Things You Can Do to Increase Your Income

1.
Wake up early. Did you miss this one already? Don’t worry because we have 8 more things you can do to increase your income – today.
2.
Practice and improve your speaking skills. Join a Toastmasters club if there is one in your area. If there isn’t one, get a few like minded people together and start one.One of the most touted things people in business recommend to help others improve their income is to improve their communication and leadership skills. Being able to confidently stand up and speak in public is one of the most visible and recognized skills you can have at your disposal. Being able to present a compelling case to a customer prospect or to your boss as to why they should spend more on you or whatever you are selling likely won’t fly if you are a wallflower or turn to mush when called on to speak. You should instead stand and deliver your message in a clear and compelling manner.
3.
Sharpen your analytical knife. Whatever your area of interest, become better equipped to perform analysis. Practice reviewing financial statements. Pay attention to the various aspects that experts in the field are looking at. Start with whatever your company or organization pays you. Whether you own it or not, learn to analyze it as an owner does. If you are in a technical area, practice analyzing the problems you are working on as though you were an expert or an owner with a vested interest in the outcome.
4.
Ask. Ask for the order if you are selling something. Lift the telephone even if it seems to weigh 10, 000 pounds when it is time to ask a customer prospect for an appointment. When facing this person, ask for the order even if it is not highly likely you will get it and the odds are high that you will face rejection. Ask your boss for a raise if you are indeed as valuable as you think you are. Ask for candid feedback if you are not sure. Ask for a more generous severance package if you were wrong. People who tend to avoid asking difficult questions, generally do not fare as well as those who do ask such questions.
5.
Focus. This is stressed so often in so many places by so many people that it has become cliché. But that doesn’t make it any less valuable. So, like so many others before us have said: focus, focus, focus.
6.
Spend less. Spending money usually takes time and effort away from making money. It can substantially weaken your power base if you squander your financial resources and leave yourself dependent.
7.
Increase your documentation habit. Writing or somehow tracking information in a permanent form dramatically decreases the need to remember stuff. It frees up tremendous mental capacity if we don’t need to rely on our memory for everything. In practice, those who document stuff well (from long term goals to short term stuff like contact information and item lists) tend to enjoy increased memory capacity.
8.
Review meaningful stuff in a meaningful way. Find ways to immediately assess what you are doing so that you can determine what creates value. Then focus on it, and scrap the stuff that does not. Chances are that most of your value creation occurs in a relatively small amount of time. This works well with having good documentation habits.
9.
Take your best shot first. If you only had a day left to live and wanted to accomplish something meaningful, how would you approach the day? Don’t waste time fumbling around on unimportant or trivial tasks that won’t help you make an impact. Set the unimportant matters aside, focus on what matters and make the best move you can toward accomplishing what you need to accomplish to make your last day count.Use this same philosophy when it comes to increasing your income. If you have a good customer prospect or some opportunity to demonstrate a high value proposition to your boss or co-workers, don’t wait. Do it now. If it doesn’t work, you might still get another shot. And if it does, then you have just increased your income!
You might have noticed that some of these above things are slanted from a financial perspective. This is not by accident. There is a strong correlation between one’s income and his or her proximity to the financial aspects of the business or job. Owners, lawyers, accountants and top managers who tend to be involved with the financial aspects of life and business, tend to have much higher incomes than people who do not.

You might have noticed that some of these above things are slanted from a financial perspective. This is not by accident. There is a strong correlation between one’s income and his or her proximity to the financial aspects of the business or job. Owners, lawyers, accountants and top managers who tend to be involved with the financial aspects of life and business, tend to have much higher incomes than people who do not

What Is Unicode

                                 Unicode provides a unique number for every character,

no matter what the platform,

no matter what the program,

no matter what the language

Fundamentally, computers just deal with numbers. They store letters and other characters by assigning a number for each one. Before Unicode was invented, there were hundreds of different encoding systems for assigning these numbers. No single encoding could contain enough characters: for example, the European Union alone requires several different encodings to cover all its languages. Even for a single language like English no single encoding was adequate for all the letters, punctuation, and technical symbols in common use.

