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Best of both worlds
Career Hotline
With not enough jobs to go around, students are considering wider variety of jobs and industries and more geographic options, including India
OFFICE Mantra
The meltdown Not just a game
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Pet Pals
WITH the Board exams looming large on the horizon, anxiety and stress levels of students has risen considerably. Much of the apprehension students have during this period is largely due to fears of low academic achievements. Examination stress is natural and no one can honestly say he or she has not experienced it. In today’s fast paced competitive world, students have to ensure that they consistently procure good marks, so as to be able to make it not only into the next class, but more so, to qualify for admissions to college and future careers. Before the pressure of high marks completely consumes us, it is pertinent to keep in mind that the road to success in not necessarily paved with engineering, IT, or MBA careers. There are hundreds of other options for which academic results are not the only criteria. Your talents, your passion and your keen interests can often compensate for not so good academic results for any number of careers. So, while you do your best in the forthcoming exams, it may be comforting to know that there are many alternatives you can also pursue.
Getting your paw in the door
IF you are interested in the medical aspect of pet care, then you will need to become an animal doctor or veterinarian. As with a doctor handling the medical ailments of human beings, your work as a veterinarian will involve diagnosing the ailment of an animal, through physical and clinical examination, and the administration of appropriate medication. It also involves the timely administration of vaccines for preventing disease, and advising on matters of nutrition and medical care. However, if your interest is basically the care of animals, you don’t need any special qualifications for this. Elsewhere in the world, the pet industry is huge, especially businesses involved in the manufacture of pet foods and accessories. But in India what is taking off in a big way in the metro cities is pet clinics and parlours. All you need is a small space where you can handle the basic services for pets such as bathing, shampooing,
grooming, and other aspects of pet hygiene such as hair and nails clipping, cleaning of ears, paws and mouth, tick and flea removal and so on. Some parlours take luxury a step higher by providing special massage and even hair colouring for dogs. Many of the pet parlours also stock pet food, collars, chains, coats, beds and other pet accessories.
In some cases, pet clinics can also extend services to include breeding of pets, as well as training them for household, as well as special requirements. Another service of value to many city folk is providing special funeral and burial services for pets as well. This too, is now slowly becoming available.
Petz vet
TO practice as a vet, it is essential to have at least a bachelor’s degree in veterinary science (B.VSc). This course is open to students who have passed the class 12 examination with physics, chemistry and biology. Admission to most veterinary colleges is on the basis of results obtained in the entrance examination conducted by the university concerned.
Sniffing out employment
TODAY there are few enterprising dog lovers who have already set up businesses in pet parlours in cities like Delhi and Mumbai and are reaping in the advantages of being early birds. A tie-up with a vet can also help you start off with a base of clients. But this is a career only suitable for those who have a genuine love for animals. You also need to be physically strong — working with animals, particularly large ones, requires physical stamina. You need to have quick body reflexes, powers of observation, the ability to evoke confidence in animals and an ability to put up with disagreeable conditions. Some entrepreneurship skills can also be useful to set up a new venture and to build up a client base — or should we say pet strategy!
