Financial Engineering
Science of financial products
Usha Albuquerque

If you have a mathematical mind and statistical skill, then financial engineering can offer you an exciting new career option

With positive news flowing in from the economy front, an upbeat stock market, and the emergence of a global economy, there has been a revolution in the role of finance and accounting, along with the communication revolution transforming the nature and speed of business transactions.

Every business activity is today measured in quantitative terms not only in relation to commodities, products, assets and investments, but also in relation to other financial instruments like currencies, options, futures, derivatives and so on. This has influenced the growth and demand for a number of different positions, and inter-disciplinary options in the financial sector.

Financial Engineering is one such field that applies mathematical frameworks to decisions about saving, investing, borrowing, lending and managing risk in the fields of investment management in general. It is the mathematical science of the laws of financial products and securities. It is a multi-disciplinary field involving the application of theories from financial economics, mathematics, statistics, physics and econometrics using complex tools and techniques of numerical analysis, the methods and tools of engineering, and the practice of computer programming to solve the problems of Investment Finance.

Footprints in India

Financial Engineering gained prominence in India around a decade back when Lehman Brothers set up their analytics team to provide the most comprehensive array of financial tech products and services. Although this was also followed by the global financial crisis, other multi-national financial giants such as Deutsche Bank, BNY Mellon, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, and Citibank also began to set up Quant support teams and Risk Analytics teams in India. These companies use the techniques of financial engineering extensively to provide support services for business process outsourcing, private equity funds, family wealth offices and even managing accounts.

With the growth of the hedge fund industry financial engineering has been given an added boost in India and is currently in demand by stock brokers, financial advisors and even students who have a head for complex mathematical methods.

The work

The work of financial engineers is largely in quantitative finance. It involves working on the trading desk and delivering the models, risk calculations, etc., directly to financial traders who utilise their products, or in risk management, model validation, or quantitative development and programming.

Financial markets join the buyers and sellers of financial products or securities. Financial products and securities are tradeable units of capital or wealth and the main focus of a financial engineer, who is involved in buying and selling capital.

Job scape

Financial engineers work with global investment banks, hedge funds, proprietary trading companies, and asset management firms using quantitative software and systems, quantitative analytics and modeling, algorithms and so on. A thorough understanding of both applied mathematics and investment models is, therefore , absolutely necessary for a financial engineer.

Getting in

A financial engineering career is possible for people who are good at mathematics, statistics or have an engineering background. Financial engineering is a highly specialised finance field which requires a strong background in electrical engineering, computer science or mechanical engineering, operations research, applied mathematics, mathematics, or theoretical physics. It also requires very strong programming skills in core languages, along with a solid knowledge of statistical, neural network and/or artificial intelligence methods. It is useful to get solid skills and experience with C++, Python, Java, an d/or Scala, as these tend to be the most utilised programming languages in the field.

Institutes and courses

There are institutes such as National Institute of Securities Markets and Indian Institute of Quantitative Finance that offer courses such as PG programme in Financial Engineering, and Applied Mathematical Finance for engineers for a formal education in this field. Some other institutes have also introduced courses in the subject for finance professionals so that they can be equipped with the modern products, processes, practices and techniques in the financial services industry.

The Indian Institute of Capital Markets, Navi Mumbai, offers a short six-month certificate programme in Financial Engineering and Risk Management for middle and senior executives working in banks, primary dealers, mutual funds, financial institutions, equity research firms, investment banks, corporate financial risk managers, brokerage houses and other financial services industry.

The BSE Institute offers a Certification Programme on Financial Engineering.

Admission to most courses is on the basis of a test to assess the competency level of the candidate in subjects such as finance, mathematics and statistics, and programming.

Opportunities

After successful completion of Financial Engineering programme you can find excellent opportunities in the banking and insurance sector, engineering consultancies and security trading. Education, knowledge, and experience in areas such as capital markets, financial technology, and computational finance allow many qualified financial engineers career opportunities in top financial services companies. The main job responsibilities would be to create wealth by trading the company's capital, create new financial products, conduct risk management and measurement, and manage investment portfolios.

This growing prominence of financial engineering in India has made it an important part of finance teams in broking firms, fund management companies or even banks. Career opportunities in research, academic and industrial sectors may also be available to someone with this title.

Institute watch

Indian Institute of Quantitative Finance
http://www.iiqf.org
PG Diploma in Financial Engineering — 1 year

Indian Institute of Capital Markets
Certificate Course in Financial Engineering & Risk Management — 6 months part time

Jadavpur University
http://www.jaduniv.edu.in
PG Diploma in Risk Management and Financial Engineering — 1 year

National Institute of Securities Markets — an education initiative of SEBI
Certificate in Financial Engineering & Risk Management (CFERM)

BSE Institute
Certification Programme on Financial Engineering.

— The writer is Director, Careers Smart Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi

Common errors students make and how to avoid them
Don’t let CAT slip away
Sai Kumar Swamy

Common Admission Test (CAT) is one of the most anticipated exams in the country with around 200,000 students seeking a management career opting to go through this ‘test by fire’. The intimidating reputation of CAT stems from the fact that though thousands take this test the success ratio is abysmally low — 1 in 60 students end up at a coveted IIM. This makes CAT more a test of elimination than a test of selection. The successful ones often attribute their success to a cool and calm mind and the avoiding of errors and traps which the exam springs.

