131–140 of 154 posts
Indian who finished Engg in CS (from a less known university) here, I can pretty much attest to the story. Some facts that I want to state are below. #1. Reason: Most of the folks joining (CS in) Engineering do so due to parental/societal pressure. Engineering degree from an established college is a sure shot way to that cozy job in BigCo Inc. through campus placements, once they clear those stupid interviews (usual…
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The ACM ICPC suggests that Asian universities do quite well at programming: http://cm.baylor.edu/ICPCFinalResults2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACM_International_Collegiate_Pr...
By no means I meant that every Chinese developer is incapable of solving problems. I'm talking about my average experience at work. ACM competitions are in no way indicative of the overall picture. I went to a few of these competitions myself and got my ass kicked by some younger Asian kids. ACM finals represent the top of the top fastest thinking developers you can find. When you have a billion people, you will prod…
Both times I attended ICPC world finals our team had only practiced once a week for 3-6 hours, but we were much worse than many teams that did not qualify from more competitive regions. The people who are the best at these things really do spend a lot of time practicing, though. The kid who beat Neal Wu at IOI practices 3-4 hours a day.
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My impression (and I might be very wrong) is that both Indian and Chinese education is concentrated on memorization rather than understanding. That's why so few people from both countries can solve problems (at least in my work experience). I've interviewed a lot of people in the last 2 years, and I never look at the education level. I only care about your ability to solve problems. We've had people with masters in C…
The ACM ICPC suggests that Asian universities do quite well at programming: http://cm.baylor.edu/ICPCFinalResults2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACM_International_Collegiate_Pr...
A lot has changed, and very little has changed. The whole framing for the story -- that one would expect an Indian graduate to be fluent in conversational English and capable of being net-productive in the global economy -- is one way in which a lot has changed. Historically, that has been true for only the tiniest sliver of folks in India. The outsourcing boom exploited one persistent mispricing of labor: below that…
I was speaking with a potential client concerning their current outsourcing in India. Not happy with their outsourcing in India, that potential client said "I need people who can think". I've been working in enterprise IT (and small business) for about 5 years now. I've never had a good experience in India. There are the few who do come over to the US (on visas) that are exceptional (and possibly in a relative sense)…
And, you get what you pay for. ;)
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I can relate to you but I did take up CompSci in 11th and 12th grades and was pushed by my parents to stick to what I wanted (lucky). They had probably noticed that I was spending too much time on the computer trying to create something or just tinker with it. Joined Info Science engg later. But I've been disappointed since. I had to scrape through chem, physics and civil subjects (compulsory common subjects at my un…
If social status == money, why is starting a company so frowned-upon by Indian parents? Is it risk aversion on the part of brides' families? Is it considered better to marry your daughter off to, say, an IBMer where both the upsides and downsides are bounded than it is for your daughter to marry someone who is a risk taker? BTW, I'm a white American guy who is simply trying to understand.
Second, a lot of people start companies and do business in India but since those are not in the traditional IT or other VC oriented sectors, they are not heard of that much in these circles. Also not a lot of these companies would be doing the "innovative" stuff but building businesses in well tested markets.
A lot has changed, and very little has changed. The whole framing for the story -- that one would expect an Indian graduate to be fluent in conversational English and capable of being net-productive in the global economy -- is one way in which a lot has changed. Historically, that has been true for only the tiniest sliver of folks in India. The outsourcing boom exploited one persistent mispricing of labor: below that…
As someone who as experienced India in the late 80s, the 90s, and the 2000s, this statement seems so spectacularly far from being true, I have to openly question what sort of evidence you've used to draw your conclusions.
A lot has changed, and very little has changed. The whole framing for the story -- that one would expect an Indian graduate to be fluent in conversational English and capable of being net-productive in the global economy -- is one way in which a lot has changed. Historically, that has been true for only the tiniest sliver of folks in India. The outsourcing boom exploited one persistent mispricing of labor: below that…
I was speaking with a potential client concerning their current outsourcing in India. Not happy with their outsourcing in India, that potential client said "I need people who can think". I've been working in enterprise IT (and small business) for about 5 years now. I've never had a good experience in India. There are the few who do come over to the US (on visas) that are exceptional (and possibly in a relative sense)…
Yes, when you outsourced to India, you probably did so on the basis of getting cheap labour, so it seems utterly unsurprising that you were disappointed with the results.
There are a lot of competent outsourcing firms in India - you probably don't use them because they are expensive.
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As someone who knows nothing about the Indian education system, can you clarify? Do Indian children have their major chosen for them via parents, tests, or administrators? Or do they decide on their own focus, but prior to college? I would also offer that the article isn't complaining that graduates are not passionate about their work; it's complaining that they appear to have taken very little away from their educat…
Parents choose based on what they think is the safest option for their kids. To put the blame entirely on them will not be fair. One of the most interesting things I find about the American way of life is, people start taking up jobs from a very young age. IMO this helps them explore options and also discover their own interests and even aptitude for a particular line of work. Also in the Indian way of life hobbies a…
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> Do Indian children have their major chosen for them via parents, tests, or administrators? Parents. Their future job is usually decided for them before they're even born. The number of people who go into a particular profession because they enjoy it is exceedingly small.
As J K Rowling puts it brilliantly, there is an expiry date on how long you can keep blaming your parents for everything that goes wrong. http://www.ted.com/talks/jk_rowling_the_fringe_benefits_of_f... We lack a culture where hacking and playing around with things is encouraged.
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I was speaking with a potential client concerning their current outsourcing in India. Not happy with their outsourcing in India, that potential client said "I need people who can think". I've been working in enterprise IT (and small business) for about 5 years now. I've never had a good experience in India. There are the few who do come over to the US (on visas) that are exceptional (and possibly in a relative sense)…
you pay for what you get Yes, when you outsourced to India, you probably did so on the basis of getting cheap labour, so it seems utterly unsurprising that you were disappointed with the results. There are a lot of competent outsourcing firms in India - you probably don't use them because they are expensive.
Second, the expensive Indian outsourcing firms are not advantageous to do business with. (1) What's to stop the employee turnover when these people are sent to the US under H-1B visas? Large corporations (in the US for example) often exploit this ability. (2) What then becomes the cost advantage as opposed to near-shoring it?
I think that's why countries such as a Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Argentina, and Brazil are up next as the areas to blossom for outsourcing. These areas foster strong technical skills (and strong educational systems to back them) and are still at a fraction of the price of their "1st world" counterparts.
I can't claim to be an expert on outsourcing economics but I see and breathe the issues and benefits of it everyday.