Bangalore: Career change is the toughest and most difficult decision for a professional which was addressed by the Career Workshop and Job Fair organized by siliconindia on November 19, 2011. It saw the Human Resources heads of various IT companies share their experience on how to utilize talent in a right way to glide through the career journey. 3

The speakers shared their experience on what facilitated them to become established corporate leaders. They addressed the issued faced while moving across various careers, so as to ensure that the attendees make their next move perfectly.

The event took off with a session on "How to make a successful career change?" by Sanjeev Sehgal, SGM-HR Strategy and Operations, Target India, who focused on how to prepare for a change, the various career stages, and how to create value. Seghal said that people who make career choices just for a prestigious title end up disappointed as that change would not give them the inner satisfaction that they crave for from a job. Rather concentrate on an organization with which you agree on certain values, as that would help you enjoy your work.

Latha R, Talent Acquisition Leader, IBM, talked about her journey into IBM from being rejected twice, and how she saw an opportunity in an unknown territory (Credit control). She says that becoming comfortable is the signal to move on and do something different as that would help you explore more prospects. Her journey across various departments-finance, sales, products, to talent acquisition-saw her challenging herself at each step, and how the trust she had in herself made her shine. Her story is also of importance to how a woman can succeed in her professional and personal lives with ease.

Sanjay Shelvankar, CEO, Scalene Works, beautifully brought about the difference between the changes in a job and a career. People change their jobs for money, location; but the change in career happens when they decide to challenge their limits. The most important aspect for any change is self-assessment, which can be done by answering few questions: What is important for you? What is your personality type? What are your skills? These questions will answer which role is the best suited for an individual. Once an individual has decided to make a career jump, he or she has to make a metric, which spans across the type of company, nature of business, the role, and the location, which will narrow down the options, which would make the decision-making process easier.

The next session was on "Career opportunities in Singapore" by Ho Ee Hong, Area Director, Contact Singapore, who talked about the basic information any person new to Singapore would be looking for like the cost of living, the blooming industries, and the culture. Hong talked about various ways a professional can visit Singapore-after getting a job, in search for employment, and for setting up a business-the liberal policies of the government when it comes to taxes and the ease of setting up a company make Singapore a place of opportunities galore.

The last session on "How to make a successful Transition-From Techie to Manager", was kick started by Sheela KL, Head of HR, Collabera, who talked about the various challenges that await en route the transition. In order to become a manager, a techie should be aware of the life of a manager and be prepared to face the resistance from the team. Patience and resilience are the key traits which would ensure a smooth transition.

Bhushan Madapura Sathya Nag, Head, Unisys University, felt that techies are the most important component of any organization, as they bring the business. Bhushan talked about the various ways a techie can become a leader techie--be a techie himself, be in the team of techies, encourage other techies to work on your team, manage a team of techies, develop a team of techies, and develop an organization of techies. Successful companies like Apple, Microsoft came to the fore as they built a strong team of techies, who gave in their best to take the companies to the position they are at now.

Praveen Parameshwaran, Head-Offshore sourcing, UST Global, talked about how he found his calling in the technological space. His presentation at one event on the various network topologies, gave him an opportunity to partner with Indian Aluminum Company, to give insight to the senior level managers on the transition to the power of computers. This made him realize that it is tough to convince people with a preset notion, and the life of a manager is not an easy task--not only do they have to absorb the reason for the change, they also have to make their team understand and get them convinced about any trending topics in the company. Though the change from a techie to manager is inevitable, it depends on the person on how he makes himself prepared to face the challenges ahead.

The hiring companies included Esko artwork, Calibrainz, Netweb Technologies, VMoksha, and Newgen.