Common errors
Taking the beaten path:

One of the biggest mistakes that students make is to narrow down the syllabus and prepare only for select topics based on the question trend of the past few years. But before you follow this strategy, remember that CAT has been an extremely unpredictable exam and is known to spring a surprise every year and catch students off-guard. There is a high probability that topics or areas that have not had much of a weightage in recent years might make a comeback and catch the unprepared souls by surprise. Therefore, it is in the best interest of students to prepare for all topics and hope for the best in the exam.

Mock tests: Most students also believe that the best way to prepare is to take as many MOCKs as possible. This obviously isn’t the right way to go about it as repeated MOCKs highlight the same weaknesses and if students are not analysing their mistakes and rectifying them then there will not be any major improvement in their performance. Thus a thorough analysis of every MOCK will yield far better dividends than taking a large number of such tests.

Pitfalls of speculation: CAT is known to ask questions from a wide assortment of test areas, and therefore, there is no point speculating as to what might happen this year. The IIMs have disclosed that there would be 50Qs in each of the two sections viz. Quantitative Ability and Verbal Ability in CAT2014.

They have also specified the time duration of the exam but what is still in the realm of speculation is the specific topics and their weightage in this exam. Students should understand that this ‘lack of information’ plagues all their competitors and that idle speculation would only fritter away your energy and make you nervous before the testing period begins.

Importance of a break: College habits die hard and many students prepare till the last moment —- in the process falling prey to exhaustion.

Please remember that this exam demands mental alertness of the highest degree and a fresh mind will be able to tackle this exam far better than an exhausted one.

With the transition to an online mode students will have to build up the stamina to stare at a computer screen for 170 min and retain the freshness to be able to tackle the trickiest of Qs.

Moreover, what one has not been able to do for a year cannot be accomplished in a couple of days of frenzied preparation. So sit back and relax a day before CAT and believe that you have done the best in terms of preparation and psyche yourself up to face the test.

Winning strategy

Time management: The IIMs give calls only to those students who manage to clear the cut-offs (passing marks) in each section of CAT and also the overall cut-off. To meet this objective it is imperative that you spend equal amounts of time across the two sections so as to give yourself enough opportunity to clear the cut-off. Moreover, since the difficult section of CAT is ‘not’ known in advance, an unequal distribution of time across the sections is not a good strategy.

This year the exam would be for 170 minutes and a good time allocation strategy would be 70-75 minutes across two sections with 20-30 minutes of buffer time.

Choose the easiest first: There are no extra marks awarded for solving the toughest questions in the exam and hence students should work on choosing the easiest of the questions.

Students should remember that CAT is a competitive exam where the absolute scores do not matter but only the relative performance of the candidate vis-a-vis others is what counts. So remember that if one loses around 10 minutes on even one difficult question may hit your chances.

Avoid losing marks: CAT always has had negative marking in the past and this is set to continue in CAT 2014. The negative marking is to deter students from attempting an extravagant number of questions even without solving them. It is has been seen in ‘experimental’ conditions that blind guessing almost always leads to a negative/low score therefore avoid blind-guessing and marking answers indiscriminately.

Pre-targeting not wise: Targeting a pre-set number of questions to clear the cut-offs is not a great strategy as the cut-offs are a function of the difficulty level of the section and the paper. Hence, this call of attempting a certain number of questions is to be made during the exam but not before the start of the exam. It has been seen that even in the most difficult of CATs, attempts in the range of 45-50 per cent with an accuracy of around 80 per cent is enough to clear all cut-offs.

Keep these points in mind and follow them religiously to ensure that you do well in this exam and achieve a coveted call from the IIMs!

— The writer is Director, T.I.M.E, Delhi

Career Hotline
What is the work profile of a webmaster?
Pervin Malhotra

Q. Can you please tell me what exactly does a webmaster do? I have done BCA, but do not wish to go into software designing? — Lavanya Shergil

Pervin Malhotra

A. A webmaster manages a company’s presence on the Internet. While new software makes it possible for almost anyone to create a website, a fully operational business website requires considerable expertise to design and maintain. That’s because an effective website is interactive. It invites people to provide information and send information, products, and services in response, takes orders and processes payments through payment gateways.

While the webmaster might or might not design the website, s/he is responsible for its technical efficiency once it’s up and running.

How swiftly and easily it can be accessed, the time it takes for elements to download, security and privacy concerns, are all considerations for the webmaster. In large companies that do a lot of business through the Internet (e-commerce), this position might be a full -time job. Some webmasters, however, are self- employed, with several companies as clients.

As with all occupations in IT, not only are training and experience necessary, but also the ability to keep abreast of a rapidly evolving field. From a hill resort to a government agency, an address on the World Wide Web is now a mandatory part of being in business in the 21st century. The Webmaster sustains that presence in sync with the latest developments in technology, and with the clients and web users who may be trying to determine just what that site has to offer.

The right course for an astronaut

Q. I want to become an astronaut. Should I take electrical or aeronautical engineering? I have an interest in aeronautical branch. — Gopesh Sahni

A. You should either opt for aerospace engineering or aeronautical engineering.

At the undergraduate level, besides some of the IITs (Kanpur, Mumbai, Madras, Kharagpur) that offer BTech as well as Integrated MTech in Aerospace Engineering (5-years), several private institutions like Amity University, Noida (www.amity.edu) and SRM University, Chennai & Ghaziabad (www.srmuniv.ac.in) also offer courses in Aerospace Engineering.

Alternatively, you could do a BTech (Aeronautical) which is offered at several engineering colleges all over the country, including the prestigious Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (www.iist.ac.in). Besides the regular curriculum, the courses at IIST have special modules on space technology and space science. Closer home, you can look at PEC University of Technology Chandigarh (www.pec.ac.in) among others.

