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Mission B-School
WHEN you buy a travel ticket to a certain point, you are 99 per cent sure of reaching there. However, there are some journeys where in the chances of reaching your destination is less than 1 per cent. The ticket sales for this journey have ended and hundreds of thousands of students are anxiously awaiting the magical train. The train is scheduled to arrive at different platforms in different parts of the country on November 16 at 10 a.m. A major part of the journey will be covered in the ensuing 2.5 hours. Yes, the journey we are talking about is CAT. I attempted to complete this magical voyage thrice and managed this year, after great struggle.
CAT tantalises you when you realise that the elusive cut-off was only 1 correct answer away! CAT gives you hope when people around have been appearing for the past several years (like me!). In short, CAT is something that people hope to crack and back themselves. Not being blessed with an extraordinary intellect, let’s say I was among the hopefuls rather than the achievers. I first gave CAT in 2005 during the last year of engineering. After attending coaching classes and taking up the de-rigueur mock tests, I was brimming with confidence. I got the shock of my life when I saw my results. I had not even touched the 90 percentile mark! It was a major wake up call and more importantly a ‘back on earth” feeling that left me numb and shattered. Two years later, “after some work-ex”, I took up CAT again. This time I acted with much more caution. I concentrated a lot more on the mock tests. Result: Virtually unchanged. My percentile refused to move beyond the 90s. Thankfully, the sorrow was drowned by the news of an onsite visit that had me packing bags soon afterwards. Back from my travel, and friends are already taking CAT 2007. It was then that I told myself (in typical dramatic fashion) “This is it. It’s now or never. Give it one last shot. Give it all you got. If you can’t do it this time, then just give up”. The positive tones of the self-pledge overshadowed the negativity of the last part. I sincerely prepared for CAT 2007. I sacrificed all my weekend pleasure and long sleeping hours for practising mock tests. Being a working IT professional, I was forced to stay awake late hours to better understand the solutions of the mock tests. I realised that answering more and more mock tests was not the solution. It was how effectively I could analyse the solutions and use them when I spotted a problem of similar nature sometime later on. This was the key difference in preparation in comparison to previous times. And then magically things started to fall in place. My office work timings thankfully got better. I got more time to prepare. My scores which were nowhere near the 90s now started inching towards the cut-off scores. By the time, I was half way through the mock test series, I was consistently clearing the cut-offs. I must say I was feeling good at this point. But the previous failures were always on the back of my mind. The positive frame of mind was better re-enforced when I was called for the “high achievers workshop” conducted by my coaching institute. It really felt like I was getting ready to hit the home run. I approached D-Day with much more confidence than any of my previous attempts. After a slow and cautious start, I gradually picked up momentum and along the way, spotted crucial mistakes I had committed when I was rushing through the questions. With a can’t-say-how-I-performed look, I returned home and did not look at the solutions that were being put up by the coaching institutes a couple of hours after the exam. Back to work the next day and the now the agonising wait for the results. After about five weeks, they arrived. After a lot of heart-in-your-mouth moments in front of my PC, I got it. I finally managed to clear that magical barrier! The result sheet read 98.2 percentile with interview calls from IIM-B and IIM-L. Fists pumping in the air, I was literally acting like a man possessed. For a brief moment my family must have thought I must have gone crazy. I wasn’t. I was just letting out the pent up energy. The rest of the process was much more methodical. I trusted my speaking skills to a far greater degree. I took up GD and PI classes from the same coaching institute that I chose for my mock tests. The GDs are initially very noisy and only the ones blessed with loud vocals were able to make an impact. Later, after many sessions, the volume levels were toned down and most of us were able to communicate well in about 2-3 weeks. It is important to note here that it does not matter how many times you enter the GD, it is about what you are contributing to the GD every time you enter. Keep this in mind and pretty soon you will catch the fancy of the group as well as the moderators. Try to bring in points which will induce a further debate. Do not get into the clichéd and oft used methods like “Friends, lets come to a conclusion”, when the group is not yet ready. It is not always necessary to conclude the GD. If the moderator wishes so, he / she will explicitly ask for it. And now, lastly the interviews. After a good GD and a writing session, I was pretty confident in facing the panel. Confidence, or should I say “presence” is the most important part of the interview. In those 10-15 minutes when you have a one-to-one chance of making an impression, don’t let go of it. Prepare for the stereo typical questions (“Tell me about yourself” for instance) no matter how confident you are in answering it. Putting down your thoughts on paper never harms. For as many questions as you can foresee, have answers in mind. I don’t mean that you need to know them word-by-word. Just know the content well. Use the context of the question to put your prepared points in place and deliver with clarity. Try to present a pleasant face to the interviewers no matter how long you have been made to wait. With all this done, keep in mind that the interviews and GD are meant to “select” not “reject” people. Do not give the interviewers a reason for rejection. Avoid spelling errors in your forms, dress up well, reach the location on time and be pleasant to your fellow students. Never get overly emotional or personal either during the GD or interview.
