Watch: NRI Career Return to India: Job Search, Salary, Remote Work and Timing

3:16 Searching for jobs in India so you know somebody who is planning to move in an year or two years or like you know maybe within three months so when is a good

3:25 Time to start searching for jobs in India while living abroad like to tell you that the best job to best time to look for a job is when you don't have to yeah because today the market is such a dynamic thing it's not a question of getting a job or getting any job we are all by virtue of our qualification experience we are looking for the job and the more qualified and more experienced we are we just don't accept the generic job okay so I still feel it is kind of a lottery the best jobs really don't go to the best people the best job goes to the right person at the right time sure so if I were to look at and believe me it's a very tough thing to get a job and it's best that if you start doing it while you're in America okay and today most companies are Global in nature so they do a lot of

4:27 Interviews in no the senior you but the more senior you are there are multiple levels of interviews so I would feel that these there'll be at least half a dozen sets of interviews before both sides decide on the ideal fit and ideally it would also help you because if you were to travel to India and meet that client not just in a virtual meeting but a physical settings where you understand which company you're working for who are the other colleagues and the vipes before doing that so I would say anywhere between 6 to 9 months okay and why I'm saying this is we have to look at unlike in America where you can change a job say in 15 days time or 30 days time in indiaia there is a notice period of 3

5:28 Months that a person has to serve before picking up a new job yeah so most of the mindsets of companies and hiring also is that if today we are June 30th we are we expecting to hire one or two quarters from now yeah we are not hiring for today because we know there's a certain amount of timeline required in interviewing and then after we short list that person has to work 3 months notice period before joining so even if an offer is given on June 30th July August September the earliest joining period is October so most companies are hiring quarter to quarter and with kind of dynamic situation which now the entire world is in geopolitical reason these business plans change at the drop of a hat so while companies make a commitment of hiring by the time the person

6:30 Join plans could change business plans could change and we should not be surprised if companies go back on their word also yeah so ideally as a if I were you I would want to have at least three or four offers in hand before finalizing one accept to accept one job and there is no job which gives us everything on a platter we need to compromise either on the title or on the salary or on the role the place and all that so I personally see if you need to have a option of four jobs to pick from 6 to 9 months is a a fairly reasonable time to expect yes there are Miracles which happen you might yeah sit on a flight and find some somebody who's a potential hiring

7:30 Manager he'll tell you to join next we but it's very very risky to quit a job and come and start searching all over again from here because a lot of things are beyond our control yeah no thanks for sharing that but there is also this perception and also some data points for people who have been applying jobs from abroad where companies are not considering them very seriously you know especially if somebody's trying to start their career planning or job search like six to n months you know there are for

8:08 Different reasons you know how serious are they for rning back to India and you know if they make a decision you know how how confident that this person will be joining and also like maybe they might not even consider if they have a foreign address I know there are the some of the data points that are people have experienced but from your experience from your Journey in the last 30 years helping nris and also working with different clients what are some of the dos and don'ts while applying for jobs in India especially from abroad you know I think to your suggestion you know it's better to start while you have a job and you know get better to get three to four offers so and then you can make a decision so what are some of the guidelines or some of the you know practical tips that you would suggest for people who are looking for a job opportunities in India as a part of of their transition back to India okay let me confess okay I am I'm in a very nice position where

9:11 I have both the expectation of the employer and the employees yeah just and just as you're saying you are representing a set of job Seekers who are anxious about getting a good job okay I can tell you I know a whole lot of hiring managers yeah who spend sleepless nights to figure out when they'll get a good person okay and there nothing to do with NRI or Indians even in India okay there's such a huge gap between offer acceptance and joining so much so that companies are even used to buffering offers okay in the sense they exume only 60% of people who accept the job will join and so there quite a few jobs which are know designed in so so in that context there is uncertainty so in terms of dos and

