The Axis Technical Group Blog

India is home to a large and diverse population that has added to its vibrant character since ages. There are about 3,000 communities in India. So wide and complex is the mix of the Indian population that two-thirds of her communities are found in the geographical boundaries of each of her states. They are a mingling of the Caucasoid, the Negrito, the Proto-Austroloids, the Mongoloid and the Mediterranean races. The tribals constitute eight percent of the total population of India.

Based on their physical type and language, we can easily divide Indian people into four broad classes. First, a majority of high class Hindus, who live in North India and whose language is derived from Sanskrit. Secondly, those who live in that part of India that is south of the Vindhyas and whose languages – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam – are entirely different from Sanskrit. These are known by the generic name of “Dravidians”. Thirdly, primitive tribes living in hills and jungles of India, who as mentioned above constitute eight percent of the total population in India. The Kols, Bhils and Mundas belong to this class. Fourthly, there are a people with strong Mongolian features inhabiting within India the slopes of the Himalayas and mountains of Assam. The Gorkhas, Bhutiyas and Khasis are striking examples of this.

To add all this, India is perhaps the only place in the world where twenty religious streams flow together. If that sounds clichéd, here is a surprising piece of information. About 500 communities of India say they follow two religions at the same time! India has a population of over 1 billion people, the majority of whom are Hindus.

The caste system in India is a social system where people are ranked into groups based on heredity within rigid systems of social stratification. The caste is a group whose members are restricted in their choice of occupation and degree of social participation. Marriage outside the caste is traditionally prohibited. Social status is determined by the caste of one’s birth.

The Indian term for caste is ‘jati’, which generally designates a group varying in size from a handful to many thousands. There are thousands of such jatis, and each has its distinctive rules and customs. Varna (meaning, “color”) refers to the ancient and somewhat ideal fourfold division of the Hindu society: (1) the Brahmans, the priestly and learned class; (2) the Kshatriyas, the warriors and rulers; (3) the Vaisyas, farmers and merchants; and (4) the Sudras, peasants and laborers. Below the category of Sudras were the untouchables, or Panchamas (meaning “fifth division”), who performed the most menial tasks. Although there has been much confusion between the two, jati and varna are different in origin as well as function. The various castes in any given region of India are hierarchically organized, with each caste corresponding roughly to one or the other of the Varna categories.

Reservations

The Indian government follows a policy positive discrimination towards the Backward Classes. In accordance to this policy, 15% of the government jobs and 15% of the students admitted to universities must be from Scheduled Castes. For the Scheduled Tribes there is a reservation of about 7.5%. There is also reservation for other backward classes. Along with the central government, the state governments of India too follow a policy of reservation. Different states have different figures of reservation based on the population constitution of each state.

In recent times this has led to tensions because the high caste communities feel discriminated against by the government. In many cases a large number of high caste members compete for a few places reserved for them. Sometimes some reserved positions remain unmanned because there were few candidates from the lower caste causing more tension between the castes. The caste identity has become a subject of political, social and legal interpretation.

* * *
Comments about the Axis Technical Group Blog? email us here.

Click Here to learn more about Axis Technical Group, or follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

Today Axis continues its look at the home of our India Operations….

That’s India for you! A Land of Many Cultures

In a country as diverse and complex as India, it is not surprising to find that people here reflect the rich glories of the past, the culture, traditions and values relative to geographic locations and the numerous distinctive manners, habits and food that will always remain truly Indian. According to five thousand years of recorded history.

From the eternal snows of the Himalayas to the cultivated peninsula of far South, from the deserts of the West to the humid deltas of the East, from the dry heat and cold of the Central Plateau to the cool forest foothills, Indian lifestyles clearly glorify the geography. The food, clothing and habits of an Indian differ in accordance to the place of origin.

Indians believe in sharing happiness and sorrow. A festival or a celebration is never constrained to a family or a home. The whole community or neighborhood is involved in bringing liveliness to an occasion. A lot of festivals like Diwali, Holi, Id, Christmas, Mahaveer Jayanthi are all celebrated by sharing sweets and pleasantries with family, neighbors and friends. An Indian wedding is an occasion that calls for participation of the family and friends.