Well, anymore advice and I am sure you will move on. So, I stop here. Here is wishing you all the very best and hope that each of you finds the institute of your choice. You have the tickets in hand, make the most of the journey. Enjoy the process and the outcome will naturally follow. Like a wise man once said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes”.
To be continued (The writer is a student of
IIM-Lucknow, batch 2007-09) |
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Know your true calling
AS the job market becomes highly competitive, it restricts the choice of desired career, the odd exception being computer professionals, who can at least go and work in foreign countries. In order to build a sound career in your area of interest, it is not only vital to develop skills in that area but also to have good assessment of the job market.
Sometimes, even an uninteresting work can be made interesting by changing to suit work conditions. Some fields are more competitive than others, which explains why there are jobs for lakhs of successful computer professionals but only 50 successful cricketers! Evaluate how good you are according to how difficult it is to succeed in your chosen field. Basically, be realistic. “You need to get an idea of the financial and other prospects of a career before you start so that there is no frustration later on and you won’t need to resort to malpractices to compensate for any unexpected disappointments,” advises Dr Samir Parikh, psychiatrist and student counsellor. So, be very cautious. Talk to a student counsellor in your college or university about the pros and cons of your choice in detail and get inputs from peers and pals who are already in the field. As Dr Parikh points out, “Having complete knowledge and awareness about the preferred career choice not only helps you assert your choice to your parents, it also gives you confidence and clarity of mind.” Also, you have to figure out the opportunities in the context of when you’ll be joining the job market. There may be huge openings for software professionals today — which is, perhaps, also why you’re planning to become one — but will there be a similar demand for you when you pass out three years from now? Some professions have a short life of 10-15 years. Right now, that may look like a lifetime, but one day you might be stuck in a job with no future. Flight stewards, models, actors, sportspersons and marine engineers face this at some point in their lives. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it, just have options ready for later. Besides the economic factor, job satisfaction is now a key element. This includes amicable relations with colleagues, subordinates and superiors, apart from a good status in society. Go on, make the right choice!
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Personality & Profession
CAREER development researcher John Holland found a deep relationship between an individual’s personality and his or her career choice. He defines six basic personality types and their related choices. As many individuals go in for professional counselling, one can also find the right career with some introspection. Read on to find out more:
Realistic sort: He is well-built, aggressive, without interpersonal skills and prefers practical problems. Such hands are good as engineers, electricians, fish and wildlife specialists, machine operators, airplane pilots and tool designers. The intellectual: Such kind of people are thinkers and introverts. Best suited to become scientists, astronomers, biologists, chemists, sociologists, psychologists, research scholars and mathematicians. Social animal: These individuals are masters of verbal and interpersonal skills and are not particularly fond of problem solving and physical work. Good professions for persons with such qualities are social work, teaching, counselling and missionary work. The conformist: The conventional type prefer structured verbal and numerical abilities and subordinate roles. Such an individuals is a suave person who likes authority and status. They excel as secretaries, book-keepers, accountants, bank examiners, financial analysts, quality control experts, clerks, statisticians and traffic managers. Master of enterprise: These people possess verbal skills for selling, dominating and leading and are orally aggressive and concerned with power, status and leadership. Such people like to become business executives, real estate and sales promoters, television producers and politicians. Arty type: The artistic type of individual is social, avoids work that requires physical skill and prefers self-expression through artistic media. This type includes musicians, artists, poets, writers, authors, sculptors and composers. Holland’s theory was accepted as valuable as it was based on extensive research but it was criticised for its rigid categorisation of humans. Critics said that human beings had more diversity to their nature than that proposed by Holland. However, it cannot be denied that every individual has his or her own specific potentialities and if discovered and given proper encouragement and guidance, he or she can contribute substantially to their respective professional fields.
