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.