"sometimes"

After arriving in Sydney almost 3.5months back with a bundle of dreams and a mind full of apprehensions, I got a job in a government firm and have been working with them since Nov’16.
This is a short recollection of my journey during the last couple of months.
I am sure many of you reading could relate as you might have experienced similar situations too.

Morning rituals

I stayed in a house shared by 5 people who would leave by 9:30am and I would get up in the morning, have my breakfast and then start my morning ritual which will be the following ones:

- Check Seek & Linkedin websites for open roles in my domain and start applying them and updating my excel sheet during the same time
- Call recruiters before 12pm, as they tend to get busy thereafter and remain unavailable
- Take some rest
- Then repeat the above steps

During this process, I have applied to over 1200+ roles (tracked in my excel file) and couple of 500+ others which I did not update.
I have called/ mailed to recruiters, hiring managers, ex colleagues etc. Some tried to help while others did not reply at all. In some cases strangers tend to me more helpful than people with whom you have shared a meal in office, participated in workshops together etc

“Sometimes: phase”

~ Sometimes you check your Spam folders too, just to ensure that you have not missed any important mail from recruiters or potential hiring managers
~Sometimes when you get to know that a friend got a job, there is a mixed feeling of happiness and jealousy at the same time. You might feel “why not me”?
~ Sometimes you know that your confidence has reached rock bottom, when you check the JD for roles that you did at the beginning of your career or even start applying for them and get rejected thereafter
~Some days are good days, where you get news of forthcoming interviews or hear from recruiters. Often the next day is not a good one, where you hear news of rejections from positions where you have progressed earlier to 2nd and 3rd rounds of interviews. This is mostly without any feedbacks shared with you, so you don’t know the mistakes that you need to work upon.
~However you need to brush these aside as you have an interview to prepare for the the very next day and have to sound 200% positive and motivated.
~Sometimes after giving a good interview you keep on refreshing your mailbox to see if there is any mail from the firm. Or keep your phone charged so as not to miss any call.
~ Sometimes there are some bad days and some very bad days, when you know each mail landing up in your inbox will be one with rejection or regret.
The first rejections hurt a lot, but after sometime, one gets used to it.
I used to smile when I got a rejection mail, update my tracker with the date when I received the rejection and simply drag the mail to the “Aus job” folder in my mailbox and move on.
~ Sometime you may feel like crying..its ok to cry..mature men do cry, but the more important thing is to channelise your energy in positive thoughts and actions. I used to cook, listen to music  or do exercise at home, when feeling down.
~Sometimes it tough to be sane and maintain your balance. I had a great friend and a mentor, some ex - colleagues (more like a family to me) and also made some some exceptional relationship with some recruiters and hiring managers.

“Learning from mistakes” phase

The below experiences helped me realise my mistakes, work on my strengths and to be a better candidate with each passing job interviews.
The last interview I had back in India was in 2005, when I applied for my role in Orange :)

~Face to Face meeting with recruitment firms like Robert Half & Michael Page
~Telephonic first round with Amazon, rejection after almost a month of silence and multiple followups.
~ Informal face to face meetings with hiring managers in Optus & an Airline company
~Group interview Apple retail & 2nd round with HR and experts - Rejection after that
~Online tests for Transport NSW- Rejection thereafter
~Online test for BATA- no news
~ Panel interview (3 managers)- VIC roads- Outcome received that i was made it to final 5 out of 20 applicants but panel found that my response was not appropriate for a situational question related to Research and Analysis. But i scored well on other 5 parameters.
~Panel Interview (2managers)- La Trobe- Rejection after following up for 3 weeks.
~Computer test and personal interview- Tabcorp
~Interview with HR for Program Management role in Zendesk- rejection after 2 weeks
~Face to face interview with hiring manager in University of Sydney for role of Project Office for web transformation project.- rejection as they found a candidate experienced in govt work
~Face to Face Interview with NBN for PM role- rejection the day after.
~Met face to face with recruiters for internship at cafe in Wynyard for a trainee position with a startup. Offers rates were 1/4th of standard daily rates, hence declined.
~ Telephonic interview with the COO of a fintech/ mobile payment company for role of Customer Service Manager-no news thereafter

“Favourite quotations”

* It just takes one person to say YES
* Pride does not pay for your bills

What I didn’t do

- Never act you are desperate, but show that you are motivated and positive
- Never compromised my quality of life, just because i don’t have a job now doesn’t mean that I will not drink my favourite coffee or a beer

At the end of this journey, I am standing an inch taller and I know the “real” me and what I am capable of. I have known “myself” more in these three and half months than I have known “me” for the last 36years.