Ethnically Indians speak different languages, follow different religions, eat the most diverse varieties of food all of which add to the rich Indian culture. The beauty of the Indian people lies in the spirit of tolerance, give-and-take and a composition of cultures that can be compared to a garden of flowers of various colors and shades of which, while maintaining their own entity, lend harmony and beauty to the garden – India!

The land speaks in a myriad languages:

India is a land of a variety of linguistic communities, each of which share a common language and culture. Though there could be fifteen principal languages, there are hundreds of thousands dialects that add to the vividness of the country.

Eighteen (18) languages are officially recognized in India of which Sanskrit and Tamil share a long history of more than 5,000 and 3,000 years respectively. The population of people speaking each language varies drastically. For example Hindi has 250 million speakers, while Andamanese is spoken by relatively fewer people.

Tribal or Aboriginal language speaking population in India may be more than some of the European languages. For instance Bhili and Santali both tribal languages have more than 4 million speakers. The vividness can be ascertained by the fact that schools in India teach more than 50 different languages; there are Films in 15 languages, Newspapers in 90 or more languages and radio programs in 71 languages!

Indian languages come from four distinct families, which are: Indo-European, Dravidian, Mon-Khmer, and Sino-Tibetan. Majority of Indian population uses Indo-European and Dravidian languages. The language families divide India geographically too.

Click Here to learn more about Axis Technical Group, or follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

The following is an excerpt from Axis Technical Group’s free report titled, “Outsourcing – Critical Factors for Success”. The entire report can be downloaded for free by clicking here.

The realities of today’s economy demand that companies large and small “do more with less”. This rallying cry is familiar to everyone in the business world, and in many cases, the recent stability in the marketplace is in large part because organizations have successfully found ways to make every dollar they spend truly count. However, technology executives are continuously faced with new challenges to ensure that their company’s critical systems can keep up with the objectives of the business.

Dramatic shifts in revenue streams over the last couple of years have forced management to cut costs by becoming more efficient and productive. Huge demands have been placed on Information Technology departments and vendors to provide solutions that streamline process and demonstrate extreme cost effectiveness. Whatever the solution is for a particular or industry, the demand to reduce cost through automation is extremely high on the to-do list of most organizational leaders in every industry. Given the financial impact on a business by failing at this, the urgency to accomplish key technology objectives as quickly as possible places additional pressure on what is usually already an understaffed IT department.

These challenges combined with shrinking IT budgets, are leaving technology leaders with very few options. Generally, their choices boil down to just two: use fewer resources, or do more with the current resources they have. One way many IT leaders have found they can get more done within their current budget constraints is to outsource a portion of their work to a near shore or offshore IT partner. Outsourcing vendors provide a wide range of services from custom software development and maintenance of existing enterprise applications to Business Analysis, software Quality Assurance, and Documentation, all the while being sensitive to organizational budgets.

Click here to download the entire free report or email us and we will reply with a copy.

Learn more about about Axis’ Strategic Consulting Services and the Axis in Motion Team.

Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

Comments about the Axis Technical Group Blog? email us here.

Recently, a bill was introduced to the US Senate that proposes a new type of visa for immigrants who create start up companies and as such, create jobs. (Click to read more about the bill). While a similar bill had previously been introduced in the House of Representatives as part of an immigration reform bill, this new bill, brought to the Senate by Democrat John Kerry and Republican Richard Lugar has already stirred a contentious debate.

On one side of the carpet, anti-immigration supporters are loudly protesting such a bill saying it is taking away opportunities for Americans, while many supporters of the Bill feel that if such immigrants start businesses that create American jobs and help the economy, then they should be welcome with open arms.

The Visa issue as a whole has been and continues to be a very important topic for the IT Industry in particular, as it is a key component (or at least a key topic of discussion) for every company’s IT strategy.

What side of the debate are you on? Axis Technical wants to hear from you, so please post your comments below and help be a part of a valuable discussion on the subject.

Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

Comments about the Axis Technical Group Blog? email us here.

