DWBI IT companies' review for Laterals

You are a 7+ years dwbi professional and you are looking out for your next switch. Many industry pundits would argue like product based companies and consultancies have better jobs , both in terms of the CTC and the kind of work, In this article I would like to emphasize why an IT professional shall stick to essentially IT companies while switching and which IT companies excel in the DWBI space and why an IT professional shall consider switching\being into these IT companies.

Please note this is just an opinion and the information below is based on what we hear in cafe discussions. This is not legal advise :)

It's always better to be in the IT service industry as it offers what is most important -

1. Job security.
2. A wide range of projects to move into from time to time.
3. Ability to work overseas and in India accordingly.
4. Though product based companies do offer high packages, most of their projects are internal, the exposure of which is nothing when compared to that of traditional billable projects.

Mid sized IT companies generally hire 7-8 years experience IT professionals as Project manager and leads for once in a blue moon client projects which they are able to bag.The upside is that there is tremendous opportunity for you in terms of CTC and client interaction. You can own the entire project. The only downside is job security as it is a project specific hiring.

Some of the top players in dwbi domain globally are as follows:

1. Cognzant - Every dwbi professional should definitely consider this company to work for. The work experience earned here is globally recognized in the dwbi space.

2. Wpro - Many wpro alumni have moved in dwbi product leaders like Informatica and are running the show there.Great company to work in new technologies.

3. IBbM - Is a market leader in analytics and every other thing. There is no dearth of projects but again that could change as per the geography.

4. Acenture- Another very nice to company to work for. Takes care of its employees and provides good CTC. Good number of projects across all domains.

5. Infy - It's great to see infy in the new avtaar. This company has managed to put back leadership issues and is now going great guns. A good option to consider.

H1B visa interview experience

Date\Venue – 11^th December 2015 – US Embassy, New Delhi

You may consider reaching 45 minutes before your time slot. It would be a good idea, if someone would accompany you to the embassy and wait outside, so that you may handover your mobile phones to him.

The place is bit crowded but the crowd is extremely well managed and things at the embassy go smooth.

Check 1 – Outside the embassy-  I was carrying my original documents along with the DS-160,Application confirmation and Passport from the VAC.I was told to produce my I-797 and it was stapled along with my passport.

Check 2 – Security Check. Its similar to that of the airport. I had to take off my jacket and wallet, and kept all my stuff in the tray which underwent a scanner. Simultaneously the guard scanned me with the machine.

We were made to wait in a waiting area and the entire line was told to move to the next stage inside the embassy.

Check 3-The gates of the main section opened up and I could see the portraits of American leaders .Nervous energy occupied the air and we were made to submit our finger prints. An officer was validating the same in the system and after a long pause confirmed my fingerprints.

Now we entered the main area, I could see around 7 to 8 counters with visa officials interviewing the candidates. The description of the visa officers were as follows:

1.       The sweet guy – Wearing a bow tie and sweetly asked the questions.

2.       The rude guy – Was asking questions in an aggressive way.

3.       The shrewd silent guy – This person meant business and was silent but extremely observant.

4.       The normal guy – Was asking questions in a normal tone and pretended to be confused at times.

5.       A young lady

6.       An old lady

There were some candidates that had chosen to be interviewed in Hindi like athletes and the American visa officials were asking questions to them in Hindi. I was quite impressed seeing this.

There was an attendant that was assisting the crowd to go the counters as per availability was directed to the Normal guy’s counter but was asked to shift to the ‘shrewd guy’s counter as it had a vacant space.

I greeted the Visa Officer and handed over the Passport and the I-797 to him.

VO – Whom do you work for?

Me- said my Employer’s name (only)

VO-Who is the client you shall work for?

Me – There is no client, the petitioner is XX.

VO – Where shall you be going in the US

Me – City and State

VO – Can you tell me something about the internal project that you shall be working on?

Me – I shall be participating in all phases of the SDLC starting from requirements analysis,design….

VO – Interrupted me ….No please specifically tell me about the product you shall be working on.

Me – I got extremely nervous here , I guess the VOs tone made me more nervous.I told him” We are building a product in the informatica product suite, that shall read data from an application databse and load the data in the cloud” (just said this line , although I could have carried on explaining but I decided to stop at this point)

There was a pause of 2 seconds.As though the VO wanted to hear more, but I decided not to explain    un-necessarily unless required.

VO – Your visa is approved sir.

Me – I stood there for some white receipt, I had read about in journals on internet.But he did;t give me any.

VO – Your Visa is approved sir, have a nice day.

Me-Thank you.

I came out of the embassy and didn’t stop for the courier services. Was too excited to stop.

VAC experience (US Visa Application Center)

Date\Venue - December 10^th 2015 – VAC New Delhi

My VAC was scheduled on 10-Dec-2015. I reached American Plaza ,Nehru Place around 1 hour earlier which was not really required. Everyone who has been given a particular time slot let’s say 12:15 pm (as in my case) may reach at least 20 mins earlier. The processing went smooth. As required, I carried my DS-160 and Application confirmation page along with passport. (Only these 3 docs required). No photographs are required as they shall be taken at the Visa Application Center (VAC).

Mobile phones in Switched off mode were allowed for the VAC.

Level 1 Check – At the entrance- DS-160, Application Confirmation page and Passport information cross checked. I was carrying a black and white printout of DS-160 and Application Confirmation page with clear bar codes. The Application Confirmation page was stamped with some seal. As the seal was dim, I asked the person to stamp my printout again.

Level 2 Check – I entered the VAC office and the guard asked me to switch off my mobile phone. He then checked me for any banned items and allowed me to enter.

Level 3 – I joined a queue inside the office and on reaching the counter, the officer checked my docs i.e. DS-160, Application Confirmation and the Passport. Then she pasted a sticker at the back of my passport which was earlier generated by a machine and had the same DS-160 id and passport number as mine. Please do not forget to get your Passport pasted by this sticker.

Level 4- I then collected a token from a different counter (like we do in banks) and sat in the waiting area. It’s not a very big place ,but a single hall where everything is happening ,just like a bank so no need to get nervous. I waited for my token number to be displayed on the screen

Level 5 – After waiting for 10 mins , my token number flashed and I went to the counter and submitted the three docs. The person asked me your name is XXX and your date of birth is XXX I confirmed.

Then he asked me to take off my specs and clicked my pic.

Then he asked me to put my left hand (4 fingers) on the scanner, and clean it with the cloth then after.The same process was repeated for the right hand and thumbs.

He then stamped my DS-160 form , returned my docs and wished me best of luck for the H1B interview.