And Vijay Says…

One of the most common questions I get from my younger colleagues and mentees is about the value of college education in pursuing an IT career .

In my early 20s, I had one big regret – I did not go to a big name US college to get a degree . My engineering and MBA degrees were from University of Kerala in India . A lot of my friends did take their degrees – some times a second degree even – from reputed US schools . I had some kind of an inferiority complex about that when I started out – but I got over it at some point soon.

Education in India is not as expensive as it is in the US . Four years of engineering college and two years of MBA together cost about $5K including food, travel, hostel and so on . My parents picked up that tab and within my first year of getting a job, I repaid them (They didn’t ask for it ). I got my first job from my MBA campus – and became a consultant in Tata Consultancy Services .

I have always been startled to see how much of a burden the students who take degrees from US carried on their backs as student loans . Most of them have at least $30K loans after under grad and many have $100K+ loans after MBA from a good school . There are very few who get full scholarships and even fewer cases where parents pay for education like back in India in my college days . It takes a very heavy toll on these kids to repay those loans .

To begin with – I never quite understood the rationale behind taking a big loan for a liberal arts degree , especially out of state , given the low demand in employment market . But then – people are free to take their decisions and live with the consequences . I have occasionally seen liberal arts graduates transition into fields like IT later in life , and some are great entrepreneurs . So probably there is a way to make it work .

Which leads me to think – is there a real value in a college degree anymore ?

Sure there is the fun aspect of hanging out with other students and the drinking games and so on . But that fun is negated by the first few years after college with a loan to repay . It can be argued that such fun could be had slightly later in life when you earn a salary or make money from a business .

Looking back – college did not teach me much . My first job was as a programmer – my mechanical engineering classes and financial management classes did not help me directly in writing C and ABAP code . Sure there were occasional indirect benefits like understanding finance theory helping write better code for financial users etc . But there were programmers without that background who also were able to learn it on the job .

Did my MBA help much ? Maybe it did later in my career – after I had a few promotions etc . MBA certainly did not directly help me get any of my promotions either . It is possible that if I took an MBA half way through my career , instead of getting it at the beginning – it would have helped more . But I also think that my career would not have progressed as fast as it did if I took a two year break in between at middle management levels to go back to school . So if I could go back in time – I would have not done my MBA and instead would have started working full time two years sooner .

Without a doubt – everything that helps me in my career today are things that real projects and real customers have taught me . Neither my engineering school nor B school gave me skills to even write a good status report at work .

I probably would still have done my engineering college if I could time travel back to 90s – but that is not because the course work helped me , but only because a 4 year engineering degree was minimal requirement to get a good entry level IT job back in 90s in India . That is not the case today – I have seen plenty of people who can code well get very good jobs without any formal education .

Talking about India in particular – thee is something rather stupid about hiring policies . If IT demand is so high and every branch of engineering sends its grads to IT jobs for the most part, why do they keep churning out as many mechanical and civil and electrical engineers instead of computer science engineers ? Why doesn’t demand and supply match ? It’s a lot less expensive to set up a computer lab than the type of labs traditional engineering needs . And why is it that there is demand mostly for engineers ? Why can’t commerce grads and economics grads learn to code like mechanical engineers do in the first year of their jobs ? I hope the scene has changed in India . Oh before I leave the specific topic of IT in India – why on earth do employees of some companies have to wear a tie to work every day in the hot and humid weather ? Their counterparts in other countries rarely wear a tie and most customers don’t wear a tie . What exactly is the point that their employers are trying to make ?

With broadband access not being an issue unlike when I was in college – there are a lot more options to get a degree at a lower cost today , if getting a degree is a big deal for you .

So is there any reason at all to go to college that I consider a positive ?

There are two –
1. The network you build . The relationships you establish at college will open doors for you for the rest of your life . That alone might make it worthwhile to bear the burden of a hefty college loan . But remember – that network needs work to build and sustain . Just being in a college doesn’t always lead to a good network .

2. Getting the first corporate job . There are plenty of companies who think a college campus is a great place to find entry level talent . So if you choose to go to college – it would help to put the energy into doing everything that would attract the employers who hire from there . This also means that if no one is hiring from there – spend the loan money at another college .

