How Literacy Skills Can Help You Achieve a Personal Goal or Accomplishment

My literacy skills helped me achieve a personal goal which is to work as a computer engineer for a multinational information technology organization like Hewlett Packard, Dell, Microsoft etc., One has to be fluent in English and technically competent in order to get through the interview and also to succeed at work. English is needed in every aspect of today’s modern world to communicate with people at work irrespective of their origin. Since my teenage I wanted to become a computer engineer and work for multinational organization which not only pays well but also will have the opportunity to travel abroad. I am from a middle class Indian family where bearing the costs of studying from an English medium school is hard and yet my parents helped me study in English medium school.

I studied English medium during all my schooling which helped me develop my literacy skills. I started learning computers since my 10th grade. . This was the time of mid 1995 when the computer classes were first introduced in my school in India and I was one of the member of the first batches that was offered the basics of computer and little bit of programming. This was the beginning and I was getting interested to learn more about computers. We also had to take up a exam at the end of the course to prove our competency in the subject though it was not part of the 10th grade board exam.

I scored 83 out of 100 which gave me confidence that I can succeed in this field of study. From there on during my 11th and 12th grade I took computer science as my specialization and also completed Bachelor’s Degree in computer science. After my graduation it was time to look for my dream job but consulting with friends, family and seniors in college I realized that the degree that I earned is not just enough to get my dream job and due to my interest in Hardware and Networking I immediately joined specialization course in computer hardware and networking which is a rigorous training for one year in a private institute to equip myself with the right skills and be competent to face the job interviews.

While pursuing the course, I got a job from a small local computer hardware firm which I only worked for couple of days and quit as I was not able to continue the course. Immediately after completing specialization in computer hardware and networking I started looking for my dream job. I initially started attending job interviews of non multinational organizations to understand the interview process and also to know my weaknesses so that I could improve myself.

The interview process usually includes four rounds, first round is the written test which comprises of aptitude test, English grammar, computer hardware and computer networking, second round is a group discussion or communication round where a topic will be given and we will need to effectively discuss about the topic with proper tone and confidence, third round is a technical round where I will have to face an interview with computer hardware expert and final round will be with human resources personnel who will talk about the joining process and company policies and procedures if selected for the job.

After attending a few interviews for different organizations and not able to succeed through the interviews, I worked on my weakness and was able to finally obtain a job in a multinational information technology organization Hewlett Packard in India as a Technical Support Engineer with the help of my literacy skills and technical competency. It was August 11 2003, 9 pm when all the interview process was completed and confirmed that I got through the interview and secured a job. That was the proudest and which was so sweet. My family also was so proud of me about .

As I started working for Hewlett Packard I never looked back. I had to go through training process for another couple of months on Hewlett Packard products and also soft skills on how to talk to customers on phone. My job included communicating with the United States customers of Hewlett Packard and help them fix any issues with the Hewlett Packard products. With the skills I obtained academically and professionally I was able to succeed in the job which helped not only me to grow but also my family. After 2 years to further improve my literacy skills I pursued Master’s Degree in computer applications from a distance education university in India while I was working. This further enhanced my competency and helped me secure a much better position at work.

Thus my literacy skills helped me get my dream job in a multinational organization which not only helped me grow personally and professionally but also my family grow economically. This is a dream come true.