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My first job taught me to ask a lot of questions, in a constructive way  (View Comments)

Unnati Narang

Posted On Friday, June 04, 2010 at 06:26:34 PM

Ramesh Loganathan, Managing Director & VP, Products, Progress Software India shares his first job experience

I started working in my first job in February, 1990. After completing my Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering (Control Systems) from Anna University, Guindy, India, I was placed with WTI advanced technologies. It was a joint venture between the Tatas and Indus. The focus was on industrial process control. As one of the trainee engineers, I underwent training for almost six months in this emerging field. Unlike other engineering jobs, this was a more specific domain. I received Rs. 3200 per month as my first stipend.

Critical challenges

The whole business model of process control and automation was still new and emerging in the software space. We were unaware of the macro business challenges. In hindsight, I feel that for the company the key challenge was to offshore their work. The major work was in the engineering space where we had to be more involved. We were hoping to get critical projects but could not secure many of them and ended up getting non process-control work. The company, overtime, became like any other software company. I worked there for a year and a half, after which I switched.

Key Lessons

For the company, this business was an experiment by an NRI who started it. The best part was there were many good people to work with. We were a team of fresh graduates and the fun element at work remained. I had the experience of a lifetime and I continue to recreate that fun element wherever I go, even today. My first job taught me that it is very important to enjoy what you do. There should be no Monday morning blues or Saturday evening excitement. It should be a balance. Though professionally, I picked up more of my fundamentals in my second job, these initial years did provide me a fulfilling experience. I learnt how the industry worked, how projects were sourced. Soon the focus turned towards a staffing exercise wherein we would serve clients directly. As an engineering student, we knew very little about the real nitty gritties of work. This, my first job, justly provided. 

Test of time

What has stood the test of time and remained with me since my first job is the learning that it is very important to have a smart peer group. Hiring people who are smarter than you is the mantra for organisational growth. It is rather motivating. I had a very bubbly and vibrant peer group. It made the job all the more interesting.

My first job taught me to ask a lot of questions, in a constructive way. Even today, when I work on new proposals, new ideas and initiatives, I remember to end it with a list of questions that must be answered before moving further. Knowing the questions that you need to find answers to is half the job done!

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