I am not basing this on my own case either – I am also thinking about my experience hiring people over the years . While I admit that a big name college on a CV catches my attention when I do my preliminary reviews – I have never given it a lot of weightage in my final hiring decisions . I put more trust in what they have done in their last jobs and how well their references check out . As far as I can remember , no employer has asked me about my degree or college after my first job interview .

There are always exceptions to all this stuff – but for the most part , I think your chances of getting a break in IT is higher if you do roughly the following

1. Learn to code the soonest you can ( I am partial to C and C++ – but more modern languages might work well too )

2. If coding is not your thing – learn something else around computers like networking . Or get a non IT job and come back to IT as a domain expert .

3. If you don’t have someone like your parents picking up the tab and still want to do college really bad – go In-state and try to do everything to maximize your employability in your first job ( ideally STEM, good grades , side projects etc)

4. Once you code well, get your presence felt in open source communities . Contribute code – and choose a license that works in your interests .

5. The moment you get your first job – do all you can to increase skill levels and start aiming for next level . Get a mentor or two the soonest you can – without that it is hard to know what “next level” even means . Every chance you get , do non-IT things like sales and presales and so on . Breadth matters as much if not more than depth.

6. Learn about how companies are formed and decide if you want to start your own at some point . If you have money to spare for an MBA – consider investing it first in your own venture , or in someone else’s before giving it to a business school . If you make it to the top few B schools – by all means go for it and it will probably help you . But for everything else – think really hard before spending that money .

PS : When I chose mechanical engineering to graduate in , the ONLY reason was that my dad was a mechanical engineer . If you go to college, and need to take a loan to do so – I really hope you have a better reason .

PPS : Unlike my dad who is a terrific engineer , I did not pick up any useful skills in my engineering college . I did pass in the top % of my class though . However , I am proud that one of my class mates from school is a lead engineer for India’s successful Mars Mission . Moral – it is a great university that I went to , I just did not choose my major wisely . I hope you folks choose more wisely .

I am in NY this week on vacation with family – except for one day that I had to show up at work to host the CEO of a partner company .

Modi , India’s Prime Minister, was in NY when I landed here . And he was literally the talk of the town . I have lived in US for quite a few years and have practically never noticed when an Indian leader has landed here . Modi was on his campaigning best – everyone noticed , whether it is the Manhattan Cabbies or the CEO I met . And they are all his fans . I did not expect that in the least .

There was the unfortunate incident of Rajdeep Sardesai being pushed around and heckled outside the garden . Then I saw another video of Sardesai pushing a guy in the crowd as the beginning of the fight that ens . Either way -manhandling is a poor way to settle differences . What was interesting is there was hardly any support for the journalist other than a few fellow journalists . Modi fans are everywhere !

Modi no doubt is a top notch politician and a gifted speaker . But I also think that a good part of this grand welcome was that the decade long UPA rule have driven a lot of people nuts . Their craving for solid leadership is what Modi is delivering now through words and I hope that will turn into action .

I won’t hold my breath on Modi changing much in Washington . And to a large degree , that doesn’t matter . If he captured the imagination of the business leaders in NY – that is more than sufficient . Politicians eventually need the business behind them – and will actively support Modi if American businesses believe in his reform agenda .

Another category of people Modi seems to have impressed is the NRI population in US – who are generally affluent and can make tangible investments in India . I really hope that NRIs step up and form an organized VC/Angel culture in India to back the Desi companies .

Then there is Jayalalitha , who had to go to jail and resign her CM job in Tamilnadu . I did not expect this to happen at all . She might still win her appeal and go back to work as CM . What worried me is the sheer number of suicides in TN , people resorting to violence on the streets and film stars protesting her conviction and sentencing . On one hand – rule of law prevailed and the other hand a large section of people believe she is above law . It was also weird to see the new cabinet swear in with tears in their eyes and photos of Jayalalitha held by them . Who are they pledging allegiance to ? The people of TN or their convicted leader ? I admire the loyalty – but I do worry if the state will get into a lame duck mode of governance till she comes out of jail .

And finally there is the case of the poor Indian boxer Sarita Devi . I am seriously outraged by what happened in Asiad semi finals . I am less worried about the host country being favored by the judges – I just can’t figure out what the officials in indian delegation were thinking about not supporting Sarita’s appeal . It’s despicable that the poor lady had to borrow money from others to file the appeal . Modi talked a good game on empowering women – now it is time to walk the talk . I am waiting to see him fire the officials who didn’t support Sarita . Such a huge shame .

