'A Change In Government Policy Can Open Up Greater Number Of Jobs In Telecom'

alt="Satish Doshi" align="right" hspace="2" vspace="2"

width="148" height="179">Sampoorna Computer

People is a placement organization, which specializes in

recruiting people in the fields of IT and communications. Heading

the organization is Satish Doshi, a professional turned

into a successful entrepreneur, who established Sampoorna in

1990. An engineer-MBA from BITS, Pilani, Satish, with his grit

and business acumen, has led Sampoorna to greater heights every

year.

 

What challenges are awaiting professionals

who want to enter the field of communications?



The challenges are mainly two-fold. One, professionals in
communications have to be ready to learn at a fast pace without

any mental blocks. People who want to enter this field have to

keep an open mind to new technologies or else they will be left

behind. Second, willingness to work hard. In communications,

today, there are no more nine-to-five jobs. Professionals have to

be ready to put in long working hours.

In which direction is the job market moving

in communications?



There is certainly a major upswing. There have been some
hiccups–mainly policy hiccups–during the last two

years. Of course, changes in policy can only be delayed, but they

cannot be stopped. And once these policy changes come about, the

number of professionals required in communications will be

mind-boggling. Also, the difference between communications and IT

is that the former’s reach is much wider. When policy

changes come, more number of cities and towns would open up for

jobs.

In which field among datacom, telecom, and

officecom, there is more demand for professionals?



Actually, the distinction between these segments is fading very
fast. What happens when an EPABX is connected to a PC? In which

segment will you put an interactive voice service? Technologies

are merging and, as a result, there is an upswing in demand for

professionals in all the segments of communications. However,

telecom stands apart to some extent because job opportunities

here are dependent on government policy. A change in government

policy can open up greater number of jobs in telecom.

When did you start recruiting people for

communications?



In a limited way, we were recruiting professionals in
communications right from the beginning. When the telecom market

started taking off some two years ago, we saw the synergy between

computers and communications and formally announced that

Sampoorna would be recruiting people in both the fields.

Has there been any regrets?



None at all. In fact, right from the beginning, Sampoorna has
seen constant growth. Every three years, we have run out of

space. In 1994, we established an office in Bangalore and within

a year we had to look for a bigger place even there. We are now

looking at a bigger network on a franchisee model in Chennai or

Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi, and Calcutta.

Why a franchisee model and not a proprietary

model?



The franchisee model gives a greater sense of ownership. Also,
the Sampoorna brand is well established in the market-place. We

want our franchisees to leverage on our all-India database as

well as clients.

What factors contributed to your starting

the recruiting business only for computers and communications?



When I was working in IDM as well as Datamatics, I was involved
in recruiting people for both, hardware as well as software. But

I could not get the right kind of people. I also saw foreign

magazines advertising for professionals in specialized fields

like UNIX and mainframe. That was the time I decided that hunting

for right kind of people in this field made a lot of sense.

Why did you call your organization

Sampoorna?



Sampoorna means complete. We meet the complete needs of manpower
in computers and communications.

What have been some of the highlights in

your personal and professional life?



Starting Sampoorna has been a major milestone. I enjoy what I am
doing. It is basically a facilitating job. At times, it may be

against our business interests to say, "no". But then

we do say, "do not change" when we feel it is not in

the interests of the candidates to look for a change. There are

instances when based on our guidance people have left their jobs

and become entrepreneurs. Once we place a candidate in an

organization, and if the candidate again looks for a change, we

ask the candidate to get an NOC from the employer. The success of

Sampoorna is built on trust that we have been nurturing over the

years, both with the clients as well as professionals.