Renovating career from Developement to management

[mara thamizhan]

Dear all,
I'm currently working as a software engineer in a reputed CMM-Level5 company in Bangalore.
My total industrial experience as a software developer counts to 7 months.
( Totally premature... i accept)
I've done my BE with Computer majors & i've got 3 sun certifications & OCA in my kit.
My hard-skills are in Java,Servlets,JSP,JSF,Hibernate,EJB,C,C++ & proficient in Oracle and MYSQL databases.
Also i've good working experience in BIRT Reporting tool,Maven,SVN & Eclipse.
I've been working in healthcare domain for sometime from now .
Regarding my softskills i do have good communication skills, passion to speak, ability to convince people
with confidence,ability to understand people & their words, good interpersonal skills, to say the least i'm a
good team-man.
3 years down the line i.e around 2011 i want to shift to managerial job.
Reasons:

My core values are focussed on
1) Understanding business & the people who run it & how the game of money works
2) Getting recognition
3) Ability to manage people & get around with them to achieve results.
I do believe we can achieve more with co-operation than confrontation.

4) Desire to travel a lot & have friends with diversified cultural background rather than sticking
to a place with job
5) Have sufficient time to raise my kids & spend with family,friends & do what I like to do like playing cricket

6) to spend more on charities & donations.

7) I do want to learn quicker & make some decent money so that i neednot work after retirement(45 years)

I personally favour more management kind of job rather than core technical job, where we need to focus
more on the technical side rather on the humane side.

Also for my long-term goals & vision,much of the management skills like communication,marketing,
inter-personal skills, man-management & time-management skills will be very much needed .

To summarize ,I want to do MBA in marketing
as it naturally suits my interests,values & which can help me in my long-term goals & in reaching
my vision

Plan1:
I'm planning to take up a correspondence course in MBA-Marketing(aided by my current company) from any institute or symbiosis just for
certificate sake & meantime take up any part-time job in sales dept( to work on weekends) in my current company if they assign
me any.

Gain:
My educational expenses are beared by the company,while i'll get the experience in sales dept as well
as in my core-technical job.

Plan2:
If they didnot give any part-time job , just i'll wait for the time to come, m'wile working in this
company for 2 years after which i'll decide accordingly.

Plan3:
If company didnot even provide any financial assistance, then i need to arrange it on my own & i'll
stick with this position for another 2 years & then i'll decide accordingly.

Enquired Institutes:
Azhagappa university : part-time MBA

4 semesters : 4*8,000==> 32,000
Exam fees : 4* 1,500 ==>06,000
Contingency expenses: ==>10,000

So, i'll get the degree with less than 50,000.

Is my strategy right ?

Has anyone renovated their career from IT developer to Sales .
What are the hurdles one needs to jump in this transformation?
Please share your experience & ideas.

Regards.

[arulk pillai]

Looks good. Get ready to promote your soft skills. Do you have a marketing plan?

[mara thamizhan]

what do you mean by marketing plan?
Is it about marketing myself in the jobmarket or what?
Also i'm little skeptical about whether my company would sponsor for my part-time MBA as normally they would sponsor a geek only for long-term basis not on short-term basis so that he can serve the company for long time.
Has anyone came across this transformation?
Also what are the major traits needed for sales people in this industry?
what are the opportunities, breaks & cons in this job?

[Tamas Jano]

You seem a pretty taught guy...I didn't want to post but what the heck.
For me you seem to be the guy stuck in the corporate environment and aiming to climb the hierarchy ladder. The catch here is...what if the ladder is leaned to the wrong wall and spent all the time climbing to realize that you're not where you thought you'll be.
Just remember that your 7 months old experience might be deceptive so I would suggest to keep an open mind and learn more how the world works instead of how the "successful" companies work.
There are so many opportunities in the world (where no MBA or experience count just the action of the moment and your unexplored skills and courage).
I found the big companies becoming boring after some time and it's easy to slip into boredom for big money and hard to get out...
Don't plan so strictly ahead...just outline your future and always seek opportunities...maybe you will discover what you really like.
If you love what you're doing you are in an envied situation and your plan seems pretty good. Seek challenges not titles and don't be afraid to change if you think you stalled. Careful with small print if the company is paying.

Good luck!

[mara thamizhan]

"Just remember that your 7 months old experience might be deceptive so I would suggest
to keep an open mind and learn more how the world works instead of how the "successful" companies work."

I've told clearly that i accept the fact that my industrial experience is very less, but
i'm not going to renovate my career for now, it will take another 2 or 3 years.
So at the time of my MBA graduation i would have got 2 or 3 years industrial experience.

"For me you seem to be the guy stuck in the corporate environment and aiming to climb the
hierarchy ladder. The catch here is...what if the ladder is leaned to the wrong wall and
spent all the time climbing to realize that you're not where you thought you'll be."

I want to pursue MBA not to climb up the corporate ladder but to buy the ladder.
Main reason is the art of managing suits my interests, values & will help me in my
long term goals & in realising my vision.

I assure that climbing up the corporate ladder is not my major motivation behind this decision.

"Careful with small print if the company is paying."

what do you mean?

