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Career Hotline
Q I am a BA-II student. I am interested in doing MA in Political Science. What are the job prospects in this field? — Nav Jyoti A After doing your Masters in Political Science, you will have the following options: You could either opt for teaching Political Science or International Relations at the college or university level (upon qualifying the National Eligibility Test (NET), conducted by the UGC for central/state universities or the State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) for state universities). If you have a flair for writing and analysis, you can also become a political analyst for a newspaper, news-related website or TV or work on research projects for think-tanks. Q I have completed diploma in electronics and right now doing a course of computer networking. I want to study further through part-time or correspondence course. Please tell me about some courses. — Naved Kumar A After completing your course in computer networking, I suggest that you go for Linux certification along with CCNA, as the penetration of Linux-based Server Applications are increasing five-folds as compared to Microsoft. Moreover, your familiarity with Linux commands will facilitate you in preparing for the SUN Solaris certification. BPO vs IT Q I will be completing my B.Tech (electronics) this year. I would like to join a BPO unit as I have a good pre-placement offer from one of the leading companies in this sector. However, my friends say that I should join the IT sector. What should I do? — Dilbaug Singh A True, IT services have been a popular choice for engineering graduates. But of late, engineers have realised that they can no longer afford to turn their nose up on the multi-billion dollar BPO industry. The Indian outsourced industry has evolved from a low-cost, back-office destination into a preferred supplier of high-end engineering services that boasts of domains such as technology-centric business research and engineering design. Besides design, offshore vendors are looking for engineers who can bring value addition to services like validation, simulation, pre-production work and product life-cycle management. While mechanical and electronic product engineering have hogged the limelight, think-tanks at NASSCOM feel that there is tremendous untapped potential in the process engineering and plant operation sector as well. Moreover, Indian engineers need to look at vertical markets like the highly lucrative aerospace and automobile industry. Globally outsourced engineering services are worth $ 7 to 10 billion and India is gearing up to garner at least 20 per cent share of this sunshine sector. Job hunting Q I have just completed my MCA but our campus placement was very so-so. So I have to look for a job on my own. As I am a fresher, I desperately need some guidance. — Kunal Kohli A The IT industry is doing great. What this means is that while the demand for manpower, companies are still choosy as they have a vast pool of trained and experienced manpower to choose from. Your first priority must be to acquire some work experience — it doesn’t matter whether this is on a temporary basis, on contract, etc and at what salary. Try to position yourself in an IT area that you enjoy working in and specialise in a set of skills that are currently in demand — e.g. multimedia services. Carefully prepare your CV to highlight these skill areas. Identify medium-size companies in your town (or towns within easy reach). Visit them to understand their manpower requirements and if there is a job drop in your CV. As I have advised in this column earlier, try getting together with a bunch of classmates and offer to design or work on a project for them even if it’s for free. Also, approach as many placement consultants you can and leave your CV with them, particularly those that specialise in IT. Try posting your CV on jobsites (now there are special ones for IT jobs on the Net for good measure. Hello! hospitality Q I want to study hotel management. I don’t know much about this line. Can you please tell me to prosper in this field what are the qualities one should have? Also tell me about the job prospects in this field. — Rahul Khanna A If you are the type who would go out of your way to make people happy even though they may be total strangers, then the Hospitality Industry the profession for you. Regardless of what branch of the hospitality field you choose, you’ve got to SERVE WITH A SMILE. Honesty, stamina, desire to learn etc are all the prerequisites for being successful in any field one chooses especially in this line. The travel and hospitality industry is on an unprecedented roll. The entry of new national and international hotels, rising incomes, low-cost airlines and attractive tourism packages and influx of international tourists have contributed to the growth and expansion of the tourism and accommodation sector in India, further boosting the requirement for trained manpower. On an average, one hotel room provides employment to 2.5 people. A course in hotel management opens up job opportunities not only in the hotel industry but also outside it. Some of the other options being related jobs in the railways, airlines, hospitals, motels, banks and other sunrise service industries like call centers and insurance where customer interface is at a premium. In fact, the e-CRM (electronic customer relationship management) sector has begun to poach heavily on hotel management graduates. Since the salaries are higher as compared to what most hotels pay initially, this sector has been attracting many bright students. There are also avenues for self-employment for those trained in hoteliering. If you have the requisite qualities - business acumen, initiative and drive, ability to roll-up your sleeves and work hard, you could set up your own hotel, restaurant, bar, resort, canteen, mobile van, kiosk or outdoor catering service after having worked for a few years. Good professional chefs are paid handsomely. There is also a demand for trained and experienced hotel professionals all over the world, particularly in the developing countries of Asia, the West-Asia and Africa. If you can adjust to new environments and get along with people, this may be a good option. Legal outsourcing
Q After completing my LLB, I have been struggling in a small law firm without much success. I have been offered a job in a firm that provides outsourced legal services. What are the prospects in this field? — Virender Singh A English educated lawyers are in great demand by firms managing outsourced legal work for multibillion dollar US corporates. It is estimated that 8 per cemt (nearly 498,000) legal jobs from the US will be offshored to India by 2015. Lawyers in India charge a pittance in comparison to their US counterparts where legal services are billed at a whopping $ 125-150 per hour. In India, the same job costs $ 20-30 per hour. According to a recent Nasscom study, MNCs, international law firms, publishing houses and legal research firms are seeking specialised legal knowledge processing services from India. This is a big opportunity for India, which churns out close to 3 lakh law graduates every year! As the work is mainly restricted to research and drafting of information, it is best suited for legal professionals whose practice is yet to pick up or for grads interested in managing back-end jobs. Lawyers with an established practice are not likely to enter this field. 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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The civil services in general, and the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in particular, is another popular option for students of Pol Science. The General Studies paper requires considerable knowledge of Indian polity and current affairs. 
Although still in its nascent stage, research suggests that the next few years will witness a boom in legal outsourcing. With India rapidly scaling the value chain from BPO to KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing), Indian black-coats are eying a major chunk of the US $ 163-billion pie of outsourced legal services. If India is able to leverage its low cost advantage, jobs will flood in not only from the US but also from UK, Australia, Singapore and other Commonwealth countries. 