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Best of both worlds
The first batch will consist of 35 students, who will be provided with Schulich faculty and facilities during the first year. They can also avail themselves of rented apartments within and near the SPJIMR campus. Aspirants will have to clear the GMAT and fees for the two-year programme is around Rs 12 lakh (USD 24,000) for the programme. ''What we offer is a unique environment with global orientation, innovation and diversity with a wide range of programmes including management in the fine arts field and public sector undertakings with focus on industry needs. Foreign students will get to stay on and work for three years and also avail themselves of global placements,'' Horvath said. He said the programme will follow a ''Triple Bottomline'' to sensitise students on environmental, socio-economic and political impact when taking decisions. ''We place a lot of importance on business ethics, corporate responsibility, sustainability and long term planning. Schulich has scholarship programmes based on academic performance and needs of the students. It gave USD eight million on scholarships last year. We are interested in India as it has maintained its business focus,'' he said. — UNI
...ICFAI with University of Bedfordshire
STUDENTS of business administration in India will now get the opportunity to receive part of their education in the UK and receive a combined English and Indian degree, thanks to a deal between the Bedfordshire and ICFAI Universities. The agreement announced between the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) University in Tripura and the University of Bedfordshire will see postgraduate students from ICFAI study part of their course in Bedfordshire. Following this, students will receive a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Indian and a Master of Business Management Suite (MBMS) from the British University. ICFAI University delivers MBA programmes in management, finance, banking, insurance, accounting, law, information technology, arts, commerce, education and science and technology and has centres in Uttarakhand, Tripura, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Jharkhand. According to the Bedfordshire University's deputy vice-chancellor (external relations), Ashraf Jawaid, this latest partnership is a new approach to delivering postgraduate education with overseas partners. "We're very excited about this new approach to delivering postgraduate business education with our partners in India. We will be working very closely with colleagues at ICFAI University to deliver this programme," he said.
— PTI
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Career Hotline
Corporate law is the right choice
Q. I have always been interested in pursuing law but I'm not sure about the prospects in the present scenario. Are they still good particularly as far as corporate law is concerned? –– Raghav Jain A. The demand for lawyers is going to increase as the present situation would require a great amount of documentation with drastic changes taking place at the top-level in organisations. This in turn has actually boosted the need for specialised services, and commercial law firms in India are riding the wave. One obvious consequence is that newer law firms are being set-up each year and these firms are hiring more people and paying higher salaries than ever before. The competition amongst firms to recruit the best law graduates has further increased since international law firms started making direct offers to students at the top L-schools. This is a boon for fresh graduates who are getting opportunities that earlier came only after several years of experience. In fact, most graduates are now joining commercial law firms or companies as legal advisors. A career in corporate law guarantees a healthy pay packet right from day one as opposed to court-practice where one needs to work under experienced advocates for several years at subsistence wage levels before gaining financial independence and prominence.
Go on, make a difference
Q. I am a graduate keen on working in the field of special education. Could you please tell me about the institutions offering courses in this field? –– Meghna Sodhi A. That’s really wonderful! You know, nearly a quarter of the world’s disabled live in India. Unfortunately, lack of education and awareness has become the biggest obstacle in enabling the disabled to lead a normal life. There are a staggering 35 million children with disabilities between six and fourteen years, while there is a huge shortfall of special educators. Their number stands at just a little over 20,000. Special educators mainly work with children with disabilities like speech or language impairment, mental retardation, learning difficulties (autism, dyslexia, ADS, slow learners, Asperger’s Syndrome), visual or hearing impairment. They help these students develop emotionally, train them to be comfortable in social situations, and be aware of socially acceptable behaviour. Empathy, communication and co-operation are essential traits. After understanding their special needs, a special educator needs to be highly innovative to devise appropriate learning strategies and motivate the child to be as optimally functional and well adjusted as possible. A course in special education equips you to work with such children studying either in special schools or in general schools in an integrated setting. But be prepared, while it is immensely satisfying and gives you the opportunity to make a difference, it calls for a great deal of patience, commitment and hard work. In one word, you need to be indefatigable. A variety of options ranging from one-year diploma and B.Ed (special) courses to three-four year bachelor’s degree courses are available. Since you have already done your graduation, you could opt for any of the one-year B.Ed (special education) programmes offered at a number of universities. The Rehabilitation Council of India is a statutory body under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment located at 23-A, Shivaji Marg, New Delhi-110015. Incidentally, it is mandatory for every special educator to be registered with RCI. Do log on to their website — www.rehabcouncil.org — for more details.
In GRE, verbal reasoning decides
–– Manish Bhatia A.
