Stock up survival skills
Versatility is a very important skill for a successful career, writes Charandeep Singh

The dawn of the new year brings along with it the warmth of the realisation of recession being over. The dread of pink slips has also become a thing of the past. The going was really tough during the worst phase of recession as people lost jobs thick and fast.

After losing their jobs some started their own ventures, which as of now, are not sparkling gems due to the liquidity crunch in the market. Many had to accept low paying jobs and even had to forego their seniority. It surely was unjust but what else could the poor souls have done in those trying circumstances. After all they say that “Something is better than nothing”. But in hindsight if we contemplate the situation and try to figure out what kind of people lost jobs, the inferences are not at all surprising. The resources that limited themselves to a particular stream and did no value additions to their skills were the ones who faced the massive brunt of the recessionary cuts. Whether the genesis of this malady lies in our education system or is the individual to be blamed himself is debatable. While there can be no clear answer to these questions, one thing is certain that complacency can surely inhibit the growth of one’s career graph. So one has to keep the hunger for acquiring more skills alive and keep on pushing oneself in uncharted territories to stay ahead in the race.

The problem area

“The education system cannot be blamed completely. Education is just meant to provide the basic raw material. It is for the industry to groom the young resources. We cannot provide a student with a specific skill set as the skill requirements vary from domain to domain and from industry to industry. The basic purpose of university education is just to make a student understand the application of concepts and enhance his analytical abilities”, observes Dr. Sanjay Modi Senior Dean with LPU, Jalandhar. This observation of Dr. Modi is true to a certain extent. Look at what is happening in the IT industry. The top companies pick up students from mechanical as well as civil engineering backgrounds. The industry just considers the basic attitude at entry level, and then the candidates are groomed as per the specific requirements of a particular company. Many of the passouts from IITs, who are technocrats, are being offered management jobs. Ever wondered why? The corporate mandarins look for just the basic acumen, polishing is done later on. “But unfortunately these days there is a lot of confusion in many sectors, especially the financial sector. Reason being that the freshers who are hired are not being trained and as a result they don’t get a chance to groom themselves. Earlier, we used to have a one-month induction programme and that, too, at a resort. Now the induction has reduced to three days and that, too, at local branch offices”, says an HR manager of a multi-national bank on the condition of anonymity.

The problem starts as soon as the young resource gets a job. Irrespective of his specialisation, he go es for the job which promises more money. Then a couple of years down the line, he would again opt for a job switch for a higher package irrespective of his domain area. In this process of achieving monetary goals, he loses his core competence. Thus by the time he should have become a specialist in his field, what he actually gets is the tag of a generalist. This has been beautifully explained by the great management thinker Maslow in his theory of “Hierarchy of Needs”. When a young pass-out enters the professional arena his physiological needs — food, sleep, money, home, health etc — are so pressing that he has no time to acknowledge whether it is the job that he really wants to do. He has no time for self-actualisation. “In this respect the young resources of the western world are far more balanced. They would not hang on to the job if they don’t like it. There is no societal pressure on a person, the way unfortunately we have in India. In India the resources are just worried about the longevity of their careers”, says Naresh Gulati of Oceanic Consultants. So it means that apart from the industry, society as well as parents should also play a pivotal role in grooming the careers of their wards.

What is the remedy?

“The problem is that youngsters these days want everything to be spoon fed to them. Very few work at enriching their knowledge once they finish their education and get a job. How many of them go in for trainings themselves? How many of them would invest in books? After all these aspects build up your intellect level”, argues Venkatesh, President, HR of Educomp. This argument holds merit.

Now insurance is basically concept selling, but how many of the insurance professionals would have undergone some kind of a workshop to hone their concept selling skills at their own expense. If they would have undergone some training, then in the event of losing a job in the sector, most of them would have had found fitment in a domain industry where concept selling is relevant.

Secondly, most of the resources don’t plan an alternate career, or don’t have a contingency plan. In the type of dynamic and competitive environment that we are living in, one must have a clear back-up plan. For it, one should understand what are the skills required and then more importantly how does one inculcate those skills.

These days one must be versatile. It pays. And if you look around then you’ll realise that most of the top CEOs are versatile. What does this mean? It is actually having an understanding and knowledge of a field other than the one in which one is involved. Like apart from domain knowledge one must understand the law governing that particular industry, one must know how to deal with the executive board and apart from it one needs to have a distinctive leadership style.

