Thursday, October 28, 2010

The (un)hapiness of leaving My 1st job

Disclaimer: The below long post/blog is all due to Non availability of Quality work in my current Organisation, So already its -1 for them :)

Date: 28th feb 2007
Time: Sometime around 3 in the night (Technically 1st of March 2007)
Well, here I am standing with a couple of 100 ppl waiting for the result of the Final round of Genpact Campus placement drive.
And then I hear it: RAUNAK..and I am happy...super excited which lasts a couple of microseconds as I hear the last name as Bhasin.
5 Minutes Later: I hear it again, ppl near me are congratulating me, but still I Dont react, Not sure if its the correct one this time, but yes, Raunak Verma it was.

Me happy..as I got selected specially after the he-wont-be able-to-do-anything kind of thinking from everybody arnd me.

Cut to 2003-2007 : Went to college, had loads of back papers, Dint study at all for the first 2 years, and everyone thought ki "ye ladka to bekar hai, kuch nhi kar paega". Mom n dad in tension, Mom wants to come to bpl so that I can stay with her and study well, Romu in tension, calls n tries to motivate me with the general "you have it in you" talks.
Mom's back, I feel at home, suddenly started clearing all papers, got a decent percentage and all. Now the BIG Question, will he get a JOB ??

Back to 1st March early morning 4:00 AM:
Sitting at the back of a bike, going home which is some 20 odd KMS, all the above memories flash thru me, and it brings a smile to my face. My heart thanks everyone who were involved with me during this phase of my mine, and my Mind says See, I told ya, I'll do something good :)
Call up dad, He says its bloody 4 in the morning, who takes interviews at this time. Well I was in no mood to explain the 24X7 working of a IT company at that time. He calls up mom n confirms if I am alright n not Drunk :P
Romu n Swap are in train, coming to bpl, Call them, they dont receive the call, They call me 1st thing in the morning, and I give them this news. People at nana's place...college..happy aashu.jaseem garima..etc are happy, Life's Good :)

Cut to 26th Nov 2007: Day 1 at Genpact. M I Nervous ? No, genrally i dont get those "butterflies in the stomach feeling". Day O was all about coming to Anandam guest house in GGn, meeting new ppl like Shaunakh, Naveen , PJ etc and wondering eveyone is sooo weired except me.

Impressed by the guest house, and specially the Toyota Innova which was sent to pick us up in the morning. Reached Shastri Park office, completed the formalities, induction or NHO as its called in Genpact. Quite amazed n amused the way a huge IT Company works. For everything they have a process:
You need to get your system fixed: Follow Process A
You need to get a CAB: Follow Process B
You need to go to toilet: Follow Process...Aah sry..go straight n left :-D

2-3 days of pure "gyaan" abt the company, And the official training starts. After that we were on bench or "THE Honeymoon Period" as it is fondly called.

18th April 2008: I move to hyderabad for some project. I dont like this city. People dont speak my language, the food is not good, Office not as good as Gurgaon facility, but cant help it.
Anyways, I work on that project for 6 months and again I am in the same Honeymoon Period. Some talks here and there land me in the CIS DBA Team.

Now thats what I wanted. A great team, amazing colleagues, Super duper no-attitude very helpful Lead and what not. Worked for almost 1 year and thats when the 2 year itch started.
No promotion..infrastructure..salary issues etc (Now I feel it was just a phase which almost 70-80% ppl do go through).
Started loking for a better opportunity(read Salary) outside the company. Gave interviews. Meanwhile my current role was getting more and more challenging. I was cribbing about it every other day but immensly enjoyed the work too. Some Calls materialized and some dint. Finally I Picked up one of the best offers, and told my HR's n Leads that I would Like to move on.
Well, the Process started and I was relieved in 3rd week of october.

Day 21st October: Time 4:00 PM
Last day here, and I m nervous. I do have the "butterfiles in stomach vaali condition". I type in my Goodbye mail and send it. To my surprise I do get a lot of replies on it. I am happy that people remember me, and sad that I may miss them !
Go to most of the floors, meet people with whom I have worked, Leads, Ex managers. HR's, AVP's , and friends. And Yes..I could "feel" it.
I dint want to leave now. Now suddnly there were no issues. I dint want a 100% hike in my salary, or an immediate promotion. I just wanted to stay here. Work with people whom I know for almost 2 years. Enjoy the Chai/Pakoda/Dinner sessions with these guys. Crib about the logistics or the salaries again. But No, I was going, just across the road, but still.

Date 28th Oct2010 Time: 6:20 PM

I am here, in my new company, getting a better a package, a better role maybe, but I still dont love this job. I dont have anyone to accompany me in my coffee breaks, I go out for lunch all alone. I dont enjoy the work, the team here.
Maybe this too is just a phase and will pass with time. But still, Its like the 1st Love, no matter how much you love the second one, you just cant get that "feel".

~Ron