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Has the bubble burst?
THE financial services and IT sector that earlier occupied pride of position in the job market has been displaced this year. And this is because the effects of sub-prime will results in lower hiring across these segments in the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009.
B-schools are also expecting a dip in placement offers by global major for next one/two years at least. However, going by domestic economy growth, there should be no worries about hiring by domestic companies. The adverse impact of all this will be felt more by the students of not so popular business schools who are generally out of the radar of big corporates. There are more sector like infrastructure, retail, telecom, pharma and healthcare that are growing rapidly in Asia and particular in India, observed so more, number of companies are expected to recruit candidates this year. Further, the fat remuneration packages offered to the management graduates till last year may also be a thing of the past, feel experts. According to reports, the campus recruitment by the IT and ITES companies is likely to fall by about 35 to 40 per cent this financial year. Even companies who have already hired the people from the campus staggering the joining dates by three to four months. Also, as the demand and supply gap increases with the supply on the rise and a fall in demand, campus hiring could be less than 40 per cent. And it is because of slowdown in the US economy are the key reasons for measured hiring Feeling the heat
NOW that the US is feared to be close to a recession, it would be unrealistic to assume India's IT companies would escape unscathed. Although they have so far succeeded in growing their business by adding new clients and renegotiating existing contracts and difficult days are ahead. It is logical to expect a downward trend in corporate recruitments both overseas and domestic. To minimise the loss, the number of top B-schools are in the process of inviting more companies to campus recruitments this year. The idea is to offset the decrease in offers from individual companies by having more recruiters.
Shattered dreams
THE crash has done away with the dreams of scores of B-school students keen to enter the portals of Lehman Brothers. To make matters worse, the financial market is also flooded with the resumes of Lehman Brother employees! Financial organisations will prefer these experienced people over freshers. Expecting a significant decrease in number of campus placements for the students who will be graduating early next year, some B-schools have already started fire-fighting exercise to minimise the impact. It is only logical to expect a Hope ahead
ACCORDING to a survey conducted by Ma Foi across the 22 key sectors including manufacturing, real estate, and construction, hospitality, transport and communication, hospitality sector would generate maximum number of employment in 2008 over the last year and education sector will have maximum number of jobs this financial year. Demand for fresh recruits is above 30 per cent in hospitality followed by sectors such as energy generation and supply sector, ITES and mining and extraction. The big three -- TCS, Infosys, and Wipro -- alone plan to recruit about 50,000 younger professional during the next financial year. The report further points that one job in banking services and insurance sector creates four other jobs.
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Mind Matters There is a heightened need for trained counsellors and clinical psychology can be both demanding and deeply rewarding. Are you game? Usha Albuquerque COMPLEX living conditions — violence, natural calamities, financial uncertainties, the generation gap, economic disparities and so on — have played havoc with modern man’s social and emotional well being. More and more people feel the need and are ready to acknowledge that there are professionals who can help them handle mental and emotional problems. While counselling psychologists work with patients suffering from everyday stresses, including career planning, academic performance, and marriage and family difficulties, clinical psychologists are required to handle more severe mental disorders such as phobias, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other mild to severe problems that are continuously on the rise.