10:12 Don'ts I think more I will the most practical U thing is you need timing is something which is out of your hand and often what happens is it's not the job Seeker who is making this transition the job Seeker spouse and the children are equal stakeholders yeah in this entire process and I if I were to dive deep their buying is much higher and much more vulnerable than the job Seekers part of it so what happens is most of us I mean large amount of people are disappointed because they think that everybody should move the family to who at one click unfortunately what happens is most have children at school level and there is a if you can kind of look at the schooling ending in July in America and

11:13 Ending starting in June July in India a lot of people want to time their move around that time so that transition is easy everything fall I personally feel if the husband and wies are committed to this they should and want to make it work they should be open to the thing that one party moves in P it could be the husband coming in checking out India for a few months and then because you have to that job is going to be very very critical yeah so if you have three4 jobs you become the first job you come in alternatively let the wife and children come here let them pick on the July kind of thing you might get a better opportunity know in September October yeah so that's one thing which I want you to be flexible about because Unfortunately today it's a global market

12:14 Yeah and if you look at predominantly it's the American and European companies which are the biggest of highs and they are driven by calendar okay if you look at I mean General trend is first Thanksgiving to New Year nothing happen yeah okay so budgets happen in January or February people start hiring in February to March in America but the America has an advantage of people being able to join in one month in India we've got three months so that particular so that there is no seasonal hiring kind of stuff because in India you also have hiring for development and new job and also hiring for replacement so there is no if you were to look at timing there's there is you will find equal amount of jobs in J every month yeah okay it's just that when you look at the expectations from a job

13:15 Seekers from returning from America they are forced to take the only job or the best job which is in things in July part of it so that is one thing I would love to point out sure otherwise second is today the market is a real Dynamic one okay in the sense the opportunities are across okay and I wouldn't really advise you to look at if you had respond to jobs already posted on Portals and Linkedin and elsewhere that is de facto hiring for an already made plan okay it's like rfu or RFP part kind of things because moment the moment the job description is made more or less the specs are decided that we need somebody with this experience whereas my personal think is since you've got 10 I mean an average NRA is got ined in 10 to 15 20

14:17 Years of experience and the advantage of having long conversations with potential employers is some of them can even design roles based on what specific value ainash brings in they and once they design a role and the JD is made they will be a J at some point of time they'll want clones of a okay aut will not fit there so so that is the second advice one is timing second is try and talk to decision makers who are able to design a role for you yeah and for that the best is some X-Man manager or your ex employer in America yeah so just to maybe a very direct question does the employers give less value if they see like a foreign address or a foreign number or anything like that it just a misconception or

15:17 Or is there some truth to that no yes this is a there is a doubt because A Bird in Hand is wor two in the bush will get I've also because I've been in the market for so long I generally find a lot of interest returning to India sometime in June July because the schools are buing another spite which comes in October November December because those are the times when the campus hires of yits are made the news suddenly you find a pressure gets one CR salary and then you sit wondering hey I have got 15 years of experience what am I doing in America so shouldn't I be getting this kind of salary in India yeah and then a lot of people they SN their holidays in November December and come to India and Window Shop hoping to get a great deals yeah this happened 20 years so now those companies are

16:20 Everybody is once burn Once Bitten Twice Shy so that is one factor which we always need to say how what what is your seriousness and intent to moving is it a just a passing thought have you made so if you get into deep conversation I would say that look yes you have to have a compelling reason why you're coming to India a lot of it is personal reasons but you back it up saying that yes know what I sold my house or I've kept my house to the things my family is moved to India we've done these these kind of preparations I'm willing to move in from say August to mark for the right opening and that will give a lot more practical you know demonstration of your intent than saying that I don't think having a foreign address is a disadvantage maybe it's more at the resume level maybe it's getting filtered out before even getting any call so

