes is approximately 28% less than your gross monthly salary. Include savings and contingencies in your budget planning.
(You do not need to tell anyone your salary requirement: it only provides you a foundation on which to make decisions.

==> Enter the salary negotiation portion of your interview with a firm understanding of your skills and what they are worth to different segments of the economy and in a variety of industry settings.

==> The first inquiry about salary may come in the form of an application. When completing application forms, be sure to use “open”, “negotiable” or “competitive”. Avoid stating a specific figure.

==> Factor the organisations entire compensation package (ie. Tuition benefits, superannuation, health plan, and any perks) along with salary in your negotiation discussion. Compute the dollar worth of these benefits and add this figure to the salary for a more realistic picture of how the organisation compensates. If it is important to you, you may decide to negotiate benefits rather than an actual dollar increase.

==> When an interviewer asks for salary history or salary range, he/she is interested in establishing a starting point for negotiation. The important thing is to avoid basing your desired salary on your current salary. Do not lie about your past salary reference checks can easily provide this information. Provide information about why your salary may have been lower, if appropriate.

==> When starting a salary range, it is acceptable to extend the range to approximately $5,000. This shows that you are within the employer’s price range but interested in somewhat more compensation.

==> Determine opportunities for promotion. Job progression is an important factor in making salary decisions. Ask how promotions and salary reviews are handled.

By taking a good look at your own salary needs, understanding the current market, and approaching salary as something that you and the employer will agree on as mutually beneficial, your chances of successfully negotiating a salary are greatly enhanced.

The software industry has developed the world over. This has called for higher employment opportunities in this sector. This article analyses the factors that have contributed to the expansion in software jobs in the world and then throws light on the software jobs in India in particular.

Effect of Globalization on Software Company Jobs
With globalization, the restrictions imposed on the software companies to enter the global market have been removed. This has created an employment market for the IT sector that is purely international. The IT giants of US have expanded their services to other countries, thereby absorbing higher workforce. The skilled workforce is also eligible to apply as computer technicians in US and Canada.

Effect of Outsourcing on Software Company Jobs
Together with globalization, outsourcing has also played an important role in employment expansion in the IT industry. Outsourcing also requires expertise in IT. Again there are companies that are based in US but work with companies, which outsource and work with IT professionals working overseas. This is basically, a cost effective measure for companies that are unable to set up separate IT departments.

Software Company Jobs In India
It is estimated that the Jobs in Software Industry in India will reach the 1.5 to 2 million mark by 2008. This would imply a compound annual growth rate by 40%. This is in sync with the business expansion of the software services companies in India. The revenue growth of Wipro and Infosys by 40% and 36% along with its expansion in the workforce by 46% and 35% respectively proves this point.

It is expected that IBM and Accenture would add 15,000 more offshore India Software Company Jobs by next year-end. According to the AMR Research, the headcount requirement in the US IT sector would grow by 7 lakh workers phased out over the next five years. So, it is clear that since the IT employment in India is also booming, the new jobs created in US would be filled by India itself. Not only that, about 8 lakh jobs would be outsourced to India. Owing to this mass scale outsourcing US is predicted to suffer job losses in the IT sector.

The India Software Industry has brought about a tremendous success for the emerging economy. The software industry is the main component of the Information technology in India. India’s pool of young aged manpower is the key behind this success story. Presently there are more than 500 software firms in the country which shows the monumental advancement that the India Software Industry has experienced.

The Indian Software Industry has grown from a mere US $ 150 million in 1991-92 to a staggering US $ 5.7 billion in 1999-2000. No other Indian industry has performed so well against the global competition. According to statistics, India’s software exports reached total revenues of Rs. 46100 crores. The total share of India’s exports in the global market rose form 4.9 per cent in 1997 to 20.4 percent in 2002-03.

It is expected that the India Software Industry will generate a total employment of around four million people, which accounts for 7 per cent of India’s total GDP, in the year 2008. Today, the Software Industry in India exports software and services to nearly 95 countries around the world. The share of North America (U.S. & Canada) in India’s software exports is about 61 per cent. In 1999-2000, more than one third of Fortune 500 companies outsourced their software requirements to India.

