I am Gopal Krishna from Vizag but was born and brought up in Calcutta. I started my career at the age of 25 in the year 1997. I was an Arts Graduate, proficient in Stenography, and well-versed with computers. However, I had to start my career with a very low salary of Rs. 1,000/- per month as a PA to a Marketing Manager in a limited company.
You might be surprised to know that I had to leave 13 companies to grow both financially and professionally. Some of the big companies I worked for include Kirloskar, Garware, Fem Care, Ipca Labs, and Seminis in the secretarial field. You may agree that in the Stenography or secretarial field, there is very limited scope for professional growth, even though we are very capable and knowledgeable. It took me almost 10–12 years to reach a salary of Rs. 25,000/- per month.
I desperately wanted to change my field of work, so with great difficulty, I studied for an MBA in HR through correspondence from IGNOU, and I passed recently. Let me tell you that Ranbaxy was the only company where I worked for almost 4 years. However, as I studied for an MBA in HR and wanted to change my field, I was compelled to resign from Ranbaxy and accepted a position as HR Head in a perfume manufacturing company headquartered in Dubai. I was responsible for the sales staff, accounts, and logistics staff of the company, which had 400 employees. To get the job, I was compelled to lie about having prior HR experience.
After joining the company as HR Head with the same salary of Rs. 25,000/- per month, I was responsible for payroll, recruitment, filing, PF, ESIC, performance appraisal, and all other statutory compliances. It was a retail company in Mumbai with branches in Delhi and Bangalore. I was the only person handling the entire group without any assistance—a one-man show.
To everyone's surprise, I worked so efficiently that nobody doubted my past experience. I was very updated with everything required for the company and was computer-savvy. I successfully transferred manual payroll into an automated pay package with accuracy single-handedly. This was something that could not have been installed in a similar group with my boss as GM-HR, an Assistant Manager-HR, an Officer HR, one IT person, and one secretary.
In view of all these, my boss was so happy with my work and performance that he twice stood up from his chair and shook my hand for my brilliant performance. I was thinking of continuing there, and I worked there for 1.5 years. However, to my misfortune, I learned that a receptionist, who was handling all admin work from the beginning, was in the habit of receiving commissions from vendors illegally. When I tried to take that into my hands and save the company's money, the receptionist was terribly annoyed with me.
She plotted against me by intentionally bumping into me and then shouting that I had intentionally bumped into her. Seeing the situation, I politely apologized, but she made it a big issue, claiming my conduct was not good. My boss believed her, possibly due to an earlier ego problem, as he was not very knowledgeable in HR despite being my boss. He had only done a diploma in HR and was good at wasting time.
Considering the circumstances and the fact that it was a Muslim organization (partial to Hindus), I thought it was better to resign, so I did and walked away. I thought it was the right time to settle in the South (Hyderabad), as I am South Indian, so I came to Hyderabad to search for a job. I tried very hard to get an HR job and was shortlisted in 3–4 places, but they offered only Rs. 15,000/- per month with a bond of 3 years, which was not acceptable to me.
I even tried to get a secretarial job and fortunately got a job as a PA to the chairman in an MNC with a salary of Rs. 25,000/- per month, but with a bond for 3 years. It took me 4 months of searching in Hyderabad to get this job.
However, I am most satisfied working as an HR person. Please advise, what can I do in these circumstances?
You might be surprised to know that I had to leave 13 companies to grow both financially and professionally. Some of the big companies I worked for include Kirloskar, Garware, Fem Care, Ipca Labs, and Seminis in the secretarial field. You may agree that in the Stenography or secretarial field, there is very limited scope for professional growth, even though we are very capable and knowledgeable. It took me almost 10–12 years to reach a salary of Rs. 25,000/- per month.
I desperately wanted to change my field of work, so with great difficulty, I studied for an MBA in HR through correspondence from IGNOU, and I passed recently. Let me tell you that Ranbaxy was the only company where I worked for almost 4 years. However, as I studied for an MBA in HR and wanted to change my field, I was compelled to resign from Ranbaxy and accepted a position as HR Head in a perfume manufacturing company headquartered in Dubai. I was responsible for the sales staff, accounts, and logistics staff of the company, which had 400 employees. To get the job, I was compelled to lie about having prior HR experience.
After joining the company as HR Head with the same salary of Rs. 25,000/- per month, I was responsible for payroll, recruitment, filing, PF, ESIC, performance appraisal, and all other statutory compliances. It was a retail company in Mumbai with branches in Delhi and Bangalore. I was the only person handling the entire group without any assistance—a one-man show.
To everyone's surprise, I worked so efficiently that nobody doubted my past experience. I was very updated with everything required for the company and was computer-savvy. I successfully transferred manual payroll into an automated pay package with accuracy single-handedly. This was something that could not have been installed in a similar group with my boss as GM-HR, an Assistant Manager-HR, an Officer HR, one IT person, and one secretary.
In view of all these, my boss was so happy with my work and performance that he twice stood up from his chair and shook my hand for my brilliant performance. I was thinking of continuing there, and I worked there for 1.5 years. However, to my misfortune, I learned that a receptionist, who was handling all admin work from the beginning, was in the habit of receiving commissions from vendors illegally. When I tried to take that into my hands and save the company's money, the receptionist was terribly annoyed with me.
She plotted against me by intentionally bumping into me and then shouting that I had intentionally bumped into her. Seeing the situation, I politely apologized, but she made it a big issue, claiming my conduct was not good. My boss believed her, possibly due to an earlier ego problem, as he was not very knowledgeable in HR despite being my boss. He had only done a diploma in HR and was good at wasting time.
Considering the circumstances and the fact that it was a Muslim organization (partial to Hindus), I thought it was better to resign, so I did and walked away. I thought it was the right time to settle in the South (Hyderabad), as I am South Indian, so I came to Hyderabad to search for a job. I tried very hard to get an HR job and was shortlisted in 3–4 places, but they offered only Rs. 15,000/- per month with a bond of 3 years, which was not acceptable to me.
I even tried to get a secretarial job and fortunately got a job as a PA to the chairman in an MNC with a salary of Rs. 25,000/- per month, but with a bond for 3 years. It took me 4 months of searching in Hyderabad to get this job.
However, I am most satisfied working as an HR person. Please advise, what can I do in these circumstances?