Diary of a Rural Manager!

Preparing for interviews isn’t about memorizing answers—it’s about clarity of thought and structured reflection. I’ve curated 45 high-impact interview questions, clearly split into must-prepare and situational, along with crisp frameworks to respond with confidence. MUST-PREPARE (You should have polished, confident answers) Tell me about yourself What are your strengths? What is your weakness? Why should we hire you? Why do you want this role? Where do you see yourself in five years? Why are you leaving your current or previous job? Why have you changed jobs multiple times? What do you know about our organization? How do you measure success or impact in your work? Describe a major challenge or toughest decision you’ve faced Tell me about a time you failed or missed a deadline Can you handle high-pressure situations? How do you prioritize tasks? Describe your work style What does leadership mean to you? How do you balance speed vs quality in execution? What would you do in your first 90...

Learning is unlikely to take place without first engaging the learner’s desire to learn - Peter Senge.  In these transformative times, staying competitive requires acquiring relevant and new-age skills. I am committed to ensuring that my team remains ahead of their learning curve, especially as they take on new roles and responsibilities after promotions. Developing a thoughtful inventory of skills allows for effective hiring and performance evaluation.  Investing in skills is essential for upgrading self into a future-fit workforce.  In short, learning is as passive as learning to play chess.  As a rural manager, I recognize the importance of continuously upgrading skills across a broad spectrum—from technical areas like agricultural practices and data management to essential soft skills such as communication, leadership, and compliance. Online courses provide the flexibility to learn at our own pace and schedule, enabling us to balance learning ...

Mr Nishant Chavan has originally shared the list of websites for employment in the Development Sector. I had added few in the list. This list gives access to job portals that would lead to a better employment scenario and less search time for exploring job opportunities. 1. Database for NGOs / Development / Social Impact Sector 2. http://www.ngobox.org/joblisting.php 3. http://www.nextbillion.net/jobsfeed.aspx 4.  http://www.globalcharityjobs.com/Jobs_board 5. http://www.idealist.org/search/v2/?search_type=job  6. http://jobs.thegiin.org/jobs 7. http://www.iimjobs.com/k/ngo-jobs-133.html 8.  http://www.jobisjob.co.in/mumbai/ngo/jobs 9. http://www.jobsforgood.com/jobs.html 10. https://www.indeed.co.in/jobs?q=NGO&l=India 11.  http://www.careesma.in/jobs?q=ngo&lc=India 12.  http://www.devnetjobsindia.org 13. http://www.indevjobs.org/ 14. http://www.karmany.org/jobs 15. https://www.devex.com/en/jobs 16. http://www.thebetter...

There’s a new group of youths who are restless and constantly looking for challenging work in Non profit sector. So how can a candidate look for organizations that can utilize their skills for its benefit? I am sharing an updated list of top job sites by field and region. This post will be useful for aspiring candidates looking for a job in Non Profit, development, or humanitarian work. Charityjob (UK) Idealist (General + Global) Impact Pool (General + Global) ICT4DJobs (tech + Development) SID-W (Development) Humentum (Development) Devex (Development) GlobalJobs (Development) UNJobs (Development + Humanitarian) ReliefWeb (Humanitarian Assistance) ALNAP (Humanitarian) PCDN (Social Impact ) NGOJobBoard (US Nonprofit) NationalNonprofits (US nonprofit) NTEN (Nonprofit + Tech) RezScore (Nonprofit) Commongood (US Nonprofit) Chronicle of Philanthropy (Nonprofit) BOND (Europe) Eurojobs (Europe)  Third Sector Jobs (UK) CharityVillage (Canada ) Ethical Jobs (Austral...

Update 2026: The Database is updated and free to access.   Revised: Firms for Development Sector Professional  Information itself is big business, after all this is the age of big data. I had written before on the topic in  Job Search in Rural Management Domain . Due to the limited access to information and networks, youths from Tier 2 and 3 areas struggle to get good jobs in the development sector. Youths didn't know even the names of the organizations working in the ecosystem. It is best to choose target employers where one would like to work and focus your efforts on those jobs and employers while searching for jobs. This database is delivered as solutions to bridge recruitment gaps and tap non-profits, social enterprises, and other mission-driven organizations. With over INR 50,000 Crore was spent in 4 years alone in the CSR sector and huge public welfare implementation done by Government, there is an immense chance for jobs in diverse roles. I have a small exper...

