Career Hotline
Hotel industry has room for more
Pervin Malhotra

Q I will be completing my course in hotel management shortly. But I am really worried about my future. Can you possibly suggest names of some journals or newspapers which I can scan for vacancies in India and abroad?

— Gyan Singh

A Although the travel and tourism sector is booming, you don’t necessarily have to confine yourself to the hotel industry per se.

Cruiseliners, holiday resorts, airline and institutional catering services and customer relations, are the other areas to look at.

Moreover, hotel management graduates fit in the wider services sector including property management and customer care where the emphasis is on customer relations and interface.

As far as keeping an eye on new openings, try scanning the following industry-specific journals like, ‘Express Hospitality’, ‘HARI’, ‘Travel Talk’, besides the ‘Employment News’ and other mainline papers like this one.

While hunting for jobs online try the trickle-down approach. First, try the career link on the company’s own website. Any new opening will be posted on the company’s website before it goes on any other jobsite. Besides it also gives you an opportunity to educate yourself about the company. Today, nearly all best practice companies use job boards - for job postings and creating a resume database.

The next places to look are industry-specific job boards like www.ahla.com/careers and www.hospitalitycareernet.com (India’s largest searchable online database of candidates and job openings). Thirdly, look at large jobsites like www.monster.com or naukri.com or timesjobs.com. go to www.google.com and type "hospitality careers" in the search box. This will give you a good idea of places to kick-start your job search online. If you wish to hunt within a specific region, you will find location-specific boards as well. Industry-specific search firms also have their own websites. Check them out for even more opportunities.

Q I am a student of Class XII (science stream). I am very keen on joining the Army. Can you please tell me about the selection procedure?

— Gargi Singh

A After plust two, women are inducted into the armed forces only in the medical and nursing corps wherein they are eligible for permanent commission jobs. All other jobs are for graduates and postgraduates as Short Service Commissioned Officers for a period of 14 years.

To be considered fit for the armed forces, women candidates must be in good physical and mental health and free from any disability which may interfere with the performance and efficiency at work.

You can either join the Armed Forces Medical Service or Military Nursing Service. While you can join the former after completing MBBS from Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune, the entry to the latter is on completion of BSc (Nursing) from the same medical college.

Eligibility: Unmarried girls between 17-22 years; up to 24 yrs for BSc; Class XII (PCB) with English securing 60 per cent in science subjects with a minimum of 50 per cent in each and 45 per cent in English. You should have passed in maths in Class X. Those with BSc in at least two of the subjects from physics, chemistry and biology are also eligible.

Selection Procedure: Written test and interview.

Eligibility: Unmarried women; divorced women/widows without encumbrances, between 17 `BD -24 years; 10+2 (PCB) (50%).

Selection Procedure: Written test and interview.

Selected candidates must execute a bond to serve as permanent commissioned officers upon completion of training.

Notifications for the MBBS and BSc (Nursing) courses appear in leading national dailies in the months of December/January and September/October respectively.

For further information, you may contact:

lThe Director General, Armed Forces Medical Services, DG 1A, Ministry of Defence, ‘L’ Block, New Delhi 110001.

lDirectorate General of Medical Services, (Army DGMS-4-B), AG’s Branch, Army Headquarters, Room No. 43, ‘L’ Block, New Delhi 110001.

Details: www.joinindianarmy.nic.in

Q Who are risk managers and where do they work?

— Gurcharan Tejpal

A Opening a factory in Bangladesh may help a garment manufacturer’s bottom line - but is it worth the risks? Progressive firms are relying on risk managers, previously the worriers who recommended safety plans and disaster insurance, to plan the future.

While looking at the plant in totality, the risk manager might assess earthquakes, currency fluctuations, and damage to reputation if an unscrupulous factory manager begins using child labour. Then the risk manager proposes solutions: Spend more to make the building earthquake-proof, pay foreign expenses in local currency, closely monitor employees. If the project is deemed worthwhile, the risk manager will transfer the risk to another party, perhaps an insurer. It goes without saying that companies who know how to manage risk will have a competitive advantage.

A background in finance, calculus, economics, accounting, and insurance plus knowledge of investment banking is important, as many firms will use risk managers from investment houses.

ICFAI offers a PG Diploma in Enterprise Risk Management (1-yr). Details: www.icfai.org/icpe

Q I have done MSc forestry. I would like to study forestry abroad. Which countries and institutes offer research programmes in forestry?

— Shalini Patial

A If you are scouting for greener pastures abroad Europe has a long tradition of forest education. Oxford Forestry Research Institute (UK), European Forestry Research Institute (Finland), New Zealand Forestry Research Institute, Forest Research Institute, Malaysia (FRIM) are just some of the research organisations you could consider.