The GRE general test measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing skills (acquired over a period of time). The skills are not related to any specific field of study. Some students find verbal reasoning tough. They feel that you can prepare for the quantitative reasoning section within a week, mug-up the word-lists in a month and crack the vocab-testing questions, but you can't improve too much on the verbal reasoning or reading comprehension in a matter of weeks. Most people can manage the quant and the vocabulary sections with relative ease. But it’s the VR bit that separates the good from the excellent. The only way to improve your scores is to read extensively. And eclectically. Try to cover an array of topics from a variety of sources. Engineering students typically find science passages easier to comprehend. Similarly, biology majors find bio-passages easier to understand, and so on. But since passages can be based on any topic ranging from geography to contemporary psychology, your best bet would be to read extensively if you are aiming for a really high score. Those in the business strongly recommend reading philosophy. Firstly, philosophy is generally the toughest to comprehend. Secondly, you will encounter many GRE-type words, so it’s a great way to reinforce your vocabulary. Many excellent resources are available on the net. Because the analytical writing section is a performance test, you need to organize and articulate your own ideas as you discuss a complex issue, as well as explain the logical soundness of the argument you have just read. The verbal section measures your reading comprehension, and verbal and analogical reasoning skills in a multiple-choice format. While the verbal section measures your ability to understand complex ideas expressed in the written passages and in the relationships between words, the analytical writing section measures your ability to articulate and support ideas, and to analyse arguments.
This column appears weekly. Please send in your queries, preferably on a postcard, along with your full name, complete address and academic qualifications to: Editor, Jobs and Careers, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh-160030, or at careers
@tribunemail.com
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With not enough jobs to go around, students are considering wider variety of jobs and industries and more geographic options, including India Scott Malone
Facing one of the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression, some masters of business administration students are lowering expectations. Aspiring investment bankers are looking elsewhere, while international students wonder if they will have better luck at home than in the United States. As big banks including Citigroup Inc, Bank of America Corp and Goldman Sachs Group Inc cut tens of thousands of jobs, MBA students who just a few years ago would have been aggressively recruited by companies now expect to fight for the handful of positions available. Meghan Gallery, 24, enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management in September with hopes of working on mergers and acquisitions at an investment bank. Now, she would consider a summer job at a start-up company, ideally in corporate finance. ‘‘I’ve literally had people say, ‘Hopefully, when you get out it will be different. But if not, there will still be a lot of bodies floating around who have been in finance for five to 10 years more than you',” she said. Shrinkant Dave, 26, an MBA candidate at Boston University from India, made a similar decision, accepting a corporate finance job at a retail chain rather than holding out for investment banking. ‘‘I knew there were not enough jobs to go around, so I had to improvise,’‘ Dave said. ‘‘It's slightly disappointing, but not too bad. It's still in line with my goals.” MBA students face a radically changed job market. US employers in January cut payrolls by the most in 34 years. Wall Street has shed more than 19,000 jobs since the start of the financial crisis. General Electric co-chief executive Jeff Immelt summed it up in a presentation in New York in early February: ‘‘Financial services ain't going to be the same in our lifetime.” Looking way beyond Wall Street CAREER counsellors at MBA programmes are urging students to be open-minded about the jobs they will accept and to pursue aggressively those that are available. While companies are still sending recruiters to campuses, they are not hiring as many people. MIT officials estimated that recruiters on its campus were offering 20 per cent fewer positions this year. Moreover, MBAs are not a rare breed. More than 150,000 MBA degrees were awarded in the US in 2006-2007 academic year. ‘‘They have to be open to different routes to getting a Wall Street job,” said Diane Riemer, assistant director for graduate career services at Boston University's School of Management. Riemer said she advises MBA candidates to think about bridge strategies, positions that could serve as stepping-stones to get students toward their dream jobs. In addition to considering a wider variety of jobs and industries, students said they are considering more geographic options — like moving to emerging nations where multinationals and big local companies are still beefing up staff. Some students from outside the United States are considering whether they would be better off returning home, particularly those from still-growing economies like Brazil, China and India — though growth there has slowed too. ‘‘I was looking to do a lot of work in the US, but one of the suggestions I got was that this is the right opportunity to go and explore,” said Anand Mohanrangan, 26, an MIT Sloan student also from India. ‘‘I am trying to see what are the opportunities I could have to go back to India.” ‘‘People pay a lot of money to get here and the return on investment is higher here than if you go back,” said Mahesh Konduru, 34, an Indian student at MIT's Sloan School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Facing big debts