On 30th June 2019, I had an esteemed opportunity to participate in Industry Connect Talk of Xavier School of Rural Management. The talk was conducted for the Rural Management batch of 2019-21. Truth be shared, this is the first time, I’ve given a talk in public place and that too a batch of aspiring rural managers. The speech revolved around exploring diverse opportunities in two years of college stay. I also gave a brief overview of the skills, students are expected to acquire before they venture into their careers in the respective domains of their choice Career or academic goals may vary from time to time yet few qualities always help in gaining new heights. These three qualities were insights of a colleague ( Subash Kumar ). These are: Relationship Management, Deep commitment to Work and Always remembering 'Bad times will last longer than good times'. Interaction with students was really good but student debt was on the mind of each & every rural manager. PS: ...

A recent study of more than 600,000 researchers, entertainers, politicians, and athletes found that high performers are 400 percent more productive than average ones. Steve Jobs summed up talent’s importance with this advice: “Go after the cream of the cream. A small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players.” But only big 4 Consulting firms and donor agencies have power over the candidate with good monetary compensation and brand value. The other organizations have to design better HR retention strategy as they don't have deep pockets. Being a leader at development organization is a tough task. There are essentially three basic ingredients that teams expect from a leader: Direction, Trust and Hope. Hence, building high impact team is tough as each individual require set of smart goals, timely feedback, progress monitoring, and supporting mechanism in the team. Yet, being a leader can lull one into a state of complacency. In that state one tend to ...

A Development Consultant’s primary role is to own and give technical advisory to the client projects and to facilitate research, in-depth analysis, and insightful problem-solving. It is common for clients/consultancy firms to find social consultants through personal links and alumni networks, and while this may be effective, it is weak in terms of competition, transparency, and accountability. The best way is to reach a range of potential consultants is to use free digital networks like Face-book Groups or LinkedIn or pay to advertise on job portals like NGOBOX. This improves the impartiality, build the credibility of the recruitment process, and creates chances of diversity in the organization. The sure way to build pipeline of talent is to build good relationships with one or two recruitment partners who can provide access to quality talent and help benchmark against the industry. The recruitment process must also include advertising the post through personal networks, asking colleag...

Today, the development sector has emerged as an unconventional yet full-fledged career option amongst the youth worldwide. People seeking careers in Development Sector face a dilemma on the choice between MBA in Rural/Health/Forest management and fellowship opportunities pan India. There are pros and cons to each choice: 1. Academia : Most candidates become largely irrelevant in running social enterprises by putting effort to keep themselves either too much academic or searching for degrees from premier colleges. B School always provides a broad base knowledge base than that is gathered in classroom training of Fellowship. 2. Seeking Experience - The grassroots experience is a must before jumping into solving an issue as one has to acknowledge the gap between ideology and lived experience. Fellowship experience will be much more diverse and fruitful than 2 years in MBA school. 3. Network Effect - The number of students enrolling and attending the MBA is much more than the fello...

As a fresher, I always thought experience is just a word, but now I certainly believe in it. I have understood the ebbs and flows of the profession better.  What really do organizations want out of the professional? The simple answer is “get the job done”. Generally speaking, all managers are charged with three responsibilities: making money for the firm while saving time and reducing expenses. In below lines, find few tips for the first-time managers: Skill development It is always expected to have basic skills to conduct meetings, reviews, analysis, and communication skill. There must be always focused on developing self-capacity to increase productivity. This includes a small task of planning for day work in hours to being updated with the latest know-how in the field. Work on your written and verbal communication skills to become more appreciative and acknowledging of your coworkers. Ask for Trouble- Effort is important but where to put effort distinguishes achievers from...

Rural management gives career option in both for profit as well as non for profit sectors. A rural management professional can very well be part of the mainstream down the line even though starting career from a rural base. Job search in the rural management domain is more about information asymmetry than plain vanilla hunt for opportunities. While seeking for job, professionals apply for anything and everything in response to the posted vacancies in the job portals. Consequently, the chances of resume being ignored by the recruiters becomes high. To avoid the rejection, it is suggested to have a customized resume and job applications by including the keywords used in the job description that fits with your skills and experience. An updated Linked-In profile and healthy networking helps in a great way. I have faced difficulties as a job seeker looking for the right job and even knowing name of various companies/ organization of the rural management domain. It is best to choose a tar...

