Career Hotline Q I am keen on becoming an officer in the Indian Navy. How should I go about it? — Arjun Srivastava A You can choose from several entry routes for becoming an officer in the Indian Navy: one is through the National Defence Academy (NDA) examination (after Class XII) and the other is through the Combined Defence Services Examination (CDSE) (after graduation). You can take the NDA exam if you have passed Class XII and are between 151/2-181/2 years of age. For joining the Air Force and Navy wings as a Cadet, you require a pass in Class XII with Physics and Maths as subjects. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts this exam twice a year for admission of cadets. Selection is made on the basis of a written exam, followed by tests and interview conducted by the Services Selection Board (SSB), and a medical exam. The CDSE is also conducted by the UPSC. Male graduates between 19-22 years are eligible to take this exam for entry into the Naval Academy, Chennai. Selection for officer-level jobs is on the basis of the written exam (CDSE) followed by various tests and interview conducted by the SSB. Look out for advertisements in Employment News and other leading national dailies issued by the UPSC in the months of April/May and October/November. For further information, log on to the Indian Navy’s official website: www.nausena-bharti.mil.in
Economics factor Q I am a Class XII student with Geography, Economics and Political Science as my subjects. I am interested in Geography and Economics but ‘am undecided as to which subject will benefit me more as regards a career. Please advise. — Aparajita Sen A From the career point of view, Economics as a subject will certainly offer wider options than Geography. While Geography provides specialised and limited job options, a graduate in Economics has bright prospects. In fact, if Economics interests you, you could enrol for the following foundation courses alongside your graduation: lThe Chartered Accountancy Foundation Course lThe Cost & Works Accountancy Course lThe Company Secretary Course lBachelor of Business Administration/Studies lBachelor in Financial Investment & Analysis lBachelors in Economics Language lessons Q I am doing my bachelor’s in English along with an advanced course in French. What kind of jobs will be open to me? — Sumit Awasthi A Your level of fluency in the language will determine the range of options open to you. Besides the obvious language-centric jobs like interpretation, translation and teaching that require a high degree of language skills, your knowledge of French can be used to advantage if grafted on to other skills in several fields: travel & tourism, public relations, mass communication, publishing, commerce and industry, to name a few. Here the level of language skills required is essentially of the practical sort: speaking, understanding and some reading. Familiarity with the technical jargon of your trade will also give you an edge. Increasingly, voice-based call centres recruit people with 1-2 years of multi-lingual capabilities as customer care executives. Every now and then, one spots recruitment ads for foreign language specialists for outsourced Translation & documentation centres. GE is another regular recruiter. The Cabinet Secretariat recruits interpreters from time to time in the Central Govt. You need a Bachelor’s degree or a PG Diploma in the concerned language. A high degree of proficiency in English is equally necessary. The hospitality industry including hotels, airlines and travel trade would also be a good sector to look at (would be an asset should you wish to specialise in French cuisine). So would fashion, export houses and companies transacting global business with Francophone countries, besides French companies operating in India. Trade delegations, exhibitions and seminars also require the services of business and specialist interpreters. International organisations like the UN, EEC and other trading organisations also require interpreters but you need to be highly skilled for this. Incidentally, French happens to be one of the most popular languages — second only to English, and offers the maximum scope — it’s spoken by over 150 million people around the world! Besides knowing a foreign language does give you an edge in the job market. Even while you are a student, grab every opportunity to work at trade fairs and help out with international conferences to hone your skills. Number crunching Q I am doing class 12 with commerce subjects. I took Commerce because of parental pressure though I have always been interested in Science. Could you please tell me if I can get admission in B.Sc (Maths) through correspondence in any university? — Ashok Bansal
A Fortunately, you can. BA (Maths) is offered at a number of universities through the distance learning mode :Andhra U, APS Rewa U, Barkatullah U, Delhi U, Himachal Pradesh U, Kurukshetra U, Jammu U, Punjab U, Panjabi U, Burdwan U, Netaji Subhash Open U to name a few. The following universities even offer BSc (Maths) through distance learning. And barring a couple, no other formal qualifications are necessary as long as you have cleared your Class XII. lAnnamalai University, Directorate of Distance Education, Annamalainagar 608002. BSc Maths; Also BSc Maths & BSc Computer Appln; BSc Math & BSc IT, BSc Maths & BSc Visual Comm (4-yr Dual Degree). lDr BR Ambedkar Open University, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500033 (HYPERLINK "http://www.braou.ac.in" www.braou.ac.in ) lMadhya Pradesh Bhoj (Open) University, Bhopal (BSc (Hons) Maths lNetaji Subhas Open University, Woodburn Park, Kolkata 700020 Admission woes Q Is it true that even though students meet the cut-off percentage of a particular college, they will only be admitted on a first-come first- served basis? If I opt for a particular college in the first list, will I be able to withdraw my certificates if I get a better option in the second list? — Kanika Sood A Following divergent views among various college authorities on this issue, Delhi University has categorically clarified that no student who qualifies on the basis of the cut-off percentage indicated in the college list will be denied admission provided the fees are paid within the stipulated deadline regardless of the number of seats for the course. While colleges may claim not to create problems, but the truth is that it takes a while to retrieve your certificates. Although the game of musical chairs is an annual ritual, the second cut-off list last year did not leave much option for students seeking admission in commerce courses. Venky in South Campus and Daulat Ram in North Campus closed admissions after the first list, while some others like SRCC, Hindu and Hans Raj lowered their percentage only marginally. Some colleges increased their intake of science students in excess of their seat strength as they anticipated more dropouts due to the Delhi Govt’s decision to add nearly 600 seats in engineering colleges affiliated to DU and GGSIPU. Some others did not even lower their cut-offs for science courses despite availability of seats. Biology was perhaps a lone exception where cut-off fell in a few colleges. The most significant drop was in the case of Hindi and Sanskrit for which even a fourth list is issued. The writer is a noted career consultant Please send in your query, preferably on a postcard, along with your full name, complete address and academic qualifications to: Editor, Jobs and Careers, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh-160030, or at careers@tribunemail.com
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Q
I have a small farm in Haryana and would
like to take up fish and prawn cultivation. What are the
prospects?