Between the news on Modi, Jaya and Saritha in matter of three days – it amazes me how much India has changed , and how much India refuses to change . It’s such a fine balance between hope and despair .

I just finished a long call with an old buddy who just finished selecting a team for his new startup and it stirred a lot of thoughts in my mind that I thought I will share in this post .

Our experiences dictate our “gut” feelings , and it’s those feelings that help us interpret the data available to make a decision . When a decision is taken at the highest levels of an organization – it needs to be balanced against many dimensions .

Most executives grow up in one area for their entire career till they get to the top management . By that time they are totally set in their ways and would have learned to optimize heavily along one or two dimensions .

Let’s say hypothetically a “make or buy or partner” proposal comes up before the CEO and staff . Head of engineering firmly believes that no one can build with same quality as in house team . Head of BD believe it is cheaper and faster to get it done by a partner . Head of sales thinks he can sell better via direct sales than via indirect channels . Head of services doesn’t think it is wise to do this at all since her team does not have skills on that area . CFO just wants to know what is the cheapest way to do it . Head of HR is worried about burn out of developers if we do this in-house .

So how does a decision get made ? Usually one of the following happens

1. CEO listens to everyone and makes a decision since no one option has enough support from most of staff
2. A large degree of trust exists within exec team and a collective consensus decision gets made
3. A majority opinion forms and CEO agrees to it
4. No decision gets made and issue lingers for a long time

These are normal decisions and pretty much any option above works out ok . The key word here is “ok” – as opposed to “great”. Why doesn’t “great” happen ? Because individual executives very rarely have the breadth in proportion to the depth of their experience that aids a better decision .

Except in really large companies – or for a small time in the early days of a really small start up , people grow up as specialists . By the time they need generalist skills – they are set in their ways and they can’t afford to make mistakes and learn from it .

Individual brilliance can over come this to a large extent – but it has its obvious limitations . But I think there is a way to over come this problem – start rotating high potential employees really early in their careers .

I have seen IBM and GE do this effectively for upper management . Another company that I have seen do this effectively is Lam Research – where it is not just upper management employees that get this benefit . I think they all reap the benefits in spades .

This realization came rather late in life for me . I was fortunate to have had a relatively successful time fast tracking through the partner track in consulting . A mentor in IBM suggested to me that I should do some non SAP gigs in consulting and I did that kicking and screaming – and it opened my eyes to the world of possibilities that only happens when one sees a problem with fresh eyes .

From then on , I moved to presales and sales with a lot of ease . I grew up hating sales (cool developers hate sales peeps as a norm , And I definitely counted myself as a cool developer) – but I smashed my quota every year at IBM since the time I had a quota on my head . Why ? I think (in hindsight) because neither me nor my customers felt that I was “selling” – I was just “consulting” and to my luck , they saw value in my advice and usually agreed to invest in my ideas . It all worked out well for me – But it wasn’t some grand ore planned strategy , and that first step was REALLY hard !

Since then I have made it a point to gain more breadth in my career . I did a stint in engineering at SAP and now I run channels at MongoDB. It is a constant learning experience – and my own deficiency in marketing and product management skills dawn on me every day . On the other hand – my background in direct sales , presales, consulting and engineering help me a lot in being effective in my current job . And I have the best channels team working with me !

Bottom line – I should have started a lot sooner in my life to branch out and try other things , but I am glad I started it at some point even if it was late . I am also thankful that every time I have made a case to someone in my management to give me a shot at trying something new , they have been supportive .

With this realization , my outlook for my team changed quite a bit too . Over the last few years – I have actively sought out opportunities outside my team for my best performers , even if it meant my headcount and budget had to be sacrificed . It hasn’t always worked – but is has worked out well more times than not . When I hire – I do give due weightage to candidates with breadth of experience . I intend to carry on doing that for rest of my career .

One other learning was that not everyone likes to go broad – and some prefer to go deep . That should be respected by managers. Deep has its benefits too – especially in some jobs like finance and engineering . But even in those jobs , a little bit of variety won’t hurt .

For me – without my mentor pushing me into it – I would have never gone out of my comfort zone on my own . And the way he put it to me was to try it as an experiment for a while and to go back to SAP consulting if it didn’t work out . It is important for leaders to provide a little bit of a safety net before you push your team members into new things . Your network is your safety net – and the last best time to start was in college , and if you did not do that – the next best time is today .