“In order to have success as well as longevity one must be multi-faceted. Like Nandan Nilekani, former MD of Infosys, a technocrat himself, writing a sociological thesis on India in the form of a book. This was neither his domain knowledge nor was it an extension of what he had studied in college. This was what he acquired during his career span” says Dr. Modi. One must have the passion and vision about what one wants in life, it is only then that you become a sponge and are able to absorb all the dynamism around. As the great philosopher Confucius, once said, “If you love your work you need not do a job any more”.

Career Hotline
Getting into ILO
Pervin Malhotra

Q. I am very keen to work with the ILO. How do I get an assignment?

— Mayank Rastogi

A. Since you have not mentioned your present qualifications or field of work, let me give you a general picture.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is a UN body. Its primary aim is to promote opportunities for men and women to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.

India is one of the founding members of the ILO and has been a permanent member of its governing body since 1922.

The ILO recruits in two categories:

The General Services category: This is concerned with three major occupational groups viz. administration related support work, technical support work and manual trades and other support work.

The basic requirement is a good knowledge of the prevailing labour issues and laws, nationally as well as internationally.

At the national level, applicants must preferably have local expertise/experience in a labour organisation e.g. lawyers specialising in labour issues, social scientists and people associated with labour organisations.

Professional Services category: This deals with the theoretical or practical aspects of fields such as finance and accounts, law, education, social science, economics, business and administration, managerial and other technical specialisations. Most of these require substantial academic preparation, normally at the advanced university level.

The ILO also conducts an internship programme for undergraduate and postgraduate students (involved in a specialised field related to ILO's work) where they can complete their studies by acquiring practical knowledge and a better understanding of ILO policies and programmes. Interns are assigned either to the ILO Headquarters or its field offices.

For ILO's Associate Expert Programme, you need a Bachelor's or Master's or an equivalent technical qualification along with some years of work experience. The typical age limit is 32 years. The assignment varies from 2-5 years depending upon the policy and financial possibilities of the donor.

The ILO essentially looks for candidates with multi-disciplinary knowledge regarding various labour issues; an awareness of international developments; and a 'can-do' and acceptable personality.

For further information log on to: www.ilo.org

Cyber forensics
An emerging field

Q. What exactly is cyber forensics? Could you tell me if there is good scope in this field?

— Namita Khanna

A. Cyber forensics is the process of extracting information and data from computer storage media and guaranteeing its accuracy and reliability. The challenge lies in actually finding this data, collecting, preserving, and presenting it in a manner acceptable in a court of law.

Electronic evidence is fragile and can be easily modified. Moreover, cyber thieves, criminals, dishonest (and even honest) employees hide, wipe, disguise, cloak, encrypt and destroy evidence from storage media using a variety of freeware, shareware and commercially available programmes.

Global dependency on technology combined with the expanding presence of the Internet as a key and strategic resource requires that corporate assets are well-protected and safeguarded.

When these assets come under attack, or are misused, infosecurity professionals can gather electronic evidence of such misuse and summon it to book the culprits. Today, a cyber forensic expert can cull and analyse every kind of evidence from cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), SIM cards, iPods and other devices. They can retrieve any kind of data from these devices, even if the information is deleted.

Although firmly established as an art as well as a science, cyber forensics is still in its infancy in India. With technology evolving, mutating, and changing at such a rapid pace, the rules governing the application of cyber forensics to the fields of auditing, security, and law enforcement are changing as well. Almost daily, new techniques and procedures are evolving to equip infosecurity professionals with electronic evidence to collect, preserve, and present it for potential use in spotting and prosecuting cyber criminals (whose rank is ever increasing).

A large number of e-forensic experts are required to book these criminals. The industry also needs people who can handle the latest cyber forensic equipment introduced from time to time by cyber security equipment manufacturers. Cyber forensic experts are required in the defence, government and financial sectors.

As technologies advance, so does the area of digital forensics. Many major companies have introduced cyber security solution divisions, where these professionals can easily find jobs.

A fresher could join as an information security engineer and work his way up to become a principal or lead consultant.

Depending on your skills, you could even move into management and head particular practices.

With experience, you could also work as an advisor in government departments of various ministries or as Security Auditors and Network Administrators in technology firms.

Just the other day, I was talking to someone from the World Bank, who said they were looking at recruiting forensic accountants, but not making much headway as there are presently very few of them.

