Tip to switch job from US to India

[maha anna]

Hello friends,
Would like to talk to someone about my situation. As always Java Ranch is the best place for me to talk.
I am Maha Anna. Currently working as Java Developer in Raleigh,North Carolina,USA for the past 2 years. I really really like this current work and the team I work with. Our's is a web based application used by more than 50 Hospitals all over US and we use Java,JSP,Servlets,JDBC related technologies. Have SCJP ( 93%) and SCWCD (96%) certifications and have got 'Outstanding' rank in perfomance evaluation for the past 2 years in this current company. Basically all are good here for me.
Due to personal reason our family is thinking of going back to India for good. I would like to know if there are any tips to switch to another job in India before resigning this current job. We will be going back to Chennai ,Tamil Nadu in India. We have been here in USA for past 5 years and I am not sure about the current job market out there in Chennai.
The company I work currenly is an American Company and there is no office in India. I am thinking of asking our company if working over VPN is an option.
I would really appreciate if anybody has any ideas / tips to share.
Thank You.
Regards,
Maha Anna
[ March 11, 2003: Message edited by: maha anna ]

[Derek Grey]

hi there,
If I were you, I would look for a job in a Multinational company in Chennai (like GE).
What if x years later you change your mind and want to move out again??
This way it is a Win-Win situation. Keep your options open.
-ST

[Mark Herschberg]

I don't know much about the Indian hi-tech culture, but my instinct says senior US software developers could probably go to India and do well either as consultants to Indian firms, or as senior engineers/managers of branches of US tech firms, in India.
--Mark

[Manish Hatwalne]

Apply in bigger MNCs and make it a point to let them know that you want to stay in India/Chennai. It happened with my friend recently, she came back from US because she wanted to stay with her family. The company gave her a decent offer and then asked to go to Germany after 1 month!!!
Make it absolutely clear that you want to stay there!
Besides, it is definitely *NOT* certain that if you have worked in US, you can get it easily in good Indian companies, there are far too many talented ppl here with excellent qualifications and experience. Lot of ppl who came from US with similar misconception are jobless here.

Of course, with Maha Anna's caliber I have absolutely no doubt that she'll do well anywhere ... India or US!
- Manish
[ March 12, 2003: Message edited by: Manish Hatwalne ]

[Pradip Bhat]

Congnizant Technologies in Chennai is hiring.I think some java rancher from Cog was here

[maha anna]

Thank you all San, Mark, Manish and Rahul.
Manish,
I take your warning to my heart. Yes I am concerned about the unknown risk. Would like to be informed about the reality and be wise in making any decision. I would like to continue my career without any significant breaks.
I do not mind making a deal to travel out of India during April and May since that's the time my son would get year end school holidays.

I am exploring all options and hope to get a good solution.
Once again, I really appreciate for all your responses and help.
Regards,
Maha Anna

[Karthik Guru]

no worries! If you are good it's not difficult to find a job here.
Infact if u c'd relocate to Bangalore, then you might end up with plenty of options.
if Chennai, you might want to consider Verizon as well.

[Ajith Kallambella]

Hello Maha!
Here are some tips and opinions. I discovered some interesting things when I myself was out of job recently and had a chance to interact with some Indian IT biggies.

IT Market in India is doing much better than the one in the US. The economic recovery in the US will probably result in a spurt of activities in India since many US companies subcontract work to their Indian vendors.

It is always hard to time your relocation to India. The turnaround time from your potential employers can be as big as a month to six weeks. They are slow in making decisions, slow in making offers, and very slow in following up. The fact that you are located on the other side of the world makes it worse. Give yourself plenty of time( about 6 months+ ) for the transition.

It is better to have a few offers just to enable you to pick the best one. This means you will have to throw stones into every bucket possible and attend as many interviews as possible.

Don't just shortlist MNCs, also consider working for successful Indian companies such as Wipro, Satyam and TCS.

It is very hard to negotiate a relocation package when you accept an offer. Most of the companies( even very big MNCs ) will only pickup your tab if you are relocating from one Indian city to another. Very few of them may be willing to pay for your( only your, not your family's ) flight expenses. Don't talk about relocation expenses unless you have to, until the very last stage of negotiations.

Don't be under the impression an Indian job will mean working in India. Most of the companies now do international business which means, you may be sent on overseas assignments for periods which are as long as 6months sometimes. Don't be surprised if they send you to US again for 6 months. This is inevitable and there is no escape from this truth. If that happens, you will have to embrace the fact that you will be away from your family again.

Don't expect to continue in a technical role for a long time, if you join an Indian company. It is very uncommon to see someone with 5+ years of experience doing a technical role. You will very soon be asked to perform managerial functions.