Varieties of techniques and methods derived from several branches of psychology are used in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of physical and mental disorders where psychological factors play a major role. Different methods and forms are used to relieve an individual’s emotional distress or any other form of dysfunction or disability. Clinical psychologists evaluate people in various settings, and run diagnostic tests. They may provide individual, family or group psychotherapy and design and implement behaviour modification programmes. Some psychologists even collaborate with physicians and other specialists to develop and implement treatment and intervention programmes with greater compliance results. Clinical psychologists work in hospitals, mental health institutions, private clinics and military or government sectors. They neither are medical doctors nor do they generally prescribe medication. Some also work in universities and medical schools training graduates in the delivery of mental health and behavioural medicine while others administer community mental health programmes. In addition to working with clients, clinical psychologists have to keep detailed records of client assessment, diagnosis, therapeutic goals and treatment notes. These help clinicians and clients track progress and are often needed for insurance purposes too. Specialty areas within clinical psychology include child and adult mental health, learning disabilities, emotional disturbances, substance abuse, geriatrics or geropsychology, sports psychology and neuropsychology. Health psychologists promote good health through health maintenance counselling programmes designed to help people achieve goals such as stop smoking or lose weight. They also work with people on psychological aspects of chronic illness and disability. Neuropsychologists study the relation between the brain and behaviour. They often work in stroke and head injury programmes. Geropsychologists deal with special problems faced by the elderly. Sports psychologists work with athletes on such factors as mental preparation, anxiety management and performance anxiety. The emergence and growth of these specialties reflects the increasing participation of psychologists in providing direct services to special patient populations. Research psychologists do research in order to test the effectiveness of therapies, drug treatments and many other psychological questions. Getting In
YOU need to be trained in clinical psychology to be able to practice. An M.A. or M.Sc. in psychology with a minimum of 55 per cent aggregate marks is the minimum eligibility for pursuing an M.Phil in clinical psychology. It is preferable to have a special paper in clinical psychology at the master’s degree level. Two years of practical experience in counselling is also an eligibility criteria at several institutes. Universities and institutes offer various courses in clinical psychology across the country. One can go in for a two-year M.Phil programme at Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP), Ranchi, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, and at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), New Delhi. IHBAS inducts 12 students into its M.Phil. programme every year. Each of the above-mentioned institutes conducts an independent, all-India level entrance examination followed by an interview for those who have cleared the written exam. Both need to be cleared for admission. Diploma and certificate courses in clinical psychology are also offered by Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, and a few regional centres of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). The Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) recommends a practice-oriented curriculum for students pursuing any course — degree, diploma or certificate — in clinical psychology with an out patient department in every institute offering a course in clinical psychology. It also recommends restricting theory-related teaching to 30 per cent of the syllabus, laying more stress on practical learning. Those entering private practice require to obtain a registration number from RCI that has to be renewed every seven years. Besides academic qualifications, clinical psychologists also need to be sensitive and empathetic as this profession entails practitioners to understand and solve the problems of people with mental disorders. It is a difficult task to deal with patients exhibiting abnormal mental behaviour. Hence, a lot of patience is required in addition to excellent communication skills to be able to uncover the innermost workings of the patient’s mental processes. It is also important to be creative when developing treatment plans and approaches. Clinical psychologists must also have the emotional stability and maturity to handle other people’s problems without becoming emotionally involved. It may be advisable to volunteer first before deciding on a career in clinical psychology. Clinical psychology can be both demanding and deeply rewarding.
Prospects
THERE is a severe shortage of trained clinical psychologists in the country. Most work in counselling centers, independent or group practices, psychiatry clinics, schools, colleges, private institutions, in teaching and at research centres. Some join the human resource and personnel departments of private organisations. There are jobs in the government hospitals and health departments. Licensed psychiatric nursing homes also take on clinical psychologists and many work with NGOs offering counselling services. They can also work with voluntary agencies, welfare organisations and de-addiction centres. Clinical psychologists can also work as school counsellors, as it is now mandatory for all schools to have a full-time counsellor. Many set up their own practice after some years of experience and handle behavioral and marital counseling as well. Psychologists are also employed as faculty by colleges and universities in teaching and research positions. Many divide their time between teaching and part-time consulting practices. While trained clinical psychologists start on salaries of Rs 8, 000 – 12,000 in the government sector and with hospitals and NGOs, they can command much higher salaries in the private sector with some years of experience. Private counsellors also earn a lot more. If human behaviour interests you and you also want to help those in distress and afflicted with mental illnesses, you can become a clinical psychologist. But you may have to work long hours with clients who can be demanding, argumentative or unstable. At the same time, helping people overcome problems is extremely rewarding. It is wonderful to see people change and to be instrument of that change. If such situations motivate you, then a career in clinical psychology is just what the doctor ordered!