THE programmes are costly. Last year the typical full-time MBA candidate attending a school outside his or her home state paid $32,333 per year for tuition and fees, a number that's risen 25 per cent over the past five years. That does not take into account books or living expenses. Compounding those concerns, many have taken on tens of thousands of dollars of debt to finance their educations. Students said they are trying to cut back spending, just to minimise the amount of debt they will face after graduating. ‘‘I'm trying not to spend too much from the loans,” said David Spevick, 27, who is from Toronto and is now studying for his MBA at Boston University. He lives alone but will probably seek a roommate to save money. Educators console students with the thought that the difficult economy will toughen them up and better prepare them for hard times later in their careers. ‘‘There is no doubt that the students who are coming out today will be more wary of credit risks, more careful,” said Andrew Lo, a professor at MIT’s Sloan School, who spearheaded the school’s launch of a finance track this year. ‘‘You learn nothing from success. You learn far more from failure.”
— Reuters
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Productivity Pays
It’s an attitude, writes D.C. SHARMA. Start your day with positive thoughts & read on for more tips to increase your output at work
To enhance productivity, jump out of bed early in the morning, eager to begin the day with new challenges. That brings vigour and vitality in your mind, body and spirit. If you think of winning, you can never lose. Modern American self-improvement writer Dr Wayne W Dyre says that obstacles become opportunities when you imagine yourself as succeeding in your desired goal. You will see your desires materialising when you believe it so. The hope of winning keeps us active and alert. Such a person can handle even a tough job as and when he desires. Why not treat each new day as an opportunity? Heavens won’t fall if you fail! If you have the worth, you will always initiate good things in life and no power on earth can defeat you. People respect a hard worker in all circumstances. To be productive at all times is a skill that comes with experience and expertise. Every step is a new experience and all circumstances are a chance to be more productive. The productive worker knows how and when to initiate a work. He thinks a thousand times before taking a step, but once he takes the step there is no looking back. He only knows that he would win. He never thinks of failure even when all others say he would never succeed. With courage and conviction a productive man turns a failure into a grand success. Keeping the workplace neat and clean is not enough -- keep it in perfect working order. To make a business flourish requires certain qualities among its workers. It is the spirit to work in cooperation with colleagues. Where you work you also live. With love and cooperation, team members get a relaxed mind and body. When it feels right, you do the right thing. The relaxing atmosphere at the workplace comes with love and cooperation and thus, productivity is enhanced. When the team is focused, productivity peaks. Kal kare so aaj kar: Procrastination is the worst disease that can afflict productivity. To keep procrastination at bay, keep the workplace clutter-free. The desk should have only papers that are currently needed. All irrelevant matters should be kept away. Clutter only creates a stressful atmosphere – the team may lose concentration and its productivity could hit rock bottom. Plan ahead: Set targets in advance each day. The work you are going to start the following day should be thought through the previous evening and all needed material should be kept ready. This way, the precious morning hours are not lost in the nitty-gritties. Who can then decrease the speed your progress? Persons who achieve are good planners. They never start a work out of turn. Planning begins in their minds much before the work in hand is completed. Value time: Punctuality is the hallmark of enhanced productivity. Such employees are never late. They make things happen when others are just thinking of planning. Actually, punctuality and planning are two sides of the coin. No planning can be successful without punctuality. Keep cool: To get angry at the workplace does not enhance productivity. In fact, it makes things go wrong. No one likes a person who loses temper. How is it possible to concentrate when one is in the habit of getting angry over small things even? The boss loves a cooperative teammate because cooperation can be expected only from a peace-loving person. The one with unpredictable nature is always kept at arm's length. Be honest and sincere: To be a yes-man at the workplace is not useful. Neither it is of use to be no-man. Learn to call a spade a spade — the truthful employee is the best achiever. This habit indicates a sense of maturity and experience. So, in order to enhance your output, be a good worker. Work alone speaks for your value and worth. Too much boasting, doing nothing never pays in the long run. Work alone is your passport to success. The boss always takes advice from a team member who displays enhanced productivity. The preferred teammate may the work of his choice and promotions on a platter. But enhanced productivity must continue forever. The more productive the worker, the higher he’ll climb and sky will be his only limit of his success and progress.
