Sanjoy Choudhury, chief executive of the Philadelphia based, $30 million Data-Core Systems Inc., is in India now to recruit IT professionals for his company, along with J McGrath, his sales director. The company is looking at 100 per cent growth in terms of people over the next year.

McGrath says, ``While an Indian software professional in USA, on an average, earns $70,000 a year, his US counterpart will be earning around $75,000 per year. So the difference is really not much.''

Data-Core itself is offering $50,000 per year as the minimum to any professionals they will be recruiting from India. The company is looking for professionals with an engineering background and 3-4 years of exposure to IT.

Choudhurysaid, ``Around a decade ago, the difference in salaries for people coming over from India or some other countries was around 20 per cent. However, it has come down significantly these days.''

``Although a number of misinformed politicians would say otherwise, the case is that USA is looking for the relevant skills in India, and not cheap skills. Simply, there is a shortage of software skills and that is why the limit to H1B visa for professionals was enhanced this year,'' adds Choudhury.

``In the US, a good violinist can earn as much as a good software professional. A good basketball player earns much more. So there is no particular incentive for taking up software as a career,'' Choudhury points out.

On the other hand, Indians still enjoy a considerable hike in their earnings when they move over to USA, points out Choudhury.

``People in Singapore, for instance, are getting fabulous salaries and moving on to USA may not mean much in terms of monetary gains. We have had people accepting our offers andthen refusing due to their family not willing to relocate,'' said Choudhury.

Choudhury has met a lot of young people in the last few days and says that a lot of them are without the required skills or exposure, but think that they can make it to the US without waiting to pick up the experience.

``They will not find jobs straightaway. But if they do, that will be real sad as these people being ill-equipped might soon be without a job in USA,'' says Choudhury.

``Some organisations are arranging for Indian IT professionals with half-baked skills to go over to USA. If you are a software professional looking for a career abroad, you should be careful of these body shopping organisations,'' he added.

Another problem that Choudhury finds in India is, of course, the lack of communication skills in people who are otherwise qualified. ``At least 25 per cent of the people who have the required qualifications cannot be recruited because of this problem. But believe me, the problem with Chinese IT professionals iseven greater.''

The problems range from not speaking loudly enough while addressing a group, not pronouncing properly or clearly or being nervous while meeting other people. It also involves the ability to understand the other person and understanding English spoken with an American accent.

Getting really good people is still a problem, feels Choudhury. The Data-Core team has been selecting around three people out of every 20 interviewed in the last few days.

Data-Core is offering one year contracts to the selected candidates. ``We want our people to stay on. But no one would accept a three-year contract and we have to offer one-year contracts,'' says Choudhury.