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Troubleshooting made easy
THEORETICAL exposure to troubleshooting does not help much when it comes to solving real-time faults, which is why this kit comes in handy. A computer fault simulator kit developed by Jetking will now be part of its certified hardware and networking professional course and would help develop troubleshooting skills of IT students. The Omni Firm Heathkit, which is designed by Heathkit Educational Systems (HES), generates 35 real-time faults, and creates varied problem scenarios, develops troubleshooting skills and reduces lead-time for learning systems errors. “An average of three months time is required for the student to experience the full range of system errors. This kit comes in handy because it teaches step-by-step troubleshooting and reduces the lead time to perform on the job, develops confidence, and provides practical backing to theoretical concepts,” said Jetking CMD Suresh G. Bharwani. The course teaches students to assemble a computer, upgrade the computer system, set up and administer a computer network, and troubleshoot system problems. The course trains students to become a complete IT professional in 15 months through four modules which cover analog, digital, microprocessor, applications, PC hardware support skills, operating system support skills, networking essentials and Windows server 2008, and Linux (Red Hat) and CCNA. – TNS
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Go on, just do it!
Parveen Malhotra Q. I am a first year student of IT. Some of my friends told me that BBA, BCA and IT graduate and PGDBA degree holders are not eligible to apply for Civil Services. Please clarify. — Vineeta Mehra
Also, making it to the IAS is no cakewalk. The selection process is extremely rigorous. Of the 3,27,683 candidates who took the prelims last year, only 734 finally made it. Acing the exam calls for sustained and systematic preparation. General category students can avail of four attempts at the CS Exam, whereas OBC candidates get seven. There is no restriction for SC/ST candidates. For an in-depth understanding of what it takes to make it to the Civil Services, how to tackle the prelims and mains, and the interview, you may like to refer to CARING’s Guide to Careers in Civil Services (Vision Books).
Only if you must
Q. I am pursuing MBA through distance education. Will I face any kind of discrimination in the job market against the regular MBA candidates? — Kritika Gaur MBA courses offered through distance learning are usually preferred by working professionals to upgrade their qualifications for better growth prospects, particularly those working in the government sector. Naturally, since no placement facilities are offered for students of part-time or distance learning programmes, you will have to look for a job using your own initiative. Try to leverage your work experience, if any, in the best way possible. Management is essentially a practical hands-on discipline rather than a mere academic field of study. So, while you’ll gain in professional knowledge but you must be missing out on classroom interaction, dissection of case studies and the opportunity of networking with your peers, professors and visiting faculty that form an essential core of a regular MBA
programme. Try and relate what you are studying to the work you are doing. That way you will be able to talk about it more eloquently during your job interview. Also, make sure you are regular with your study and assignments. The dropout rate of distance programmes tends to be pretty high. Rowing two boats at the same time is not always easy. After a hard day at work,
it’s tough to sit down to regular study in the evening or night — month after month. Which is why not many of those who enrol in correspondence
or part-time courses end up completing them. You’ll need to be extremely
focussed, disciplined and motivated to submit your assignments on time and take the exams regularly. Tough, certainly, but impossible? Nope. Yes, you may find it a bit of a problem in your first job, but use it as a base and prove your worth. Subsequently, it’s your work-ex and track record that will determine
your next job and the kind of money you will make.
For the people
Q. What are the special benefits a physically-challenged person can avail of? Please tell me about the special assistance offered by government, private, NGOs or organisations here and abroad? — Piyush Mogha Q. Are there any government or non-government organisations that provide financial aid or help for
SC/ST/OBC individuals? Please also tell me about any special facilities provided for these categories in getting bank loans. — Lokesh Maheshwari The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is entrusted with the welfare, social justice and empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalised section of the society viz, scheduled caste, backward classes, persons with disabilities, aged persons, and victims of drug abuse etc. Just log onto their website (www.socialjustice.nic.in) for detailed info on the following:
For the physically handicapped
— Scheme National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities — Scheme for providing Employment to Persons with Disabilities in the Private Sector (Hindi Version) — Detailed list of Posts for Persons with Disabilities (in Group A, B, C & D) — National Policy for Persons with Disabilities (Hindi Version) — List of Braille Presses and Audio Book Production Centres — National Institutes for Persons with Disabilities (e.g. National Institutes for the Mentally Handicapped
(NIMH), Secunderabad, National Institute for the Orthopaedically Handicapped
Kolkata, Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped, Mumbai, National Institute for the Visually Handicapped,
Dehradun, Institute for the Physically Handicapped, New Delhi, National Institute of Rehabilitation Training & Research
Olatpur, Cuttack, National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities) — Rehabilitation Council of India
(RCI) — National Handicapped Finance & Development Corporation (NHFDC) — Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India
(ALIMCO) — National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, mental Retardation and Multiple
Disabilities — District Rehabilitation Centres (DRCs) - Regional Rehabilitation Training Centres (RRTCs) - 4 — Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities — District Disability Rehabilitation Centres — Various Funding schemes
Backward classes
— Pre-matric Scholarship for Students —
Post-matric Scholarship for Students — Hostel for Boys & Girls Institutions (National Backward Classes Finance & Development Corporation, National Commission for Backward Classes etc)
Whom to contact for more Information
There are numerous NGOs that provide information, assistance and even funding for the disadvantaged. For instance, you could contact the National Council for the Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, New Delhi (www.ncpedp.org) The National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped has a special website which lists jobs for the deaf along with a host of other useful info. Log on to: www.jobsfordeaf.nic.in to browse for openings and place your resume on the Net for free. Just contact your nearest nationalised bank for details of bank loan facilities as prescribed by the government.
