26 December, 2007

What are the things you should ask from HR of the company in which you are looking for employment ??

This is a very good line from a song of a very old hindi movie called "Naam bade aur darshan chote". Dont go with the brand name of the company and do not trust the HR recruiter completely. He will promise you thousands of things just to see that you join his company, after all even he has targets to achieve.

People usually feel cheated when they find out that 90% of the things which were promised by the recruiter (verbally) are actually exaggerated to pull you and which actually do not exist.

So planning to move to take a shift in your career?? there are few things you should always ask the HR of the new employer apart from salary negotiation, or else things can turn out to be a nightmare.




  1. Appraisal Cycle - Every company has a appraisal cycle (usually march in most of the companies in India) and for example if you join in Sept or October month of 2007 then you actually complete your one year by same month in 2008 then you will miss out the annual hike, so be very careful about that.
  2. Notice Period Buyout - Usually when they need the person they do promise to buyout the notice period with the current employer.
  3. Relocation policy - Ask the HR to forward the relocation policy this will help you how much you can claim from that employer and any other negotiation can be done based on that document.
  4. Notice Period - This will help you to plan your next shift.
  5. Joining Bonus - If you fall in 1+ yrs of experience then you should ask for joining bonus, this is something apart from your CTC.
  6. Air Fare- Usually the company pays for the fare incurred by you to move from one city to other, so in case if you stay with parents then do not hesitate to ask this.
  7. Transportation - Does the company has their own transportation (like Bus/Cab facility) to commute or do we have to rely completely up on the government/local transportation available in the city. This will help you to understand how employee friendly the organization is.
  8. Campus - Is this their own campus or do they have just few floors in a IT Park? Because most of the companies do not have their own campus, so for every thing we have to make use of the facilities provided in the IT Park. Some times the companies don't have their own cafeteria, that means you have to eat your breakfast,meals, snacks from the outlets available in the IT Park and that to at a heavy price.
  9. Leaves - The number of privilege, Flexi/Casual/Sick Leaves which can be taken in the new organization
  10. Get all things in written - And the most important thing, drop all your questions in a mail to the recruiter, am sure the recruiter will call you and discuss this verbally.. in this case request him to reply to your mail. This will help you to put your case strongly before management if you have issues with what you were supposed to receive.
All the points discussed above will give you confidence that you are moving to the right company provided you are satisfied with the answers of the recruiter.

People reading my blog are encourage to comment on this with your queries and your experience about the same.

Well here are some more points which my friend Rahul Khule has added. (some points might be repeated).

Recommended to Read ::: http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/may/05perfin.htm

-----Rahul----

Hi,

Following are the points which you must discuss with the recruiter and HR before you join any new company.

  1. Designation,
  2. CTC,
  3. Variable pay in CTC,
  4. Joining Bonus,
  5. Notice period reimbursement of previous employer,
  6. Relocation Allowance,
  7. Probation period,
  8. Salary revision upon confirmation,
  9. Appraisal cycle,
  10. Business unit allocated,
  11. Initial training program,
  12. Work permit or visa initiation,
  13. Onsite opportunity,
  14. Notice period,
  15. Working days and hours,
  16. Leave policy,
  17. Transport facility,
  18. Dress code,

All the points may not be applicable and will vary case to case.

Points 1 to 14 should get clarified before you join the company (or get the offer letter).

Points 15 to 18 can be directed to the HR if they are not mentioned in offer letter.

What I will suggest is that you write a mail to the concerned recruiter/HR and get the answers in written communication.

This will have the advantage over verbal communication and may be used as a proof in an unconditional scenario.

-----Rahul----




Happy Job hunting :)
Cheers...
Geetesh Jain

1 comment:

Hari said...

As Geetesh rightly pointed out there would be vast difference between the promise and delivery.
I would like to add one more important thing to that list, CTC.
There are tricks companies use to show a fatter pay, even though the actual take home would be nowhere near the amount. Welcome to the world of cost-to-company (CTC) calculations. The term CTC, used to describe the remunerations offered to an employee on an annual basis, generally includes the basic salary, allowances, perquisites and statutory deductions like professional tax, company's contribution to provident fund, premium toward mediclaim and gratuity. But, sometimes, it might also include the annual performance bonus and interest-rate subsidy (if the firm gives out any), as a result of which, your monthly take-home salary may be way short of the annual CTC divided by 12. Say, the CTC of Rs 5 lakh offered to you includes an annual performance bonus of Rs 1.5 lakh. Now, bonus is given based not only on an employee's performance, but also the profitability of the company or the employee's department. So, sometimes, an employee may work hard enough to deserve the bonus, but may not get any on the ground that his department made losses that year. So, the CTC of Rs 5 lakh may boil down to Rs 3.5 lakh. In addition to these cut-offs, there are taxes to be paid. However, in some packages, the basic salary may be lower, while other perks and allowances are included. As a result, the tax outgo would be lower. This would lead to a higher net take-home pay, taking into consideration the lower tax that one would have to pay. But, in case you intend to take a loan for your home or any other needs immediately, a salary structure that has more perks and less of basic salary may not be suitable. Financers and banks decide the loan eligibility of a person based on the basic salary and not the CTC. If you opt for a CTC with lower basic salary, the amount of loan you are eligible for would be lower.