Nuclear medicine

Q. I am a fresh medical graduate and wish to pursue a career in the field of nuclear medicine. I would be very grateful if you could provide details regarding courses in this field.

— Dr Gautam Vohra

A. Currently there aren't many courses available in nuclear or aviation medicine.

However, the Radiation Medicine Centre of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai offers two programmes to equip professionals for working in Nuclear Medicine Centres ( the first programme may suit you the best).

These full-time programmes include lectures, demonstrations, practicals, theory exams, apprentice programmes and clinics.

Both courses are offered under the aegis of the Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai (a Deemed University).

Diploma in Radiation Medicine (2-years)

Eligibility: M.B.B.S. with internship from a recognised university. Post-graduate medical qualification-holders and sponsored candidates can also apply.

Common Entrance Test: 100 Multiple Choice Questions of the III MBBS level (Fields: Anatomy, Physiol, Biochem, Pathol, Cardiology, Pediatrics, Oncology, Infectious diseases, Neurology, Nephrology, Endocrinology and Recent Advances in Medicine).

Non-sponsored candidates will receive a stipend in both years.

Diploma in Medical Radioisotope Techniques (1-year)

Eligibility: B.Sc. (60 per cent aggregate) in Chemistry, Physics, Life Sciences, Biophysics, B.Sc. in Nuclear Medicine Technology or B.Sc. (Medical Radiological Tech). M.Sc. degree-holders can also apply.

Sponsored candidates with 55 per cent aggregate in B.Sc. can also apply.

The Common Entrance Test covers 100 multiple choice questions on science subjects of Class XII.

Only 50 candidates in order of merit will be called for an interview.

Non-sponsored candidates will receive a stipend.

Limited hostel accommodation is available.

Age limit: 40 years (on 1st May, '08 (relaxed by three years for OBCs and by five years for SC/ST and sponsored candidates).

For latest information and the syllabus for both programmes log onto the HBNI website www.hbni.ac.in

Selection is based on an all India Common Entrance Test (CET) and interview.

HBNI also offers a Diploma in Radiological Physics.

Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Raibareli Road., Lucknow 226014 (www.sgpgi.ac.in) also offers MSc Nuclear Medicine (two-year)

Eligibility: MBBS.

Board exams

Q. What is the final take on taking Class X Board exams. Who should/ should not take it?

— Harsha Mehta

A. Only Class X students who wish to change their board need to appear for the final examination conducted by the CBSE Board (i.e. SA II) in March 2011.

In all other cases, such as change of school within CBSE, transfer to some other location, etc the students may appear for school conducted final examination (SA II).

The writer is a noted career expert and director, Career Guidance India (CARING). Please send in your queries with your full name, complete address and academic qualifications to: The Editor, Jobs and Careers, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh-160030, or at careers @tribunemail.com

TOP JOBS
Preetinder Kaur lists some of the fastest growing industries in 2011

Passenger transportation (air and surface)

Air and road transportation will continue to increase. Travelers will require myriad of services to get them to their destinations.

Software publishers

Software industry is on the top of the list for the past decade. New software functions and features will generate even more opportunities in the coming years.

Optometric and dental services

The combination of an ageing population and a general desire to be healthier while “looking good”, will generate increased job options for eye and dental care professionals.

Chiropractors

The need for medical services combined with patients’ preference for effective treatment will significantly increase opportunities in this field.

Mental health services

Non-psychiatric and physician services will hold steady (yet strong), but support service requirements will expand job prospects.

Education support services

While the need for pure educators will remain stable, support service opportunities will increase manifold.

Independent writers and artists

The volume of websites — interactive and informational — continues to increase demand for words and entertainment. Independent writers and other artists will enjoy an ever-increasing number of opportunities.

Daycare (juvenile and adult)

With the number of working women increasing steadily over the years, the need for day care services has also registered an increase. Along with this an aging popultion has also increased opportunities in this field.

Administrative and information services

These areas, always important, suffered some stagnation during the recent recession. However, after frequent downsizing activities and the growing need for information sources, these industries will a healthy appetite for competent employees.

Community and personal care services

Social responsibility and personal care are becoming more important; the need for workers in this sector will continue to increase.

Green careers

Increased awareness about responsibility towards environment has opened the floodgates of opportunities in this field for workers. As more companies “go green,” protecting the environment gains importance. Facilities management and support will generate new, exciting career options.