17:21 Maybe yeah and then again in some jobs the foreign part of it is useful if it's a sales job okay now it depends if you are in the valley and you have a good roller de of lot of customers and an Indian company wants to expand there they' be delighted to have somebody who has got recent successes there and they don't mind hiring you and giving you a Runway of three four months to work in America before you come back to India yeah so I would I would not jump to any conclusion but yes for ease of communication a WhatsApp Indian number number is useful but the intent has to be very clear that yes I am coming it's not that I'm unemployed and I'm going to join the first job I'm not a mercenary that you have dangle High salaries yeah I'm very very clear on F two three 4 if these things matter I'm great because sorry

18:21 Too long answer no no I think that's good yeah so along the same lines I I think there is a difference in terms of opportunities for a senior leadership roles versus somebody at a mid level or like maybe entry level right I think you know people come back for different reasons you know maybe immediately after their Ms or you know for other reasons maybe somewhere during their mid career so how are the opportunities for the senior leadership roles especially for someone who has like 15 plus years of

18:50 Experience and what's the best way to get those positions again you know you mentioned about like defining your own role right you know trying to work out so you know what is that something that you can guide you know some of the people who have 15 plus years of experience to be enable to have those kind of discussions with the hiring managers to design or Define the roles or any other insights that you can give for somebody looking for a senior senior leadership roles yeah I again wouldn't want to emphasize on the years of experience I would want to look at it as a quality of experience the impact that you create or what is that Pro one track record which you have which can be replicated or expanded on in your new job that is critical definitely so in the past if you look at it companies we

19:51 Broadly had product companies and the service and it also depended on what kind of work you've done and unfortunately in IT services companies it's mostly a pyramidical structure the higher you go okay the span of control is different and all that you can't compare what is relevant in an IT services company in a it Product Company it Product Company it's not so much again terms the number of years experience but the complexity the problems that you handle yeah okay so I think there are enough opportunities for technology people Architects and in the Pharma if it's R&D and across the role in terms of a very high demand for people sales people who have clients in America those

20:53 People will even though you probably will come back to India you would still be used for your relationships and Market facing roles sure okay so it will boil down to the effective what value can you add for the rules yeah but is there any like best practices for them to approach when looking for those kind of roles you know anyone yeah yeah I think today U if you Google you exist I would feel that everybody needs to invest in branding for themselves and if you are active on LinkedIn you better be known as a subject matter expert and depending on how much of information you can share on the public domain I would want you to think take charge of your career the personal branding is very important second would be

21:55 Networking it's very essential to invest in bosses because as I told you earlier as the pyramidical structure happens there are lesser and lesser opportunities and you need to be better than your colleagues or so there's no what I'm trying to say is not just res is coming to India the problem today is the World Market I'm a recruiter and I've I'm part of a worldwide recruitment Network where I I've over 500 Partners we are well connected I know what are the H jobs in East Coast West Coast or in Brazil which kind of jobs are being had and you also know what are the challenges in hiring each of these markets in domain in the level and all that and believe me

22:57 What's happened is there is a huge amount of quality Talent available if you or I were to advertise you'll be shocked at the amount of BU which come in okay it's a tsunami of application and the employers today have a choice of picking in India at least one LinkedIn post 500 jobs if some of your viers are applying they see even if a 3 Day delay in responding to the ad they'll say 280 applicants already there yeah so the issue is not that being in the 280 first issue is are you in the top 5% of those applicants to be even considered for a discussion okay so I would feel that a senior leader would definitely look at his brand look at networking and try and maximize his chances to be visible for the most relevant jobs to his career otherwise you will keep on applying and

23:58 Applying and get rejected and wonder why people are not responding okay I mean it's a market situation nothing to do the n nothing to America worldwide there's a huge amount of talent available unfortunately most countries are going through recession there are no big Investments happening business as usual if people were to hire and do a particular job with 10 people last year now they're able to do it with eight people and with AI they think they might do it in three people so there's no tearing hurry to hire yeah they have to have a compelling reason to hire and so are you providing that compelling reason for the other person to spend half an hour with you and that is an individual question you got ask I wouldn't want to give any FSE promises did I I hope I'm driving home the yeah yeah yeah I think you're definitely sharing your insights and thoughts on how one should approach especially when someone is looking for a

