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| CAREER GUIDE |
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Road to legal expertise Indian call centres can do it faster! |
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Road to legal expertise
The Indian Law Institute (ILI), situated on the national Capital’s Bhagwan Das Road just opposite the Supreme Court, is one of the country’s premier institutions. Set up on December 27, 1956, primarily with the objective of promoting and cultivating legal research, it aims at promoting sustained institutionalised research requiring field studies and group thinking and bringing together different branches of legal profession like judges, lawyers and law teachers with a view to developing an integrated approach to law in society. The objectives of the institute, explains its Director, Prof S.K. Verma, are to cultivate the science of law; promote advanced studies and research in law to suit the socio-economic and other needs of the people; promote systematisation of law; encourage and conduct investigations in legal and allied fields; undertake documentation of important legal and allied materials, improve legal education, impart instructions in law; publish studies, books, periodicals, etc. The institute offers post-graduate courses in Administrative Law, Corporate Law and Management, Cyber Law, Intellectual Property Rights Law, International Trade Law; Labour Law and Taxation Law. Started in 1964, the diploma programme has now shaped into a full-fledged core activity of the institute. The corporate law diploma of the ILI is very popular, according to Professor Verma. It is recognised by the Government of India for jobs as company secretaries in companies having paid up share capital of less than two crore. At the same time, programmes in cyber laws and human rights law are also available with the institute and total fee for both these courses is around Rs 10,500 and Rs 3,200, respectively. The course fee of other diploma courses is Rs 5000. These fees are inclusive of admission, tuition, library, examination, identity cards, etc. Total fee is payable at the time of admission in cash or by demand draft and once paid is not refundable. Similarly, the diploma in Labour Law is also recognised by the Government of India for recruitment to the post of Labour Officer. The diploma in taxation laws has been structured to enable the diploma-holders to take up consultancy/advisory work in relation to tax laws. It is aimed at improving employment potential and for those already employed, to open up an avenue of specialisation. The course will also enable the diploma-holders to take up practice of taxation laws subject to its recognition by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, which is under consideration. The minimum prescribed qualification for admission to the diploma courses, except in labour law, is a graduate degree of a recognised Indian university or an equivalent degree of a foreign university. Other things being equal, preference is given to law graduates. The minimum requirement for admission to the diploma course in Labour Law is a law degree of MA in social sciences (IInd division). Defence service officers possessing graduate degree of an Indian university are also considered for admission to this diploma course provided they are sponsored by the Directorate of Resettlement, Ministry of Defence, Government of India. The duration of each diploma course is one year. Advertisement for all these diploma programmes appears in the month of July/August every year. Each course has about 100 seats. The total number of seats for all diploma courses is 400. Of these, 15 per cent are reserved for persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Those who are doing law degrees can also join the courses. The classes are held between 6.00 pm and 8.00 pm on the premises of the institute. The ILI has also established its branches in some state high courts. The institute has an excellent faculty As a national and international centre for excellence, it has been attracting both Indian and foreign research scholars each year. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has recognised the institute as a centre for legal research by giving fellowship to law teachers. A number of UGC research fellows have been visiting the institute and undertaking research there. Other universities like Allahabad, Punjab and Nagpur too have accorded recognition to the institute for their doctoral degree. The institute is expected to get the deemed university status soon. |
Indian
call centres can do it faster! WASHINGTON: In a pleasant twist to the outsourcing controversy, an American lending company has given customers the choice to call up either India or at home, with a warning that if they call in the US it will take up to two days to process their loan request, while a call centre in India run by Wipro will do it the same day. On-line lender E-Loan Inc. gives its customers a choice: press 1 for an outsourcing a centre in India or a centre in the US. It warns customers that if they press the button for India, they can have their loan request processed the same day. If they want the application processed in the US, they may have to wait, maybe two days longer. “With the movement of US jobs overseas becoming a hot political issue, companies are trying to find new ways to avoid the backlash,” said The Wall Street Journal. “E-Loan’s move is the latest wrinkle: disclosing that they have workers overseas, and letting customers themselves decide whether to opt for the advantages they offer,” it added. Since the company started offering the option four weeks ago, said Chris Larsen, E-Loan’s
Chairman and Chief Executive, 86 per cent of its customers for home equity loans have chosen the India route.
