Dr. Navin Kabra shares insights on becoming employable by emphasizing real-world skills over memorization, the importance of building a portfolio, and effective job search strategies. He discusses the value of networking, crafting tailored resumes and emails, and leveraging LinkedIn while managing one's career through informed choices about industry and company size. Key advice includes focusing on long-term career strategies, seeking mentorship, and continuously learning to adapt to an uncertain future.

1. Dr. Navin Kabra
 Background:
– B.Tech (CS) IIT Bombay
– PhD (CS) Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
 12 patents
 Currently
– Founder & CTO ReliScore.com
– Previously: Symantec, Veritas, Teradata
 Twitter: @ngkabra
 Email: navin@punetech.com
 More Info: google “Navin Kabra”

2. Becoming
Employable

3. Real-world Skills
 College Exams ≠ Learning
 Create + Do ≫ Memorize + Copy
 Why ≫ How

4. Build a Portfolio
 College Project
 Do a Good Job
 Pick Something Fun
 But Showcases Existing Skill
 Learn New Skill
 Useful+Unique
 Do Other Projects
 Make Interview Irrelevant

5. The Hedgehog Principle

6. Build on your Strengths
 Maximizing Strengths ≫ Fixing
Weaknesses

7. Job Search

8. Who gets hired?
 The best person for the job?
 The one how knows best how to
get hired
 —Richard Lathrop

9. Employers Perspective
 Too many resumes
 50 to 150 resumes per job opening
 Many Job-seekers are liars
 HR don't understand
 The Technical Skills
 The Business requirements
 Everyone short of time

10. Busy Executive
 Too Busy
 100s of work emails every day
 Wont Look at Resume
 Unless filtered
 Will only read Email Subject
 Won't open email unless subject interesting
 Or sender already known

11. What doesn't work
 Naukri/Monster
 Sending email to address on
website
 Sending email to HR
 Sending bad email to Executive

12. How are Jobs Filled?
 Existing Employees
 Employee Referral
 Recommended by a known person
 Recruiting Agency
 Via Website
 Responses to Job Ads
 Monster/Naukri
Decreasing
Importanc
e

13. What to do?
 Apply through contacts
 Existing employees (1
st
priority)
 Common connections
 Use Linkedin to find
 Customize the resume
 Write a good email (“cover letter”)

14. Linkedin
 Extremely Important in a Job Hunt
 Update your profile
 Fully, with details
 Not just job titles, describe role/achievements
 Put a sensible photograph
 This is not Facebook
 Connect to everyone you know
 Even when not looking for a job

15. Writing a Good Email: Subject
 Bad
 No Subject
 “Resume”
 “Looking for a job”
 Good
 Looking for a job: Java/SpringMVC Dev. (5 years
exp)

16. Writing a Good Email: Content
 Short, and to-the-point
 Customized to this job
 Contents:
 Why You Are Writing (1 sentence)
 Your Overall Background (1-2 sentences)
 Why You Are Ideal For This Job (1-2 sentences)

17. No, No, No, No,
No, No, No, No,
No, No, No, Yes

18. Shy?
 Are you bad a Interviews?
 The “3-Types Of Interviews”
Technique
 Practice Interviews
 Information Interviews
 Real Interviews

19. Practice Interviews
 Not Related to Work
 About Topic You’re Passionate
About
 With Friends/Acqaintances
 “Conversation”

20. Informational Interviews
 You Interview Other People
 To Find Out about a Domain/Job
 Gives You Knowledge/Confidence
 Easy, Because You're Not Asking
For a Job

21. Job Search++
 Resume+Interview = Terrible
 Broken process, lots of errors
 Make Resume+Interview
Irrelevant
 Portfolio
 Networking

22. Managing Your
Career

23. Choosing An Industry?
 All are equally good
 Every industry has scope
 All are equally bad
 Any industry might collapse suddenly
 Use other principles to guide you
 Key skill: making the best of
whereever you land up

24. Choosing a Company
 Product vs Services
 Large vs Medium vs Small
Company
 Which City?
 How Much Salary?
 MNC vs Indian

25. Product vs Services
 Product
 Long-term focus
 Depth
 Better salaries (avg)
 More Relaxed
 Services
 Fast moving
 Breadth
 More Growth
 More Driven

26. Company Size
 Large
 Relaxed
 Narrower
focus
 Lots of smart
peole
 Much larger
scale
 Some things
only
possible
 Medium
 Compromise
between
large and
small
 Possibility of
starting
small, taking
on
responsibiliti
es and
growing with
 Small
 Lots of
responsibilit
y
 But also lots
of “other”
work
 Uncertainty
and Risk
 Terrible if
bad

27. How to Choose?

28. Career Changes

29. The Hedgehog Principle

30. Transition in 2 steps

31. Transitioning Risks
 Grass Greener on Other Side?
 Don't Change Too Much At Once
 What's “Hot” Changes
 Transition needs time
 And money

32. General
Principles

33. Optimize for the Long Term
 Your Career is 50 Year
 1 “lost year” doesn’t matter
 Starting salary doesn’t matter
 “You overestimate what you can achieve
in 2 years, and underestimate what you
can achieve in 10 years” -Bill Gates

34. कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते
 Focus on process/systems not
goals
 Success (goals) is luck-based
 Not in your control
 Creating/adjusting
processes/systems/habits
 In your control
 Lead to success in the long term

35. The Future is Uncertain
 Nobody can predict the future
 People confident of their predications are deluded,
or lairs
 Prepare for an Uncertain Future
 Have broad/transferable skills
 Be good at reacting fast to
changes
 Awareness + learning + smart career transitions

36. Seek Help / Give Help
 Those who take help from others
and provide help to others always
outperform those who don’t
 Seniors/mentors always willing to
help
 If you show initiative / passion / hard work

37. Asking for Help
 No Need to Feel Ashamed
 Have Mentors
 Law of Weak Links

38. Help Others
 Teaching others is the best way to
learn
 Even those you don't know very
well
 Remember Law of Weak Links

39. Networking
 Law of Weak Links
 Informational Interviews
 “Help Others”

40. Keep Learning
 World Keeps Changing
 Learning is Easier Than Ever
 The More you Learn, The Easier it
Becomes
 What to Learn:
 What's Hot or What you Enjoy?

41. Social-Media
 Friend not Enemy
 Use for Business/Career/Contacts
 Follow the Right People
 Unfollow the Wrong People

42. Software Is Eating The World
 Your job could go
 Your business could go
 Must understand software
 Apps / Websites / Packages

43. Small Steps
 We overestimate what we can
achieve in 2 years and
underestimate what we can
achieve in 10 years

44. Suggested Reading
 Designing Your Life
 Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
 What Colour Is My Parachute
 Richard Bolles
 Atomic Habits
 James Clear
 How to Fail at Almost Everything
and still Win Big

45. Contact:
@ngkabra on Twitter
navin@reliscore.com
or
Navin Kabra
on
Twitter
Google
don't send a LinkedIn request (yet)