The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Army, Navy come recruiting at career fair

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 24, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Army, Navy come recruiting at career fair

Staff Reporter

Programme aimed at freshers and experienced candidates Programme aimed at freshers and experienced candidates

CHENNAI: On a lazy Sunday morning, the 2,098 applicants who thronged the morning session of the `Dream Jobs' fair were at their industrious best.

Resumes in hand, job aspirants waited in long, snaky queues at all the orifices of Raja Muthiah Hall, dreaming of a promising future.

Organised by the Rotary Club of Madras, the career fair was aimed as much at the fresher as at candidates with experience. Rotarian Nandita Krishnan (director, vocational services) said the idea was to give people some experience on how to conduct themselves during interviews, even if their applications amount to nothing.

Enquiries

The Rotarians said they managed a coup of sorts by getting Tata Consultancy Services, the Army and the Navy among the 15 recruiting organisations at `Dream Jobs.'

At the Navy stall, a sea of excited girls surrounded Anil Prem D'Souza who looked dapper in his crisp white uniform.

Two of them, Sunita and Praveena, said they were just making enquiries so that they could explore their options. They were still in their final year, they said, so there's no hurry.

"We are especially interested in the Navy," piped an excited Praveena, who confessed she had never stepped on a ship. "But, it sounds like a life of adventure, and is different from other jobs," she said.

The girls also handed in their resumes at the Polaris and Sathyam stalls. "Who knows? Maybe later, they will contact us," Sunita said.

Colonel Deepak Gupta and Major Amit Banerjee who were manning the Army stall said they had already met around 500 people in the first hour of the fair.

Unlike the Navy, the Army is recruiting and had their latest ads pinned up on the wall.

Tests, interviews

In another hall, each company had put up separate stalls where the chosen candidates had to take tests or attend interviews.

Naresh (21), with a year's work experience, had come prepared to attend a test, job interview or whatever it took to bag that dream job.

He said the test was really easy.

A Ford representative said they tested the selected candidates.

The results would be out in a week, after which the candidates who make the grade would undergo a group discussion and an interview.

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