Trek to Nag Tibba, Feb 2013

Background

We 3 friends decided to go for a short trek for Nag Tibba which is near Mussourie.

Train tickets were booked well in advance to avoid the last minute hassles.

1^st Feb (Friday)

We all packed our bags and left office by afternoon to catch the Delhi Dehradun Jan Shatabdi Express. We reached the station well in time and left Delhi by 3:25pm.

Had a comfortable ride and reached Dehradun at night by 9 pm.Had to wander a little to find a hotel room and settled for a cheap and comfortable one near the Dehradun Railway station.

After having a late dinner and watching some TV retired to bed as we were expected to be at our rendezvous point near Dehradun station the very next day at 6:30am.

2^nd Feb (Saturday)

Got up at 5:15 am, had some tea and biscuits and left for Dehradun station. After reaching the station we could see other trekkers already waiting for us. Our group leader from Indiahikes introduced himself to us. We had to wait a little longer for some members to join in and left Dehradun by 7am. We made our first stop near Mussourie (Kempty Falls) at 9:30 am for a dash of breakfast which included bread toast, omelettes, Maggi and tea.
Finally we reached our destination around noon, a small village called Panthwari from where our trek started. Gajji was our guide for the trek and the below is the first pic captured by Anil.

The path was very steep initially and continued to be the same, thereafter.

Once we were at a descent altitude, it provided a breathtaking view of the valley.

The entire journey was a steep climb with patches on few meters being on levelled ground.

Some of us decided to take a break about 1 hr from the base camp. The snow clad peaks started to get visible from here.

It took us almost 4 hours to reach the top with small breaks for filling our lungs with oxygen. Once you reach the top (Nag Tibba base camp), you cant be more pleased to see that our camps were already ready with sleeping bags and camp mats.

We were greeted with hot tea, coffee, biscuit and snacks courtesy Indiahikes team.

We could also see small patches of snow on the ground.

After taking some pictures, it started getting dark by 5:30 and the bon fire was lit. People started to gather around the bonfire sharing their experiences about their previous treks and how to avoid the attack from a Himalayan Mountain Bear :).

Pre dinner, we savored some lovely soups and our dinner was served by 8:00-8:30 pm.
Temperature was hovering near zero.

Before calling it a day, we were served hot bournvita to keep our-self hydrated and then we entered our camps trying to fit ourselves in the sleeping bags, which I must say, was not easy.

3rd February (Sunday)

After a difficult night sleep, we got up around 6:30 in the morning and were served hot tea and coffee.

The early morning temperature was 0 deg.

And we could see frost on top of our tents, thereby reminding us that the temperature at night might have been well below zero.

After a short course of breakfast, the plan was to target Nag Tibba and reach the summit which would be a steep climb for 2 hours.

I decided to rest at at Base Camp, but our fellow trekkers pushed off. Later did I realize, what I had missed.
Here our some snaps courtesy Anil Suri.

The trekkers came back around noon and we all had lunch together and started for the descend by 2pm. The way down was a little less tiring as more distance could be covered quickly, not without hurting your knee and feet.

Finally, we all were back at Panthwari by 5pm and our bus started the return journey for Dehradun to be back at the railway station by 9pm.

Special thanks to our coordinator Vaibhav and our guide Gajji.

Finally, thanks to the crew from Indiahikes who helped to setting up the camps, managing the cooking and all the logistics. Thanks to them for making these 2 days memorable for all of us.

After a sumptuous dinner, we boarded the New Delhi AC express and retired to our berths to be woken up at 6am the next morning by our fellow train passengers.

Lessons Learned:

1- Even for a short trek, one needs to be prepared physically and mentally
2- There is no substitute for good trekking gears (backpack, footwear, trekking pole, hydration pack etc)
3- Finally, while trekking, please keep yourself hydrated.

Will I be doing trekking again?
The answer is yes, destination still needs to be decided :)

"May the force be with you".

How to get a birth certificate in Gurgaon, online from MCG

There are 2 options of getting a Birth Certificate
1) Digitally Signed
2) Physical birth certificate

For getting a physical copy of the birth certificate for your child, you may visit the MCG office located in Old Gurgaon (Near Civil Lines Hospital).

Else if you are happy with getting a digitally signed copy, you may follow the following steps.

1) Create an account with login id and password on http://www.mcg.gov.in/, as you will need it in later steps.

2) Click on the 3rd option from the left Under 'Citizens Services', which is Birth/Death.