[Tamas Jano]

You made some good points there. Great to know you've realised what you want and in that case you should pursue your dreams no matter what.

Originally posted by arr gem:

what do you mean?

The small print in the contract...one of my friend's cousin accepted a scholarship to study at Oxford and in return he has to work 10 years!!! for the company who sponsored him or buy himself out which is 50.000 Pounds (100.000 USD) which is a considerable amount even for well paid guys in the UK not to mention in Sri Lanka where he will have to work for the 10 years after graduation.
These kind of contracts and small prints I am referring to, when a company gives something that means it takes something too. They don't do charity.
However...he can have exposure to bigger things and taking the opportunity who knows where he could end up.

Maybe I am pretty against corporations and that's why I take this stance...but I found the biggest challenge managing myself and not others on a project. If you're good at managing people and have good soft skills that can be worth way more and lead you to a fulfilling career. I wished for a manager with a developer background...and considering your course the people you will work with will appreciate it.

Just one thing...if change comes...embrace it...don't avoid it.

[Mike Isano]

Originally posted by arr gem:

1) Understanding business & the people who run it & how the game of money works
2) Getting recognition
3) Ability to manage people & get around with them to achieve results.
I do believe we can achieve more with co-operation than confrontation.

4) Desire to travel a lot & have friends with diversified cultural background rather than sticking
to a place with job
5) Have sufficient time to raise my kids & spend with family,friends & do what I like to do like playing cricket

6) to spend more on charities & donations.

7) I do want to learn quicker & make some decent money so that i neednot work after retirement(45 years)

I don't like reasons 5,6, and 7. These reasons are assuming you make more money and work less as a manager. More money and less work are what everyone wants.

I don't like reason 2. That means the workers are not getting recognized or are recieving disproportionately low levels of recognition compared to managers. If there is a worker/manager recognition imbalance, are you willing to unfairly benefit from it?



I like reason 3.

[mara thamizhan]

"More money and less work are what everyone wants."

Yes. That's what everybody wants but the probability of getting it is more in these job.
Also in my long-term i'm planning to start a training institute on a large-scale basis in which apart
from my technical acumen more managerial knowledge would be needed.

"I don't like reason 2. That means the workers are not getting recognized or are recieving
disproportionately low levels of recognition compared to managers. "

"For a hand burn you don't need a microscope to find it out" Likewise it's quite known that
the major part of the recognition or rewards for the project implementation goes to the project
managers who contribute little in the zone.

"If there is a worker/manager recognition imbalance, are you willing to unfairly benefit from it?"

It's just been in my core value that in whatever job i do i need to get recognition.
If i do get recognized then it means that i'm doing the job well.
Since i want to get the feeler that i would do well in sales, i'm dreaming of getting recognition
in that line.

Also any one from sales who has renovated his career from IT background please reply for this:

"Also what are the major traits needed for sales people in this industry?
what are the opportunities, breaks & cons in this job?
What helps in succeeding in top level in this job"

[Chen Venkat]

In India Parttime MBA doesnt count that much especially when you are competing with guys from top colleges like IIM's... I know ppl from ICFAI, SYMBIOSIS etc who had done their part time mba but mostly it is there for namesake only... And I havent heard of Azahagappa university's reputation for parttime mba if you want to climb up the ladder...
The steps in various parts of ladders are held by people with full time mba's that too in top 10 odd colleges... so bigger companies may not even consider value for your mba.. maybe very smaller companies may consider you...in US parttime mba has good value... but thats not the case in India.. Most of my friends are full time mbas from IIMs and US.. so better to write CAT and try to get into a top 10 college...

[Rambo Prasad]

I agree with Chen Venkat..Since you have only 7 months of experience i believe you should be pretty young say 21 or 22 years.Why not try cracking CATand get admission in IIM's or other top b-schools rather than banking on a Alagappa university distance Mba to chase your dream of buying the ladder..There are scores of people who have such paper degrees without any use...But if you believe you can leverage your Alagappa MBA to move in the direction you plan then go ahead..

IMHO a top B-school MBA would help you attain your aspirations faster since you would like to rest and relax after 45..

I want to pursue MBA not to climb up the corporate ladder but to buy the ladder

I am not clear about what you mean by this..?
[ August 25, 2008: Message edited by: Rambo Prasad ]

[mara thamizhan]

In India Parttime MBA doesnt count that much especially when you are competing with guys from top colleges like IIM's... I know ppl from ICFAI, SYMBIOSIS etc who had done their part time mba but mostly it is there for namesake only... And I havent heard of Azahagappa university's reputation for parttime mba if you want to climb up the ladder...

I fully accept the fact that in India part-time MBA doesn't count much,which i've mentioned in my first post .

Plan1:
I'm planning to take up a correspondence course in MBA-Marketing(aided by my current company) from any institute or symbiosis just for
certificate sake & meantime take up any part-time job in sales dept( to work on weekends) in my current company if they assign
me any.

The point others are stressing upon are
1) Since now you are around 22 yrs old why can't you try & write CAT to get into a top B-school in India.