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Elderly immigrants hit hard
Unable to find work or receive retirement benefits, many older immigrants are ending up becoming a burden on their already hard-pressed relatives. Amid layoffs and financial problems, relatives who sponsored them for green cards and agreed to be financially responsible for them find it increasingly difficult to do so, the Los Angeles Times said in a report. Mahesh Mehta, 65, came from India three years ago to live with his brother and his family in Cerritos, California. "Everyone says, 'Come, come, come,'" he said, adding that now that he is in the US, he is worried his family members might be wondering, "Why did you come?" Mehta said he looked for work for nearly three years — at motels, shops and gas stations — before finally finding a part-time job as a school crossing guard. He earns $400 a month and pays $300 of that to his brother for his portion of the rent. Mehta said his life in India was "poor but beautiful". As he donned his orange whistle and reflective vest, Mehta said America is not what he expected. "I never thought I would be 65 and working," he said. "It was never in my mind." Shaukat Ali, 70, who came here from Pakistan three years ago to stay with his daughter, said he pays for his family, his health and now for the economy. "There is no alternative but to ask our God," he said. Ali wanted to reunite with relatives in the US and work for a few years before retiring. But he has not been able to find a job in three years and feels he has become a burden on his daughter and son-in-law. "They are not in a position to support me," he said. "Dollars are not growing on trees." Initially, Ali's daughter Tahira and son-in-law had little trouble supporting them. She sold saris and dresses at a clothing store; he repaired jewellery at an adjacent shop. But recently, the jewellery store's owners said they were closing their doors. The financial problems, of course, are apart from the difficulties the elderly immigrants face in the land of their dreams. Many senior immigrants struggle with the loss of their independence and find it harder than younger immigrants to assimilate a new culture, customs and language and often do not have friends or a social network.
— IANS
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Not just a game
A career in mobile gaming requires a combination of technical know-how and creativity. And since India is the largest mobile gaming market in the world next only to China, you know where all the action is!
The mobile gaming market is flourishing at an unbeatable speed, as mobile phones become an inherent part of our lives. India alone has 325 million mobile users — a number that is constantly on the increase. With young citizens desiring to carry the best gadgets in the market, mobile games now have a huge number of players resulting in a massive customer base for the game
developers.
For developers, the challenge is no longer only to develop a brainteaser or mind-boggling game. It is to merge the features of games for them to become essential promotion tools. Be it the newly-launched game series based on the movie Ghajini or a car racing game sporting the latest Ferrari, the gaming syndrome has now emerged into a potential industry in itself. What it takes
THE gaming industry requires highly skilled (design) professionals. Sound knowledge of animation, pixel art, character design, 3D Max, Flash and other design softwares is a prerequisite. Major players in the industry are companies like Indiagames, Dhruva Interactives, Zapak, Jump Games, Games2win, Hungama and Mauj. However, companies like Onyx Mobile, Handygo and Icreon have amplified the level of competition, thereby driving each company to perform their best. The development cycle for a game includes game concepts, scripting, programming, character design and animation, level making and testing. The cycle is divided into three parts: pre-production, production and
testing.
The job is by no means easy and requires a combination of technical know-how and creativity. However, for a person like me who was always interested in mobile games, application and UI design; there is nothing better than to transform my hobby into my profession. It gives me great satisfaction to work on something that has always fascinated me and get paid for it!