The Aeronautical Society of India (ASI) (www.aerosocietyindia.in) conducts an Associate Membership Exam twice a year. Sections ‘A’ and ‘B’ of this exam have been recognised by the Ministry of Education, at par with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from an Indian university for purposes of recruitment to superior posts and services in the Central Government.

You can also take the GATE for admission to PG programmes at the IITs and other engineering colleges.

Those who have cleared plus II with science subjects can directly enroll for Section A. Aeronautical engineering focuses on the design, construction and maintenance of commercial as well as military aircraft and even satellites, spacecraft and missiles.

It includes the study of fluid dynamics, material science, structural analysis, propulsion and electronics. Technologically speaking, this is one of the most advanced branches of engineering.

At the bachelor’s level, you will learn about fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, and gas dynamics, material science, structural analysis, propulsion, acoustics and electronics.

You can further specialise in aerodynamics, thermodynamics, propulsion etc.

Tips to get hired

Q. I have done my PG in International Business. Although I have a good academic record, I am a little shy. I am from rural Punjab I need some inputs to make a good impression on the interviewers. Could you please tell me what exactly do companies look for in the people they hire? — Piyush Kumar

A. The three highest attributes that recruiters seek while hiring new personnel more than any others are — interpersonal skills, ability to work well within a team, personal integrity and teach-ability.

Curiously, work experience and strategic thinking feature way down in the middle of the list of most desired traits for new hires.

The other very important factor that companies look for in recruits is passion and enthusiasm for whatever they want to do. They look for “inspired” performers with drive and motivation besides good team players.

Over and above process or domain knowledge, recruiters look for communication skills, attitude, cultural fit, decision making ability, leadership qualities, ability to stretch and the desire to achieve. It makes little sense to employ a top sales manager, a talented computer engineer, or an outstanding production superintendent if their values don’t coincide with those of the organisation. If they aren’t operating under the same standards, how can they alert the company about a dangerous turn?

The shyness bit can be easily overcome, if you know what you are talking about and can simply communicate it with clarity and earnestness.

Email your queries to careers@tribunemail.com

MBA Mentor
Help me decide the right course
Jatin Bhandari

Q. I do not know which MBA programmes should I look for. How should I decide between different courses? — Pratham Behl

Aeronautical engineering focuses on the design, construction and maintenance of commercial as well as military aircraft

A. There are many options available throughout the globe when it comes to picking up MBA courses. However, I will strongly advise you to narrow down the factors to the following:

Academic understanding

You need to get a strong academic understanding of various functions such as marketing, finance and operations. You need to do this in order to address the following problems that you may encounter in the future. In order to accomplish your short-term goals post MBA, you need to assess the level to which your programme covers the General Management principles.

• How would a strong investment in inventory affect the balance sheet of your company? And you need to get very conversational in finance and accounting
• Operations: You need to be exposed to very mature operational tools and metrics, and the best practices that will enable you to move into a lean and streamlined operational environment. Your job will primarily involve moving raw materials to finished goods in optimum quantities, with minimum investments, at the right time to the customers.
• Marketing: You need to have a great understanding of marketing and the dynamics that affect the consumer behaviour. As illustrated above, different products are driven by varying consumer demands( Nike Vs. Boeing) and you need to be conversational across this function.

Approach to learning

You need to understand the school’s architecture of the curriculum. What are some of the key advantages you noticed in terms of the flexibility of the curriculum? While most of the schools will have pre-designed curricula in the first few quarters and will allow a decent level of flexibility only towards the second half of the programme, you still need to understand how the entire programme is structured and what are some of the key advantages that the school is trying to portray. Some schools will allow a greater flexibility to its MBA students and enable them to make their own choices. On the other hand, some schools will have structured curricula in order to give a broad orientation to its MBA grads and that is certainly important too.

Visit the academic portion of the school’s website to understand more about the curriculum options. E.g. Ross school of business offers “MAP” to enhance the practical approach to learning and decision making and students get to work on real time industry projects during their MBA programme.

Electives/Key subjects

What are 2-3 specific/unique academic programs or classes appeal to you and will help you reach your goals? Explore the range of electives offered by the school and pick the ones that look appealing to you.

Non-academic offerings

What are the categories of clubs that you plan to join and contribute to (by seeking some kind of voluntary roles) in your target school? What are the “Outside the classroom” activities that the school offers in order to nurture its MBA graduates.

Related employers

The companies that recruit from your school

• What elements of the school’s atmosphere, the nature of its students or the general sense you get about the school through visits or conversations with students/alumni make it attractive to you? The diversity of the international students (number of countries represented by the student body), the class size (small or big), the percentage of internationals.

Location of the school

Proximity to the employers or a serene small city environment or a place like New York City or a small town like Hanover (Dartmouth Tuck)

What kind of scores do I need to get a scholarship?

Q. What kind of scores do I need to get scholarships? Should I also be exploring Graduate Assistantships? — Prerna Sethi

A. It varies from school to school. Majority of the scholarships are merit based as opposed to need based. For any merit-based scholarship, you need to stay above the league of the school. Think about it this way: The school starts an admissions year roughly 10 months before the start of the MBA programme i.e. For MBA starting in August, the first deadlines are generally in September of the previous year. The school will have three to four consecutive deadlines to fill in the requisite number of candidates and fulfill its basic criteria.

Average GMAT score

It will be one important factor for the school. While GMAT score is not a selection process, it is definitely an elimination process.

Work experience

School will have average years of work experience as one of the criteria. One needs to be around the average in order to expect scholarships.

