June 8th, 2014

Do you work for a software company? Do you have your story about First Day at Office to share?  Raise your hands if you are. 

I’m like you. I joined the IT industry 2 years ago with a dream to learn new things, a dream to earn money, a dream to own a car, and a dream to lead a quality life. Looking back, I achieved a few of them. But, the price that I had to pay was HUGE. It is absolutely impossible for me to recoup what I lost. Yes, friends… in a quest to be a successful software engineer, I lost a precious treasure… I lost god’s gift… I lost a crown jewel… Yes… it is nothing but my shiny black hair.

Today, I’m going to share a page from my IT industry experience. 

Getting ready on the first day 

June 8th, 2014 – a memorable day in my life. The day I started to earn my living. I got up very early and started to get ready. Neatly combed hair – yes, I had lots of hair at that time; clean shave; wore neatly ironed formal wear including a tie, and squeezed into my newly bought black shoes. With a pile of certificates and mark sheets in hand, I started walking to the office. 

Dreaming about the office environment 

While walking to the office, I started dreaming about how the office would be – a young lady at the reception with a beautiful smile welcoming me; my HR manager in coat, suit and tie eagerly waiting for my arrival; my team members lined up on both the sides of the walkway and cheerfully clapping their hands and I was walking between them like a hero; my manager standing with a flower bouquet in his hand to receive me.  

Surprise / Shock after reaching the office 

With all these dreams, I reached the office by 8 am and opened the doors of Mercantile Pvt. Ltd. 

What I saw there was shocking. There was a lady near the reception, but with a mopping stick and a bucket full of water cleaning the floor. My HR manager wasn’t there, but an old security guard sleeping at the reception desk. The whole office was empty. Oh! What happened to my team members? Are they hiding in the rooms to give me a surprise? What happened to my manager? Has he gone out to buy a flower bouquet?

With all these thoughts going in my mind, I shook the security guard and woke him up. On seeing me in full formals and tie, he thought I am the CEO of the company. In a shock, he got up and gave me a firm salute. I said, “Sir! I’m a fresher and today is my first working day”. When I told him that, he gave me a very strange look. He looked at me from top to bottom and asked me to sit in the lobby. 

People entering office 

I started to wait for the HR manager. I waited … waited… and waited… Time is now 9 o’clock and I saw the first soul entering the office. He looked as if he just got up from the bed and didn’t even have time to take a bath. His hair was standing stiff with spikes. He was wearing a pant and a T-shirt. I couldn’t understand why he was wearing coolers even when he is inside the building.

Minutes passed… another guy entered the office. He was wearing a tight red T-shirt and jeans pant that was torn all over. My first impression on seeing that guy was… “Maybe he is from a poor family. He doesn’t even have money to buy good clothes”. Later, I was told that it is a fashion to wear tight T-shirts and torn jeans pants.

In the few hours that I waited in the waiting room, I watched nearly 100 people getting into the office. The HR manager came in at 10.30 am and took care of all the formalities.

Lessons / Conclusion 

Friends, I learned 3 lessons in the first few hours of my IT career:

•   Never go early to the office – software engineers start their day at 9:30

•   IT engineers dress up STRANGE – none of them wears formals, none of them wears polished shoes, none of them wears a tie, and above all, none of them even comb their hair. 

•   The IT field is staffed primarily by men; the ratio of male to female software engineers is on the order of 10 to 1. There are a number of good-looking girls. But, pretty much all the guys are average. So, for the girls who want to find a man “The odds are very good, but the goods are odd”

Friends, I lost a few hair strands right on the first day at work – because of the excessive stress caused by waiting. This is just the first page of my IT industry experience. You’ll see many more pages in my subsequent speeches.