How to land in a dream Job.

 

 I am a great believer in "Project-based learning". 

Or what is popularly known as 70:20:10 learning.

Also labeled as "ALP - Action learning projects" or "Hands-on" Learning. 

The majority of learning comes from "Doing" or by "Dirtying one's hand". 

Here is an illustration. 

I was talking to an MBA 2nd year student. Almost all of her classmates are struggling to find a suitable job and blaming the whole environment for their struggles. But she landed a suitable job. The icing on the cake is - this is the kind of profile she was eager to join!

With curiosity, I probed - what she did in the last year!

1. Took up a course in Social Media Marketing at a not-so-well-known institute. 

2. Took up a google course in digital marketing.

3. Completed five internships. One full-time and the other "on-demand" shorter in the off period.

All in the area of social media/digital marketing. First, two bullet points are added to a knowledge bucket, while 3rd a skill bucket. (Three buckets are KSA -Knowledge, skills, attitude - backbone of competency) 

No wonder, her passion, and experience paid off.

It would have certainly made her shine in the fresher's resumes & interviews. 

I think a couple of things can ensure, that she can go places, and her career is on a fast track.

1) She shall consider the next couple of years as an "OJT" - on-the-job training and keep a learning attitude.

2) Read regularly, which can be as little as 15 to 20 minutes (1% of the day) daily on digital marketing. Even this little time will be equivalent to 5 to 6 books in a year. It's a power of habit and compound effect. 

3) Find a mentor in social media marketing and digital marketing. 20% of the 70:20:10 formula comes from a good mentor. 

This particular strategy is excellent for getting any job or even in career change efforts too. 

(Sometime back I wrote an answer on Quora for this and got sizeable views in HR community. Here is a brief...)

1. Every job has 3 to 5 core competencies. Identify the key competencies required for your target job. Any HR professional or faculty shall be able to help you with this. Informational interviews will also help. 

2. You can work systematically to develop these competencies. Take the help of mentors/teachers and design ALP - Action learning projects for "hands-on" practice of those competencies. 70% part of the work!

3. Find a mentor for that particular competency or project. Get his mentoring. 20% part of the work! 

4. Read books, and take classes for theory. Participate in discussion forums etc. This is a 10% part of the work!

5. Repeat the cycle for the next competency. 

Though there is no hard-n-fast rule or laws/theories there, you will be able to grasp one competency in 4 to 6 months of period (Mastering will take longer). Thus 3 competencies over a year-n-half or two. 

A period that overlaps your MBA journey. And you will have decent preparation for an intern or fresher interview. 

The presence of projects and keywords will make your resume sail through search strings and short-listing. 

Action learning will make you super-confident in the selection process, which mostly consists of interviews. 

Certain way to a dream job !

(I have worked with a few students and professionals and will be more than happy to help!)

[Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Job-1.jpg]

Why did I decide to read/Study Gita?

 

                                               (Image Source: Google). 

For long BhagVadGita proved to be elusive.

1.       When I was in college, my mother – a typical housewife, who wouldn’t read much – learned Gita by heart. She used to attend “Swadhyay Parivar” and she learned to Chant Gita. She never learned Sanskrit neither I saw her reading any Gita commentary.  I tried to learn but in vain. It made me curious how come?

2.       Unfamiliarity with Sanskrit – also kept me away from Gita. When I used to see others Chanting or reading or speaking on Gita authoritatively, I was amused. It made me curious how come?

3.       Often saw quotes/comments by eminent people on Gita. I read APJ Kalam, our past president mentioned he used to read, whenever he was in Dilemma. It made me curious – how such a scientific and modern bent of mind found solace in Gita.

4.       As a part of my doctoral journey, I did a seminar course on Karma Yoga. (Today I find it funny😀 ). And in hindsight, I can see that it was superficial. I did all the work – without even touching Gita. Karma Yoga is a core of the Gita (At least as presented in GitaRahasya by Bal Gangadhar Tilak). And It's laughable that I tried Karma Yoga without reading Gita. It made me further curious – to read in the original what's said about Karma Yoga in Gita.

5.       Last year I read a colossal biography of Mahatma Gandhi by Ram Guha (close to 1600 pages). Gandhiji gave a lot of credit to Gita. He called it "Eternal Mother" and "Spiritual reference book". I am curious – what made him call Gita so?

6.       Recently I was at a friend's place and he spoke about Vinoba Bhave and how his lectures on Gita delivered in prison were written down by another stalwart Sane Guruji. Vinoba Bhave called the book – Geetai. And translated it into lyrical Marathi.

7.       How these towering personalities – credit their strength to Gita. I am curious about it.

8.       I often face dilemmas even in mundane issues. And curious will Gita help me overcome it? 

Particularly in the light of what Mahatma Said, 

"

I confess to you that, when doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I run to the Bhagavad Gita and find a verse to comfort me, and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow.”

I think I kept it away for too long. No more. I know unfamiliarity with Sanskrit should not be a reason to shun Gita. So this year, Gita is on the anvil.

I decided to read Gita in English this year.

Have gathered a few like minded friends, who will support in this endeavour. 

will keep posting as I travel along. 

A Year of Gita: Self-Study Group

 

(Image: Sourced from Google Search).

I was planning to study Gita from Gita Jayanti on 3^rd Dec 2022

(Details in the previous blog post here: http://hr-universe.blogspot.com/2022/10/studying-gita-step-by-step.html).  

We faced some difficulties, hence we re-planned everything and we are starting on 1^st January 2023.

One reason, things starting on 1^st January has a positive effect on aspirational behavior. There is some research-based evidence from social science for that- called the "Fresh Start Effect". (Or  Check here -  https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1901 )

 

Another big reason is – it's Kalp-Taru day on 1^st January and divine blessings are certain.

 

 We have gathered a small serious group of readers to accompany/support each other.

 We have simplified things.

1.       We will follow Chinmaya Mission Syllabus. 

       This is available here.

2.       Essentially, we will study one lesson from this syllabus over 15 days. 

       There will be 30 lessons. However, feel free to read at your own pace. 

       We may post a prompt once a fortnight for discussion. You may go faster or slower as you wish.

3.       However please respond to the discussion prompt once over a fortnight

4.       Read from the book of your choice. I am thinking of following two books after some deliberations.

a.       Universal Message of Bhagavat-Gita – By Swami Ranganathananda – 3 Volumes (Amazon link, however, you can buy from Center of Ramkrishna Math)

b.       Holy Gita – By Swami Chinmayananda

5.       You do need not to join Chinmaya Mission Course for taking part in the group. (I have joined the course. And anyone can join. It's possible to get financial support in case you need it. The online portal has audio, and video lessons along with text-based pdf. And a dedicated discussion group is also available with the portal.)

6.       This fortnightly lesson is approximately 15 to 20 pages. It's possible to read the lesson in 15 days.

7.       If feasible, this course’s fortnightly lessons (Only PDF) will be posted for reading.   

8.       WhatsApp group will have messages only related to Bhagavad-Gita. Other posts are barred. 

9.       If time permits, we may plan some meetings/gatherings or talks.

10.   We wish to restrict the group to sincere and serious readers. 

       Few more attractions are in pipeline, but will be declared once finalized. 

      Let's celebrate the year as a Gita-Study-Year!