SEMINAR - 'CAREER IN TELECOM'

I attended a seminar today morning and it was all about 'Career in Telecom'. The guest speakers were the representatives from 5 different companies (Fujitsu, MCI, Nortel Networks, SBC Telecom and Texas Instruments). It was an informative session where each of them talked briefly about how they managed to go up their career ladder and spoke a few words about their company. The colloquium was primarily dominated by question-answer session and it was indeed very informative... The answers given by these people in the I.T/Telecom industry clarified most of the doubts that had been lingering in my mind for a long time. Well... I shall briefly write abt a few good qts and the corresponding answers given by the guests.

What do the employers look in a person (applicant) for recruitment?

In addition to the necessary technical and marketable skills that most of the applicants possess, we would look out for leadership qualities, ability to work in teams, communication skills and the enthusiasm in the applicant. These were the qualities stressed on by all the 5 guest speakers. (Well... I would like to add on to the list a few more that I learnt from other seminars. They include the ability to make quick & right decisions and willingness to learn more. These are in addition to the work experience in the related field, which forms a major factor for recruitment.)

What are the opportunities to Freshers in a sloppy economy and a hard-to-find job-scenario like the one we have now?
The opportunities to fresh graduate passed-out students is very meek. (I was surprised to hear such frank and explicit opinions...)

What to focus on...? Whether to be a jack of all trades in order to have a broader scope for job [OR] be an expert in few specific trades and try chances with a limited scope for a job?
Be an expert in specific field of your interest and have knowledge on (i.e be good at) all the related ones to that field. For example, a programmer may be an expert in all flavors of Java, however he must be good at programming in C,C++, .NET C#, etc... This may increase his job opportunities and may also enhance his chances to get high in his specialized field of work.

Do the companies prefer not to opt for a H1-B visa applicant...?
With off-shoring being the practice, intake of new passed-out international graduate students under H1-B visa is not prefered by most companies in today's job-market scenario. So, it is becomming very hard for international students to find a job and eventually a career in US soon after completing their education.

Outsourcing - What is the future?
Off-shoring and Outsourcing will carry on and will infact increase in the upcoming years. This will further damage the job-market scenario in USA. The companies have been attracted to get on to off-shoring in order to cut down costs and increase productivity around the globe. I also learnt that Nortel Networks were running at loss for the past 6 years earlier to the year 2003. It was only in 2003 that they saw profits, and hence they celebrated by giving away bonus and hike in salary to its employees. This was possible only becos of off-sourcing. So... its very clear that more companies will follow the same strategy (out-sourcing and off-shoring) to make profits.

M.S vs M.B.A... Which is better? Do we need to take up both degrees to get high on career ladder?
It is the self-interest and personal choice that should guide the person on which path to take. But, getting a dual degree is obviously an asset to your career.

Well... There are many more questions, but only the ones above caught my attention...