Waste treatment

While it doesn’t have the high degree of “bling,” waste treatment companies should offer lucrative job opportunities in the coming years. As the population increases, the available land decreases, and concern for environmentally-friendly processes predominate, waste treatment enjoys expanding industry status.

Consultation

Management, technology, and scientific-related areas will proliferate.

Therapy

The areas of physical, occupational, and speech therapy are the most promising for opportunities in 2011.

Cable and satellite programming

As the over-the-air networks face more quality competition from cable and satellite sources, job opportunities will continue an upward trend.

Internet hosting and publishing

As the mainstream readers move from the printed word to electronic news and information, hosting and publishing job opportunities will increase dramatically.

These industries are offering new and exciting job opportunities with handsome packages in this year and for the next year too. So, one should carefully evaluate these industries and apply accordingly.

The writer is Project Assistant, IIT, Ropar.

oFFICE mantra
E-mail Etiquette
Ragini Gulati

As professionals we get scores of e-mails everyday. As a consequence a considerable part of our day is spent in checking, reading, drafting and deleting e-mails.

An e-mail plays a critical role in making powerful business impressions and establishing positive professional relationships. With everyone speaking in different languages the absence of an effective e-mail communication system can lead to the wastage of time and resources.

The ease and informality of the Internet often makes us believe that we can write business e-mails poorly and get away with it. On the contrary e-mails are a part of our professional image and need to contain the standard components of a business letter: a greeting, body and closing.

In order to ensure a streamlined workplace communication and better inter-personal communication, it is important to write professional e-mails. Today, the need of the hour is for organisations to implement a formal e-mail policy.

With the help of e-mail etiquettes we can use this technology effectively, appropriately and to our advantage.

The first and foremost step to writing an effective e-mail is a meaningful subject line. Choose a subject line that is precise and accurately describes the content of the e-mail. More than often an email with a subject line that is vague or empty lands in the junk mail folder. Besides, given the huge volume of e-mails that each person receives, the subject has become the hook to draw the attention of the recipient.

Begin the e-mail with a salutation and properly address the recipient. Informality is acceptable in e-mail correspondence, but it is still polite to greet people and address them by name. Failure to put in the person’s name can make the e-mail as well as the sender come across as cold.

E-mails are meant for quick and simple communication. As a result they should be brief and concise. Keep the message short and use only a few paragraphs, roughly 3-5 paragraphs at the most. Write very few sentences per paragraph and try to keep the sentences to a maximum of 15-20 words. Due to the limitations of formatting and layout, anything longer than that is probably best sent as a separate attachment.

Communication through an e-mail should be as professional as a typewritten letter. Avoid slang, abbreviations, ‘smilies’ and casually constructed sentences. It is considered impolite to type an e-mail in capital letters since it is the e-mail equivalent of shouting at someone.

Special attention should be paid to the spelling, grammar and punctuation. An e-mail full of poor spellings and grammatical errors shows a lack of attention to detail, sending a wrong impression to the recipient.

Proofread the e-mail before hitting the ‘send’ button. Going through the e-mail is especially important since the spell checker catches only misspelled words, not the misused ones. If possible, show the draft to a close associate, in order to see whether it actually makes sense.

Format a standard ‘signature’ which includes full name, title, department and telephone number. Keep it as short as possible since a very long or overly formatted signature can make it difficult for the recipient to find the relevant information.

Remember the power of the “cc” and “bcc” when emailing. Use ‘bcc’ (blind carbon copy) instead of ‘cc’ (carbon copy) when sending sensitive information to large groups. The name of everyone in the ‘cc’ list goes out with the message but the names of people on the ‘bcc’ list are hidden.

The name or address of the person to whom the e-mail is being sent should be the last piece of information entered. By entering the recipient’s name first, a mere slip of the finger can send the e-mail even before it is complete!

Depressing jobs

Those working with the elderly and small children, and health care and food service personnel, accountants, financial advisers have the most depressing jobs, according to Health magazine. Personal health care workers are most likely to say they’ve suffered from major depression — 11per cent compared to 7per cent of the general population, reports the New York Daily News.

The very old and the very young are the most needy, and often unable to express appreciation for hard and often unpleasant work.

Waitresses are also likely to report feeling incredibly unhappy: Low pay, long shifts and rude customers take their toll.