But the major reason i want to move into managerial side is that i want to get some sales or marketing skills,over come my fear of rejection & communicate with ease and confidence with others so that i can master the skill of selling.
Note here that the primary motivation is not money but my desire to learn a skill which will help me in realizing my goals and dreams.

I am not clear about what you mean by this..?
I want to pursue MBA not to climb up the corporate ladder but to buy the ladder

These has also been answered in my last post.

Also in my long-term i'm planning to start a training institute on a large-scale basis in which apart
from my technical acumen more managerial knowledge would be needed.

I don't want to make more money, but money will come as a reward when i do master the skill, also i'll do get recognition in the form of offers from big companies if i prove my worth in the job, afterall what they need is to sell their products or services.
What is the point in having a B-school graduate who is not even able to communicate well who can be replaced by a geek who has proved his worth in sales & has enough experience.
In that situation does the certificate matters?
Take my situation now .
Nowadays once we enter into any company even B.Sc graduates are being offered good jobs, eventhough they're low in number.

So the reasons i'm not in a situation to pursue a course in top B-school is:
1) I'm now 25 yrs young & in line with my long-term goals & financial situations i cannot quit my current job as a software engineer & pursue full-time course in a top B-school in which i'm learning something about technology & getting some project experience which can prove to be valuable in realizing my vision.

2) By my situation & financial status currently i cannot afford to spend my time or money over a Exam (CAT) in which the probability of mine getting into in a good school is very less.
"Experience is a very good teacher & I'm banking on it"
After 3 years i.e. around 2011, i would have got good exposure in technology , project management & also i would have got my part-time MBA(certificate sake).
Using this if i could get into any small company in which I can leverage my technical experience also that would be better for me.
What do you say?

Also the other major questions is not yet answered.

"Also what are the major traits needed for sales people in this industry?
what are the opportunities, breaks & cons in this job?
What helps in succeeding in top level in this job"

Regards.

[mara thamizhan]

Thanks venkat & prasad for your valid inputs regarding your pursuing a MBA course.
I also do want to know about the role of a sales or marketing guy in the industry, their job roles & description, traits they explore in their job, life of a sales geek etc.
Guys from this forum who have got good & bad experience in this please shed some light on this also.

I yesterday got a input from my friend (who works for SAP ) who is pursuing a MBA part-time course in SCM(Supply chain management) from Symbiosis which charges around Rs.25,000 for the whole course.
Does anybody know about the fee structure for MBA marketing part-time from Symbiosis.
Regards.

[Tamas Jano]

Also what are the major traits needed for sales people in this industry?
what are the opportunities, breaks & cons in this job?
What helps in succeeding in top level in this job"

What do you define by recognition?
You could be recognized and rewarded by the board by selling a crappy product and you could have the company at your feet...but what about the client?
Everywhere I worked...the worse the product was the more recognition the sales guy got.
I also know a company who hired 24-29 years old good looking girls to accompany the client as a strategy to save a failing product...with success.

If you steal the fire from the gods the people will love you and the gods will hate you. If you leave it there the gods will love you and the people will hate you. You will be loved and hated...have to choose by whom. (Promehteus)

Those were some attempts to answer to the questions of pro and con of choosing sales over tech.
Unfortunately they are coupled and not a brilliant piece of software can be sold without being exposed. There is no such thing as self-selling software.

I hope you being involved in the tech part as well you will bring balance to the whole situation and will push back when you will have to having or not an MBA. Unfortunately nowadays is all about titles. Fortunately not everywhere...

To succeed...sell yourself first. Try now! No-one will quote your MBA and experience...but your skill. You got the job on merit! You can't learn how to do it...you have to watch others and steal what's good. The one thing you can learn is to read people and approach them accordingly.

What helps in succeeding in top level in this job"

What is you understand as "top level"?
I can say it's all about connections...the more you have the more you sell...I speak from experience here being involved in acquisitions worth hundreds of thousands of $s.
Remember that after all it's all business and be prepared for some really big shocks.

[Billy Tsai]

you shouldn't think about all these complicated things about your future until you have like 10 years experience

[Thamizh Velan]

Originally posted by arr gem:
I yesterday got a input from my friend (who works for SAP ) who is pursuing a MBA part-time course in SCM(Supply chain management) from Symbiosis which charges around Rs.25,000 for the whole course.
Does anybody know about the fee structure for MBA marketing part-time from Symbiosis.
Regards.

check this out: http://www.scdl.net/downloads/ProspectusPages.pdf

This is for CORRESPONDENCE. I aint sure for Part-time. Check www.scdl.net for more details.

Originally posted by arr gem:

Why are you so pissed off? Chill down
[ August 29, 2008: Message edited by: Thamizh Velan ]

[Mark Herschberg]

Originally posted by Billy Tsai:
you shouldn't think about all these complicated things about your future until you have like 10 years experience

I think this is a poor view, you should *always* be thinking about your career plan from day one. If you wait 10 years before you start thinking about it you'll find you've lost some options.

--Mark

[Anshul Kapoor]

If you wish to prepare for CAT Exam, I would recommend starting early. Though 4 months is sufficient for preparation but however CAT Exam tests your concepts hence devoting 8+ months is always a good strategy.