Also a number of highly esteemed universities like Yale University (www.yale.edu) and University of California, Berkley (US), Oxford University (www.ox.ac.uk) and University of Reading, UK (www.rdg.ac.uk), University of Queensland, Australia (www.uq.edu.au) and University of Toronto (Canada) offer excellent research programmes for scholars like you.

Closer home you could consider joining international forestry organisations like International Forestry Research Institute (Indonesia), Regional Community Forestry Training Centre for Asia & Pacific (Thailand), International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (Nepal), Pakistan Forest Research Institute, Institute of Forestry (Bangladesh) and Chinese Academy of Forestry.

For a holistic approach to tackling the global problem of environmental degradation and dwindling forest cover a multi-pronged and multi-disciplinary approach is being adopted. Most of the courses abroad have adopted this approach to facilitate research work.

Q I’m taking my MBA entrance tests this year. Tell me, being a woman, is it better to opt for softer options like human resources or personnel management rather than go in for the highly competitive and demanding fields like marketing or finance?

— Smita Vakil

A Whichever way you look at it, management is a tough and demanding profession, no matter what function you choose. Although HR is commonly considered a "soft" option, believe me, the reality is quite otherwise.

With changes in the business and employment scenario, students’ preferences for electives and specialisations also change. But you can’t go wrong if you choose one based on your interests and skills; not simply because one is less demanding or currently more popular.

It’s undoubtedly better to excel in a field you enjoy than to be a third-rater in a "hot" field.

A recent study of managers in the US conducted by Northwestern University found that women managers, more than their male counterparts, tend to adopt leadership styles that encourage better worker performance and effectiveness. They are more likely to serve as role models, help mentor and empower workers, and encourage innovation. These are qualities that cut across all functional areas in management. So, if your head and heart is in the right place, you’ll make smooth-sailing of the toughest assignment.

Also, the workplace is getting increasingly demanding. While many organisations claim to work from nine to five, the reality, you’ll soon discover, is that It’s only your pink-collared colleagues like the receptionist and telephone operator who manage to leave on time. No way does this does apply to the managerial staff, which is required to put in far longer hours — more like nine to nine (and at times, even weekends).

Moreover, don’t expect exceptions to be made for you in any way simply because you are a woman - none will be. On the contrary, be prepared to work harder and smarter than your male colleagues. Intimidating? Nope. Challenging? Certainly!

Q I am in third year of BHMS. I would like to practice in the US, but the Lancet report has crashed my hopes. Do I need a license to practice there?

A The general answer is that homeopathy is not regulated in the US so anybody can use it in the legitimate course of their business. However (and there’s always a catch), if by calling yourself a "homeopathic doctor" you imply that you are practicing medicine, you will be regulated by the laws governing the practice of medicine in that state. You can’t practice medicine without a license in all states. But you can "counsel" people on their health advising them about the best homeopathic remedies for a known condition, as long as you don’t state or imply that you can diagnose or treat illness.

To play safe, some practitioners in the US hold another medical degree that allows them to diagnose and prescribe such as: MD, DO, DC, ND, nurse-practitioner, physician’s assistant, and so on.

Currently, only three states license homeopaths who are also physicians: Arizona, Connecticut and Nevada. However, California, Rhode Island, and Minnesota have new Health Freedom laws that allow unlicensed practitioners to practice homeopathy. Similar bills have also been introduced in other states.

The American Board of Homeotherapeutics certifies MDs or DOs who meet their educational standards and pass both oral and written exams. Successful candidates are awarded the designation of Diplomate in Homeopathy (D.Ht.).

The Council for Homeopathic Certification creates and upholds standards for the practice of homeopathy in North America.

By rubbishing the efficacy of homeopathy as mere ‘placebo effect’, in a hard-hitting editorial titled "The End of Homeopathy", Lancet has stirred a hornet’s nest about this 250-year old traditional system of medicine. Just a couple of years ago, WHO gave homeopathy its stamp of approval as part of its Global Strategy for Health for All in the 21st Century.

In fact, homeopathy has gained a significant foothold in the West. Under half of all GP’s in England and as many as 86 per cent in Scotland refer patients to homeopaths while the homeopathic drug market in the US alone is a multimillion-dollar industry recognised and regulated by the FDA.

Proponents of homeopathy counter the report saying that the study conducted by Swiss scientists based on random controlled trials is biased in favour of allopathy and that results have been "spun" to counter the runaway popularity of this alternative system of medicine. They feel that the effectiveness of one system of medicine cannot be measured by using the measures of another — particularly when the two systems are so different. Incidentally, this study overturns a favourable review published earlier in the same journal citing a German study which proved that homeopathic drugs were 245 per cent more effective than placebos).

Visit www.naturalhealers.com/qa/homeopathy.html#top for schools offering homeopathy courses.

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