Biomedical research beckons
Q. Our daughter, who has been a merit-holder throughout, went to US to pursue her higher studies in biology. She is now doing research in genetics at Carnegie Mellon University while teaching there. However, like most traditional parents we would like her to come back here and get married. She is refusing to do so because she says there are no opportunities for research in India. And even those that exist don’t pay well. As parents we are very dismayed. Could you please suggest something she can do here that could be equally satisfying? — N. Singh Under this programme, the Early Career Fellow would get up to Rs 7.16 lakh per annum, Intermediate Fellows up to Rs 9.65 lakh and Senior Fellows up to Rs 12.83 lakh per annum. Besides, the salary package, they will also be offered high-end medical facilities for themselves and their families. But only those who have a proven global record in biomedical research can apply. And given your daughter’s passion and capability, I don’t see why she wouldn’t fit the bill. To begin with, 70 fellowships will be awarded every year under the programme in different areas of bioresearch for the next 10 years. Research professionals would be attached to different institutions to prove leadership in biomedical research, which is an area of tremendous global significance today. Some Indian biotech firms are also doing exciting cutting-edge research. Perhaps your daughter could explore the option of working with them in her area of interest /
specialisation.
COURSE CHAT
In India, there is a growing demand of professionals equipped with advance US accounting and taxation knowledge. Last year alone, Unilever, Cadbury, GSK and other large multinational firms embarked on finance and accounting outsourcing projects. Estimates suggest that the global demand for these services is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 15 per cent over the next five years and reach $25 billion by 2009. n What is it: CPA is the highest accounting credential in the USA and is similar to the CA qualification in India. Targeted at students as well as working professionals, CPA Review is a globally accepted programme. This course will prepare students in Professional Bookkeeper (US), Professional Tax Preparer (US) and QuickBooks Specialist. These programmes will not only help a student get right job but also help KPOs/MNCs to get quality and trained manpower for their accounting and taxation processes. n Teaching methodology: To begin with, there will be an extensive schedule of classes to be held by Piron Education and its partners across the country. This will include interactive live instruction with dynamic technology to create the best possible live CPA examination review. For the convenience of the candidates, the institute also schedules the classes in such a manner so that the students can meet their professional responsibilities and other engagements without missing important review sessions. The institute has already appointed AOC (Academy of Commerce) as its Delhi franchisee and very soon it will have partners in different cities across the country. n Eligibility: M.Com, CS, ICWA, MBA (finance) and CA students are eligible to write the CPA examination. B.Com graduates will have to clear an additional online paper to be eligible. One has to go to the USA to apply for the examination. n Duration: Three-six months. — TNS
Integrated MCA saves time
Q. To become a software engineer should I opt for
BE/B.Tech in Computer Science or MCA? What is integrated MCA? — Rohan Kr A. An MCA is considered equivalent to a
BE/BTech as far as employment in the IT industry is concerned, except for the fact that doing an MCA after BCA or any other graduation takes two years longer. An integrated MCA is typically a five-year course that can be pursued straight after Class 12. It is, however, not offered by too many universities. Ideally, it should be pursued only if you are very sure you want to make a career in software.