These encoding systems also conflict with one another. That is, two encodings can use the same number for two different characters, or use different numbers for thesame character. Any given computer (especially servers) needs to support many different encodings; yet whenever data is passed between different encodings or platforms, that data always runs the risk of corruption.

Unicode provides a unique number for every character, no matter what the platform, no matter what the program, no matter what the language. The Unicode Standard has been adopted by such industry leaders as Apple, HP, IBM, JustSystems, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Sun, Sybase, Unisys and many others. Unicode is required by modern standards such as XML, Java, ECMAScript (JavaScript), LDAP, CORBA 3.0, WML, etc., and is the official way to implement ISO/IEC 10646. It is supported in many operating systems, all modern browsers, and many other products. The emergence of the Unicode Standard, and the availability of tools supporting it, are among the most significant recent global software technology trends.

Incorporating Unicode into client-server or multi-tiered applications and websites offers significant cost savings over the use of legacy character sets. Unicode enables a single software product or a single website to be targeted across multiple platforms, languages and countries without re-engineering. It allows data to be transported through many different systems without corruption.

TCS appraisal process And joining Documents

TCS appraisal process for trainees / freshers

This article is based on the past few years practice as shared by trainees. TCS may change the processes, but this article will give you an idea of the appraisal process through out the IT industry. More or less it is the appraisal process followed in all IT companies like WIPRO, CTS ( Cognizant) , INFOSYS and others
All the associates in TCS are rated on a scale of 0-5, 5 being the highest. your rating generally comes up to 3 decimal places which are rounded off to nearest integer e.g. if your rating is 3.499, it would be considered as 3 and if its 3.500 or 3.501,it would be considered as 4.

In first year, you are quarterly rated, i.e. your performance would be evaluated every 3 months by your immediate supervisor (project leader). Suppose if u join TCS in Oct 2012 at ILP, then your first quarter would be OCT-DEC '12. It has nothing to do with Financial Quarters. So, don't combine the two. You'll get a rating in ILP but it is generally not taken into account when you join a project. Your project leader would rate u according to your performance in his project in every forthcoming quarter. After u complete 1 year, you'll have 4 ratings with u (one from every quarter).

Ideally, as per the guidelines, your confirmation rating should be a weighted average of your quarterly ratings. But in reality, it does not happen in most of the companies. The management has a curve and they follow a process popularly known as Bell Curve. According to that curve, you'll get your confirmation rating. After confirmation, you'll be rated half yearly (H1- Apr to Sept and H2 - Oct to Mar).If u are confirmed in Oct'12, then you'll be facing H2 directly without having your H1 appraisal cycle.

The Bell Curve Factor

Bell Curve: - Suppose there are 100 associates in a particular account in which say 10 projects are in progress. In every project, there are 10 associates and one of them is a project leader (PL). Over every 2-3 projects, there is a Project Manager (PM). And over all Project Managers, there is an account manager (AM). And over account managers, there is Group Leader (GL).

In the mentioned process, GL gives guidelines to all the AMs regarding the ratings to be distributed in their respective accounts. This is transferred to PM and ultimately to PL levels. Suppose, according to guidelines, out of 10 associates in every project, 2 can get a rating of 5, 3 to be given a rating of 4, 4 to be given a rating of 3 and 1 has to be given a rating of 2. This is how it is distributed. Now, PL - PM have to identify who should be put into which slot. This whole process is known as Curve Fitting wherein PMs and PLs are fitting you at a particular location of the curve given by the GL.

There is a difference of around 1100 bugs per month between any two ratings. That means, if you have got a rating of 4, then probably you might get around 3.LPA as your package after confirmation and if you have a rating of 3, you might get 3.76 LPA and so on.