Gender

Schools also have a target mix of male/female ratio. If you are an Indian IT applicant, your odds of getting a scholarship are lower than an Indian IT female applicant (with the same GMAT score and same work experience). The odds are in favour of a female applicant as they form a minority. The school needs to meet its target numbers in order to stay high on the media rankings.

Industry/function

Your industry and function (pre-MBA) is an important part of the overall consideration. Someone coming from a social sector background is more likely to get scholarship than someone with an Audit background.

Scholarships are negotiation tools. If the schools get a feeling that you are likely to reject them if offered an admit, they will throw money at you. However, if you are at the same league as the school, you are likely to get admitted. If you are a league below, you will get rejected.

For some schools such as Rotman (Canada) or some European schools, even if you are above the league of the school, they may not give you scholarships as they do not have the appetite. The size of the scholarship fund( raised through alumni donations) is not as high as some of the very rich schools.

— Jatin Bhandari is CEO & Co-Founder of PythaGurus, an education consultancy.

scholarship roundup
For BDS students

The Indian Dental Association offers IDA-Colgate scholarship to support dental students in India. IDA-Colgate scholarships are awarded at the college level to students who top in each year of the BDS course. Research grants are also provided to meritorious students undertaking post-graduate research work. The top merit holders in each of the four years receive cash prizes and certificates.

Eligibility:

• Applicants should be undergraduate students of BDS and IDA member.
• Student should be among the top 10 rank holders in BDS.

Check out: www.ida.org.in

International Space University MSc programme

International Space University is offering MSc scholarship to students in France. This aid is available to selected applicants and covers a portion of their fees. Students from Europe, USA, Canada and developing countries are eligible to apply for this scholarship.

Eligibility: MSc students who are unable to cover all of their tuition fees. Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent, including three years of studies as a minimum, awarded by an accredited university.

Details: This aid covers a portion of the fees.

How to apply: Online. Once you have entered the information requested in the online form, you will receive an e-mail to confirm that you opened an application. Once you have validated the confirmation, you will then be able to log in your application to fill it in.

Deadline: March 15, 2015.

Check out: www.isunet.edu

Solar energy Fellowship

Applications are invited for Bhaskara Advanced Solar Energy fellowship available for Indian citizens with a Ph.D. in science, engineering or technology. The fellowships are being awarded by the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India and Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF). Preference will be given to research aimed at addressing India-centric issues related to solar energy.

Study subject(s): Fellowships are awarded for research in following categories: Solar Photovoltaics, Solar Thermal, Grid Interaction including Smart Grids, Energy storage, System Development and Integration and Other (any other related area in Solar Energy). Due preference will be given to research aimed at addressing India-centric issues related to Solar Energy.

Eligibility:

• Indian citizens with a Ph.D. in science, engineering or technology
• Applicants must provide proof of independent research work in internationally recognized academic journals.
• Open only to applicants working in the field of solar energy
• Age: Up to 40 years as on December 31, 2013
• A permanent position in a public-funded R&D Laboratory/S&T institution (non-private)/recognized academic institute (University/College) in India.

Newsboard
International B-plan competition

Winning entries to be incubated at IIMCalcutta Innovation Park (IIP) and receive seed funding of up to INR 50 lakhs

The Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell) of IIM Calcutta has announced the commencement of its flagship international Business Plan Competition ‘Ideas to Implementation — i2I’. This year’s contest endeavours to provide a platform for budding entrepreneurs to realise their dreams as they connect with ideas, money and people who matter. i2I over the years has managed to grow into one of the nation’s biggest B-Plan competitions while attracting competitive start-ups who contested to be incubated at IIM Calcutta.

i2I attracts serious entrepreneurs via the networks in the National Entrepreneurship Network, Pan IIM and IIT alumni networks and a large base of working professionals. i2I’ 2015 is offering ~50 lakh as seed funding to the Top-3 teams combined. In addition to receiving cash prizes, the winners also stand a chance to be provided incubation support at the IIM Calcutta Innovation Park and receive mentorship from some of the brightest entrepreneurs across the world.

The event is open to all prospective as well as existing ventures (not older than 3 years) by event registration. Students and working professionals from across the globe can participate in this event. Event details, eligibility and registration can be checked out at www.ecelliimc.com/events/i2i/

ISBF students bag University of London scholarships

Samyak Jain and Yash Pradip Salunkhe, both students of Indian School of Business & Finance (ISBF), an Affiliate centre of the University of London with academic direction from London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), have been awarded scholarship from the University of London based on their first year academic performance. The award covers the complete University of London fee of their second year of study.

Dr. Jitin Chadda, Director, ISBF, said: “This is a very proud moment for all of us that our students have got this scholarship from University of London. Samyak and Yash have worked very hard throughout the year to grab this scholarship. Studying abroad must be viewed as an essential component of a college degree and critical to preparing future leaders. By sharing best practices, campuses can learn from each other to extend international opportunities to a broader group of students from diverse backgrounds and fields.

Customs and Excise
Custodians of economic frontiers
Gauri Chhabra

Are you interested in a career that makes everyone ‘declare’ what he has? A career that makes you the custodian of the economic frontiers besides giving you power and prestige.

Well, if that is the case, a career in Customs and Excise is the best option for you. To get into this field, you need to get into the nodal service — the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) — a department that amalgamates power, accountability and sense of service.

The Indian Revenue Service is the revenue service of the Government of India that functions under the Department of Revenue in the Union Ministry of Finance and is concerned with the collection and administration of the various direct and indirect taxes accruing to the Union Government.

IRS comprises two branches — IRS (Income Tax) and IRS (Customs and Central Excise), which are controlled by two separate statutory bodies, viz., Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), respectively.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) is basically concerned with two main aspects, mainly Customs and Excise.

