A memorable job experience

My memorable Work Experience



I will never get a festival to celebrate in this job. Holidays seem like a misnomer in this 24-by-7

work profile. We work six days a week only a day off in the week and there are no leaves for

national holidays. It is because we manage a network and services, which are critical for

customers, and they cannot tolerate downtimes. We get compensated with a shift allowance,

which we are told is like a bonus, though it seems like an excuse to justify our petty salaries as

engineers.

I returned from engineering studies in June of 2000 and start to get restless about getting a

relevant job. I am nervous with the technical interviews as I have no experience and no idea

what they expect from fresh graduates. I took a Cisco certification, to learn how do they run

networks over the internet. Co-incidentally and surprisingly, as soon as I pass my exam, I get a

call for the interview. I go excitedly, with some nervousness, doing whatever research I can

about this newly launched firm in India.

My interviewer is the General Manager of the Technical operations, who looks strict and

increases my anxiety with his stern appearance. He grills me on engineering basics, rejects all

my answers further enveloping me into a circle of doubt on my knowledge level, and finally

forwards me to his subordinate for another round of interview. That turns out to be a piece of

cake as he sounds more considerate to my being a novice. I get selected and am asked to start

work the next day.

We are asked to start learning as we handle technical problems, making me realise there would

be no induction training. The supervisor briefs us over shift rotation in our working hours to

prepare us for the weekly juggle. We will work in rotations of mornings, evenings and nights

with a day off after six days. Morover, at times of catastrophies, engineers can be contacted at

any hour of the day and might even be asked to return to office.

Our workplace is spread one level below the ground, isolating us from the turmoils going on

outside, transmitting us in between a jungle of servers, wires and technology. We start the day

with chaos and end it with a never ending commotion. We have to keep learning, do repetitive

tasks, keep monitoring to ensure we are never offline. You also need to realise, its a team work

and how well you go with your colleagues, will make or break your day.

We service dial up internet access, as well as leased lines for corporate customers. We need to

administer unix servers, routers, switches and all internetworking gear. We run network pipes

cris crossing the city from all telephone exchanges, letting users dial a phone number to ring one

of our bank of modems at our data centre and get internet access. Those who want more

bandwidth, run dedicated leased lines to our center, and we manage, control and monitor them.

On technical problems, we also have to make visits to customer sites, to troubleshoot network

problems. Gradually, we also start to cater wireless bridges and access points, as a cost effective

option, for distantly located offices.

An essay i wrote describing a family photo

Its a hot Sunday morning and my father is full of energy and vigor for his precious
holiday; the day he can relax with his family and immerse himself into the world politics.
This picture expresses his warmth, his love and affection for me and my sister, his proud
possessions. He has just finished with his favorite morning passion, shaving , upon which he spends
almost two hours on holidays. He is forced to restrict himself to half an hour on weekdays due to
office rush. He has an inexpensive pair of spectacles since he keeps breaking them, and thoughtfully
decided on having multiple cheap ones, rather than one expensive. His jaw bone below the chin shows
an indentation, distinctly visible on his face. As I recall from a description from him, it was a
childhood accident when he fell from a wall during renovation work at the home. Kids are used to
having fun and carelessness creeps in the form of unexpected accidents. He had to go for an
emergency surgery which resulted in the loss of the bone below the chin. He also got an impact on his
eye weakening his far-sight and restricting him to glasses at an early age. It caused him terrible pain in
intaking food for a long time due to the unsatisfactory nature of the surgery in the poor post-
independence era in rural India. He could not speak much and eat enough resulting in a low body
weight and inadequate strength for sports. He confined most of his time to books and extensive reading
to pursue his academic vision. He later excelled in science and became the first student in the whole
district to acquire a Doctoral degree in Physics.
On his right arm is my sister, naughty as she looks with those mischievous eyes, and fond of
that torn dilapidated old stole of our mother, which she delightfully adorns despite our mother's
countless urges to discard. On my father's left arm is me, dried eyes of tears, after being teased and
beaten by my sister. She overpowers me for being younger and she teases me for being so dark
compared to her white complexion. To avoid any further contemplation, our father has to break in to
settle the perennial dispute. Mom is busy preparing the morning breakfast, or rather brunch and does
not like to be bothered with us. The picture is missing our elder sister, who due to her age has become
serious and composed. This photograph also exhibits the changing times when the younger ones grab
the attention what the elder enjoyed individually, for being the single point of affection and center of
attraction. She starts missing the child in her due to the obvious responsibility of being the eldest and
tries to enjoy the atmosphere en wrapped around us.
My dad settles the dispute and also manages to reunite us, for another round of teasing and
quarrel. He prepares the dining area for the brunch while mom starts to serve tea.