My Joining Day

Today,I just wanna share about my feelings on the day of my joining of my first job.I am just another guy living around the corner of a street.I come from a middle class family having a service class background,the same class which is now doing wonders in Indian economy.

I too was the part of the mob of 750000 lacs engineers graduating every year out of which  I guess only 60% are able to grab a job in passing year and around 22% take two more years to finally land in a job what happens to rest of them I don't know.

It was in the early months of 2010 when it was announced companies are visiting campus and placements were kicked in.Now if you are not from a premiere institute you can understand what a turmoil happens at the time of placements,the only thing ringing in mind is I need to land in some descent job else this society is gonna kill me and my parents would feel ashamed of me.Now when you are not from a top notch institute you don't have a plethora of companies to choose from rather you go for whatever comes at you, this thing is valid not only for jobs but for every damn thing in 4 years of engineering.When you fight for a intern,when you take part in a competition,when you go for higher degree etc the best portion of the pie always goes to the students who are part of elite institutions who are considered intelligent than others because they had one day of their life going with them and they were able to make it to big names. Though its true students belonging to these college are gems but not every glittering thing is gold.So I too had very few options in terms of companies visiting campus for placement and it's widely known that the campus placements gives you the best chance of landing in a job without much trouble because you need to be a gladiator to fight in open drives and grab the trophy.

So by god's grace I was able to land in a descent job with a MNC with a average type package.Soon my joining was declared and I was posted to Noida.

16th july 2010 my joining date it was 8 AM in the morning I was standing in front of a tall glassy building with a laptop bag on my shoulders,all dressed up in formals,nice combed hairs ,clean shaved & feeling a giggle going in my stomach due to anxiety.I was staring at the beautiful office of the company like a kid even though I had seen that building on google for like 100 times.After muttering up the prayers I silently stepped my first foot into the premises and kicked off my corporate life.I walked into the lobby of the office,as I pushed the door I could witness 60-80 people waiting there for formalities of joining.It was a lavish corridor with sofas and all arrangements but you could hardly find a empty seat or corner there because it was all packed by new joiners or parents.Those who came from a same college formed their group and started chatting about the company ,missing their college life ,their seniors and obviously girls.Some were in the tension that are they making the right decision of joining the company,some were in tension of signing of bond period as they had results of other companies in pipeline.Some were again rechecking their papers regarding joining formalities.Some were busy with parents who were advising them how to live in a corporate life of which I already had a good lesson back at home from my parents.So that leaves few persons like me who were standing in a corner and waiting for the process to begin and observing people.Now being a social animal you cant remain aloof for long so I also tried to get mixed up with some people whom I have never seen after that day.We chatted about all kinds of things and began acquainting with each other.Very soon everyone was part of some or other flock and knowing about whereabouts of other person.

Now you come across very interesting characters at this time,there will be some who will like to brag about their college and great packages other companies offered there but forget that they are destined to work at same place at same package with others and you can just laugh at them in your mind,others will be saying I would have killed myself if I wouldn't have got into this one.Some will say "yaar pata nahi kya soch ke mujhe le liya,maine to interview main kuch bola hi nahi tha" and you can only say "dude you must not be aware of your capabilities"and silently say "idiot",some will automatically attract your eyes so called typical Delhi dudes.They pretend that as if they don't give a damn about this job they are doing it supplement their pocket money to buy cigrattes.So from the first day I was sure this is going to be a interesting place to work.

"May I have your attention please" were the words that woke everyone from his chit chat and whole buzz turned into pin drop silent and everyones eyes were glued to the HR who just walked into the corridor.Slim,short hair,spectacles,professional dress up and a gentle voice but affirmative catched the attention of everyone.We were then ordered to collect our badges from reception one by one .Everyone's attentions was fully tuned to the voice of receptionist who was announcing the name of joiners.Every heart was beating and saying Oh god please my name should be in that list there should not be any tragedy happening now and like Corporates function with no place for mistakes each person who was present there had his/here name enlisted there and we were welcomed by a bouquet of roses so it felt god and nice.

Now as soon as this was over we were divided into two batches based on people with some experience and freshers so soon the heart of many boys broke when a beautiful girl couldn't come into his group,don't know about girls.Parents were said to wait in the lobby and we were then escorted into the main building.

The first place we saw was Cafeteria not quite expected but pleasant surprise.It was beautiful,it was a lively place with young boys,girls flaunting their id cards gushing up the cafeteria,pocket full of money eating from variety of things available at the cafeteria and looking at us and discussing amongst themselves like we were new animals brought to the zoo.The company  had quite brilliant infrastructure which we were able to make in a short glance.A quick peek into the working area showed us busy coders and managers and a glimpse of our future.

Soon after that we were again sitting in a hall with a projector and ip phone.As were getting accustomed to the atmosphere and person sitting next to us a person came and asked us to submit our documents.Like a bunch of kinder-garden students we were quick to follow our teacher and did as he said.Then began the ultimate boring part of the day,meanwhile our documents were getting checked we were made to sit and watch the more or less same presentation by people from different department of the company each one more or less describing about history,present and future of company.It was like some professor  lecturing you for days and you don't have any way to run.But then they felt pity on us and gave us a much needed 15 min tea break,such a breath of fresh air,I never loved tea that much in my life before that day.

Everyone was out of hall in giffy and next destination was free beverage vending machines.Even those who don't drink tea or coffee drank 3-4 cup as if it was last time they are going to get it for free.Again the atmosphere was set alive but some were tense because their documents were not completed.Some tried to approach their favorite girl from day one and stike on a conversation.So campus was still alive in us.

Soon we were again glued to the presentations and were called one by one simultaneously to verify our documents.The process took whole day where we were told about company policies, to departments,to business etc things which we could never remember.

Finally after all the formalities were completed and we were allotted our joining letters and schedule for the training next day onwards it was called the day for us and as we stepped out of the premises leaving for our new homes and saying goodbye to our new friends for life each one of us had a feeling of satisfaction in us as we had entered the next phase of life and each one of us had moved from campus to corporate.