While Customs is concerned with the checking and levy of duty on taxable goods brought into the country, the Excise Department is involved with the taxation of goods manufactured within the country. Broadly put, it deals with the tasks of formulation of policy concerning levy and collection of Customs & Central Excise duties and Service Tax, prevention of smuggling and administration of matters relating to Customs, Central Excise, Service Tax and Narcotics to the extent under its purview.

Work scape

As a Customs officer you would be responsible for collecting Customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, vehicles, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of your country.

Customs duty is a tariff or tax on the importation (usually) or exportation of goods. Besides, you would be responsible for enforcing the laws and regulations for the import and export of goods into and out of a country, which are enforced by the Customs Authority, including the restrictions on the import or export of some goods. There are certain goods that are not allowed to be cleared through Customs and you would be responsible for holding them in a Customs area, often called a ‘bonded store’, until processed. In close association with the authorities, you would monitor the flow of people inside your country and check for appropriate documentation, verify that a person is entitled to enter the country, apprehend people wanted by domestic or international arrest warrants, and impede the entry of people deemed dangerous to the country.

Recruitment at different levels

One can be recruited under two streams — Direct Recruits and Promoted Officers.

Direct Recruits are selected from the Civil Services Examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission and based on preferences opted by you. You would be posted as Assistant Collectors of Customs and may rise in the hierarchy to the level of Chief Collector of Customs.

Appraisers in Customs are those who missed the examination by a few marks.

State Public Service Commission Allied Services Examination gives state- level jobs in Customs and Excise department.

Constables and Customs Preventive Officers is the stage where direct recruitment takes place. Employment Exchange sponsors the names for the vacancies for the posts of constable.

Constables

At least Class VII examination must be cleared to be eligible for this post. Physical criteria include minimum 157.5 cm height and 81 cm chest. Thirty minutes are given to candidates to cycle 8 km and 15 minutes to walk 1600 meters. Constables can be promoted to the posts of Havildar or Head Constable.

Preventive officers

For selecting candidates for this post Staff Selection Commission holds an examination. Candidates would be required to face an interview board after qualifying in the test.

Graduation is the minimum qualification required for this post. Physical criteria include minimum 157.5 cm height and 81 cm chest. Tax assistants and stenographer are promoted to the post of inspectors which comprise 25 per cent of the total posts.

Clerical cadre

This cadre includes selection for the post of stenographer, lower division clerks and upper division clerks. Matriculation is the minimum qualification required. Proficiency in shorthand and typing is required.

A written test is taken for the post of Hindi typists by Staff Selection Commission. Proficiency test in typing is also mandatory. Matriculation is the minimum qualification required. An all-India level examination is taken for the post of upper division clerk. Minimum qualification needed for this post is graduation.

Promoted officers like Income Tax Service, Group ‘B’ are promoted gradually over several years. The current ratio of two streams at entry level is kept at 1:1. Initial posting would be Assistant Commissioners up to senior rank of Principal Chief Commissioners, Member/Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes or Central Board of Excise and Customs.

As a Probationer to the Customs service, you would begin your field training at Chennai.

As a Customs Officer, you would be posted at international airports and ports like, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Goa, etc.

You could also be posted at other border and coastal towns.

Your primary duty would be to levy Customs' Duty on goods, which are brought to the country.

Customs and Excise cadres are not watertight compartments. An officer can be transferred from one to another depending upon his experience and the exigencies of the work.

The officers can be promoted to the level of Chief Commissioner of Customs and Excise, with the pay of an Additional Secretary and hold technical and administrative charges in all the regions, exercising overall supervision on the technical and administration work. The head of the administration is the Chairman. Central Board of Excise and Customs.

Forking pathways

On joining this service you can have forking pathways to many other agencies and departments in the central and state governments in the law enforcement and intelligence organisations like the Central Bureau of Investigation, Research and Analysis Wing, Intelligence Bureau etc. You would be serving at various consulates and embassies as diplomats and also in international organisations like World Bank, OECD and IMF.

You can also work in the unearthing of scams in the country and take up cases of fraud and economic offences investigations by using the tax assessment details. Investigation conducted by the Revenue Service officers is used by other enforcement agencies in cases of corruption, too, and it leads to the recovery of black money.

Therefore, get ready for safeguarding the economic frontiers of the country by getting into Customs and Excise department.

The writer is a Ludhiana-based career consultant

Hierarchy

The following is the hierarchy under which one is required to work:

• Probationers
• Assistant Commissioners (Customs)
• Deputy Commissioners (customs)
• Additional Commissioners (Customs )
• Commissioners (Customs)
• Member (Central Board of Excise and Customs)
• Chairman (Central Board of Excise and Customs).

Smart strategy: how to breeze through an hr interview
Tricky questions you can trip on
Jappreet Sethi

HR Interviews can be tricky and if you don’t clear them, chances of grabbing a new job offer get reduce d considerably. Seldom do people fare well in the HR interview in spite of having great functional skills. If you are faced with a difficult question, make sure you stay calm and don’t get defensive. Take a moment to think about your response before you answer the interview question. While responding keep your answers brief and to the point. These are the common questions which the interviewers ask the candidates. Remember, the responses given below are only suggestions. When appearing for an interview, try to personalise your response as much as possible.

Tell me about yourself.

Identify some of your main attributes and memorise them. Describe your qualifications, career history and range of skills, emphasising those skills relevant to the job on offer.

What have your achievements been to date?

