Sunday 5 April 2015

Are you a Software Engineer Parent??

“You know my son is a Software Engineer in a big MNC, we did everything we could to make him a successful engineer and look where he is now. He might even go abroad this year from company”.

Does this sound familiar? How many times haven’t we heard this conversation in weddings or family gatherings?

Every parent wishes their offspring gets the best of the education, best of the facilities to facilitate the studies, books and what not. A son / daughter has an exam, it’s a bigger exam for the parents. They wake up at ungodly hours to ensure that they can wake them up, give them nutritious food, internet facility, may be even drop and pick them up from exam centers.

The achievement of becoming a graduate is not just the students; it’s also their teachers and most importantly the strength behind them, their parents. Parents also understand when their children take-up campus selection or job interviews; they understand the process and gather information when possible.

But what happens next?? Being a software engineer by profession, I would limit this write-up to talk about the saga of this profession alone. So join me in understanding what we do.

A student’s life takes a leap when they enter the professional world. It does not remain a world of books, college projects, friends, and a cup of chai or Maggie from the college canteen.  It is a different ball game to face the world on your own without a helping hand neither from their chaddi-buddy friends nor from the parents.

It’s a big BIG world out there, competition, trainings, peer pressure, the pressure to outperform, the pressure to keep yourself abreast with the fast changing technology not just to get grade “A” but to keep moving in the ladder; be it in your designation or be it in the salary stack.

Understanding the dynamics of this profession is not rocket science but it is different. It is definitely not a 9-5 job that is logged every day, and this is where creeps in a lot of gap and mismatched expectations.

I understand and acknowledge that there were problems like work-life balance issues even in the 80s but let us all imagine it manifolds in this generation. 

A young professional at an age of let us say 23 years is expected to keep updated with latest technology he or she is working on, build softskills; the right way of approaching people, talking to clients, handling feedback every 3 months, and doing something more which is one expectation that keeps ballooning every year and all this is apart from the actual work that is never fixed from 9 to 5.

So what am I trying to convey here? When our parents could understand us when we were tensed during exams, understand us when we would sit late for studies, go to college on weekends for special classes what happens when we start working? Why does this understanding go south??

After a 5-day long, ( believe me it becomes a long week even if it is just 5 days when your manager or customer is sitting on your head until you have delivered what is required) all that we would want to do is unwind during the weekends, peace when we are back at home from work. I also understand that we would be responsible for things at home as well, but if every mother or father takes a minute to understand what would have happened in a day’s time of their child at work, it would make a lot of difference.

Before a dad / mom aspires to make their child a Software Engineer, it would be a good thought to understand what it takes for them to be parents to a Software Engineer.


Are you ready to make your child a Software Engineer??

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