TCS's performance appraisal system is supported by an online system called the Human Resource Management System- an Oracle Developer based tool. The system individual right from his biographical details to his projects performance. An employee's performance history at the click of a button and this accurately maintained for all employees! Right from his entry, an employee in TCS get formal performance feedback once very two months till such time that he is confirmed after which the performance feedback is provided twice every year on a formal basis. TCS however widely encourages informal feedback discussions between Project Leaders and Team Members and this concept has found an overwhelming appeal among the people.

TCS conducts two appraisals:
1. At the end of the year
2. At the end of a project.

Appraisals are based on Balanced Scorecard, which tracks the achievement of employees on the basis of targets at four levels —
financial
customer
internal
learning and growth

The financial perspective quantifies the employee’s contribution in terms of revenue growth, cost reduction, improved asset utilization and so on; The customer perspective looks at the differentiating value proposition offered by the employee; the internal perspective refers to the employee’s contribution in creating and sustaining value; the learning and growth are self-explanatory. The weightage given to each attribute is based on the function the employee performs. Based on their individual achievements, employees are rated on a scale of one to five (five = “superstar”). If employees get a low rating (less than two) in two consecutive
appraisals, the warning flags go up.

“If the poor performer continues getting low scores then the exit option may be considered”

Over the years TCS has found the pattern that leads to the maximum decline in performance — boredom. If employees work for more than two years on the same project, typically either their performance dips or they leave the organization.

To avoid that, TCS shuffles its employees between projects every 18 months or so.

“Performance drops if motivation drops”

At the heart of an employee's satisfaction lies the fact that his performance is being appreciated and recognized. TCS's performance management system has metamorphosed into one that emphasizes objectivity and a system that mandates performance evaluation against pre-determined criteria.


What deserve special mention is the active participation of the senior management in the determination of guidelines for the performance appraisal process. The process ensure buy in of the employees since the guidelines for the rating system and its conversion into money terms is not unilaterally decided by HR but is a consensus of a cross functional team with representation from all levels.

JOINING DOCUMENTS

JOINING DOCUMENTS

This article is taken from Joining Annexure of TCS

To ensure a hassle-free joining at TCS, you are requested to complete the following activities / bring the following documents:

You should have completed the first phase of National Skills Registry (NSR) registration. 

Completed Background Check (BGC) forms (no need to bring Demand Drafts as mentioned in some of the forms).

Completed Medical fitness certificate.

Original and at least one attested (by a gazetted officer) copy of documents listed in the following .

Documents Checklist

Proof of Qualification

Mark statements from Class-X onwards.

Mark statements for all semesters

Consolidated Degree mark statement.

Degree Certificate (If Degree Certificate is not available, Provisional Certificate / Course Completion Certificate.

Proof of Address

One of these: Passport, copy of Electricity Bill, Copy of DoT landline Telephone Bill.

Proof of Identity

PAN Card.

One of these: Valid Passport, Driving license, Voters ID card.

Proof of Age

Birth Certificate (If birth certificate is not available or if it is in local language, Birth Affidavit).

Other Documents

Service Agreement (for all those who are selected for positions in grade 'Y')

PAN Card

TCS Offer Letter and Joining letter

Affidavit undertaking on a Rs. 100/- stamp paper.

Documents to be submitted for Background Check (BGC)

Completed Background Check form (hard copy of BGC Form - Campus Trainees.pdf).

Self-attested copy of ID proof – One of these: PAN Card, Passport, Driving License, Voters ID card,College ID Card duly attested by HOD.

Self-attested copy of address proof – One of these: Passport, Ration card, Electricity Bill, Landline Telephone Bill, House Lease Agreement.

Self-attested and signed documents to explain break (if any) in education - (i) or (ii) or (iii):

(i) Medical records, if the break was due to medical reasons.

(ii) Certificates / Examination results, if the break was due to additional course done.