Select an achievement that is work-related and fairly recent. Identify the skills that you used in the achievement and quantify the benefit it had to the company. For example, “My greatest achievement has been to design and implement a new sales ledger system, bringing it in ahead of time and improving our debtors’ position significantly, saving the company ~50,000 a month in interest ”.

Are you happy with the way your career has shaped up so far?

A. This HR interview question is really about your self-esteem, confidence and career aspirations. The answer must be ‘yes’, followed by a brief explanation as to what it is about your career so far that’s made you happy. If you have hit a career plateau, or you feel you are moving too slowly, then you must qualify your answer.

What is the most difficult situation you have had to face and how did you tackle it?

The purpose of this question is to find out what your definition of difficult is and whether you can show a logical approach to problem solving. In order to show yourself in a positive light, select a difficult work situation which was not caused by you and which can be quickly explained in a few sentences. Explain how you defined the problem, what the options were, why you selected the one you did and what the outcome was. Always end on a positive note.

What do you like about your present job?

This is a straightforward question. All you have to do is make sure that your ‘likes’ correspond to the skills required for the job on offer. Be enthusiastic; describe your job as interesting and diverse but do not overdo it – after all, you are looking to leave.

What do you dislike about your present job?

Be cautious while answering this question. Do not be too specific as you may draw attention to weaknesses that will leave you open to further problems. One approach is to choose a characteristic of your present company, such as its size or slow decision-making processes etc. Give your answer with the air of someone who takes problems and frustrations in his stride as part of the job.

What is your greatest weakness?

Do not say you have none in response to this HR interview question — this will lead to further problems. You have two options — use a professed weakness such as a lack of experience (not ability) on your part in an area that is not vital for the job.

The second option is to describe a personal or professional weakness that could also be considered to be strength and the steps you have taken to combat it. An example would be: “I know my team thinks I’m too demanding at times — I tend to drive them pretty hard but I’m getting much better at using the carrot and not the stick”.

Why have you applied for this particular job?

Through this HR interview question the employer is looking for evidence that the job suits you, fits in with your general aptitude, coincides with your long-term goals and involves doing things you enjoy. Make sure you have a good understanding of the role and the organisation, and describe the attributes of the organisation that interest you the most.

Why do you want to leave your current employer?

In response to this question state how you are looking for a new challenge, more responsibility, experience and a change of environment. Do not be negative in your reasons for leaving. It is rarely appropriate to cite salary as your primary motivator.

What are your strengths?

This is one HR interview question that you know you are going to get so there is no excuse for being unprepared. Concentrate on discussing your main strengths. List three or four proficiencies e.g. your ability to learn quickly, determination to succeed, positive attitude, and your ability to relate to people and achieve a common goal. You may be asked to give examples of the above so be prepared.

— The writer is an HR & Strategy consultant and authors www.humanresourcesblog.in

Campus notes
MoU with University of Fraser Valley
Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni (Solan)

Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Fraser Valley Abbosford BC Canada and Westberry Farms Ltd, Canada, for blueberry cultivation technology. Blueberry is an emerging fruit full of antioxidant property, and can be successfully cultivated in mid hills of Himachal Pradesh. UFV Fraser Valley Canada has an expertise in horticultural practices, particularly fertilisation pruning, irrigation and disease, insect control and production technology of blueberry.

Speaking on the occasion Dr Vijay Singh Thakur, Vice-Chancellor of the university said this fruit would help in diversification of fruit cultivation in HP and improve the economy of fruit growers of the state. He added that the good plant material would be provided by the Canada- based farm and the University and Parmar university , after testing the material in different locations, would further provide the same to the growers with package of practices of the fruit cultivation and diseases management. Accordingly to the MoU Parmar university and University of Fraser Valley would exchange the faculty and students for the benefit of both institutions.

New appointments

Dr J.P Sharma, retired as Dean, College of Horticulture and Dr P.S Chauhan, Professor and Head Fruit Science-cum-Students’ Welfare has been designated as Dean, College of Horticulture. Dr Narender Sharma, Principal Horticulturist, has been made the new Head of the Department of Fruit Science in place of Dr P S Chauhan.

The Institute of Biotechnology and Environmental Science, Neri (Hamirpur), has been renamed as College of Horticulture and Forestry and Dr K S Verma, Director of the institute has been designated as Dean, College of Horticulture and Forestry.

Dr C.K Shirkot, Librarian-cum-Professor and Head, Basic Sciences will now be the new Students’ Welfare Officer and Dr Kamlesh Kanwar, Joint Director (Research) has been appointed Librarian. Dr Satish Kumar Sharma will look after the work of Joint Director (Research) whereas Dr P K Mahajan will be new Head of the Department, Basic Sciences.

Scientist presents paper

Dr. A. K. Randev , Professor in Agricultural Economics in the Department of Social Sciences, participated in 22nd International Congress on the main theme on ‘Securing Water for Food and Rural Community under Climate Change’ held at Gwangju, Korea, recently. He presented a research paper on the theme “Understanding Impacts of Climate Change on Land and Water Use” at the Congress.

Dr Randev highlighted negative effects of climate change on apple productivity through variations in water supply as a result of variations in weather parameters — a consequence of the climate change and emphasised the impact mitigation strategy required for enhancing crops’ productivity and increasing irrigation development index. The major negative effects on the crops’ productivity can be met through multi-disciplinary planned development of water resources in the state in the light of strategic points mentioned in the paper. — Contributed by Ambika Sharma

Writing Statement of Purpose
An honest take pays
Zubin Malhotra

The Statement of Purpose (SOP) in which you define your academic goals is a crucial document that should not be taken lightly as it gives you the chance to “sell” yourself to the admissions committee. Along with the necessary letters of recommendation, it plays a significant role in determining your admission as well as financial aid. Why do you want to study a particular course? What have you already achieved and what kind of person you are?