Nine per cent reported an episode of major depression in the previous year, according to Health magazine. Lack of steady income, confidence issues and loneliness are big contributors.

It’s not just a lack of money issue either. Financial advisers and accountants also report feeling miserable. “There is so much responsibility for other people’s finances and no control of the market,” Deborah Legge, a licensed mental health counselor told Health.

“There is guilt involved, and when (clients) are losing money, they probably have people screaming at them with regularity,” Legge said.

Still, it’s nice to have a job at all. Approximately 13 per cent of unemployed people report suffering from major bouts of depression. — ANI

Financial gain from compound feed production
Rajinder Singh

Haryana’s livestock wealth provides ample opportunities for self-employment to youths in rural areas. The state has about 60 lakh buffaloes and 15 lakh cows, and the milk production that was 10.8 lakh metric tonne in 1966-67 has increased to 54.22 metric tonne ( 2004-05). The state has become a frontrunner in milk production also due to its rich feed and fodder resources. But the shrinking land holdings have made it difficult to procure green fodder as the area under fodder crop cultivation has reduced drastically over the years. The availability of green fodder is about 52 per cent of what is required for the present number of cattle heads. Dry fodder, however, is available in abundance which can be attributed to more emphasis being laid upon the sorghum-wheat and rice-wheat cropping systems.

The farmers, in order to enhance production and reproduction of their livestock, are feeding their animals homemade concentrates like cottonseed, wheat-daliya and oil cakes. As these are their own unscientific self-made formulations, there is a lack of a balanced mix of nutrients. This makes the animals deficient in essential nutrients which results in low productivity.

Scientifically produced compound feed is an ideal solution to this problem as it iconforms to a number of standards of BIS and other regulators.

There is huge demand for balanced feed and this is being provided in the market by different agencies like HAFED, Rohtak; Sakta Kheda (District Sirsa); Haryana Agro Industries at Jind; and as many as 30 private sector units. The feed is pro-poor and supplements the need of green fodder, throughout the year, making it an essential requirement in the rain-fed areas, i.e. Rewari, Mahendergarh, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Bhiwani and Mewat districts.

In view of this demand, setting up a compound feed manufacturing unit can be a good source of income for youth. Besides this dealership can also be taken up for marketing this feed.While the returns are good, minimum working capital (about Rs 1.25 lakh) is required to ventutre into this field. The security amount for rural dealership is Rs 10,000. With installed production capacity of 8451MT per day, there are just 139 dealers in the state. Thus there is a huge scope in this field for dealership and self-employment ventures.

Training

Those interested can undergo training at Krishi Vigyan Kendras in district headquarters. Animal science experts give hands on training about the importance of balanced cattle feed. Lectures of animal science experts are also organised to train and create awareness among livestock owners in collaboration with Hafed and milk plant. These lectures have led to significant increase in the sale of compound feed. The commission set by the cattle feed companies ranges about Rs7,000 per truckload of 100 quintals of feed. The southern parts of Haryana, particularly Mahendergarh, Rewari and Gurgaon districts have witnessed good sale of cattle feed.

— The writer is Senior Extension Specialist (Animal Sciences), KVK, Rohtak.

Fortnightly Quiz-378

1. Name the country’s first seaplane that was launched in the Andaman and Nicobar islands recently.

2. Who recently became the first woman President of Brazil?

3. Name the five Takhts (temporal seats) of the Sikhs.

4. In which state is Jaitapur, where a nuclear plant is proposed to be set up, situated?

5. Name the committee set up for the feasibility of carving out Telangana from Andhra Pradesh.

6. Name India’s scheme aimed at improving rural accessibility through roads in the country.

7. Which newspaper of Britain recently named the 33 Chilean miners who survived 69 days trapped underground before emerging to the surface as “team of the year”?

8. Which state of Australia was recently hit by severe floods?

9. Who led England to Ashes victory recently?

10. Name the Mumbai boy who recently scored 498 runs, the most by an individual in an innings in school cricket history.

— Tarun Sharma

Winners of quiz 377: The first prize by draw of lots goes to Ajay Negi, class XII, Army Public School, Tibri Cantonment, Gurdaspur, 56 APO

Second: Gurcharan Singh, class VI, Government Middle School Pacca, PO Tehna, district Faridkot, Pin Code – 151203

Third: Neelam, class XII, Nishan Public School, Danialpur, Kunjpura road, Karnal, Pin Code – 132001, Post Box No. 95

Answers to quiz 377: Cancun; Budget, Monsoon and Winter; December 16; Wen Jiabao; Dharmendra; Angela Merkel; Shravanbelagola (Karnataka); Saina Nehwal, 1989; Sachin Tendulkar

Cash awards of Rs 400, 300 and 200 are given to the first, second and third prize winners, respectively. These are sent directly at the school address.