(iii) Affidavit with notary authorization, if the break was due to other personal reasons.

Self-attested Criminal Investigation Division (CID) forms for the respective regions, if (i) or (ii) or (ii) is true:

(i) Your present address is in one of these places: Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane City, Thane Rural, Pune.

(ii) Your address of longest stay in the last seven years is in one of these places: Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane City, Thane Rural, Pune.

(iii) Your permanent address is in one of these places: Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane City, Thane Rural, Pune,

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Answer To Some Queries

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I. Academic Records

a) Matriculation and Inter/Higher Secondary marksheets.

b) All semester marksheets for post graduation, graduation and diplomas. If the final semester marksheet is yet to be issued by the university/institute, you are required to submit the same before the completion of the ILP.

c) Degree certificate/provisional certificate for post-graduation, graduation and diplomas. If the same is awaited from the university/institute, you are required to produce the ‘Course Completion Certificate’ issued by your institute head or director, which is only a temporary arrangement.

II. Other Relevant Documents/Requirements

a) Birth certificate issued by the concerned government authorities.

b) Note: The class X and/or XII marksheets or certificates from the hospital/community and nativity certificate will not suffice. In case you do not possess a birth certificate containing your name, date of birth and place of birth, you are needed to obtain an affidavit on a Rs. 20 stamp papers signed by a notary with these details. Since this is a temporary arrangement, you will be required to furnish the birth certificate before the completion of the ILP.

c) A valid passport (if any)

d) Offer letter and joining letter

e) 12 passport size photographs

f) Date of birth and other details of the person you would like to nominate for

Gratuity, Superannuation, Provident Fund and Health Insurance Scheme

g) Permanent Account Number (PAN) Card copy

h) Medical Certificate

i) Gap Certificate (if any)

Note: The originals of these documents along with one set of attested photocopy needs to provided on joining for ILP. No provision for attestation would be provided at the joining place. The original documents stated above will be returned to you after scrutiny.

Note: Check - List

a. From TCS: Service Agreement between You and TCS.

b. From TCS: Affidavit Signed by Notary Public (Please don’t give more than Rs. 30 for the signature).

c. From TCS: Surety Verification Form attested by the Bank.

d. From TCS: Medical Certificate of Fitness attested by a Registered Medical Practitioner.

e. From TCS: Acceptance of Joining.

f. Academic: Matriculation and Inter/Higher Secondary marksheets.

g. Academic: All semester marksheets of our BE Degree issued by Anna University.

h. Academic: Degree certificate/provisional certificate for BE Degree issued by our college.

i. Personal: Birth certificate issued by the concerned government authorities.

j. Personal: A valid passport (if any. take it's receipt at least).

k. Personal: Offer letter and joining letter.

l. Personal: 12 passport size photographs.

m. Personal: Date of birth and other details of the person you would like to nominate for Gratuity, Superannuation, Provident Fund and Health Insurance Scheme.

n. Personal: Permanent Account Number (PAN) Card copy.

o. Personal: National Skills Registry (NSR) Card copy.

p. Personal: Income Tax returns, Form 16 of Surety, (if salaried).

q. Personal: Driving License (optional)

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Note 0: I hope, all the documents covered. Do create a check-list for all these and make sure you have verified it with your joining mail correctly before submitting. If there are any mistakes in the above said details, please do correct me, at least in the comments.

Note 1: If you have submitted an invalid document, or document with mistakes in it, you will be given just 3 days of time to correct them and re-submit them. Else you will be batched only with the next batch.

Note 2: Carry all the above said documents in originals. The originals will be returned after verification on the same day. (Not very much sure for this)

Note 3: Documents to be attested: The documents given from the candidate to the TCS, like Marksheets & Certificates, have to be attested. The documents given by TCS need not be attested. Its a copy for your personal use.

Note 4: Photocopies: Please take two photocopies of the documents you are submitting to TCS. One should be submitted for the initial thing and other will be needed for various things there.