Content logic

So what do you write? More importantly, what do they want to read? Most admission officers look for signs that you’ve tried to challenge yourself by taking honours courses or doing extra project work. And that you are really passionate about studying this subject. Extra curricular achievements and social service also rank high on their list. Much of this info can be gleaned from the other forms that you fill but the essay allows you to flesh out the details and paint a picture of you as a person.

Be in control

Essay anxiety is common. And natural. But here’s a word of advice: Don’t let someone else to do your essay because you “can’t write” or “don’t know what to write”. Avoid the temptation to just adapt a senior or elder bro’s essay. Admission officers aren’t dumb — they go through thousands of applications and can smell a rat from a distance.

Write your own essay and then show it to a friend, professor or parent — they may suggest some style and grammar changes. Concentrate on substance rather than trying to dazzle the admission officers with your style, wit, intellect or humour. This is one portion of the application that you get to control completely.

Look at it as an opportunity rather than as an ordeal. It is your chance to reveal the dimensions of your personality that make you special. It’s also an opportunity to make you pause and think, and understand your own motivations and goals.

For Undergrad Courses under (UCAS):

• Confine your SOP to about 600 words — Be clear and concise.
• Prepare your words with care. “I want to study science because I think the subject is interesting,” is unlikely to impress anyone.
• Something closer to this is more likely to catch the eye of weary admissions tutors snowed under the ever-growing number of applications.
• Be truthful. There’s no point making things up because they sound good; if you can’t say why you’re attracted to a subject or courses and you haven’t read the relevant books, are you sure you want to study the subject at degree level? Honest self-questioning now could save you much heartache and expense later.
• Explain why you want to study the subject at that particular university. It needs to be a better reason than your having heard that student nightlife is good or because your aunt lives nearby.
• Study the course options and modules and mention them in your personal statement. As a general rule, two-thirds of this should cover the course and university you’re applying for and the remaining third should be about extracurricular interests such as music or programming.
• Mention work experience — and don’t forget other skills such as IT, numeracy and teamwork.
• Be direct and persuasive. Avoid spelling mistakes and bad grammar. Get somebody reliable to proof-read your submission for you. Try to write naturally and avoid pretentious long words and jargon.
• Don’t start every sentence with “I” and don’t try to be funny — you know nothing about the admissions tutor’s sense of humour.

Career sweetener
The Amazon man
Lessons from Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on January 12, 1964, to Jacklyn Jorgensen, aged 19 and Ted Jorgensen of the same age group. Jeff’s parents got divorced in less than year of his birth and later when Bezos was about four years old, his mother re-married Mike Bezos, a Cuban immigrant, They brought up Jeff together. Being adopted is something that Bezos shares with other two great entrepreneurs, Steve Jobs of Apple and Larry Ellison of Oracle.

At the prime of his career, he quit a cushy six-figure salary job in Wall Street to start amazon.com in 1994 from a garage in Seattle. In 20 years, Amazon, a $75 billion company has changed the way people shop online and Bezos has an estimated net worth of $32 billion now, Harvard Business Review has rated him as the second best CEO in the world, after Steve Jobs of Apple. Here are the five things that budding entrepreneurs can learn from Jeff Bezos success story:

Hire people who are smarter than you

It is said that Jeff Bezos can interview 50 potential candidates and not select even one. Jeff says, that hiring people who are not smarter than you make the organisation go in a downward spiral of mediocrity and complacency, leading to sloppy products and dissatisfied customers. Hiring smart people means that your intelligence gets multiplied exponentially.

Truth is hidden; uncover it

What is evident can be superficial, to get to the real crux of matter Jeff recommends using a data-centric approach. Asking five times “Why”, eventually leads you to the real problem, which needs an urgent resolution. Look beyond the obvious and don’t jump to conclusions.

Flexibility and stubbornness go hand in hand

We dream about our future and one of the best ways to do insurmountable tasks is to be glued to your vision and demonstrate flexibility with the tactics you use to achieve your dream. Bezos says, “If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. And if you’re not flexible, you’ll pound your head against the wall and you won’t see a different solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.”

Call a spade a spade

Pretending to be in Hawaii, while you are near Bermuda Triangle won’t help anyone; more than just helping, there is a huge danger of dying too. Bezos follows the principle of being direct, he is known for removing sugar coating from feedback. Bezos runs Amazon with “a culture of metrics”, with no space for missing the real feedback.

Strive for more

Bezos is known for not resting on the past laurels, for him every day is a new day and he believes in large scale experimenting to drive innovation and discover hidden pots of gold, be it starting Amazon Web Services or buying Kindle, he is always looking for more. According to Bezos, life is about pushing the boundaries of your success and you will conquer new frontiers every day as long as you are passionate about it. He does not like working on ideas that don’t fuel his passion.

The final word from Bezos is to celebrate every little step towards a moving target, even if you don’t even know if you will ever achieve it. You have to enjoy the journey or else you may never reach the destination in one piece.

Career Tips from www.careersweetener.com. Follow on twitter @CareerSweetener

Office mantra
Find your real strengths
Preetinder Kaur

The debate over having multiple work skills or some specialised ones has been raging for a while. Both skill sets have their pros and cons and what matters is the attitude towards your job and a willingness to accept your limitations

Most of us have a difficult time accepting the idea of limitations and don’t want to be told that there are things that we cannot do. This is why we cling on stubbornly to the idea that there’s nothing we can’t accomplish ‘if we really put our minds to it’. But honestly, there’s nothing more difficult than watching someone trying and failing, over and over again in an attempt to fulfill a dream or desire they have no real aptitude for.

