Blind Ticks

Covid-19 has seen enormous layoffs in both blue- and white-collar jobs. MNCs were harsher in terminating employees than their typical Desi equivalents.

Singhji, one of my friends, worked in sales and was unfortunately asked to leave. Because the appointment letter needed three months' pay, he was still safe. Aside from personal networking, he has little choice but to spend most of his time on LinkedIn and other job portal sites.

Two months had passed, but he was still fine because he had enough money to get by. By the third month, the tension lines were clear. If you opened LinkedIn at that point, you'd see hundreds of job seekers jostling for your attention.

Singhji's preservations prevailed won. An MNC called him for an interview. Elated, he suited up and arrived at the office much earlier than expected. A HR executive approached him and made him feel at ease. She informed Singhji that he would have to take a written exam. This would be easy; he would be given 30 minutes to mark answers from multiple choice options. There would be no deductions for incorrect ticking. The pass rate is 60%. These are extremely basic questionnaires that include GK, Arithmetic, Verbal reasoning, and so forth. She gave him a sample test paper to make him feel more at ease.

Mr. Singh is a hard-core salesman who can sell anything and everything under the Sun. However, passing written tests is not his cup of tea. He didn't even bother reading the sample paper. He stated confidently, "I am ready to take the test." Inside, he knew he'd squandered his little funds by attending this interview.

He was placed in a small cabin outfitted with cameras. He completed the required information, and the HR executive exited the cabin. Singhji closed his eyes and thought for a moment, as though going through the questions again. He had no alternative but to do what we all did during the college and preliminary competition tests. HE DID TICK MARK IN A SEQUENCE, BLINDLY. After 30 minutes, another HR executive arrived. He took the paper and offered him tea and biscuits. Singhji was not in the mood to have it because he knew what would happen. Nonetheless, he drank tea and waited to get home, his head heavy.

After 15 minutes, the HR lady arrived, followed by a male colleague. She introduced him as the Department Head. This individual congratulated him for making it through the qualifica

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tion round. Singhji sat with a dismal expression until he heard he qualified and leaned forward. The tiger in him took over, and he became brazen and inquired what percentage he scored. The department head stated calmly that you qualified with 70%, which is rather exceptional at his level.

The actual interview began, and he displayed his domain knowledge. They ended the interview just before lunch. Singhji had nothing to lose, had lunch tummy full. The next round of interviews was vertical head, which also went well. By 4 p.m., a top HR executive had arrived to congratulate him on his final selection. Singhji was also relieved to receive an offer during these trying circumstances. However, this MNC offered him his last drawn wage. Lady luck was on his side today, and Singhji rejected the offer without blinking. Singhji went on to say that he will revert by tomorrow.

Took a taxi and rested a little to get a reasonable offer. In the meantime, he received a phone call from a senior colleague. He requested him to meet him at 9 a.m. the next day. Singhji slept like a baby, knowing that his employment was secure. Next morning the Senior greeted him with a big smile and handed him a cup of hot coffee along with an envelope. He further said, "Here is your offer letter; please join us within the next 7 days." Singhji was surprised to see the offer with a 50% raise. Now his senior was staring at Singhji and laughing at his reactions. After reading the offer, Singhji looked up, and the senior said, "We know your capabilities." As an ethical corporation, we accompanied this offer with a reasonable raise.

Meanwhile, Singhji had received a couple of phone calls from the earlier MNC regarding his acceptance. Singhji stated calmly, "I am not interested in your offer." They immediately increased the hike to 12% and informed him that he would receive their amended offer via return mail. But there was communication till the evening.

After obtaining a 50% rise, Singhji joined the Desi global company two days later. The MNC called 7 days after making a fresh offer. Now, Singhji was enraged, you took 7 days to respond to the altered offer you accepted. Do not put hopeless aspirants' patience to the test. By the way, I've already begun working for a fantastic company, so thank you very much.

The MNC made numerous calls throughout the day, from HR to the vertical head, but Singhji stayed steadfast.