IT Consultancy or job in India?

jcage009 · Post by **jcage009** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 4:41 am

Hello Everyone,

I am Ishan. I came to united states in Jan 2008 to pursue Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering on F-1 Visa. Now many of you would be wondering, why this Idiot decided to come here as it will be very costly. One of the main reasons for me coming to here was that my dad was facing family problems with his brothers so my Mom decided it would be great if I go outside India so atleast I can study properly. My 12th studies and exams were really affected due to family fights. My mom was very worried that if I had done bachelors in India, I would have rotten and not studied properly and I can vouch for it too. The other reason was my father that time had good money when I came to US to support my education for time being and we took student loan from Citibank. Even I was stupid because I believed that my father's business was enough to sustain my education here but during the recession he had rough time making money and his business was very much affected but I still had Citibank loan so I never thought about that problem. Years have gone by taking loans and completing each semester. I have successfully completed my Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering with 3.4 GPA in May 2012. I am currently on OPT(Optional Practical Training). I am searching for job but there is not much response due to some companies don't want to do sponsorship and other places they have better candidates than me. I have one year experience in my field as undergraduate research assistant and have done some other jobs like 8 months of computer specialist(Helping with hardware support no programming) and few months of equipment moving crew.

Now I have good question to ask you. Please don't mind sharing your opinion but don't be too rude I have the option to go back to India and do a job in my field or join an US IT consultancy which will train me in Java and get me some project to work on. I know I might have get pretty low pay in India but I think If I work hard I can get a good job and in future I will be able to pay my loan and get to higher position or do MBA side by side. On other hand, if I join IT consultancy, I will be able to pay my 30% loan right now and maybe move back to India next year and go back in My field. I don't know if it is easy to change field or not. My loan is of $60000 which is quite huge and you might think I am nuts and maybe I am. I know I have to work hard to payback the loan and I am going to but I am worried which side to go. If I go back to India, I might take 8-10 years to payback the loan maybe more or maybe less depending how hard I work. Main reason for not able to decide to go back India is just the loan apart from it I am happy to go back and do everything to give back the loan. Just scared it will take lot of time to pay it back. If I join consultancy, I might be able to pay loan in 3 years or less but I am planning to go back India after I am done with the loan. Another risk is next year the consultancy has to apply for my H-1B Visa. I am also worried that if it is reject I might have wasted a year in us joining the consultancy and should go India now and start working in my field. Also, ethically I am not ok with consultancy lie on my resume and showing 4-5 years experience and that is one of the reason that is making me think about going back. The other reason risks are changing field forever, can't lend a job through consultancy and wasting a year for no reason.

One side I think I should go with my career field and happiness as I feel much happy in India. Yes, I don't mind the dirt, the pollution, the crowd and the challenge. Otherside, I think I should pay of my loan as soon as possible and then go back to India but i might have change my field and I am not sure how happy I will be with changing the field. My parents are happy with anything but I sometimes feel I am obligated to pay loan so my parents don't have to worry about it. I am still trying in my field in us but I am determined that even if I get job in us in my field. I am not willing to stay here longer as I have become very much isolated from my family and friends living here. It maybe my fault for keeping less contact but I feel going back I might feel better.

I want your suggestions and opinions on it. Please think about it and answer. And Don't be angry :emrose:.

Sincerely,

Ishan :)

gurusw · Post by **gurusw** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 6:14 pm

It will be difficult to pay 60K USD with job in India. It's better to work in USA, and pay for it.

There are people who have tried to negotiate education loan with banks. Search this forum (or Internet) for such posts. Don't approach the Bank before you find everything around negotiations.

There is a possibility of joining IT consultancy, and keep looking for job in your field if you are genuinely interested in your field. There is a possibility that you will like programming, and stay in the new field. No need to prematurely rule out one thing or another.

You have long life ahead of you, and decision to go back to India can be taken later on. There is no urgency of going back now.

Overall I commend your maturity, and patience. Best of luck!

jcage009 · Post by **jcage009** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 5:00 am

Thanks Gurusw for understanding my situation and giving great reply to my post :). I really appreciate your help :thup:.

brokenarrow · Post by **brokenarrow** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:46 pm

OPT is meant to get training in your field of work, so if you switch to java during OPT, you may have problems. Immigration today is not what it used to be 10 years back, so do some research before going that route. Otherwise, working in USA, you stand a better chance of clearing that loan then in India. Good luck with whatever you choose.