The fact is certain people are better at certain things than others. By embracing these “limitations” and focusing on our gifts, we can actually free ourselves and be happier and more successful.

Research has shown that those who become specialists are happier, more successful and lead more meaningful lives than those who remain generalists. And yet, so many people spend a majority of their time and energy trying to get better at the things they have no real aptitude for, rather than polishing their own natural skills and abilities.

Benefits of being a generalist

When you are a “Jack of All Trades”, you are:

Highly saleable: The biggest advantage of having a multiple skill sets is that your profile becomes highly saleable in the market. When you storm into the market with a diverse set of skills, there are chances that your varied skills will attract clients both individually as well as collectively, and you will land a good bunch of projects on your desk.

A professional chameleon: A Jack of all trades has the ability to be a professional chameleon and modify his profile to suit the needs of the project being offered. Having multiple skills enables such people to play any card from their deck of skills and win a project.

More productive: Being highly productive is the biggest assets of a person who can fit into different roles easily. The multiple skills keep a steady flow of projects and such workers are never short of important projects.

The flip side

Being multi-skilled has its downside also, which includes:

Too much to handle: As mentioned earlier, although professionals get projects in bulk, everyone has a limit of handling the workload. Trying to do too much may lead to a serious work burnout leading to a chain of non-productive days.

No exclusive projects: Exclusive projects are everyone’s dream. Exclusive projects relate to a specific field of work, require much focus, are generally paid higher than the usual projects and are an asset for a successful portfolio. However, clients usually do not opt for a generalist mainly due to the fact they already have multiple projects and might not be able to focus and work exclusively for their project.

Weak project management: Project management is one of the few add-ons required for a smooth flow of any business. Although project management is itself a skill, a Jack of all trades, cuts a sorry figure in this respect mostly due to the pile of tasks on his plate.

So irrespective of the fact that you are a Jack of all trades or a master of one, you must find the things that you do really well and do more of that more often. You will be surprised to find that it will allow you to focus on what is truly meaningful and important in your life.

Benefits of being a specialist

Depth of experience: In any field of work, experience is the biggest feather in the cap of a professional. As a matter of fact, professional life is one of the few places where ‘being old’ is a compliment. Experience is the biggest asset in the professional life of a specialist. So when a client is leafing through profiles and portfolios for some project, the ones with more experience are more likely to be considered.

Streamlined approach: Being a specialist helps one in developing a streamlined approach in work flow. As a specialist one works on projects with same or similar scope of work, new tasks easily get adjusted in their work flow enabling them to stay focused without losing productivity.

Higher remuneration: Whenever you add the title ‘specialist’ to your professional profile, it immediately puts a positive impact on the other person’s mind and adds a lot to your value.

Specialists can demand a higher remuneration. Also, most clients do not argue on this and consider it justified to pay handsomely for the specialist’s expertise.

Hiring trends
Buoyant mood for next six months

The next six months are likely to favour job aspirants as 88 per cent of employers are willing to increase their staff strength on account of improved economic conditions, a report says.

According to the TeamLease Employment Outlook Survey for the next six months (October 2014- March 2015), global macroeconomic trends and domestic demand have put business and employment sentiment on a fast paced upward trajectory.

Around 91 per cent of the survey respondents said business outlook, for the coming half year, has improved, while 88 per cent said employment outlook has increased. Accordingly, job growth is expected to follow suit at a stupendous 12.8 per cent, the report said.

Further, the optimism in the employment outlook seems to be not just confined to the metros but tier 2 towns as well. Hindupur, Visakhapatnam, Hubli, Thiruvananthapuram, Belgaum, Aurangabad, Kota, Ajmer and Meerut are some of the new catchment areas which recruiters have identified to hire from over the next half year, the report said.

“There is an overall buoyant mood owing to the right noises the government is making as well as the festive season,” TeamLease Services Senior Vice President Kunal Sen said.

Sen further said, “We are seeing increased hiring mandates. After year-long fluctuations, the overall business and hiring sentiment seems to have stabilised and is seen moving towards growth. We are confident the trend will translate into action on ground.”

From a sector perspective, with almost all the sectors indicating a positive swing in the business sentiment, the business atmosphere in the upcoming half year is expected to be exuberant across industries.

While IT, Healthcare & Pharma and Retail seems to be the primary drivers, Telecom, FMCD, FMCG and Financial Services also contribute to the upward movement in the hiring sentiment, the report said.

The report further said the biggest gainer in this period (October 2014 to March 2015) will be the junior and senior level profiles.

Some of the profiles that are in demand in the coming half year are product /project management, new social media management, big data and predictive analytics, the report said. — PTI

Cubicle trends
Top weird excuses!

A new survey has listed the excuses people give to miss their work which also includes the uniform catching fire and accidentally getting on a plane.

The survey from CareerBuilder demonstrated that that plenty of people were faking it observing that 28 per cent of workers called in sick over the last year when they were feeling just fine, CBS reported.

As many as 29 per cent said they wanted to relax for the day, 21 per cent had a doctor’s appointment and 19 per cent wanted to get more sleep and approximately 11 per cent said that bad weather kept them home.

Some of the worst excuses that people give include that they got lucky last night and did not know where they were the morning or they got stuck in the blood pressure machine at the grocery store.

According to the survey, about a third of employers said they had checked on sick workers to see if they were telling the truth. — ANI