Note: Kindly mention the pincode of your place to facilitate the delivery of the prize money.

Answers can also be sent at quiz@tribunemail.com

URBAN dreams
Professional urban infrastructure and real estate managers have acquired a pivotal role in the wake of massive development in the urban sector. A.K. Srivastava writes about the career opportunities in this field.

About one third of India’s population lives in towns and cities. India has 10 per cent of the world’s and 21 per cent of Asia’s urban population. Over the past few years the urban sector in the developing countries has expanded at tremendous speed. In absolute numbers, India ’s urban population (285 million in 2001) is the second largest in the world after China. The five-fold increase in urban population since Independence, along with continued stimulus for urbanisation, calls for a massive capacity building exercise. Professional urban infrastructure and real estate managers have acquired a pivotal role in the wake of this development.

At present, the urban sector faces the challenges of improving city infrastructure, ensuring equitable access to quality space requirement and reducing environmental degradation etc. In spite of the serious problems faced by urban India, the same very towns and cities generate about 75 per cent of the country’s wealth and present a modern face of India in a globalising world. The country is poised to take a quantum leap which can be accelerated by carefully addressing the issues of equity versus wealth creation, poverty alleviation versus infrastructure development and rural versus urban divide.

It is in this context that a need was felt to start a course in Urban Management which can cater to the demands of the urban sector, besides paving the way for sustainable urban and real estate development.

Massive growth

The construction industry in India gained momentum in the post liberalisation period witnessing a vibrant increase in developmental activities. The demand for quality space in all segments is so huge that limited supply has not been able to meet the massive demand. The demand is increasing further with the increase in population and the rate of urbanisation. The country has become a major destination for the information technology, retail, healthcare and tourism sectors. These sectors are attracting huge investments from domestic as well as foreign investors, and are poised to grow. Thus the demand for specialised professionals is also going to grow significantly to cater to the demand of infrastructure development.

Sustainable real estate development offers a greater challenge in the present scenario than it did in the past. The sector is capital hungry; prone to higher risks; closely related to sensitive issues like environment; deals with land and policy related issues; sometimes involves resettlement and rehabilitation on a large scale; and fuels the need for high quality trained professionals to look after its operations.

Need for professionals

A manager of this sector needs to have an in-depth knowledge of governmental regulations since these are involved at almost each stage of a project. Then, the financing model of such projects are quite different from those of the industrial projects as quite often there are long gestation periods and sometimes the pay offs can stretch over decades.

All the above issues demand a higher level of specialisation. Initially, a professional from general management background used to manage all the complex issues concerned in this area with whatever little knowledge or experience he gained over a period of time, but now, there is a dire need to have specialised professionals who are well-equipped with the nuances of this area right from the time they join the sector. Industry-ready professionals can find quicker placements with comparatively better salary.

Global Construction Report prepared by Oxford Economics, forecasts that output of the construction sector is likely to rise sharply over the next decade in developing countries like China, India and Brazil requiring a lot of professional managers. India has been forecasted to be third largest construction market in the world by 2020.

“India needs specialised MBA programmes for emerging industries like Infrastructure and Real Estate”, says Padmashri Dr Bakul Dholakia, who spent 33 years at a famous management institution.

Scope

Increasing investment in infrastructure projects in the country with the plan outlays touching 9 per cent of GDP over the next five years has begun to stimulate changes in the way infrastructure projects are moderated.

A career in real estate management covers various areas such as residential and commercial brokerage, industrial and office brokerage, property management, land development, urban planning, real estate counseling and also research.

Volume of India’s real estate market is expected to triple by 2015, thereby projecting huge opportunity for professionals specialising in these streams.

Courses on offer

At present, the Amity institute is offering a specialised two-year MBA degree in Urban Infrastructure and Real Estate Management, which is industry aligned and application based.

There are also distance education programmes available, including those of IGNOU, GGSIP University and Karnataka State University.

A certificate course has been started by the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), Human Settlement Management Institute (HSMI) of Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) for real estate agents, property brokers, salespersons, commercial and customer care executives and sales and home loan agents working anywhere in India.

