Are capabilities and caliber not enough for an individual to get a good position in the Indian corporate world?

Being a part of "Talent Acquisition" & "Executive Search" teams with various corporates, both Indian & MNCs, I agree partly on the above statement. Capabilities & Caliber of an individual certainly help an individual to get a good position in the Indian Corporate world.

However, at the outset, a LOT also depends on the Interviewer's / Hiring Manager's psyche during the interview. In case, the interviewer is not open enough in his approach towards selecting the candidate for his capabilities / caliber / potential and the value that he can bring to the table, no matter how much capable / high caliber a candidate carries with him, an interviewer will still find reasons to REJECT that candidate.

As they rightly say, "You need hundred reasons to SELECT a candidate, but just ONE reason to REJECT him / her".

Nikhil Lele

Business Unit Head - RPO

Hexagon Executive Search

Hi! Rohit 

Good Question!!

Capabilities & caliber are all that are required to get a good position and make it to the top , not only in India anywhere in the world. 

The moot point would be how do we define these capabilities.How do we measure it ? 

Going by the current norms in large Business Houses and MNC's the academics serve as a good &  measurable way to select suitable candidates. This is especially true in starting level positions upto say 3 years. After that the quality of your experience and your record of handling deliverables take over. The people who rise to the top are the ones who able to master both these aspects.

While working in a corporate one of the Key capabilities for which there is no Quality training available - would be to be one with the environment , understanding the various sensitivities and nuances , the hot points and triggers, of the people around you.This kind is a skill which developes with experience and for some it doesnt come easy. And they loose out even though they might be good in other aspects. 

A lot of people miss out in their career progression - because they are unable to come to terms with the environment fully.

So capabilities & calliber will take you to the Top, but these 2 words include a lot of sub headings need to be kept in mind.

Prakash 

Untill and unless somebody has seen you performing your CV and self presentation in interview is your face. But beleive me scoring "only" on these is not sustainable...whether it is India or Europe or America.

No matter what you have studied your attitude and knack speaks at the end.

Those who are worried that they do not have good face value should only keep patience and beleive in themselves...whether it is India or Europe or America.

I do agree with Dipak and Soarav's comment-- very much relevant. Sachin Saxena, can you please decrease your technosavvy articles. it would be good if you could explain in simple layman terms.

Having seen both the Indian corp. sector & the North American corp. sector...I tend to agree that 'fancy' names matter in India.

Your chances are bolstered if your resume has some marquee names either in the list of institute/s you went to OR in the list of employers you worked for. In India where the number of applicants for an advertised opportunity is magnitudes larger than the corresponding number in say- the US, the hiring manager / HR usually have minutes to decide on whom to "process" ( an HR euphemism for taking a candidate through the recruitment process). And they would rather place their bet on someone with fancy names in their resume ; after all these people have 'proven' themselves (thats what they think ).

Abroad, your actual competency & your interpersonal skills matter tremendously.

Hi,

Mr Rohit,

well these days all good reputated companies are looking for good academics becoz when ever they say about they employee they want to address him or her with such critirias for freshers when they come for experienced people well it depends upon the exposure of work in the current industry and caliber and talent is very much necessary to get agood position

I feel capabilities and caliber determine the position that you would climb up to in the corporate ladder.  Having a kitty full of certifications or degrees would not help you along the way in tactfully handling challenges; capabilities will.   Although, studying and achieving certifications might help you make some well informed decisions, they are not the only source for handling challenges.  It is good to have certifications / degrees to prove capability; but can we confidently say the vice versa holds good?

This article attempts to define dynamic techno-management capability (DTMC) in firms. DTMC is the managerial ability of technological progress paths that are technology-intensive, dynamic complex and risky. A comparison of Indian computer firms with a Korean electronics company was made, taking into consideration various parameters involved in techno-dynamic management capability. The Korean company, Samsung Electronics Co., is one of the big giants in Asia. It has diversified its activities in the areas of electronics. It has made tremendous achievements in Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) technology over the years. Whereas Wipro Information Technology Ltd. is an Indian company that could not achieve excellence in the designing of computers due to a weak components base in the country. The other reason that Wipro Information Technology could not catch up was because of its not following the managerial practices of technology development paths as the Koreans did. In the present scenario, Indian computer companies have been left with no choice but to concentrate on software development if they are to make their presence felt in the international market.