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The game plan to picking your first job well shared by India′s top recruiter T Muralidharan.

 

As a columnist for a national daily T Muralidharan, a first generation entrepreneur who established the TMI Group, among the top recruiting firms in India, says he is often faced with the same question: "This is my educational background, what job should I opt for?"

 

"What most people don′t get is that education needn′t determine your aptitude. I am a classical example. I studied chemical engineering at IIT and then did my MBA from IIM, only to head a recruiting firm," he adds. Nobody, he feels, can prescribe what the right job for you is."It is based entirely on your personality."

 

 

In his new book An Expert′s Guide to Your Right First Job, published by Rupa India, Muralidharan also tells first-time job seekers and how to pick their first right job (FRJ).

 

"The herd mentality often leads people to picking the jobs and salaries their peers bag. However, many people quit these high-paying jobs within two years because those were not the right jobs for them," he says.

 

Several factors go into picking the right job the first time round.We pick up pointers from the book:

 

Study the job description 

 

Ask yourself a very important question--`How well can I do this job?′ Only if you are able to perform at or above your employer′s expectations can you retain the job and flourish in it.

 

The job description helps you answer this question: `Can I do this job with enthusiasm and very well every day?′ If your honest answer to the above question is, `No, I can′t′, then you should not apply for the job

 

Your five RFJ targets 

 

Meeting each of the following five targets impacts your success in a job, and your career progression thereafter. These targets are:

1. Finding the right job role,

2. in the right industry,

3. with the right employer,

4. at the right level, and

5. in the right city.

 

Money matters 

 

Don′t panic just because your RFJ salary is not enough. The RFJ that may come to you may not always give you the lifestyle that you desire.Then what do you do? You may have many commitments that you made in your personal life, so how do you manage all your commitments? The best option to improve your lifestyle is to improve your skills-set, get more incentives and become more productive. But do not change jobs just because you want a better salary.

 

Stay in the job for longer 

 

If you want to succeed in life, the basic rule is to stay in your right first job for a long term. By that, I mean, eight to ten years for non IT and five years for IT. According to our research, many CEOs acquired their position by spending long years in their RFJ. If you stick in the RFJ for a longer period, your career will pickup momentum and put you on the right trajectory.

 

Know your personality 

 

According to research by John Holland and others, each personality is made up of six personality dimensions--Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Artistic (A), Social (S), Enterprising (E), and Conventional (C) --RIASEC, in short. Though elaborated further in the next chapter, I would like to touch upon them briefly here.

 

Realistic people are more practical who like to invest their time working with tangible things like machines, tools, etc.

 

Investigative people are more into problem solving or analytical work. They enjoy intellectual work like studying science or solving maths problems.

 

Artistic people love creative arts like dance, music, painting, etc.They are very expressive and original.

 

Social people have a helpful nature and are people-oriented.They have a very friendly and empathetic nature.

 

Enterprising people are more `selling′ type personalities, very persuasive in nature. They are ambitious people with a never-say-die attitude.

 

Conventional people are very organized and systematic. They like discipline and following standard rules or procedures.

 

Expect challenges 

 

Your first job is the foundation of your career, and hence, expect it to be the `toughest′. Super career performers always succeed because their first job was demanding and challenging. You are also young and energetic, and hence, you can put in extra-long hours at work. You are also expected to do many things at the same time (multi-tasking). Once you succeed at your first tough job, all subsequent jobs appear to be easy.

 

Don′t expect mentoring 

 

The employer and your boss have many more things to do than `managing′ you. You have to function on your own and take the initiative.Don′t hang around in the corner and wait for people to invite you to participate. Very few organizations `mentor′ fresh employees; for example, the Big Five consulting companies have a `mentor′ for every fresh employee. But this is very rare and a huge bonus.

 

The first employer 

 

Choose the first employer who offers moderate (medium) compensation, but provides excellent (high) exit value because of the training and learning opportunities and growth prospects within the company; has a very professional work culture (high on work culture dimension); does not guarantee a job for life but insists on performance to retain the job (medium on job security dimension).

 

Research your employer 

 

There is no simple or easy way to find out the full truth. To begin with, you must expect the employer to tell you only what the employer wants you to know. So the truth has to be found out by researching talking to people.

 

- Search on Google News--all the press coverage about the employer will be there in the Google News section.

 

- Talk to recruitment consultants, who keep tabs on employers and have reliable and correct information--provided you are able to extract it from them.

 

- Talk to college alumni--your college alumni (your seniors) may know someone working in that company.

 

- Talk to employees or exemployees. Find out a way to reach an employee/ex-employee of the company--some relative of yours may know them.

 

- Study the leadership team profile. If the leadership team has a highly qualified and professional background, it is a good indicator.

 

- Ask for feedback about the company--on social websites like LinkedIn or community websites.

 

- Read business newspapers and business magazines regularly.

 

Excerpted with permission from An Expert′s Guide To The Right First Job, by Rupa Publications India