Posted on: 01-12-04 12:39:53
I have always noticed Desi in Ottawa comes out with some real practical tips for success. I totally agree “Soft” skills are very important and no matter what “manners” we are taught back home, We Indian Lack soft skills. More so when we believe in rich and poor our attitude towards are subordinates are totally different back home (look down) and that cannot continue in Canada.
Some people on this forum are confusing community service and other stuff to “Soft” skills.
cher
If you looks at it that way, Soft Skills are a must anywhere you go.
And any part of life. Yes Internet forums too...
If you have the jobs and the supply of Labor is low then all these issues go to the backburner.
If a company needs 10 people and has only 10 people (5 with Good soft skills and 5 with not so good) to fill up the vacancies then Do you think its going to wait till the next 5 people with the right soft skills show up? Or take all 10 of them?
If it has less than 10 people, then it might actually take up people with not so good technical and soft skills and maybe train them.
That is IF the company wants to get the work done and not leave the vancancy as it is. It seems like canadian companies might be willing to do just this.
If there were far more than 10 people applying for that job,
then all these factors come into play.
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very good post.
Quote:
Orginally posted by ccherryl
I have always noticed Desi in Ottawa comes out with some real practical tips for success. I totally agree “Soft” skills are very important and no matter what “manners” we are taught back home, We Indian Lack soft skills. More so when we believe in rich and poor our attitude towards are subordinates are totally different back home (look down) and that cannot continue in Canada.
Some people on this forum are confusing community service and other stuff to “Soft” skills.
cher
The question is not whether soft skills are important or not - no doubt they are. The point in question is whether or not we are taught soft skills in India. My contention is that we are - all our lives, and those people who do aquire those skills do climb the ladder and go higher than the ones who do not. That is the same case here in the west. However, human being sometimes tend to realise the importance of a word or action only when in foreign surroundings. I will try to explain this with a very crude example:
There is a joke in India why the words But and Put pronounced in different manner - I am sure you can understand what I am trying to say - we realise this anomoly only because English is a foreign language.
However what about the Hindi word Kal? It is both yesterday and tomorrow. We do not immediately realise it unless we are sort of teaching some foreigner the Hindi language and he points it out to us.
Similarly, soft skills are taught in India too - but not generally given a name and the importance, though realised by everyone, is not highlighted as is done in HRDC offices and similar situations for new immigrants in Canada, and so some people might feel that it is NOT taught in India.
Chandresh
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Chandresh
Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!
Quote:
Orginally posted by chandresh
Similarly, soft skills are taught in India too - but not generally given a name and the importance, though realised by everyone, is not highlighted as is done in HRDC offices and similar situations for new immigrants in Canada, and so some people might feel that it is NOT taught in India.
Chandresh
Good manners are taught everywhere. Application of the same differs with people like you said. Softskills in context of desis applying for jobs has a different meaning though. Cultural adaptibility plays a big part in this context of softskills & desis. Thats *what I believe* was the essence of DIO's post.As Mercury pointed out(in other words
) these skills may give you a competitive edge in a tough job market. The easiest way to inculcate some of these skills would be to apply 'good manners' on a daily basis...with people you interact with daily...be it store clerks or CEO's.
e.g...a crude one again:
*Most*(and I emphasize...not all) people back home do not have the habit of saying 'thank you' to those who work in stores, peons,maids,waiters,porters etc. Im NOT criticising...just the observation that its a cultural thing. Think of the last waiter who served you in that udupi restaurant in india...did you say 'thank you'?
Once you are in the habit of saying thank you to everyone who serves you...maybe even mean it
(ideally, these should happen simultaneously)heres something about soft skills that I was reading earlier.
http://www.canada.com/search/story.html?id=fb4c24cd-9389-4817-b228-f97ce63409f7
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jake3d hit the mark. Saying Thank You is one of the soft skills we desis need to develop. Forget India, some of the desis here in Ottawa I have dealt with have never said a simple Thank You after getting all the help from me. That hurt me in the beginning, now I dont get bothered any more.
I have dealt with desis from India (wipro, infy, etc) who came over on assignments to work for firms such as Nortel and Alcatel. Most of their behavior is awful. They may know how to write a code. But that's the only skill they got. After all, the firms need to make money on them. Would they teach soft skills? I doubt it.
Again, let me emphasize. The job market during the late 90's for the IT is not the same anymore. There is more supply of IT workers than the demand. To provide employment to the laid off workers, Federal govt. had to step in and hire a lot of these IT people. During the boom period, IT firms in Canada and USA hired left and right without giving any thought about the future and the qualifications of the candidates. I have come across desis who took 2-3 courses and landed with telecom firms (now they are gone, that's a different story). Some of them moved back to India since they could not get a job in Canada. The situation is very slowly improving, but there is enough supply of IT workers. Now immigrating desis will be competing with locals to get the first job and then move up.
I know I am blunt, but want to give a realistic picture as much as possible without sugar coating the situation.
DIO
Quote:
Orginally posted by desi in ottawa
Again, let me emphasize. The job market during the late 90's for the IT is not the same anymore. There is more supply of IT workers than the demand. To provide employment to the laid off workers, Federal govt. had to step in and hire a lot of these IT people. During the boom period, IT firms in Canada and USA hired left and right without giving any thought about the future and the qualifications of the candidates. I have come across desis who took 2-3 courses and landed with telecom firms (now they are gone, that's a different story). Some of them moved back to India since they could not get a job in Canada. The situation is very slowly improving, but there is enough supply of IT workers. Now immigrating desis will be competing with locals to get the first job and then move up.
DIO
Do you think the Job shortage (non blue collar) in Canada is limited to the IT sector?
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