For those who wonder why I’ll still bet on the US…. At least one BRIC country isn’t quite so daunting:

Deepak Sharma, 26, failed several exams when he was enrolled at a top engineering college outside of Delhi, until he finally figured out the trick: Writing his mobile number on the exam paper.

That’s what he did for a theory-of-computation exam, and shortly after, he says the examiner called him and offered to pass him and his friends if they paid 10,000 rupees each, about $250. He and four friends pulled together the money, and they all passed the test.

Hooray! He passed. Good job. Substance matters, sooner or later. When it comes to entry-level jobs: sooner; when it comes to character: later.