The Hindu Business Line : To move or not to move...

Is it the right time for seasoned software professionals to move to the next rung — by joining start-ups that promise to take them to the top of the world?

IF there is one thing that the slowdown in the last year taught you - as programmer, project leader, manager or even CEO, it is probably this: that now is the worst time to switch jobs.

How about unlearning the lesson?

Because, there may just be some method in the madness you find in a few — yes, only a handful of — people in the industry. These chaps are looking to switch jobs, and start-ups are their starting points! Vijaykumar Natarajan, with a masters in computer science and about seven years' experience, is one such. Ask him how his current job - at the level of project manager in the systems development space, based in the US - is and he says, "Okay. Happy with what I am doing, but not sure when my division will close down."

Last month, he was in serious discussion with an acquaintance who had a business idea and had received funding commitments. Natarajan was prepared to take as much as a 40 per cent cut in salary as well as an increased workload. Where the talks broke down was when the product was discussed and Natarajan wasn't too convinced that it was saleable.

The defence for the argument is clear: Natarajan and his team develop tools that software product companies use. No other division of Natarajan's current employer does this kind of work, so there is no question of redeployment. Further, if the division does close down and he were to look for similar jobs outside, he has to take a pay cut and work with folks who are juniors by a mile. "There is so much supply of manpower that companies can afford to squeeze applicants", he explains. Strangely, he is not even looking at these points. His attraction is this: "Because the scenario is not rosy, I can bargain for a better deal, in terms of position in the company, in terms of ESOPs and the like, with a start-up. Now, non-salary portions of the offered remuneration are certainly better than what they used to be a year ago, when offers came flooding. And I have the opportunity to be among the top three or five in the start-up. If it really clicks, I will be ready to retire at age 35. After all, what comes down must go up - the stock markets, I mean. All I have to be convinced about is the product idea and the business strategy to make it saleable. And there, I have run into stumbling blocks."

And mind you, he is not the lone ranger who takes each day as it comes in the Wild West. He has a family and has just started thinking of investments in real estate. He clarifies that those investment plans can wait if he finds his dream start-up.

eWorld spoke to other people with similar experience in the software industry. If Natarajan is at one end of the spectrum, several others prefer the middle path while most swing to the other end. As expected, not many, even in the same age-group, think like Natarajan does. Sundaram Ganapathy, who has put in the same number of years except that he is a management graduate, thinks joining start-ups is a certain no-no, given that the economy is barely showing signs of recovery. Based out of the US, Ganapathy feels it is better to stick to established companies, if at all you must switch jobs. However, he is willing to explore new areas that these established players may be exploring. He says, "Start ups are a no-no. Even if I am considering a job shift, I want my future employer to match my current salary. He may tie in hikes and future position in the company to the way it performs, but I will not go in for a pay-cut."

A new area, such as business process outsourcing (BPO), could be rewarding, he feels. Ganapathy says he may consider opting in if his current or another well-set employer forays into it. It's new, so you get the feeling of doing something different, while staying with a set player, which increases job security, is the argument.

At the other end of spectrum is the person who wagers safe bets. eWorld spoke to T.S. Padmanabhan who has a bachelors in engineering and about six years of experience in programming design. Currently working in the US for one of the top three software majors, he is certain that this is a bad time to switch jobs. If at all an irresistible opportunity comes by, he says he will consider the pedigree of the management before agreeing to a change. This assumes that the product idea and business strategy are good. One of the major deterrents for him is that he has seen too many friends and acquaintances lose jobs and struggling to find new ones. A known devil is better than an unknown angel for him.

Those who take to the middle path or swear by the-safety-first-glory-if-possible theory have another argument: if he were so confident about the solidity of the market, he would start up a company himself. Why would he bet on someone else's entrepreneurial capabilities and merely join a start-up?

"Contacts" is the answer that comes from those who bet on high risks for high returns. "CEO-hood does not come easily to everyone. You need some depth of substance for that. So, if you find a good chap and a good idea, wager your bet on him."

Which means that prospective employees - thus far keen on technology and its wizardry - are now beginning to think like venture capitalists. They actually evaluate the management team, look at the solidity of the product proposed, evaluate how well it would progress and if it was worthwhile taking ownership and so on. Which also means that having got the mindset of the average investor, they should think like a smart investor. That is, pick up the stocks when the market slumps. So you buy them cheap and can later sell them dear. In other words, take reasonable risks with start-ups and hit the jackpot, analogically, right?

Wrong. And that's why you have more people playing it safe. Says Arun Natarajan, Chennai-based strategic consultant and incubator, "The unwritten law of the stock market — nobody is allowed to buy at exactly the bottom and sell at exactly the peak — applies to this context as well. Even though, these days, there is quite a bit of awareness about the logic of "buying/starting up when markets are low" and "selling/exiting when markets are heated up", the number of people who act upon this awareness is still — quite understandably — low." He says that this is backed up by recent data from a US-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas that found that during the first quarter of 2002, only 14 per cent of surveyed managers and executives said they would relocate for a new job. That's the lowest rate recorded since the company started keeping track 15 years ago.

Given this, if software professionals wanting to start out on their own, manage to do before the market crosses the 25 per cent mark on the upswing, they would have still done well. "Which means, the smart thing to do, he says, would be to do the ground-work towards starting-up while still keeping your day job — by working weekends and nights, not moonlighting. This way, you can "hit the ground running" when you are confident enough to take the final plunge.

What do you think? Write back to us with your opinions on this issue.

bharatk@thehindu.co.in

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