Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extent they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those languages, or we remain mute. And The Smart Techie is the last to remain mute to changing technology. To celebrate that great, growling engine of change – technology, The Smart Techie conducted a career workshop and job fair on the theme ‘Changing Technology Landscape & its Impact on Career’ on April 22 at Bangalore. Close to 350 attendees participated in the event. 15 companies participated in the fair. The companies that had put up booths to recruit had one thing to say - they laid their hands on talented professionals in one stroke without the humdrum of going through thousands of applications which otherwise lands at their office.

The attendees benefited from the keynote address given by Dr. Santanu Paul, General Manager, Hyderabad Advanced Technology Center, Virtusa India on ‘New IT & Me’. Paul spoke about how to balance static and dynamic patterns for sure-shot success. The left-brain static patterns were self-discipline and structured thinking to analyze problems in a predictable way.

The right-brain dynamic pattern – creativity is essential to make things work without defined plans. Hence an organization, which is chaotic, radical, experimental and innovative, is a fun place to work for. An organization where many things are changing and many things are stable is sure to grow. He believes that career success is enabled if you start doing work nobody has asked you to do else you are just performing a job. Paul felt his career was a collection of experiences and that one should revise his or her worldview every three years.

The three panels held were on ‘Software Development’, ‘HR do’s and don’ts’ and ‘Trends in Chip Development’.

What are the new trends and technologies coming up in software development were deliberated upon. Effect of open source movement on software development, future of software product development in India and what do companies look for when hiring experienced software developers were discussed. The panel addressed by Mrityunjay Kumar, Director QA, SumTotal Systems; Gururaj Rao, Practice Lead, Technology Solutions Group, FCG Software; Anil Singaraju, Director, Curam Software and Milind Parvatikar, Senior Manager - Software Engineering, IMSG, EMC gave software developers, QA specialists, and managers something to think about.

The panelists advised professionals to have customer focus, figure out the bigger impact of your work and think out of the box. The new opportunities in software development were said to exist in web design outsourcing, IT outsourcing and application architecture. Software services in India are now more focused towards solutions and SoA (Service Oriented Architecture).HR managers like Ranu Gupta, Director - HR & Applied Global Universiry, Applied Materials and Vinod Mankala, HR Manager, Cisco Systems (India) shared what impressed them the most and what they disliked in a candidate while recruiting. They broadcasted their strategies to finding the right talent.

They also discussed their experience in evaluation, training and remuneration. Venkat Rajaraman, Sr Director - ASIC Engineering, PMP Group, Portal Player and Senthil Kumar, General Manager, Sandisk India spoke on the semiconductor industry’s advances in India and chip technology gains at the global level. All the proceedings left the audience wanting for more. The Smart Techie promises something more exciting the next time around which is not too far away. Watch this space!