A lot of people are returning to India these days - because of choice or circumstances. Whatever is the reason, do not give an impression that you are desparate or not finding jobs in US.

Many Indian Career sites have company profiles. There are a lot of smaller companies doing very cool stuff. Just yesterday I read an article about an Indian enterpreneur investing $50million in Apar(http://in.news.yahoo.com/030312/43/22471.html). Don't miss out on opportunities by not looking at good candidates such as Apar.

Good luck, and keep us posted of your developments and share your experiences!

[R K Singh]

Hi Maha
This is great to C U.
Market in India is coming up again. But again it is still hard to get good job. (But I am sure, it wont be hard for you [touch wood])
If you apply right now then keep 2-6 months period to get reply.
Best way is to go through consultants.
You can directly apply to the sites also. But I heard that these days people are being taken in either by reference or consultants.
Are you willing to do job in Chinnai only or you can take job also in Bangalore or Hyderabad (as they are near to Chinnai)?

[maha anna]

Thanks a lot Ajith for your thoughtful, informative reply.
Take care.
Regards,
Maha Anna

[maha anna]

Thank you Ravish. Chennai is first preference since it works out good for my husband,my son and myself. Bangalore comes next.
Regards,
Maha

[manasa teja]

Hi Maha, Its really great to see you .. You are inspiration for so many people here.... Every Java ceritified programmer knows you.. you are great...

Don't expect to continue in a technical role for a long time, if you join an Indian company. It is very uncommon to see someone with 5+ years of experience doing a technical role. You will very soon be asked to perform managerial functions.

I think, what Ajit said is perfectly alright. With 5 years of experince, we are expected manage the prjects/modules etc.. The management also will not be very intersting... we will have to do some crap like maintaing weekly /monthly timesheets of teh team, billing calculations.. task allocation etc...
that too, if you are in CMM level 5 company, thats all... We will have to go fo so many audits, quality trainings etc,...
By the time, we learn Java and cross programmer level or so , we are not allowed to go further stages like designer/architect etc...
My suggestion is do not try for TCS/Wipro/satyam etc... For your knowledge, you shoyld be in some MNCs liek Accenture, GE, Verizon, etc...
All the best.. Hope, I can meet you in Chennai and salute to your java knowledge...

[maha anna]

Thank You Ram.
I would be interested in (and have been) in development area. Hope to get one.
Regards,
Maha Anna

[manasa teja]

By the bye, why do you want to come back , when everything is fine with yur job over there.... People here are really dying to go US to earn money ...
Can't this coming back to india be postponed ?

[maha anna]

I really really wish I could be cloned . One to take care of my son's education and growth in India and another to make myself happy. I am struggling between the two. [ We love India and we want our son to grow in Indian cuture. The ideal dream would be to get the kind of work I like and be with family in India and travel when needed for short-term (1 month) in 6 months. It's completely our family's personal preference and this is the main reason for the move. I DO NOT WANT this thread to get side-tracked with any culture arguments. ]
Thanks
Regards,
Maha Anna
[ March 12, 2003: Message edited by: maha anna ]

[maha anna]

I guess, we all ignored the option of working for the same company through DSL and VPN (over internet) from India.
Our current company has VPN already and there are 2 employees working from home for 2 days per week and another working from another state (Pittsburgh,PA) within US.
Anybody has this experiance of working from India over VPN (internet) with a broad band DSL connection from home to ISP? Is it workable solution?. Essentially, I will have a laptop with Jrun installed locally and accessing database located here in USA. Snce I am in development side I will be often accessing data from database for new feature development with GUI work,servlet,jsp(Business Layor) etc.
Thank you all once again.
-Maha
[ March 12, 2003: Message edited by: maha anna ]

[Carlisia Campos]

I would also like to know about working from another country through VPN. Does anybody have any experience with coleagues working in this manner, preferebly from India to answer Maha's question but if not, from anywhere in the world?
And if not, can you especulate as to the probability of an employer allowing this?

Thanks,

[prakash alluri]

Hi Maha (Great inspirer),
Great to share a thought with you. Recently one of my friend who is in US (worked for 3 yrs in US), is currently trying for a position in India.
here is what he did:
1. posted his resume in some Indian jobsites .
2. Directly sent his resume to some big companies in India.
He got a couple of responses(calls from India) as well. But one thing he said to me is, in interviews they asked him from A(a),B(b),C(c) of java to X(x),Y(y)...
I am 150% sure that any kind of technical interview doesnt matter to you (If the other guy got bad day, I know you can screw-up him as well). But be cautions.
So Good luck....I will try to find out more info for you.
Jyothi Prakash.

