If You Want The Best Pay, Prove That You Are The Brightest Person.

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If the new H-1B Visa Bill is anything to go by, then soon there may not exist visa cap per country but issued purely of on merit regardless of the origin. The catch of “only the best and brightest” has been ringing in the valley ever since there was a change of guard in the leadership.  This is only fair so that Companies don’t shortchange the unsuspecting employee by undercutting wages. So to book yourself a berth, better ensure you are the best in the list.

Some companies and candidates have been too long in the shade that’s its time they come under the sun and face the heat of the competition. Most look towards the west – be it migrants or aspirants. So, professionally, unless you have a proven track record that’s superior and surpasses the set expectations, chances to be counted in is going to be grim.

Just read out the latest reports as extracted and the enormity of reality will dawn on you. The good days are gone? It can be a lament or do you hear someone shoot-out “good days are back”. Your caliber and competency can be vouched by you alone as it will be you who will be subjected to the litmus test in proficiency.

Quoting verbatim from the source:

“The High-Skilled Integrity and Fairness Act of 2017 introduced by California Congressman Zoe Lofgren prioritises market based allocation of visas to those companies willing to pay 200 per cent of a wage calculated by survey; eliminates the category of lowest pay; and raises the salary level at which H-1B dependent employer are exempt from non-displacement and recruitment attestation requirements to greater than $130,000.

This is more than double of the current H-1B minimum wage of $60,000, which was established in 1989 and since then has remained unchanged.

“My legislation refocuses the H-1B programme to its original intent — to seek out and find the best and brightest from around the world, and to supplement the US workforce with talented, highly paid, and highly skilled workers who help create jobs here in America, not replace them,” said Mr. Lofgren.

Here comes the zinger: when the message is loud and clear about scouting talent that are the best and brightest:  what makes one best and bright? In simpler terms, you can’t nudge or elbow your competitor but win the race by a mile. Touch of the legend sprinter ‘thunderbolt’? Humor aside, the hunger to excel and exceed expectation is the basic expectation. You can take it from here as the baseline and figure out the challenges that lie ahead and criteria to be met. Nothing less than outstanding can help you outshine as a luminary in the global pool of star players.

Well, one might want to know the hue and cry made about the visas. Admittedly the numbers don’t add up for ‘skilled staff’ to survive and succeed in the stiff competition in Silicon Valley, especially the startup, which needs to compete with the established set-up. It’s unfair on a David versus Goliath, so let’s level the play area might be the rationale by hiring some great talent in-house or outsourced. And there comes the bone of contention on the basis of the disparity in income and also the loss of opportunity when a Job is shipped outside or talent shopped from elsewhere.  There were enough holes to plug and routes to circumvent. And hence, this diktat to demonstrate first and declare yourself as the ‘conqueror’ and the crown is all yours. Prove your worth as deserving and therefore desire is the dictum.

If you feel tempted to ask ‘what talents will take me through?’, then walk through the Job Responsibilities and measure yourself in terms of the weightage, and ask yourself “are you there?” if yes, what’s your standing when lined up with strongest of contender? Certifications, of course, lend currency and expertise arises from the virtue of experience. What happens, if the shortlisted candidates possess the certifications and areas of expertise? Well, that its typical Darwinism “fitter than the fittest”.  Better than the best. Prove that and take home the trophy. The winner gets it all.

May the best man/woman win.