Earn while you learn

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Earn while you learn

Edited By Sumita Vaid | Updated on Jan 04, 2014 07:13 PM IST

Rajesh Kumar slaps the alarm clock off. The time is 6.30 am, and he has twenty minutes before he dashes off to work. Breakfast is quick – yesterday’s leftovers. He quickly throws a few books into his bag while his eyes scan the room. There, the keys for the café are on the edge of his small study table, beside the books he was studying last night. Rajesh is a final-year student at Delhi University (DU), doing English Honours. By the time he starts work at the café, switches on the coffee machine, restocks the fridge and quickly wears his badge, a few eager customers are already at the door. He tightens the apron belt again, and goes behind the till. “What can I serve you, today?” he asks.

This is his routine three times a week before he sets off to college, which is not far from his place of work. Ask him why he chose to work while many of his classmates don’t, and he smiles. It’s a question he’s been asked often. “I don’t want to be a burden on my parents. I am quite capable of taking care of my expenses.” It’s not a haughty tone, but a plain statement, like his clothes.

Rajesh is from Meerut. His father is a clerk in a government office, and earns just enough to support a family of five. When Rajesh made it in the second cut-off list at DU, he was ecstatic but anxious as well - “The first thing that came to mind was that I needed a job to manage my living expenses.” His father, Suresh Kumar, could have sent the money but that was unacceptable to Rajesh. When he has some time off after classes, there’s no harm in working for a few hours, he reasoned. Now, Rajesh is in the final year at college, and he has also risen to be an assistant manager at the café. “It feels good to be on my own,” he says, smiling.

Rajesh is among a small band of revolutionaries who are open to the idea of working alongside their full-time or part-time course studies. Till now, such examples were seen or heard of largely in the US and Europe, even Australia. These countries are now alluring prospective Indian students with the ‘work-as-you-study’ catch phrase. Whenever a cousin studying in the US would come home on vacation, he was revered. Elders told the young ones to be like their ‘foreign-returned’ older cousin. But the moment tales of working in shops or cafés surfaced in large family gatherings, eyebrows were raised, and many coughed. Such stories received disapproving nods.

“A lot of Indians think working in a coffee shop or a restaurant is below their dignity,” says a busy Prabhjot Kaur, who is intensely looking at the roster. Her black high-heeled shoes set her apart. “It’s all in our minds,” she says. Kaur is assistant manager at Food Court, Select Citywalk. A smudge on the counter catches her attention. She picks up a napkin and wipes it off. “The first lesson I learnt in my first job was that there is no shame in any kind of work.”

McDonald's was her first job when she was pursuing arts at the School of respondence, Delhi University. The sight of dirty plates and saucers on the first day at work had made her steps stagger a little, but the embarrassment went away the day her senior, the manager, picked up a mop and started wiping the floor amid heavy footfalls. "And, he came from an educated family," Kaur stressed. From then on it didn't even bother her when her friends from class ped by for a bite. "In fact, my friends shared the latest gossip as I wiped their table."

But, Kaur has much to thank her parents - "Not once did my parents object to my working at a food joint." Kaur's father, who is based in Faridabad, was once an accountant but quit his job to become a religious teacher. Her face beams as she talks about her parents. "They cite my example to my younger cousins." But not all parents are as supportive as Kaur's. When Rajesh told his father that he wanted to work, his father felt let down. His mother was more understanding.

Parents' resistance to their children taking up part-time jobs is natural. "This is how the Indian society is built," says Professor Dipankar Gupta, Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Indians look up to people who do not work, and down upon those who work, and even more upon those who work with their hands, he explains. "Parents need to have a receptive outlook for their children to work at BPOs and food joints," says Sumeet Singh, national head, marketing and corporate communications, Info Edge (India) Ltd.

Students like Dilip Vaitheeswaran and Soumayadeep Ganguly, both MBA students with the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, see little merit in taking up part-time jobs. Dilip, who also helps the placement department at IIFT, says that internships or summer placements is the logical step towards building his career. He had interned with Axis Bank last summer and has now secured a job with the company. In times of a slowdown, when students are beginning to worry about placements, Dilip sounds relieved. His classmate, Soumayadeep, an engineer with three years of work experience at NTPC, says he would much rather set up a McDonald's outlet than work in one. But how about serving coffee or even making coffee? "But that's a trend in the US,' pat comes the reply from Dilip.

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Sulakshana Kapoor writes about in her mail from Chicago. Not only do students work to meet the high tuition costs, they also put their part-time experiences on their resumes, she writes with an exclamation mark. Sulakshana operated a photocopy machine, worked in a coffee shop and a gas station while she was studying Masters in Information Systems at Tampa University, Florida. And she was encouraged by her professors to include her part-time work experience in her CV. "At first, I was a little reluctant, but my professor made me realise that any kind of work experience is valuable. There's always something that we learn from a job, and you never know what your future recruiter is looking for!" Sulakshana is with a software firm in Chicago and she claims her photocopies are the best in the office!

Indian job portal, Naukri.com, is of the view that mention of part-time jobs such as working in a restaurant is unlikely to create a negative impression for the candidate. "In fact, it may carry a positive impression, and such a candidate may get preference over other candidates with similar skills sets, as any kind of work experience gives an edge in soft skills," says Singh of Info Edge.

Sandip Maithal, director, peoples' resources, McDonald's India (North & East) is of the view that working part-time not only helps youngsters become confident, but also provides them real world experience, which is crucial in strengthening their future professional lives. If some students in India are secretive about their part-time work it is because universities do not encourage it. "Education is competitive," says Professor Gupta of JNU.

But, that alone is not the reason, says Dr Chardrima Sikdar, assistant professor with IIFT. She pegs the blame, but only in a mild way, on the thinking of older faculty members. "The teaching community is dominated by older people. If we infuse young blood into our faculties, the outlook of the students might undergo a change."

And, this is something that should be encouraged, says Professor S K Kejariwal at Group for Adult Education, Social Sciences,JNU. He wished that this trend had set in earlier when parents were poorer and when people like him had to struggle very hard. "Now a student learning a foreign language can easily earn up to Rs 500 an hour in tuition work alone."

More than the money, the gratification is in the independence the young secure through a part-time job. "I see that students are less dependent on their parents. And, especially now - in times of a slowdown - it's good to take up part-time work." Professor Kejariwal thinks exposure at workplaces has made young people more responsible, mature and aware. "No wonder the crowd at museums is getting younger," he laughs, "which is a sign of changing times."

Just a few weeks ago, Rajesh had gone to a small art gallery. He liked the work of a young painter from Vadodara. The painting was of an early morning scene at a fish market. "There was a vegetable market I used to walk through to go to school." Then he looks at his watch. It's time to leave. "I've got my CAT tutorials!" And he dashes off to catch his bus.

Costa employs people with special needs

VIRAGJ~1 Virag Joshi, president & CEO, Devyani International Ltd, master franchisee of Costa Coffee in India, tells Careers 360 why Costa took up the initiative to employ people with special needs.

At Costa we were convinced that hearing impaired people can prove to be excellent employees. Interacting with customers on a daily basis rather than being relegated to a non-interactive function has definitely boosted their confidence and self-belief. They strive hard to succeed in their workplace and have very high level of motivation.

This has been an extremely satisfying experience for us. Though, honestly speaking, we were bracing ourselves for initial problems with regard to customer reactions. However, their support and appreciation has been overwhelming. Almost all our customers are happy to be served by our staff. In fact, some of the customers have said that this experience has taught them the virtue of patience and understanding, in this fast paced life.