As the State of California continues to face choking financial pressure with a huge budget deficit, new ideas are constantly being floated around Sacramento. The latest however would not only affect California’s blue-collar resources, but would hit home hard in the service industry, from Lawyers to CPA’s to IT Professionals.

According to this article in the Ventura County Star, politicians in the Capital are,

“advocating tax withholding on payments to independent contractors (1099) as a way to boost state revenues by $1.7 billion.”

What do you think about about Sacramento’s proposal and will it really help close the state’s budget crisis? Share your thoughts here, or by email.

Visit Axis Technical Group.

Do you have comments about the Axis Technical Group Blog? email us here.

Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

If you are looking for a new job, or have in the last few years, then you surely have been to countless job sites. A couple of the biggest, Monster.com and Yahoo! Hot Jobs are now one in the same, according to this article from TechCrunch.com.

Yahoo has been trying to unload HotJobs for a while, and it finally came to a deal with Monster, which will take the site off of Yahoo’s hands for $225 million in cash. As part of the deal, Monster will continue to power Yahoo’s job listings for three years.

What does this mean for job seekers? The answer to that question will likely take some time to be fully realized. As an IT consulting firm, Axis Technical Group regularly provides advice to job seekers, including not to put all of their job-seeking-eggs in one basket. Other than Dice.com, the other job boards have become overrun by various staffing firms, headhunters and the like acting on behalf of companies seeking employees, with the same position often posted by several different firms with a variety of language. This does a disservice to not only the end-employer, but to the job seeker as well. Furthermore, the mentality of the job boards leads to a cattle-round-up mentality, with hundreds of resumes being submitted for each job, and with most of those from people who are unqualified for a particular position.

This commentary is not to say all job sites are bad or worthless. Quite the contrary… some sites like Indeed.com and TheLadders are making strong inroads in this space which will help job seekers. But this is a reminder to all job seekers to diversify your search. Use the job boards, but don’t rely on them. Instead, use your network, whether it be LinkedIn, FaceBook, Twitter or others to have your friends, family and colleagues get the word out that someone great, you, are seeking a job.

What have your experiences with the various job boards resulted in? Axis would love to hear your feedback. Post a comment below, or Email us here to tell your story.

Click Here to learn more about Axis Technical Group, or follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

Passing along this article from the OC Register about signs of economic turnaround in Orange County.

Four Orange County executives representing banking, fast food, high tech and housing said today that they had retrenched during the recession but have positioned themselves for a turnaround which they expect this year. Click here to read full article.

But what do you think? Leave a comment below or email us here.

Click Here to learn more about Axis Technical Group, or follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

The United States remains in the grip of a challenging economy. Depending on who you talk to however, some people believe recovery is upon us, while others disagree. What can’t be argued are the record unemployment numbers that our nation faces. As of December 2009, the unemployment rate in the US is 9.7%, a number that has remained relatively flat in the last couple of months. However in California, that number is 12.2% as of November 2009 with LA County also at 12.2%, while Orange County remains more in line with the US average at 9.4%. (Click Here to View all US Unemployment Data).

Not all the news is bad. In fact, the Information Technology industry seems to have bolted out of the New Year starting gate fast and feverish. Non-technical management opportunities from mid-level to C-level remain very weak, but those professionals with strong technical skills remain in high demand.

Axis Technical Group alone has more open requirements than we have seen in a year, and are looking for hard-working, passionate and reliable individuals to join our team at key clients. Some of the positions we are currently trying to fill include (click on job title for details):

• Senior C#/WinForms Developer
• Senior BizTalk Developer
• Senior .Net Web Developer (C#, ASP.net)
• Project Manager
• and more….

If you are seeking a new opportunity, or know someone who is, please visit Axis Technical Group and submit your resume for consideration.

Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

Not too long ago, MSNBC.com posted the article “Bailed–out companies mute holiday parties.” In essence, the article reflects not only a reminder of this year’s unprecedented financial bail-outs, but also the economic consequences and the impact it’s having on 2009 year-end holiday parties.