24:59 Senior leadership how can they differentiate themselves as the pyramid is kind of getting narrower as it goes up you have to differentiate personal branding connections these all plays a big key role in identifying jobs and relevance today than earlier yes I think that's a point that you're trying to drive from there so with that said how are the opportunities for non-it folks I mean there is this perception that India means it right you know lot of IT jobs whether it's in a different segments you know different pharmaceutical or you know

25:32 Manufacturing or other sectors but still an IT Development Centers so if somebody is looking from a non it perspective somebody who was more in a core engineering or somebody who might be more on a science background or a different background like which is not related to the it how are the opportunities in India currently I would feel it's just as good okay there is no I mean it's a for example what's happening is take pharmaceutical there are a whole lot of requirements for people in the R&D or you take medical tech devices medical devices I remember it started about 7 eight years back what happened is predominantly all the top Fortune 500 companies depended on markets which are Western and so most of the products which they developed were easily attractive to the Western

26:32 Audience but the half of the world today is this part of the world China India southeast Asia and so companies have become customer oriented and would you believe there are a lot of companies which have started R&D departments in this part of the world as new product introduction right from making a similar products but at a much more affordable price point which which meant that right some new product R&D new product transction sourcing manufacturing anybody who can display the de and demonstrate his experience in doing more with less yeah is great Logistics same thing I I'm now working with a company probably in the America you would know that AutoZone auto is a very large retail player every there over 5,000 Outlets multibrand it's a pure retail company they don't manufacture anything anywhere in the

27:33 World and they are driven going driven by their customers so what did it is over the last 10 years they started investing sourcing capabilities in China and India and U so we have requirements for quality control people sourcing people commercial people who are able to understand technology quality and understand customers thing and that is where an NRI will held okay because if you lived abroad you're able to relate to most of the issues which are what the money pair is looking at be automotive and again part of the world is European companies are the automotive industry they are shifting severly from the the fuel part it's now electric vehicles what is required now is a totally D skill set anybody 20 carburetor experience is no longer relevant so what you need for the future is totally different now can you

28:34 Transplant what youve done yeah or can you use your opportunity interview to explain to people how you're different so it's only for accounts I would feel because accounts compliance part it'll boil down to us Gap or knowledge of taxes and stuff like that so there you are more of cost center the higher experience you have you are more likely to be know looked at magnifying glass okay but if you had to look at any role which is add to the Top Line that intellectual property yeah sales or stuff like that Consulting yeah there you have a great so I don't think that any I'm talking with people in US yeah unfortunately there not the same kind of demand or respect for people who have worked in Gulf okay because traditionally Gulf was full of Traders

29:35 And small marketing people so what makes you successful in the Middle East will not necessarily make you successful in India so unless you have a skill which can be transplanted there probably if you're a oil and gas professional yes but how much of India has oil and gas those opportun restricted by that yeah I I would feel that if you look at semiconduct indust now the because of geopolitical issues China and Taiwan and all and India's making India policy there a whole lot of companies are setting up in India so any any audience who got semiconduct experience it's a great opportunity but again you have realize that these are coming these are the government is investing in them and these are places which are in remote areas okay Northeast or Gujarat not necessarily closer to your hometown which you would like to relate yeah

30:36 There are occupational hazards but I don't think there is any particular extra demand for it now that is also becoming a commodity so it's not just just because you had 10 years of java J2 doesn't mean anything else now because even there this methodologies are changing I low Cod comes in and then AI will come in I don't I'm a little worried about how important these technical skills are and maybe your manager skills and people management skills will become more important sure so along the same lines you know from a career progression right I think in terms of leadership opportunities or career ladder you know growth is there a difference between opportunities that you have in the company abroad