[maha anna]

Thanks a lot Jyothi. That's comforting and very useful information.
Regards,
Maha Anna

[Ajit Wadekar]

Hello All
Sorry I am reading this post very late. Well I am in the same situation as of Maha Anna. Few months back I decided to go back to India for some family reasons.

I was working for an automobile company in Detroit. Couples of months back I started applying for jobs in India and I got really nice response. I contacted the companies through my friends network in India and monsterindia.com. I feel the placement agengies works really good in India.
This coming Monday I am gonig back to India with 2 decent job offers. Well they havent given me the comfirmation yet but they told me they will hire me if I come back to India.
I also have Interviews lined up with a German Bank.
Lot of Software prefessionals from US are just taking the offers and never joining them in India and using them as back ups till they find the next work in US. Thats why Indian companies only gave me what they call tentative offers.
I dont mind working anywhere in World so I am keen to come back to US for short term assignments.
There is lot of talent in India and Interviews are really different. Not like US. Most of them asked me about the basic Java and some of them Java APIs. So I needed to read the Certification book for couple fo nights.
Overall my experience was really good and I am happy bout it.
I never worked in India before so I am very excited bout it and coming back to US.
Thanks
[ March 12, 2003: Message edited by: Ajit Wadekar ]

[maha anna]

Thank you Ajith.
Did you do the whole interview process over telephone iteslf? Or were you asked to take some online tests etc? Just wanted to know your experience.
Once again Thank You.
Regards,
Maha Anna

[Arjun Shastry]

Questions vary from one company to another.Eventhough you have sufficient experience, one may have to appear for the technical test.Recently I attended an interview in Bangalore.Mainly they ask about your J2EE specialization like servlets/JMS/EJB etc.Also revise your RDBMS fundas(normalization,Trigger/stored procedure/functions with java).UML/Design patterns are becoming necessity eventhough many people hate these foolish nonprogramming stuff.

[Ajith Kallambella]

The interesting( and often intriguing) thing for me is, even if you are being interviewed for a quasi-technical position with managerial duties, they still ask you syntax questions!! Not sure why, but they always do This is so typical of Indian companies. I had this guy ask me to list( yes, list! ) all the methods on ThreadGroup. Bummer!

[Pradip Bhat]

That means that interviewer must be screwing up unsuccessfully with ThreadGroup for a lot of time

[kapil kumar]

Why not try Oracle (hyd/bangalore)

[Monu Sharma]

Hi Maha Anna,
I have been reading ur articles here for quite some time-they were really great. I can make out u r more of techie rather than managerial/co-ordination kind of exp. I'm in B'lore, India and was their in USA for a year or so(fortunately on small B1 trips). I would suggest better to go for a small company(size 100-500)which shud hav good technical guys around, good projects in pipeline and really god environment. They wont be pushing u hard to go to US also. Dont ever join big reputated companies(i hav been their for more than 3 yrs.)-their u 'll find all sort of work-they will make u work on whatever thye want as per their needs and are full of politics where underserving persons grows like anything on the cost of techie guys. Neither these companies pay good amount also. So in the end u r sacrificing on work(poor quality work), good sleep(becoz of all stupid stuff happening their), and money also(as they have to feed 10 guys even when work can be done by 6-7 guys).

[manasa teja]

Monu/Ashuthosh
Have you worked in TCS/Wipro??

[maha anna]

Thank you Monu. I really appreciate all your help. You are correct. I would like to develop for some more time as I find it as a joy. I realized that in small companies we are recognized more than big ones. I keep my options open though.
Thanks.
Regards,
Maha Anna

[Maulin Vasavada]

hi maha ana,
i have nothing to offer other than a luck :-(
i'm myself novice as a developer here in california and i don't know how indian market is but one of my friend who works for Accenture in india was telling me that they were hiring for india - Mumbai. this was just recently so i don't know if they are still open and all you know but as Ajit pointed out that Indian management would be slower in process then you might give it a try.
i know you preferred Chennai but Accenture is a good company i guess.
best luck.
regards
maulin.

[Pradip Bhat]

Maulin is right,I got a call from one recruiter asking whether I have experience with EJB/Servlets with Informix database.That was for Accenture.They are hiring in Bangalore/Mumbai.But one insider told me that many are just sitting in Accenture with little work. .

