Water water everywhere, not a drop to drink

For the past six months, whenever you open the job opportunity section of the local classified, you get the feeling that mechanical engineering is the field to opt as a career, for every second job is for it. and yet, engineers like me have been waiting in the wings for this very period to get a job.

Is it a paradox? Not really. There are a few very valid reasons for it. First of all, I'm not looking for just any job, but THE job. Now that takes some doing, especially since Pakistani recruiters (most of them) look solely at your division and average, avoiding everything else on the resume. My division is as good as it gets, but the average is nothing to write home about.

Secondly, a good job in the Pakistani market means almost always a position in a multinational company. The local industry boys are themselves to blame for this perception. The only real exception that I know of which isn't subjected to this 'prejudice', is Engro. However, most people are not aware of the fact that even Engro was once a multi-national (back in 1965), owned 75% by Esso (now Exxon). After spending a good 20-25 years building up the reputation of Engro, they finally called it quits in 1991, selling it to the employees of Engro itself. These few chosen ones now make up its Board Of Directors, plus a few outsiders as well, namely Mr. Muhammad Ali, who has done his MBA from Karachi University fairly recently, and is also the CEO of Inbox Business Technologies, a fast growing computer hardware vendor.

Finally, the last factor is that most of the companies require experienced engineers; very few opt to try new hands. So we being new in the market, have no experience and hence less opportunities. Most of the guys have gone the apparently sensible way of getting whatever job they are offered, be it a nobody offering literally peanuts for salary. Their motto is to get the required 3-5 years experience which is the least requirement for most of the jobs as soon as possible. On the face of it, it’s a very logical and sensible way of going about building your career.

I on the other hand, cater to a different school of thought. Get yourself geared up to meet the challenges on the horizon. Be prepared for the future before it hits you head on. And I can assure you only a handful of people subscribe to this approach.
The thing is, most of the engineers coming out of NED (or any other engineering institute in Pakistan for that matter) are extremely crude. You’ll say that’s to be expected from a new grad, and I don’t disagree with you. When it comes to operating machinery, I may be the crudest of them all. But that’s not what I’m talking about. By crude I mean a lot of other things. Firstly, these people don’t know the first thing about how to present themselves in front of the prospective employer, let alone tackling his volley of shots and impressing him. For instance, once I saw a friend of mine going for an interview in a half-sleeve shirt! Let alone a suit or even a tie, this guy doesn’t even bother donning a full sleeve shirt. If that was not enough, he wasn’t wearing a vest, and his whole shirt was drenched in sweat. And this was even before he had left for the interview, what the hell was he going to look like when he reached there? But the most preposterous thing for me was that he went in a bus! Everyone knows the dilapidated state our public transport is in. Once you board one of the buses, 9 out of 10 times you’re going to reach your destination in a dilapidated state yourself, with the clothes all crumpled up. It’s always better to either take your car or a cab when going for an interview. At least you’ll still be in the conditions you left home in. It’s more costly, but then you have to invest all that you can to get it. As the saying goes; to have what you never had, you must do what you have never done.

You never know. It may make all the difference between getting the desired job and losing it.
Clothes are a mere formality, but they do matter just the same. Every single tutorial on getting a job emphasizes on the need to be properly dressed. A tie is a must, a complete suit, all the better. But for some inexplicable reason it has got into the heads of most of the prospective engineers that since it is a mechanical job (read ‘getting all dirty’ job), you can just walk in wearing casual clothing. I’ll leave this debate up to you people.

Secondly, they don’t know about the world around them the inside scoop of the industry, who’s making strides, who’s going down the drain. You’ve got to know what the industry is up to, and how the world events are going to affect it. For instance, the free trade agreement which is going to come into effect from 1st January 2005. How’s that going to bear on the domestic market.

And lastly they are unable to speak or write English properly, which is a crucial point in the Pakistani market. The multi-nationals especially, consider this a very important factor, even when they are recruiting just engineers who mostly likely are not going to represent the company. Like most of the third world countries, here in Pakistan as well, a person not able to speak or write proper English is considered an illiterate. It’s the same discrimination as in Have and have-nots. And it’s no more evident than in the job-market.

A few months back I myself was as naïve as the next person. But I’ve come a long way since then. That does not mean I’m an epitome of finesse. The main point is that I have identified my shortcomings and limitations and am trying to cope with them. I tell you, that takes some doing. So while I wait for a job where I can showcase my talent, I’m grooming myself day in and day out, reading newspaper, biographies, autobiographies, anything I can lay my hands on. Knowledge is power, they say; and I intend to grasp as much of it as possible. But the job I’m going to most likely land will have to be that of strenuous physical exertion. So I’m trying to prepare for that as well; strength training and aerobic exercises on alternate days, as recommended by most fitness experts. And to go with that, I’m reading the autobiography of Muhammad Ali, just to keep myself motivated enough for the physical routine.

You have to be mentally tough as well to ward off the criticism of family and friends regarding why you’re not vying for a small job while waiting for the big one. It’s hard to get your viewpoint across to people who don’t cater to your school of thought or even aspirations. My ambition is simple enough. I want to save my energy and enthusiasm, with which everyone approaches the first job, for the job which I can truly relish. Most of my friends who are working in undesirable jobs are already burned out. They have entered the practical (read callous) stage of their life where one just dredges through life. I for one don’t want to dampen my enthusiasm by giving my all to some scumbag company. I want to peak at the right time and the right place. This simple desire is hard to fathom for my near and dear ones. It’s very idealistic, one may argue, but if you want to get ahead in life, you have to start off by reaching for the stars. If you don’t get them, at least you’ll still end up with something worth having.
I have kept my ambitions and goals simple, realistic and crystal clear. I don’t want to beat about the bush. My five-year plan is to earn a position in a growth-oriented company where I can actively participate in the advancement of that entity. I don’t want to stay dormant. My 10-year old maybe a bit over the moon; I want to become rich, powerful and influential. I want to be able to influence the masses. And for that, the foremost thing is an impeccable reputation for them to trust you. No one trusts politicians so that’s a definite no for me. I want to carve out my own niche. Bus itna sa Khwab hai.

I want to end this post with the following saying which should clear any doubts you may still have with my game plan:

“Success is what happens when preparation meets with opportunity.”