Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Sunday 2 April 1995

JOB DESCRIPTION OF A CONSULTANT



PERSONNEL RELATED

Attendance / Leave Record
Salary Calculation & Payments
Personal Folder maintenance
Increment record

ADMINISTRATION RELATED

Timely payment of Phone Bills / Electricity Bills
-      Payment of “Tea” bills
-      Payment of “Stationery” bills
-      Inventory control / Reordering of all stationery items so we do not run short.
-      Statutory compliances (Shop & Establishment Act)
-      Housekeeping
-      Minor cash Purchases (Imprest A/c)
-      Announcement of Paid /Unpaid  Holidays in advance
-      Insurance (Cars/Computers/entire office)
-      Security

BUSINESS RELATED

FILING
-      Correspondence Files
-      Bio- data Files
-      Pro-data Boxes

JOB DESCRIPTION OF A CONSULTANT

Follow-up clients (once computer print-outs have been sent) to give “dates”     for conducting interviews & names of candidates to be called

Prepare interview-schedules & release to client & to “Interview Panel Expert”

Get ready Interview-Call letters & ensure timely dispatch to candidates.

Phone-up candidates & obtain their confirmation/alternate dates requested.
Communicate “Status” to client every 2nd /3rd day (or even daily) as to who /how many are attending.

Wherever necessary ensure dispatch of “Registration Forms” along with Call- Letters.

As soon as interview-call are dispatched, send out to client plastic folder containing.

Xerox copies of biodatas along with Interview Evaluation sheets.

Follow up with client (if required by periodic visits) re; Feed Back on

How many / who attended

Who was passed (selected) /rejected /kept on hold

Who is to be called for Final Interview (if any) & when. To follow up and organize such final interviews.

Ensure that client issues appointment letters to candidates “Passed” in the final interview. Follow up and get copies of appointment letters-alternately sit across client and fill up “Compensation Format” for calculating our professional fees.

Wherever client is unable to select/appoint anyone in the final   interview, sit with him and decide next course of action. e.g

Call some more candidates

-      Re-advertise

-      Search our database etc.

You job is not over till,

Relevant invoices are issued

Payment cheques are collected

Feedback to candidates re “outcome” of the interviews

Today this is a “weak” area. We give feedback only if (and when) concerned candidate phones us. This is not correct.

We owe to each candidate feedback on whether he got rejected / short listed for final interview/short listed for salary-negotiations. For this feedback, we should call him up on our own. If he does not have a phone, we should send him a Standard (but nice & polite) letter (never a post-card !)

CLIENT –RESPONSE

There are many cases where we have already received “Advance” (i.e. Minimum
Search fees) but have not acted-upon the client’s Purchase Order, by

Searching our Database

Short listing suitable candidates

Sending first the “Short list” and then individual detailed bio-datas to the client for his scrutiny.

We take action only when client start phoning! This is creating poor image.

So first thing to do is to prepare a

COMPREHENSIVE ORDER BACKLOG LIST
(in chronological order of the dates)

                                                          SPLIT THIS INTO



Where Advance            where we are not                casual /stray
is received - A             insisting on advance – B      Requests
                                                                     Monthly orderC
          
Obviously this is top priority           either because,       which could
& action must be started at            we want to start a          be converted  Once, otherwise these                   relationship with an  to advance, if
“Orders” Will get cancelled!            important client i.e.  we had time                                                     Hinduja/Finolex/Kirloskar    to attend to OR                  these although
We are not sure of   intuitively we          Being able to find suitable know that             
                                         Candidate (create poor           we
                                         Impression)                          have in our
Databank, very suitable
Candidates)
Lost Potential
Lost Business !
Our priority for action is obviously First A, then B & lastly C.

You should sit-down with Nirmit, devise a proper format and, with his help (his memory) start filling up each of these lists, starting with List A. This format could have following columns;

Client Name / Contact Person / Phone No.

Position / Vacancy

“Advance” details (Cheque No. / Date/ amount)

Action taken details

Computer Print out sent – date / (No. of records)

Detailed Bio Data sent-date / (No. of bio datas)

Interview Arranged – date / (No. of candidates)

Remarks

In the software being developed by Mr. Nagle, there are “Modules” for

Order Processing                                 There is a Folder
Interview Fixing                                  for each of these
Advance / Invoicing /Accounting

The formats to be used are shown in these individual folders. All these will ultimately get computerized. However, it will help us and Mr. Nagle tremendously if we are to immediately introduce a MANUAL SYSTEM (of “record-keeping” in Lists/Statements/Tabulations/Registers / Formats etc.) and use it for a few months to find-out its SHORTCOMING / LACUNAE, so that when we computerize, we can take care of problems faced during MANUAL OPERATION.

Rewriting computer software again and again is expensive/time-consuming and throws “Production” out-of-gear. This could be avoided by trying / testing a MANUAL SYSTEM. Although it could mean duplicate / multiple entry of same data in several different FORMS/STATEMENTS/REGISTERS. But this will be a very good LEARNING PROCESS, and will help us do a better job of computerizing with very little subsequent changes.