31:28 Versus companies in India especially mnc's which have Global offices across the world and some of them has headquarters in US Europe and so on but they also have like these Development Centers or does that hinder anything on a career progression you know this is some of the thing that kind of holding of some of the nris yes they might be okay but maybe it kind of hinder their career progression I don't know how much truth is there I I definitely there is there is definite correlation because again what happens is there is a over emphasis on titles okay a director in a say European company in a American company a senior manager role director in the European company a senior executive role so don't go by the title go by the scope of the role okay and unfortunately fortunately what happens

32:29 Is it also got to do with the life cycle of growth of the organization I would believe larger the organization smaller the RO okay the smaller the impact I mean the safest is to join a Google or a fank company okay they're almost world class everywhere but then you will notice depending on the Investments being put certain jobs are year mark for certain geography in fact I have at least about I'm in touch with at least 15 to 18 people from Google who have been there for 20 years in America in in Google they find that after certain level there are no new openings in America all the new openings are in Brazil or in India fortunately right now there's a u in in in Google at least they have Bangalore office and Hyderabad office so depending on the vertical and the product you do have a chance but you also should see

33:29 That it's no longer at least in the because the work is now distributed okay it's more a matrix organization than a ladder so when you move I wouldn't want you to look at titles but I would want you to look at what does the immediate job give you can you transplant all your existing and more importantly what is the next job you're like to get it yeah okay so at especially for people with 15 years experience I wouldn't want them to look at the first job if they come they should and like I told you look at three four jobs and in those three four jobs they should see okay now it's 2024 if I stay in each of these companies and 2026 or 27 what is the kind of role I'll be playing yeah if you able to get that kind of a feel I would advise them to look at that part rather

34:30 Than I mean it's better to defer gratification than for instant gratification sure okay maybe you know two or three more questions and then we can wrap it up is there a way to find some jobs abroad that you can work remotely like you know jobs in US UK which allow remote working in India are you aware of some opportunities like that or some companies doing that

34:56 Yeah this is another yeah so there are in fact there are lots of platforms available and I think as of now I find it more acceptable in Europe most of European countries because simply they don't have that kind of population and the access to talent and they don't have the ability to set up an India operations and it might take and they probably hire only a handful of people they reach out to these platform I would also advise each of you to be very active in the vertical groups which are there your meet up which you have or they RIT and or also keep track of a lot of this is more with not the big companies the big companies today are battling with hybrid work and bringing back people to work and stuff like that this kind of

35:58 Flexibility is more with companies which may not have great Brands yeah and so they're using this as a tactic to attract better Talent MH so obviously you need to be visible to them and so I would feel building a brand will help you be found for such opportunities rather than you're looking for a job because today if you look at mean I don't I mean human everything you go on Google if you're on the 18th page on Google you might as well not be relevant yeah so I remote jobs are there but there's S I mean of course there are lots of Taxation issues and all that so there are whether they will hire you as a individual or a consultant or on who's pay roles they change based on the taxation of that country and the faith they have in the civilization this part

36:58 Of the world but I would feel remote jobs are still going by personal connects than rather than you have the fivers and yes all those platform but they are all transactional they're not the real high value but yes companies realize that they don't need 40 hours of your time okay or I think there are lot of opportunities and and in Tech definitely sure people are there marketing people are there communication people are there analytics people are there with jobs which don't need you to be physically available at the company all those of course manufacturing you can't get a remote job accounting you can't get a job security with so I guess there are more occupational hazard part but yes there are enough opportunities and but you should be realizing that it's very unlikely that a great brand will give you a rem job sure I mean again you have

38:00 To balance it out with the brand value and what they need versus you know what you need so maybe I'll touch Bas offline I mean if you can share some of these portals or the platform so that we can share it with the with the audience the other question I have is this is another common thing that people have in mind you know how they should think about the total compensation the CTC right in INR you know they have this you know package that they get