Incentives, capacities, norms and professional identities of the organization are the reasons behind success or failing in branding. Brand name is also created mostly by network of ex-employees, partners and vendors. Hence, managing human capital and relationship becomes key in creating brand value. There comes the massive role of HR Manager in the mapping the environment to identify : Unique Employee Allegiance Proposition & Distinctive Competitive Advantage. Why people switch organization? The answer to the question is same for each sector & development sector is no anomaly. Most Companies/NGOs have tendency to neither invest in the people nor provide mentors for the career guidance. This led to migration of the talented people who have quality of leadership. The mutual trust deficit leads to an organization which will be optimized to hire and keep people who merely want the next job. When organization sees people as true assets,they empower them with knowledge. I always ...

1. Upton Sinclair -:  “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it. ” 2. Interest on debts grow without rain. :- Yiddish Proverb 3. Ability is nothing without opportunity.  :– Unknown 4. Forget the risk and take the fall, if it’s what you want, then it’s worth the fall.  :– Unknown 5. Negative choices are our worst choices. :- Unknown

Do you know about Confirmation Bias? People more likely to believe information that fits their pre-existing beliefs, but they’re also more likely to go looking for such information. Hence, we are stuck with wrong design of the development programs dooming millions of investments. So, we do not let evidence from the ground guide the policy? Unfortunately, it is hard to get clear-cut evidence of causality. Using evidence to guide aid and social work is crucial to ensuring the efficient use of limited resources. For years, policymakers have debated different approaches to helping the poor and now they have published research paper after a nine-year, six-country study, offers resounding evidence for a strategy that works. Proponents of randomized program evaluation argued more field experiments were needed to learn what worked. There are also critiques like economist Angus Deaton who suspects that an average bureaucrat might take the results in controlled environment too serious. Any ...

In every field of endeavor, the one who reaches the pinnacle will be found to have built upon the knowledge and experience of someone who preceded him. People in development sector feel obliged to submit report to donor organization with complete focus on grants. There are suggestions from the expensive government project reports that end up just gathering dust on a shelf in India. Thousands, of reports on policy, poverty and development issues are released each year worldwide. A lot of recommendations, solutions and findings are kept on piling in a PDF version. The citation of paper doesn't imply that it has been read. Even the reader looked only at downloads and citations to gauge the use of these reports. The key question that comes in mind: Who will ever read them? Even world bank is pondering over this question ( Which World Bank reports are widely read ? ) Recent findings suggest my fears: The researchers contribute to their discipline's knowledge with the deep op...

Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning. --- Mahatma Gandhi I am driven by personal ambition and not selfless heroism. I look for perpetual returns with a field work backing up degree in rural management. Few Rural Managers work towards the development of the rural folks. One doesn't has to be born and brought up in villages and small towns. Empathy and an open mind will do the job really well. Trial at the field level is much engagement and full of frustration for any rural manager while it's occurring, and and many can vouch for this. When the task is accomplished, the afterglow does provide a lot of satisfaction. Self Motivation is the key to perform in whatever condition one is placed into. As an rural manager, I learned that the most important thing is to listen and to be willing ...

Young Professional (YP) is a short-term work opportunity (three years) to experience development and gain exposure to government operations and policies. Panchayati Raj Department, Odisha is the agency in implementing National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) program delivery and interface in Odisha serving to the marginalized section of the population. While the government is always reluctant to share or de-valuate power to the community, NRLM has tried to build sustainable community institutions at the Panchayat level. YPs served either at the district or block administration level. In simpler words, YP is just another name of Management Trainee in a government agency doing the contractual job without any power. Why I joined Odisha Livelihood Mission?   One can't have the right to voice their disappointments unless one understands the functionality of the government. I have also considered the government as the biggest development agency in India. Hence, it is of utmos...

I have landed a new job with Access Development Services at Udaipur. That is new news. So why this cartoon? I broke 'Golden Rule of Quitting' that is quoted by NaMo above in the cartoon. I have also came to believe that nobody should quit job before working at least one year in a new sector. I faced a short term of unemployment as a rural manager. In retrospection, decision of quitting seems courageous but was made in haste and ill advise. The courage of moment is often over-rated and short of time, the word perhaps should be temperament to show mental strength. The days without job are long and depressing. Many rounds of interviews, rejection and low salary offers were part of this phase. It is easier said to follow own conviction than done. Not only the market treat a labour without job with low packages offering, cost of living in NCR dents the saving. Job hunt also showed me skewed distribution of opportunities, of how inequalities, relevant experience, and notion like ...