This column appears weekly. Please send in your queries, 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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Fortnightly Quiz-320
1. Which country recently became the first nation to enter into a nuclear pact with New Delhi after India secured the NSG approval for undertaking nuclear commerce?
2. Which Asian country’ astronaut recently conducted its first spacewalk? 3. What is India’s rank among the world’s corrupt countries as per the latest reports of the Transparency International? 4. In which stream of the armed forces did the government recently allow permanent commission to women in the armed forces? 5. What new name has been given to Nawanshahr? 6. From which date was smoking at public places in the country strictly prohibited recently? 7. What name has the Chhatisgarh government, in its fight against Naxalism and terrorism, given to a self-defence group (armed civilians) in the state? 8. To which country does the pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva belong? 9. Which former cricket captain of India was recently granted an honorary commission of Lieut-Col in the Territorial Army? 10 With which sport is Chetan Anand associated? —
Tarun Sharma
Winners of quiz 319: The first prize by draw of lots goes to Visha Sehgal, class IX-D, DAV Public School, Jagadhari Road, Ambala Cantonment, Pin code 133001 Second: Tanya Vohra, class VII-C, Stepping Stones Secondary School, Sector 37-C, Chandigarh, Pin code 160036 Third: Nidhi Kohli, IV-A, Lawrance School, The Mall, Mata Kaulan Marg, Kahmir Avenue, Amritsar, Pin code 143001 Answers to quiz 319: Lehman Brothers; Chenab; Jhelum and Chenab; National Institute of Pharamaceutical Education and Research; Fifty years; iPhone 3G; Sanna; Madhya Pradesh; “Taare Zamin Par”; Saina Nehwal Cash awards of Rs 400, 300 and 200 are given to the first, second and third prize winners, respectively. These are sent 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
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Persistent hard work and strong willpower coupled with training and discipline will eventually help you in reaching your target. Unemployment exists only for those who do not adapt themselves to the changing needs of time. There is nothing such as good luck. As Pearl S. Buck, the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature, puts it: “Good luck is what happens when preparation meets with opportunity.” 
The next two-quarter will be challenging from a recruitment perspective as companies will be cautious about spending and hiring. Increments will at best be inflation-hedged and the investment banks, which are usually big recruiters on campus, will go slow on campus hiring. Finding an alternate job will not be an issue for employees, but matching investment bank salaries will. 
Today, there is an increased interest in the study of psychology, the science of the mind or of mental states and processes. Clinical psychology is the largest subfield within psychology in which one studies abnormal mental states, processes and behaviour. A clinical psychologist is a trained professional, who offers counselling services to people afflicted with abnormal mental states and show abnormal mental behaviour. The field, therefore, involves care, treatment, diagnosis and assessment of mental disorders and behavior in adults and children. It encompasses learning disabilities, emotional trauma, phobias, substance abuse, or more serious conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Most clinical psychologists either concentrate on treating a wide variety of disorders or specialise in one or two specific aspects such as depression or schizophrenia.
A. You are misinformed. Anyone with an UGC-recognised bachelor’s degree is eligible to take the Civil Services Exam. While IT is not one of the optional subjects, management certainly is (both in the prelims and mains). So if you have done your
BCA, you’ll have to choose from any of the 23-odd listed subjects. Moreover, the syllabus for the optional paper is typically that of a bachelor’s degree-level, but it helps to prepare for a level equivalent to that of an honours degree
programme. For further details, log on to: www.upsc.gov.in
A. Distance MBAs don’t offer the quality, depth and over-all exposure necessary to impress employers. No matter how good, these programs are no substitute for a regular program. Besides, a regular full-time MBA from a reputed B-school offers the attraction of on-campus recruitment.
A. Why not! Better late than never, India has decided to kickstart a talent hunt to strengthen its research base in high-end biomedical research field in the country’s laboratories. Under a joint initiative between the Department of Biotechnology and UK’s Wellcome Trust, the government is offering lucrative packages to attract the best Indian-origin talent across the globe to augment its R&D base.
BISK CPA Review, America’s Best CPA Review since 1971, has tied up with Piron Education, a provider of educational and training services, to launch its certified public accountant (CPA) preparation programme in India. Worldwide, more than 140,000 students have cleared the US CPA exam using Bisk CPA Review during the past 35 years.