As companies of all sizes assess what is likely to be a non-existent budget for holiday parties this year, many are left with limited options as to whether there should be a scaled down holiday party or whether all gatherings should be squelched in favor of solemn recognition of the challenging economic times. Regardless of where one sits on either side of the debate, Axis poses this question: Is eliminating the camaraderie of a holiday party, or even that of a minuscule holiday gathering, really in any company’s best interest?

The end of the year has always been a time in which companies take time to appreciate the hard work of employees, the loyalty of customers, and the overall celebration of making it through another year. Regardless of the caliber of party or gathering it is important to maintain that appreciation. It may take a bit of creative thinking and crunching of numbers, but it is important for all companies to remember it’s not the event that is important, it is the people gathering for it who are.

Post contributed by Samantha Marriott, Director of Personnel at Axis Technical Group . Have comments? Post them below or Email Samantha here

Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

Now that you have your resume complete, you’re ready to begin your job search in earnest, right?

The answer to that question depends on several things. Ultimately, are you ready to start searching for a job? And just because you’re out of work don’t think the automatic answer is “yes.”

The search for a new position is very much a job in itself and you have to treat it as such, whether you are currently working or not, for the best chances of success. That doesn’t necessarily mean you should let Company A pay you while you look for a new job, but your mind and attitude need to be in tune with your objective. The various job websites would have you believe it is as simple as posting your resume, but much like the picture of a juicy hamburger on a restaurant menu that somehow doesn’t arrive at your table with the cheese and fixings neatly hanging off the side, the job boards’ claims are a misrepresentation of reality.

In order to really be ready for the job search, you need to know a lot about yourself and what your objectives are, not to mention your limits. In a difficult economy and job market, those employers who are hiring, are more selective than usual and have a bigger pool of candidates to choose from. You have to remember that not every job is going to be right for you. Easy for me to say as I have a job I love. And for anyone currently unemployed, the prospect of a paycheck makes almost any job look good. But pull up the covers and take a really good look at yourself.

There are countless factors you have to consider in self-preparation:

• What am I good at?
• What do I want to do? What don’t I want to do?
• What will I do? What won’t I do?
• How far am I willing to commute?
• Will I relocate? Will I travel?
• How stable is the company?
• Is the compensation in line with my needs?

The list goes on and on. Granted, many of these questions will have to be answered (partially or in full) during an interview process, but you need to decide, before you begin searching for jobs, what the acceptable answers are to yourself. If not, you will spend a tremendous amount of time applying to jobs that ultimately are not right for you and will only further exasperate the situation you are in.

Let’s take a closer look at the hot topic issue right now – compensation. What you are paid is clearly one the biggest questions for candidates and employers alike. But each and every one of us is in a different financial situation and therefore your answer to yourself will be completely different and unique from anyone else. Many of your colleagues are openly dismissing many of the questions I pose above and even negotiating to take less pay than in the past, just to get back to work. Is that the right strategy for you? What if the offered salary of a position is the same as you are making now, but the commute is twice as far? What range of salary is acceptable to you?

Maybe the biggest question regarding compensation you need to ask yourself is if your expected pay is realistic right now? You may very well be worth $100/hour, but if equally qualified candidates will gladly take $75/hour right now, how flexible are you?

I can’t answer that question or any of these questions for you – and I will not even attempt to do so because these are deeply personal issues that you need to decide on. But decide you must and as you seek out a new job, know what your flexibility limits are when it comes to pay and every other possible variable. Once you have given ample thought to these questions, and you have a clear vision of what will and will not work for you, the real work of searching for a job begins.

Look for future posts in this series. We’ll chew up and spit out everything from what websites to use (and not use) to recruiters to the interview and the follow-up interview, to networking to the final follow-up interview, and so on as we help you navigate the crowded roads on the search to your next job.

Related Posts

• Looking for a job? Welcome to the Club (1st in the “Looking for a Job” Series)

• Your Name In Lights (2nd in the “Looking for a Job” Series)

• Identity Theft – Resume Style

CLICK HERE to add your name to our email notification list for future posts in the “Looking for a Job Series.”

***

Click Here to learn more about Axis Technical Group, or follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn .

Comments about the Axis Technical Group Blog? email us here.