Last week, my Department conducted a road-show type of event across the Organization. The purpose of the event was to create an awareness amongst the employees, that Software Testing offered an attractive career in the IT industry. This purpose, was however, the official version. The real reason was mainly to entice those working in other Departments to move to ours.
Since this event was conducted under the auspices of the Organization's senior management, we were allowed to send mailers to everyone, hold some online competitions, create stalls etc. The Stalls were setup with volunteers - comprising of senior managers of the Department - who could be approached to clarify any doubts about Software Testing.
Of course, since my Department was the solely focused on doing only Software Testing, we were allowed to showcase a lot of cool stuff that we do - like creating tools to automate some testing work etc. So, we even had pamphlets printed out and these were to be handed out to the visitors. There was even a small corner at the stalls where we asked the visitors to just fill out a questionnaire and participate in a lucky draw. They all got some candies while filling out the questions too. If this whole setup reeks of what you see in a real estate property fair, truth be told, it was no different.
I too was one of the volunteers
and while standing at the stall - behind the counter - I felt a little bored. So, I thought of coming out to the other side and catch hold of anyone who just browses through the stall, but starts to walk away feeling bored. I know, the whole setup is now exactly like the aforementioned property fair, but honestly, that’s the same respect I gave for this initiative!
So, I was waiting on the other side and successfully managed to corner one guy. After a little small talk, all I could manage was to get him to answer the quiz. I decided to up the ante with the next customer. And after a couple of minutes, I seemed to be rewarded with two.
There were these two guys who were standing about the stalls, with a very hesitant look on their face. I stepped in for what I assumed would be an easy kill, I introduced myself and asked if I could help them. One of them responded that he was interested to know what this event was all about.
With the same glee that the 2009 Tirumangalam by-election provided to its constituents, I started my engine and rattled off stuff around testing, my Department etc and was quickly into the third gear. And I pressed the clutch pedal to shift to the fourth gear and asked them which Department they belonged to, so that I could then rattle off a little on the domain knowledge that we provide.
One of the guys told me that he was from my Department and the second guy said the same. The clutch pedal that I had depressed stayed there and I was freewheeling for a few seconds. Then, I recovered back to 3rd gear and asked him directly, as to what he was looking for in this whole career fair that was being organized.
He said that though he belonged to the unit within my Department that worked on creating small tools and applications, he was currently working in a business domain that he didn’t like and wanted to move to a different domain that he preferred! I was almost speechless at this point and asked him if he had spoken to his managers about this and he responded in the affirmative. So, I had nothing else to do other than advise him to keep checking with that manager or that manager's manager about his change and wished him luck.
This is what happens when you start talking without knowing what your audience is expecting to hear. Something that is very essential in Marketing and Sales.
Since this event was conducted under the auspices of the Organization's senior management, we were allowed to send mailers to everyone, hold some online competitions, create stalls etc. The Stalls were setup with volunteers - comprising of senior managers of the Department - who could be approached to clarify any doubts about Software Testing.
Of course, since my Department was the solely focused on doing only Software Testing, we were allowed to showcase a lot of cool stuff that we do - like creating tools to automate some testing work etc. So, we even had pamphlets printed out and these were to be handed out to the visitors. There was even a small corner at the stalls where we asked the visitors to just fill out a questionnaire and participate in a lucky draw. They all got some candies while filling out the questions too. If this whole setup reeks of what you see in a real estate property fair, truth be told, it was no different.
I too was one of the volunteers
and while standing at the stall - behind the counter - I felt a little bored. So, I thought of coming out to the other side and catch hold of anyone who just browses through the stall, but starts to walk away feeling bored. I know, the whole setup is now exactly like the aforementioned property fair, but honestly, that’s the same respect I gave for this initiative!
So, I was waiting on the other side and successfully managed to corner one guy. After a little small talk, all I could manage was to get him to answer the quiz. I decided to up the ante with the next customer. And after a couple of minutes, I seemed to be rewarded with two.
There were these two guys who were standing about the stalls, with a very hesitant look on their face. I stepped in for what I assumed would be an easy kill, I introduced myself and asked if I could help them. One of them responded that he was interested to know what this event was all about.
With the same glee that the 2009 Tirumangalam by-election provided to its constituents, I started my engine and rattled off stuff around testing, my Department etc and was quickly into the third gear. And I pressed the clutch pedal to shift to the fourth gear and asked them which Department they belonged to, so that I could then rattle off a little on the domain knowledge that we provide.
One of the guys told me that he was from my Department and the second guy said the same. The clutch pedal that I had depressed stayed there and I was freewheeling for a few seconds. Then, I recovered back to 3rd gear and asked him directly, as to what he was looking for in this whole career fair that was being organized.
He said that though he belonged to the unit within my Department that worked on creating small tools and applications, he was currently working in a business domain that he didn’t like and wanted to move to a different domain that he preferred! I was almost speechless at this point and asked him if he had spoken to his managers about this and he responded in the affirmative. So, I had nothing else to do other than advise him to keep checking with that manager or that manager's manager about his change and wished him luck.
This is what happens when you start talking without knowing what your audience is expecting to hear. Something that is very essential in Marketing and Sales.
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