[manasa teja]

Maha,
Have you found any job here ??
ram

[maha anna]

Ram,
I have not statred the resume posting/ interview process. My company is in the process of allowing me to work from India through VPN and come onsite on a need basis. So I am waiting to hear back from the parent company's HR personal.
Thanks for getting back.
Regards,
Maha Anna

[Amitabh Sharma]

Congratulations Maha Anna. It seems like you got the best of both worlds.
It would be my dream come true if I got that deal.
Why do interviewers in India get so techincal even with experienced developer? After all anyone who has been in the industry for years and has passed degrees, certifications must know what he is doing.
Other than for the purpose of eliminating candidates I doubt if hardcore techincal interviews prove anything. To ask a person to list function of ThreadGroup class is just stupid.

[maha anna]

Hi all,
Thought of writing an update.My company has finished up with the legal decisions with HR. Currently we are trying out different working mode.
Windows XP comes with an inbuilt feature called 'Remote Desktop Connection'. The concept is not new. It's like 'Go to My PC' / 'PCAnywhere' programs. Basically you login to the Remote Machine through internet and get full control of it and other network resources exposed to the remote machine.
My IT department is suggesting this as a working mode to work from India.
I am in USA and have used this feature and worked from home few days using DSL with 350K connection. I did some research about Broad Band conneciton availablity in India and it looks like 350K is not common. DishNet DSL seems to be the major player in this field in Chennai,India.
Win XP's Remote Desktop Connection is basically a screen-scrapping technology. All the programs are run at the Remote machine itself, only the display data and keyboard/mouse (input and output) clicks are transferred back and forth.
Microsoft articles say through this mode we should see the response faster than VPN technologies.
I have used both dialup (48K) and DSL (350K) to work from home using RDC.
Dialup is very slow. I can not use for regular work. With DSL 350K, it's almost feels like me sitting in my office before the machine.
I would appreciate your experiences regarding working remotely especially from India using Broad Band connections.
Thanks,
Take care.
Regards,
Maha Anna

[HS Thomas]

Just chippin' in to wish you all the best. I wish I was that adaptable. Also didn't know about the "have Windows XP ,will/can travel" feature.
That is very useful to know.
Do you have to follow extra security guidelines working this way ?
regards

[maha anna]

Hello Thomas,
Thanks for the wishes. The data sent back and forth is encrypted by the RDC technology. Basically the remote machine which you are going to logon to is configured to allow remote access.
All that we need is a browser at the client side. The Client machine needs to install a small client side RDC program. That's all we need. The OS needs to be Win98 /Win NT/Win XP
My IT department has titened the security so that only requests from my Home Computer's IP address can be allowed to access the RDC.
Thanks
Maha

[HS Thomas]

Maha,
I can just imagine this "ghost" at work with screens and lines of code whizzing by in the main office and the boss keeping an eye on the worker. Or in your case, setting you up as an example. Your reputation precedes you.
regards

[maha anna]

Just to be clear, once you login to the remote machine, no one else can use that machine. No body can see what I am doing. The machine is locked. If someone else try to login to that machine, you will get a message saying, this computer is currently used by "Name of the login"
On the reputation side, I feel honoured and happy with the team and management to make this happen. This is the first time they are doing something like this. (allowing an employee work from India).
Just last week, as a surprice, the CEO gave 'Canopy Excellence Award' for the work I am doing here. They gave a nice certificate and took me for a special lunch. :-)
Thanks
Maha
[ August 14, 2003: Message edited by: maha anna ]

[HS Thomas]

Congratulations. They sound like a great team and management.
Good luck . Hope you get a chance to shunt some work back.
regards

[Asadullah Timiri]

Originally posted by maha anna:
I really really wish I could be cloned . One to take care of my son's education and growth in India and another to make myself happy. I am struggling between the two. [ We love India and we want our son to grow in Indian cuture. The ideal dream would be to get the kind of work I like and be with family in India and travel when needed for short-term (1 month) in 6 months. It's completely our family's personal preference and this is the main reason for the move. I DO NOT WANT this thread to get side-tracked with any culture arguments. ]
Thanks
Regards,
Maha Anna
[ March 12, 2003: Message edited by: maha anna ]

Hi Maha,
It nice to hear that you are doing great!.
A silver lining is finally emerging from behind the dark clouds
of recession! Companies are slowly going into the hiring mode after
nearly two years of frozen recruitment and retrenchments. And
the good news is that this hiring spree is not confined to any
specific sector. It is a boom time for recruitment across
IT industries in India.
Companies like Cognizant,TCS,Satyam,HCL is presently on recruitment spree and they hire most talented Java Professionals. I dont think so that you will find any difficulty in getting the stunning jobs in chennai/bangalore as well. Since you are doing wonderz, I believe, you can get the top post in some good companies very easily.