For professionals already working in the real estate sector and having a desire to enhance their knowledge and qualification, the Amity School of Urban Management will offer MBA —Urban Infrastructure and Real Estate Management through weekend learning mode from January 2011 onwards.

The writer is Director, Amity School of Urban Management.

Relative disadvantage

The next time you apply for a position in a company where your relative is employed, there are chances your application may not find favour.

Spread across sectors, quite a few entities have policies that bar relatives of employees from being recruited in the same company, according to HR experts.

“Companies may not want employees to mix their personal life and professional life as this could become a distraction. Family problems or disagreements may affect work culture.

“... and also filial or conjugal sentiments may affect professional conduct, impacting work-life balance of members,” E.Balaji, Director and President of Ma Foi Randstand, a staffing services firm, told PTI.

In many cases, hiring restrictions apply only to the immediate relatives of employees such as spouses or siblings.

Staffing firm Manpower Services India’s Head (Organisational Learning and Marketing) Namr Kishore said employment of relatives in the same area may cause series of conflicts and problems relating to favouritism and employee morale.

“In addition to the claims of partiality in treatment at work, personal conflicts outside the work environment can be carried into the work place,” he noted.

Companies’ decision not to recruit relatives of employees is mostly due to concerns about risk management and corporate governance.

For instance, majority of the data-sensitive and IP-based high-end technology companies have policies in place about hiring relatives of employees.

“Some information and communication industry companies encourage such practices (of not recruiting employees’ relatives). This practice is less prevalent in manufacturing, infrastructure and oil and gas sectors,” Balaji said.

He noted that companies such as in as medical care, wellness, education and training, media and entertainment industries are “mostly neutral” and hire employees’ relatives on an optional basis.

Experts feel that rather than hindering talented people from getting good jobs, such restrictions would usually turn out to be beneficial for the company in the long term.

Companies, which have the policy of not hiring employees’ relatives, usually ask the candidate to disclose whether he or she has any relative working in the firm.

Namr Kishore pointed out that in many organisation, once the relationship is established between employees after getting hired, “one of them is given a notice to resign from the company”. — PTI

Happiness @ work
Gems of ancient wisdom
The match isn’t over till it is over

Krishna didn’t leave immediately after the fall of Duryodhana on the 18th day of the Mahabharata war. As a result of his extended stay, he saved the Pandavas from the sword of Ashwathama on the night after the war, saved Bhima from the fatal clasp of Dhritrashtra, protected Parikshit in the womb of Uttara from Ashwathama’s weapon and saved Arjuna when his chariot went up in flames after Krishna and Hanuman descended from it.

Later, Krishna, rejecting the gods’ offer to return to heaven, stayed back to see to it that his haughty Yadava race annihilated itself before bringing total ruin upon the entire globe.

As Bhishma had the power to decide the hour of his death, he waited on his deathbed of arrows to first educate Yudhisthira (as given in the Vishnu Sahasranam) and then get news of his coronation.

Only after Chanakya neutralised all the enemies of Chandragupta Maurya and got Rakshas appointed as Prime Minister of the Mauryan Empire did he leave for his cottage to write the “Arthashastra”.

At Tulsidas’ daily rendition of the Ramayana, there came an old Brahmin who would arrive first and leave last. “I know who you are,” said Tulsidas one day and clasped his feet. Lo! Hanuman stood in front of the writer of the “Ramcharitmanas” in his well-built form.

Despite being a good lute player, Emperor Samudragupta, famed as the Indian Napoleon, didn’t play the instrument till he conquered many kingdoms and performed the Ashwamedha yagya. Not only did Indian Kings accept the Gupta Empire as suzerain but also rulers of Afghanistan, Persia, Lanka and South-East Asian kingdoms.

Drona took up the job of teaching only to take care of his son. And as soon as he heard Ashwathama was no more, he left his mortal coil on the 15th day of the Mahabharata war.

Prof Thanvar Vaswani quit his job as Principal of the Mahendra College, Patiala, after the death of his mother to serve humanity. He later became the founder of the Mira Movement under which ran many educational and charitable institutions.

Bhagat Singh threw a bomb in the Central Assembly on April 8, 1929, but refused to run away. “I’ll stay and get arrested to spread our message,” he told the other freedom fighters.

Stay till the end to have the last laugh.