The road ahead
CAREER prospects in this industry are wide. People who want to headstart their career in the wireless industry can join mobile companies as creative heads (game producer/game developer/game designer/game artist/concept artist/pixel artist/graphic designer etc.), programmers (team leaders/game programmer/ J2ME/ dot net/ C++ professionals), and marketing or in their management team (HR and finance divisions). Game designing students can also work as game designers, 3D artists, modelers, character animators, texture artists and art leads. A graphic designer, whose job is to create believable characters adaptable to different platforms, can earn a starting salary between Rs 2 and 4 lakh per annum. With further experience, growth can be tremendous.
The skill set
VARIOUS institutes have started courses in gaming. The need of the hour is to bring a course of one-two year duration that would cover areas like illustration, human anatomy, animation, character design, concept art and other game design artworks. Since the client generally provides the brief in Excel or Word format, it becomes necessary to have advance knowledge of animation and how to draw characters in Role Playing Games, popularly known as RPG. Prior to joining the mobile industry, I did my postgraduate course in Visual Communication from WLC College, India. The course curriculum enabled me to learn advanced typography design, animation techniques for films and 3D Max. I further honed my skills with graphic designing, story boarding, idea generation, hand skills and animation. The WLCI's traineeship programme also assists students to work with companies in this field.
Future perfect
ACCORDING to a Nasscom report, the Indian gaming industry would have turnovers of $300 million by 2009. The report also indicated that the mobile gaming segment would grow the fastest; increasing its overall share of the market from 16 per cent in 2005 to 28 per cent in 2009. Overall, the industry is expected to grow by 700 per cent by 2010. India is the largest mobile gaming market in the world next only to China, according to Nasscom. Globally, the market is expected to grow up to $36 billion by 2009. Keeping in mind the growth rate of the industry, it does not need much
intelligence to predict that the growth graph will keep moving up, which
automatically means that for the youth there is one more vista open for exploration, innovation and creative
satisfaction. (The writer is currently working as a communication planner and designer with Affle, India)
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A career in mobile gaming requires a combination of technical know-how and creativity. And since India is the largest mobile gaming market in the world next only to China, you know where all the action is!
Not studying engineering, medicine or business management is not the end of the road. If hardcore academics are not your thing, consider an animal-friendly career. You will never have to sit before a computer all day
& your rewards will include a wagging tail, a friendly woof & a face lick!
TORONTO-BASED Schulich School of Business and S P Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai, have introduced a new MBA programme. Under the programme, expected to begin January 2010, students will complete the first year of the course at SPJIMR campus and the second year at Schulich School in Toronto, Dezso J Horvath, dean of the school said.
Q. I am a student of B.Sc physics at Panjab University. I am planning to take the GRE. How does the analytical writing section differ from verbal section? What is the toughest part and how do I prepare for it?
FOR decades, investment banking was a well-worn path to affluence for business-school graduates. But as Wall Street teeters, many are scrambling to find alternate routes into a brutal job market. 
PRODUCTIVITY is the keyword in today's world. Nobody cares for the one who is idle, not even kith and kin! Being productive is not at all difficult. It is a matter of attitude. When you have formed an attitude to do something worthwhile in each situation, you are on the path to progress and prosperity. Soon it becomes a habit with you. More and more opportunities open up and even hurdles double as pillars of success when you have formed the habit to be productive and fruitful. 
IT was the dream of many elderly people from around the world — including India — to go to the US, stay with their children or other relatives, work and later get decent pensions. All that is over now in the times of financial meltdown and pink slips. 
BE it in a bus, classroom or at work, we all have spent some time playing that Snakes game on our cellphones. Mobile games have come a long way from the crude, early versions to high-tech ones that could comfortably match the standards of a Play Station or even an X-Box. Mobile gaming has transformed into an industry in itself and has opened up amazing avenues for mobile enthusiasts.