— PTI |
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How do I go about preparing for GATE? Q I will be completing MSc (Chemistry) this year from Haryana. Can you please guide me in preparing for GATE? — Harbhajan Khurana, on e-mail A. The GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) consists of a single three-hour objective-type paper with questions relating to engineering skills and your field of specialisation. Make sure you are thorough in science and mathematics concepts (Bachelor’s-level). Practice solving as many mathematical problems as possible to acquire speed and accuracy. And while you’re at it, do study the previous years’ question papers (a sample paper is usually available on IIT websites) to familiarise yourself with the pattern and level of difficulty involved. If necessary, you could take the help of some coaching. For the syllabus and other details, please log on to: www.iitd.ac.in/gate. You can also submit your forms online. Mall/multiplex Q. I see some smart young people working in the new malls coming up especially in Gurgaon/ Noida. What are the possibilities of working in these malls/multiplexes? What do employers look for? What are the prospects for a hotel management student like me? — Rajita Sandhu, Chandigarh A. A multiplex operation is essentially a mix of three businesses: retail, hotel and airlines. The similarity with a hotel industry comes from several factors. For instance, both are highly service driven, food and beverage (F&B) forms an integral part of the business and the staff line-up is almost similar. People with expertise and specialisation in various aspects of the service industry like F&B, housekeeping, facilities and operations, cinemas, etc are just what multiplexes look for. In short, anyone who would like working in a people-centric, challenging work environment; if you are adaptable and willing to multi-task, you will make a good candidate. Hospitality graduates are at an advantage (and valued) in this profession, since ‘service with a smile’ is already a way of life with them. However, in addition to providing facilities in tune with the service industry, cinema operators require additional technical know-how in terms of projection systems, audio-visual requirements, seating, entry and exit management systems, etc. Hospitality candidates fit in a number of areas right from the entry level to higher positions, depending on their experience. Some of the relevant service areas for hospitality candidates are: F&B, Operations and Facilities, Marketing and Sales, Ticket Window Sales, etc. Positions offered include ‘team members’, ‘team executives, team leaders, special service agents, corporate relations executives and even in some cases trainee assistant managers. Salaries are in keeping with current industry norms and market standards and so are the benefits and perks. Remuneration can be anything from Rs 4000 for an entry-level position to Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 for managerial posts. The latter are also entitled for performance-based incentives. Fishery science Q. What are the prospects after doing BSc (Fishery Science)? — Rajeev Goswami, Shimla A. With a vast coastline of 8000 km extending over 10 states, India is home to 300 varieties of fish. Hi-tech trawling and modern processing techniques have given a major fillip to our seafood exports - Japan, the USA and the EU being our main customers. Besides going for higher studies (PG and PhD) leading to teaching or further research in your field, you could look for work in government and private fishery and aquaculture units, state departments of agriculture, research units, university training centres, extension centres of agricultural universities, nationalised/rural banks, insurance companies, seafood processing units, export houses and aquariums. Production, development and quality control professionals also work with manufacturers of other marine products and by-products like fish meal, fish protein concentrate, fish oil, gelatin, pearl essence, etc. Naturally, most of the work would be based in coastal areas. Fisheries being the next major employment sector after agriculture, resource management is another vital area to be looking at. You could pursue a course specifically in fisheries management or a broader course in agribusiness management offered by several B-schools, including the prestigious IIM-A. Languages Q. I will be completing my class XII next year. I have a flair and interest in learning languages, and would like to pursue my further studies in this area. Could you give me some guidance on the career prospects. I am also interested in working for the government. Will I be able to combine both these interests? — Kajal Malhotra, Chandigarh A. The private sector as well as the government hire qualified language specialists for practical work like translation and interpretation as well as for more specialised work like researching specific topics. Of late, call centres have been actively recruiting those conversant in foreign languages. Moreover, several other avenues have opened up — in industry, trade, information and media, travel and teaching, to name a few. Of late, voice-based call centres have begun to recruit people with one to two years of multi-lingual capabilities as customer care executives. In addition to languages like French and German, there is a premium on specialists in Chinese, Japanese and Korean and even Russian. As for work in the government, the Cabinet Secretariat recruits language specialists in Chinese, Pushtu, Burmese, Nepali, Tibetan and Sinhala. A government job would require at least a Bachelor’s degree in the language concerned in addition to a high degree of proficiency in English and the ability to translate documents into English. — Pervin Malhotra, Director, CARING Please send in your query,
preferably on a postcard, along with your full name, complete address and
academic qualifications to: Editor, Query Hotline, The Tribune, Sector 29,
Chandigarh-160020, or at careerguide@tribuneindia.com |
