My interview with a career advice blog - and "Survive a Year"!

Keeping with my goal of keeping a career advice/suggestions approach to my blog, here is a podcast I did with my friend Kevin Gao over at Management Consulted. Do check out his site and see the pearls of wisdom he has accumulated!

On related news, I was reflecting on my old work colleagues in Houston at my prior employer and where they have all ended up and it's quite tremendous to see the breadth. I'll tell you my old tales over a coffee someday if you ask me nicely =)

Dear existent or virtual readers, a very happy new year to you and I leave you with a gorgeous image my friend Vikram sent me -


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Success factors in the Energy Sector -especially for MBA/Engineers

From my two years in the consulting area for energy, I have occasionally tried to apply my limited experiences to advising fellow students/friends who might have questions/thoughts. While I certainly am no expert, this is better than nothing (assuming it's not nonsense).


The success factors in energy especially at bp/shell/something is a appreciation of learning from a system and understanding nuances and relationships, not being too radical unless necessary -especially being very "outwardly looking" slow or dumb. 


Sometimes, to to a layman, work at BP or Exxon as an engineer or business person is slow and all about risk mitigation and safety while doing your work but its bloody amazing when you step back and see the impact.

Some, myself included, do not (or sometimes did not) always have the patience/dedication to succeed in an environment like that - but for those that do, there is no sector that can appreciate this skill-set more.

To know someone

What is knowing someone?

As I consider how effectively I can tweet, Facebook link and read blogs of people, I have a sense of "knowing" that certainly belies the actual act of getting to know someone. Can I go up to someone I just met a week ago and say "we should go for a Coldplay concert when they come in town cos I know you and I love Coldplay"? I say not - it seems like in today's world, this connection has to still follow the decorum of olden days.

In contrast, I argue that seeing that someone I just met and knowing their interests lets me have a more meaningful conversation vis-a-vis a "get to know you" conversation.
What wikihow tells you is not going to be as effective if you already know a lot from the stalker-esque life.

CIO Hits the nail on the head - that stalking is too bloody easy these days and you got to wonder, how do you develop true depth in a relation/friendship and "know" someone.

Anyhow, the crux of the world today is, there is still a tremendous "creepiness" that comes from knowing a lot about someone from Facebook and to some degree, you still have to develop a slow friendship/communication to make the information something you use.

Thus, go speak, and develop stronger relationships beyond the general tidings about weather and sports and start developing an understanding of people, their mindset and how they actually think.

Career path and confidence

There is little I know about where I want to go in life; but I think not knowing what you want is significantly different from indifference.

Careers are like vines on a wall - each one creeping along and few know where it will end up - what I do know, is that the vine will never stop growing even if I am unsure of the direction.

The biggest life lesson has been, never stop waking up with passion, interest and determination to make a difference. The Dos Equiss ad comes to mind "Stay Thirsty my friends" and I truly believe it.
People laugh at my enthusiasm and my positive almost annoying Cheshire cat-like grin that makes people think I've had it all handed to me - of course not, I worked and fought, failed and succeeded, battled and lost skirmishes, but the impact has got to be positive.

As you embark upon life remember one thing - Are you going to ever lose faith or belief?

Inspirational Truly awesome video

I think this has to be a life lesson more than a career one - but overall, positivity is crucial!
Cheers,
Shreenath

Networking - not-working?

Sorry for the lull - I intend to publish all my "Draft" posts from the past year!
(JAN 2009)
I have been "fortunate" to focus on a good two - three months of targeted career searching, soul-searching and communcations with smart, talented people. The act of "networking" is little more than creating continuous opportunities for symbiotic relationships to form: Think to yourself,

"If I don't speak to him / her I might miss out on an oportuntiy to help them and offer my knowledge, experiences and perhaps help them achieve their dreams and ambition"; Conversely, the same applies to your own goals and ambitions and aspirations. There is no reason to not talk; what is the worst that can happen? They will say no - not that bad an outcome now is it?

Thus, my best self-learning from the last couple of years of work is here.
More learnings and sound-bites to follow!
Shreenath