The Government has also played a vital role in the development of the India Software Industry. In 1986, the Indian government announced a new software policy which was designed to serve as a catalyst for the software industry. This was followed in 1988 with the World Market Policy and the establishment of the Software Technology Parks of India (STP) scheme. In addition, to attract foreign direct investment, the Indian Government permitted foreign equity of up to 100 percent and duty free import on all inputs and products.

The software industry being the main component of the IT Industry in India has also helped the IT sector in India to grow at a good pace. As per the proceedings taking place in the software industry the future of the India Software Industry looks promising.

In the present scenario most of the countries over the world have relied upon Indian software company and firms or Software Companies for the software development activities, as the country possesses a global competency in the IT sector.

The Software development company India comprises of businesses related to the production and maintenance of computer software. The roots of the Software Industry India lies in the IT phenomenon. Services regarding software such as training, consulting and maintenance are a part of this ever-growing industry. The Software companies is witnessing a rapid growth and offers lucrative job opportunities making IT a premium career option for the youth. Infact it is one of the fastest growing sector of Indian industry.

India is emerging as a Global IT superpower. The success can be attributed to factor advantage of high quality of software human resources. The Software Industry has succeeded in converting this comparative advantage to increasing exports. More and more companies are receiving the ISO 9000 certification and the day is not far when India will have the highest number of ISO 9000 companies in the world.

Indian Software Industry is estimated to be worth USD 1.2 billion. Unfortunately the growth has been limited to a few cities around Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Noida.

One problem that software companies in India are facing is that of outflow of IT professionals. This can be looked into by ensuring the conditions for investment and growth in the industry are safeguarded by political stability.

Wipro, HCL, Tata Consultancy Services, Satyam computer Services, CMC, IBM etc are some of the major Software development and software consulting firms or companies in India.

Employment background checks are becoming common these days. The reasons for this include the fact that negligent hiring lawsuits that result from the actions of an errant employee can damage a company’s credibility and lead to healthy fines; companies have become more selective in their choice of employees following the threat of terrorist acts; accepting a resume at face value has resulted in many companies wasting money and time due to frequent hire-and-fire situations.

Also, more Employment Agencies are now conducting employee background checks as information from databases all over the world is available online. Employers are not fully bound to conduct an employment background check in all cases; however, federal and country’s laws make employment background checks compulsory for jobs that require interacting with children, the infirm, and the aged.

Information that can be included in an employment background check includes driving records, criminal records, details of past employments, military records, educational records, character references, and drug test records. However, background check companies that provide information to employers have to abide by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) which regulates the type and amount of information that an external Employment Agency can provide to an employer.

Bankruptcies that are more than 7 years old as well as civil suits and records of arrest more than 5 years old cannot be reported. FCRA regulations vary with the country areas and agencies that carry out an employment background check need to ensure that they comply with the state regulations.

Employment background checks can be conducted by Employment Agencies in-house or can be outsourced to third parties that may include private but legal investigators, H.R firms that screen all applicants and data brokers who are established online. Outsourcing an employment background check has its advantages but if a third-party is conducting a background check, consent from the applicant is required and under FCRA rules the applicant should be provided with a copy of the all investigations.

If the employment background check is conducted in-house, the employer is not bound to obtain the applicant’s consent or apprise him/her in detail of the reason for rejecting his application.

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is essential to all walks of life. Computers are becoming more and more common, and the internet is the most popular by-product of the turn of the century.

The ICT industry in Pakistan has boomed as a result of its cost-effectiveness and the multiple benefits it provides. Computers have bridged gaps across the world, and retrieving information round the clock is now possible. Information can be stored in great amounts in a variety of storage space options. Networking has enabled information sharing within offices, resulting in seamless integration, and the cost of maintenance is very minimal. The digital world is very structured and organized, and allows multiple accesses.

Policy makers have tried to assess the industry’s impact on the economy, but are still exploring the full extent of its influence on economic growth, especially in developing countries that it has so widely diffused itself in. This is mainly because of the training in skill people require in order to operate computers, and also because joining the technology forces has resulted in a lower number of man power required. Overall, the ICT industry has benefited Pakistan in multiple ways, allowing its population to rank amongst the first world countries in this industry.