When Jacquelin Fernandes completed her degree course a year ago, she decided to stay in
Goa to do back to back internships with prominent architectural firms. After a
year she decided to step back and stay put for a while in Goa. Recharge her
batteries as she put it and do some freelance jobs that would catch her fancy
and help her earn some money. However, with regards to staying in Goa and
working in a Goan, it was not something she was considering. This brings us to
a very important question as to how easy or how difficult is it to get Goan
candidates to work in the state. What are the issues involved?
When Jacquelin was done with her second
six-month internship, she decided to give some time to herself and ponder her
next move. She had interviewed with architectural firms in the state and had
been offered positions but had declined them. The money being offered, she said
was just not right. Jacquelin said, “They were offering me Rs 10,000 or less
since I would be joining as a junior. I asked for more, and a couple of them
were interested in doing so but then they wanted me to take care of the office.
This would mean administrative work, which is not what I wanted to do in an
architectural firm and so I declined. I intend to leave for Mumbai soon and
explore my options in that city. So far during my break, I have been taking odd
jobs and earning decent money.”
The youth of today are very clear as to what they want to do and
are willing to wait for the right opportunity. When Nimesh Parab started
looking for a job in Goa, he would receive calls from companies keen on sending
him out on the road to sell their products. To make it even more unattractive
to him, the pay was not great. However, after waiting for a couple of months,
he got a job with 91 Springboard as an Associate in the sales function but
which requires him to stay in the office. More importantly, the job profile was
interesting and the prospect for further growth were bright. Nimesh said, “It’s
been two months since I took up this assignment but it has been interesting and
I am learning new skills. One never knows but I could be sent to another city
to handle a facility if I show my capabilities here.”
The prospect of low salaries in junior positions is quite off
putting for youngsters. Nikhil Haldankar is right now freelancing as a
cinematographer and intends to set up a studio in two months. Nikhil said, “I
used to work in an event company when I first started and the pay was poor and
I got this job after applying in so many companies. It is difficult to get a
good job in Goa. The pay scale is very poor but I was helped by my interest in
photography and I used to take photographs whilst in college. Now I do this
full time and it is very satisfying.”
These may the exceptions rather than the rule. Self-motivated
and interested in doing their best. The general perception is that Goans are
keen on working in the government sector. Job assured and an increment
guaranteed every year.
So how do placement consultants find working in such a market?
Harpreet Singh of Goa Jobs Junction said “I have ten jobs
waiting for candidates but no one is willing to take them up. It is very
difficult to recruit Goans. The really talented go getters are not available.
They all want to work abroad. They want very good salaries in the very first
assignment. They ask for salaries in excess of Rs, 20,000 for the first job.
The companies planning to recruit them are small companies which cannot afford
to pay them so much. The idea of gaining new skills is totally absent here.
Many of them are staying with their parents and do not have to pay rent. All
they have to manage is the money of the petrol or the bus ticket. But all of
them want high salaries. The economy of the state does not allow for such high
salaries. They want to go to Mumbai to earn higher salaries but how much will
they save.”
A HR Manager in a local company when contacted said it was a
sensitive subject which she was not interested in commenting. Other very
voluble members of the corporate world did not want to comment saying they
would let that one pass.
Perhaps, the youth of Goa will have to look at themselves and
ask questions and the corporates operating in the state will have to perhaps
learn to be a little freer with the remuneration. There has to be a meeting
place somewhere in the middle.
Life should begin at forty. But does it
when you want to shake a leg
and party in coastal Goa, with your kind of music? Hardly, with teeny boppers
to twenty some-things, dominating floor space and headspace in the nightlife
circuit.
Hence, it will indeed be a bit of breather
and a relief to have a place to rewind, put your feet up and listen to the
classics, the middle aged have grown upto and grown up with.
Favela in Baga will have a different vibe
this Sunday, May 26, 2019 from 9pm onwards. The music will take you back in
time at ‘Classic Circus’ which is looking at the age group of 40 plus crowd who
are looking forward to a relaxed and chilled out Sunday. The band, Raul and
Friends, will be performing live at the Favela,
The band is made up of talented musicians,
Raul D’Mello on the vocals, Daryl Rodrigues on keyboard, Jonathan Dias on drums
and Diego Fernandes on bass. Raul has opened concerts for international artists
like Ricky Martin Andy Williams, Buddy Greco, Jack Jones and Diana King and
mostly has been the only Indian to be a part of that stage. Raul introduces the
band, “Daryl Rodrigues has played with the big Indian artists like Louis banks,
Leslie Lewis and Hariharan to name a few. Diego Fernandes is the founder member
of the Goan band ‘Syndicate’. Jonathan Dias is a part of my band Raul with
Ragas To Riches and has also been the drummer for Remo Fernandes.”
Explaining how the idea of ‘Classic
Circus’ came into existence, Raul says, “Goa has everything to do with party
life but sadly nothing for the middle aged society. I was in the Phillipines
with Gregg Furtado, (a part of the trio that runs by Goodlife, a company which
spearheaded by Amit Bakhale and Gautam Bakhale) looking for bands when we
talked about different kinds of music. This whole concept was put together at
7am in the morning. This concept is still evolving and every show will be
different as we plan to add a couple of new artists at every show. There is so
much talent in Goa that believes in this genre of music and I would like to
have different singers and musicians join me on that stage.”
He further adds, “We are targeting the 40 plus segment as they
are the ones that will relate to this genre the most. We are also trying to
educate the younger audience about the classics that has created an impact and
left so much for the future. I have lived through the timelines of this music
and I just want to give it back to this generation and which better place than
Goa.”
What
can the audience expect this Sunday? “The audience can expect to hear different
connotations of their most loved songs from yesteryears with a twist of my
soul. Just to give you a taste of the music we will be covering songs by
artistes like Lionel Richie, Stevie wonder, Luther Vandross, Billy Joel,
Beatles, Englebert Humperdinck etc and many more,” concludes Raul.