38:26 In us or UK or or in other places while they work abroad and when they're considering an offer from India how they should evaluate it is there a framework or suggestions that you would give you know what's the best way for them to evaluate these offers or how they should plan like what to expect for their kind of roles or what they can bring value to the companies any insights from that perspective yeah it's basic common sense I would feel that you should be familiar with the pp concept purchase Pari power yeah and unlike I mean the Indians are quick to calculate $185 rupees but it's you can't multiply 85 and you know equate it in India I would feel it's more about 25 to 30% again within the cities in say Hyderabad versus gurug or Kata okay cost of living is different so I would feel normalizing it to the purchase power

39:28 Parity is ideal but broadly the cost Arbitrage part is over 20 years back I in my experience I see you can expect anywhere between 40% to 70% of your last dra us salary based on the impact of the role that you're doing yeah if you are a plain Manila guy you can come at 40% if you are that R&D head or that architect who's going to make or break the India operations you will be closer to 70% if you're joining a new company but I know a whole lot of people over who have transitioned from us to India say 5 years 10 years back I think their salaries are now comparable with us salary you know because Talent human Capal is BEC more and more but as a person moving job moving countries you look at that 40 to 70% % based on what is your

40:30 Expertise what is very unique to you and how how you can transplant that for increasing the revenue or reducing the cost for your employers so and believe me honestly salaries are not just in India like the world it has become a very tough negotiation skill you can't say 8y old 8 year person will get 120 grade or 1 okay each company uses the salary to their own Advantage there is a difference between fixed salary and variable salaries yes so you need to be conscious of that and if somebody is already on a EOP there always or you need to W your stocks know once in four years There's an opportunity cost that it's not an easy calculation but broadly 40 to 70% is what I would say and don't go by all those campus stes where people get one

41:31 CR salary out of say one lakh pressur only a handful get those are more for news and you know may not be like yeah yeah cool so thank you very much for all the Insight so are there any topics that we haven't discussed or anything that you wanted to share with people who are planning to move back you know how they should plan for the career I think it's not just for NRA and you

42:01 Look at it just as it's a question whether to move from US to Canada or us to Europe or us to Japan this is today we are all Global citizen yeah and especially with the looming issue about AI there is no place for medoc of people so I for one would not feel that you can expect anything on a platter yeah you have to constantly demonstrate on how you have improved over the last 3 four years and what are your personal compelling pitch to Future employers it is becoming an increasingly you know tough job and career you have to Ser charge your current career and the earlier we do it don't you have to take some risks okay you may need to probably move in at a

43:02 Lateral level and perform but one thing there personally I feel next 10 years India will be a significant not I'm not I'm not trying to mou what Modi says okay but broadly I can say you look at the GDP of Europe it's going down compared to America will continue to be there but this part of the world world is growing so Europe is De growing and fortunately India with its population plus the pipeline of talent I see lot more the center of gravity will move very soon despite the and people would have to do more business with India than with China okay and in fact even I tell my children to learn a foreign language today okay U because that's the only way you can be relevant for next 20 years and so all those things it shouldn't matter whether you're 20 30 40

44:05 You have to constantly up skill and realize that you have to be better than yourself plus actually better than your competition yeah makes sense no and I would feel that it's don't have to talk about NIS or us or US I mean UK it's going to be standard we have to be the best person of yeah great no thank you very much Mr aut so aut also actually provide consultations and services from a career planning for people who are concerned to move back to India we'll be sharing those links in the video description below CH for taking your time and sharing your insights about how the career opportunities are in India and how they should plan how they should consider the total package you know even for the senior roles how they should think about it these are really very very helpful and these are very common questions for a lot of people who are thinking about moving

45:07 Back to India but I think the points that you mentioned are relevant to nris or even people in India you know when they're considering for some job opportunities within India so thank you very much for that thank you all for joining us on this insightful journey of the return if you enjoyed this episode and want to explore more stories and expert advice make sure to subscribe and hit the notification Bell don't forget to leave a comment below with your thoughts and experiences by the way check out the links in the description below for our Facebook group and social media for updates and engaging discussions as well as connecting with fellow Desa wrers thank you once again and until next time may your Desa journey be filled with joy growth and endless possibilities