Offshore IT challenges

As some of you know, I have been working for last few weeks studying the issues around developing an Offshore IT delivery capability for American companies in India.  I started developing my interest in this subject because of a specific assignment with my current employer but soon realized there are many serious global issues in this area.  I have been discussing my observations with some of my friends and soon realized there are some trends emerging out of those discussions.  I will discuss one of the key issues in this post.

Trust: 

Lot of employers/managers are finding it very difficult to trust the resumes/profiles of Indian IT companies/professionals.  My research shows it is truly because of the absurd over exaggeration by individuals and companies of their experience, knowledge and capabilities.  More disturbing is the fact that some resumes and corporate profiles are plain out fake.  In my discussions, few people made a comment that when they receive a resume of an Indian IT professional their starting point is that they consider the candidate has 25% experience of what he claimed on the resume and then they will talk to them and assess how much they really know.  It's very sad but I guess there is no one else to blame other than the Indian IT community itself that let building up of that kind of a deep distrust.  Even more disturbing is the fact that some companies themselves may be padding the experience of candidates before they send them to the clients to increase their billing rate.  I am not saying that this is a universal problem  with every company/professional but there is enough of this going on in the industry to stereotype the entire community. 

I do understand the Indian culture and the ground reality and how competitive it is in India to succeed.  I also understand Indian's are generally very hard working and will go above and beyond to meet employers expectations.  It is also very true that Indian IT workforce is generally the best talented and best educated workforce and Indian IT professionals are regarded very highly in the global marketplace for their skills.  But, if we don't fix this problem of mistrust, I believe the survival and growth of the entire Indian IT industry is at risk. 

I believe following are some steps that should be immediately implemented to restore the trust and dignity of the Indian IT community:

1. Teach the importance of honesty and ethics and perhaps make it a mandatory subject for all graduate level courses.  This not only helps with IT industry's image but the overall business environment and position India as a true trustworthy partner in global economy.  
2. Big name Indian IT companies like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Satyam, etc to make ethics a part of their operations and on-boarding processes.  
3. Recruit professionals based on education and skills assessment as opposed to just years of experience (which encourages individuals to fake resumes).
4. Give an opportunity to job seekers (whether they are fresh graduates out of colleges, individuals out of college for a few years and trying to get a break in to the workforce, individuals looking for a career switch in to IT or professionals trying for career advancement) to compete on a fair entry criteria.  
5. Industry consortium like NASSCOM developing a directory of companies and IT professionals which provides verifiable background skills and experience.  

These are just few steps that  I can think of based on my research so far but I am sure many of you reading this post may know of many more measures that are in place already or that can be implemented to address this issue.  Please feel free to share them here so we can all understand what need to be done. I also believe we can make a material difference if we start talking about this and bring awareness of the problem and discuss possible remedies within our companies, circles and other acquaintances in the industry.  

At the end of it all, I believe we should do our tiny part in building a global economy based on mutual trust.