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Common Pitfalls of Indian Job Seekers in America

Indians are a force in the US economy. There is scarcely an industry that does not have an Indian in its top echelons, be it business, medicine, film, or technology. That being said, each of us Indians, including those that made it to the top, are predisposed to certain tendencies, linked perhaps to elements deep rooted in our culture, that may act as impediments in our quest to climb the American corporate ladder.

IndiaOn’s editor spent 4 years in Human Resources at a multinational technology company, and has summarized the biggest mistakes she has seen Indian job hunters make in the US.

Pitfall Number 1: Lack of Focus.

In general, Indian candidates seem to have a hard time understanding the concept of “focus” when it comes to job seeking in corporate America. Resumes are packed with inconsequential facts that spill over multiple pages, and responses to interview questions are rarely brief and to the point. American interviewers look for the ability to sift through information quickly and to articulate the salient features in the most succinct way possible. Indian candidates tend to provide more information than is necessary, and as a result, their American interviewers tend to write them off in the first five minutes. In Indian culture, the lines between personal and professional are less rigid than they are in the US, and information between these spheres is more readily shared. However, in the US, especially in the job interview, the response to the ubiquitous “tell me about yourself” needs never be your parents’ names and how many cousins you have.

Pitfall Number 2: The Oversell.

Many of the Indians seeking US jobs carry some pedigree and about that same number tend to oversell these laurels in a job interview. Whether it’s IIT or Harvard, the interviewer can read those credentials on your resume and doesn’t really need to have them reemphasized. What he/she cannot tell is whether or not you will add value to the company. Therefore, focus less on the “this is who I know” and “this is what I have done” and more on the “this is what I can do for you”, and watch interviewers begin to listen more intently.

Pitfall Number 3: Lack of Persistence.

Americans are aggressive – the whole world knows that. Either because they expect that decisions are made on an Indian timeline (decidedly slower than the US) or because they think it disrespectful to ask pointed question such as “when can I expect an answer”, Indians are viewed as more passive than their American counterparts. Being able to push to closure is a critical skill in today’s job market, and Indians tend to fall behind other nationalities because they are less likely to launch a follow-up pursuit. In America, follow-up is the candidate’s responsibility and Indians can stand to be more proactive in ensuring that they never fall off an interviewer’s radar.

Pitfall Number 4: Short vs. Long-Term potential.

Too often, in the negotiation dance, we see Indians focused on the short-term aspects over the long-term gains. Despite there being only so many levers to manipulate in a compensation discussion, Indians tend to opt to negotiate for the smaller, more meaningless wins like $1000 extra salary, or 2 days extra vacation. Really what should be the focus of these conversations are the responsibilities of the role, the long-term potential to rise within the organization, and the opportunities to work on certain projects. Indians tend to sell themselves short in the long run by not setting themselves up for success at this critical point at the start of a job.

A related point is that I have heard American managers running subsidiaries in India make a case for title inflation because “my employees need to tell their mothers-in-law that they are senior managers”. These employers mean well, but the result is big titles without the corresponding increase in responsibility and pay. So you may feel like you are getting promoted, but really all that is happening is that your actual work is being undermined and you as an employee are losing credibility because you seem to be more concerned with what people will think than with actually contributing to the firm.

Pitfall Number 5: Not Enough Preparation.

With the competition in the labor market today, a large amount of preparation is needed to land your dream job. It is no longer enough to demonstrate achievement in the past. Employers want candidates to be proactive about what they know about the company, and in their ability to solve real problems that the company is facing (you may even be asked to identify those problems).

I once had a phone interview in which I asked the candidate his weaknesses, a very common American interview question. His response was that he was physically quite weak! This signaled to me immediately that he had not taken the time to familiarize himself with the types of expected responses, and therefore, he was probably not the right cultural fit for us. He may have been a genius and wowed me in the technical section of the interview that followed, but I was already convinced that he would not do everything needed to succeed on the job.

Pitfall Number 6: Following vs. Leading

In today’s knowledge economy, the management jobs that Indians covet are less about following instructions, and more about critical thinking. India’s hierarchical structure and rote memory education system may be factors that contribute to the perception that Indians are excellent at executing according to plan, but are less capable of thinking outside the box. All successful Indians have demonstrated mastery of this duality: they have sound theoretical foundation, but are able to deviate from the formula when the prescribed solution is inadequate.

Further, I have heard non-Indian managers complain that Indians never admit ignorance or expose errors, in case they appear incompetent. In today’s world in which agility is more important than accuracy, a mistake is not as grave as a delay. Companies would rather employees expend energy to find a solution quickly than to cover up a flaw and delay problem solving.

Naturally, all Indians do not exhibit the behaviors in this article and certainly non-Indians also demonstrate many of these behaviors. However, as Indians will continually look for employment and success in the United States, it is important to examine where our cultures might pit us in opposition, so that we may achieve the full potential that our culture and wealth of knowledge has granted us.

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