3)Then click on Search Registered Birth Records

4)Type in the Fathers name and perform a search.

5) Once you get the relevant record, click on "SERVICE REQUEST"

6)Verify the details and click on "Select a Service Option" and select 'Request Copies of Birth Certificate".

7)Fill in the details and click on "Digitally Signed".

8) It will ask you to make the payment (Credit Card, Debit Card or Online Banking).

9) Once the payment is made the birth certificate will be send to your registered email id (Step 1)

10) Download the certificate.

11)Click on Validate Signature (at bottom LHS)->Signature Properties->Show Certificate-> Trust->Add to Trusted Identitites-> Ok and now the signature will be validated.

12) Print it and Voila!!!. You are ready to go.

My PMP journey (2009)

Cleared PMP exam yesterday
Hello All,I cleared my PMP exam yesterday. Would like to thank all who have helped me, supported me and encouraged me during the 9 month ordeal.I have immensely benefitted from information shared by other successful PMP's. Hence will also like to share some information about my exam preparation.

Why I wanted to opt for PMP?

I was working closely with PM's in my earlier role (as Service Delivery Manager) and was fascinated by the authority, attention to detail of PM's and always wanted to be a PM.In my present new role (Product Life-cycle Management), I was involved in a lot of mini- projects and I believed that PMI guidelines could be of immense help in executing those projects. Also, because of the present market conditions, I wanted to consolidate, strengthen my present position in my company and to standout from the crowd.

My preparation

Initiation: I started my casual preparation in July' 09 going through the various online trainings available on my company's training portal. This continued till mid Nov'09 when I registered with PMI.I bought the book Andy Crowe- How to Pass the PMP on your first try on 14th Nov'09. This was one of the best decisions that I had taken. Initially I had gone to Landmark Book store to buy Rita Mulcahy, but it was far too costly, so I decided to stick to Andy Book.

Planning: I chalked out a plan of action as follows:

1. Obtain the relevant PDU's from the online courses.
2. Apply with the relevant credentials to PMI
3. Attend for a 4-day PMP bootcamp
4. Schedule exam

Execution: I started going thorough Andy Book from mid Nov till Feb 09. I must say that I was focussed and went through each and every word of the book. The exercises made me analyze the various options before I answered (for the 1st time). Then I purchased the Rita's book on 1st Mar 09 and stared going through it for the 1st time. It was pretty good, but I would certainly score Andy over Rita. I completed my first pass through both the books before my bootcamp classes. I attended the PMTI Bootcamp in Delhi between 23rd April 26th April. It was very well structured and I solved approx 500+ exercises during the 4 day-period.

Monitoring & Control: I had a week's time after my PMP Classes and before my exam date. I intented to attempt as many mock tests as possible and revise the lessons that I had already learned.

My schedule was as follows:

Tue-28th April 09: Revise Rita - (completed), PMBOK- (not completed), PMBOK, Q&A-200 questions (completed)

Wed-29th April09: Revise Andy- (completed), Andy 200 Q&A- (completed)

Thu-30th April 09: Kim Heldman 200Q&A- (partially completed), Mock test from PMStudy-(completed)

Fri-1st May 09: Mock test from Headfirst(completed), Oliver Lehman-75 Q&A- (completed), Delegation by Vijay Verma- (completed)

Sat-2nd May 09: PMTI notes- (completed)

Sun-3rd May 09: PMBOK- chapters 1,2,3, Scope, Risk & Glossary (completed)

Monday-4th May 09: Final revision(completed)

* I had prepared my notes from Andy, Rita which had Input, Tools & Technique and Output (ITO), which I used to revise almost everyday, esp the ITTO's without memorising them.

** Page 70 of PMBOK is very important and I had learnt it by heart. It took me 4-5 minutes to reproduce it and I did the same in my Final exam during the 15 min practise test.

Product Management

Over the past few weeks, trying to set up a target for myself for the first half of 2010. Came to know a global body called PDMA (Product Development and Management Association) which offers a certificate program called NPDP (New Product Development Professional).
My first feeling is that, though the certification is not as intense or widely known or accepted like PMP, however it makes sense to go for it, especially when I am involved in managing the lifecycle of newly launched products.
Some drawback:
1. materials for NPDP are scared and very expensive.2. it does not have a single BOK (Body Of Knowledge), but you need to study atleast 4-5 books, which are available only in international editions.
What next?
I have to draft a tentative study cum certification plan. Start by early April 2010 for my NPDP certification project.
Will keep you posted.