Career Hotline
Work vs higher studies
Pervin Malhotra

Q I am very confused about my career. I got 94.3 percentile in GATE-2005. Some suggest I go for M.Tech, while others say that I should go for a job. They say there are very few job opportunities after M.Tech. Please help and guide me for my future.

— Akhil Rastogi

A Here’s an option that will allow you have your cake and eat it too. Since your GATE scores are valid for 2 years (till March 2007), you can opt for a good job — if you do get a good one.

If you find yourself enjoying the work and the company offers the kind of opportunities that appeal to you, you can decide to stick on.

If not, you can go for MTech from a top-rung engineering college or who knows, even an MBA.

In a way, your friends are right. By and large, industry doesn’t give too much weightage to MTech unless they are recruiting for fairly specialised hi-tech fields or for the R&D.

Pilot project

Q I am keen on joining the Indian Air Force as a pilot. Can you please tell me about the eligibility criteria and the selection procedure?

— Amandeep Sharma

A The IAF is on a virtual talent hunt, the largest drive ever, to recruit more than 8,000 skilled personnel with a flair for technology to keep pace with the rapid modernisation and upgradation of weapon systems globally. Moreover, the IAF will shortly introduce a new merit and shorter age eligibility promotion policy to maintain a youthful profile and keep pace with the promotion profile of the other two services.

There are two routes for joining the Indian Air Force as a pilot in the flying branch: one, after plus two via the National Defence Academy (NDA) Exam and the other, after graduation via the Combined Defence Services Examination (CDSE). Upon clearing the Test, you will be called to an Air Force Selection Board for Pilot Aptitude Battery Test (PABT) followed by a series of group tests, psychological tests and interview. Incidentally, the PABT can be taken only once.

Eligibility criteria

For NDA: unmarried males aged between 16½ - 19 years; plus two with physics and maths. After three years of training at the NDA, and specialised training at the Air Force Academy, you will be commissioned as a Flying Officer and attached to an IAF Squadron.

For CDSE: BSc with Physics and/or Maths or BE/BTech Age: 19-23 years.

There is a special provision for male NCC “C” Certificate-holders in Sr. Division (Air Wing).

Upon successful completion of training, cadets are absorbed as permanent commissioned officers in the Flying Branch of the IAF.

Watch out for the notifications for both exams that appear in leading national dailies in the months of April/May and October/November each year.

Placement problems

Q I am in my final year of MCA. None of the good companies are coming to our campus for placement. I want to know how important the first break is as far as one’s career is concerned. What if one gets into a relatively unknown company?

— Gurdeep Kanwar

A Your first job is important to your career for several reasons:

1. Just as childhood is considered as a “formative period” in our life, the first job also “forms” and “moulds” you in many significant ways — in what you learn about how companies work, about application of technical skills and development of “soft” skills, about handling real-life pressures, about dealing with your boss and your juniors, if any. What you learn on the first job often becomes the operating benchmark for your working life.

2. At the job-switch level too, it has an important bearing. Let us say your first job is with Microsoft and your friend’s is with Nukkad Software Company, and both apply for a new job. On the resume, Microsoft will carry far greater weight than would Nukkad Software, even though your friend may actually be a more appropriate and qualified candidate for the job. It’s like everything else in life. Don’t we for instance, prefer coke or pepsi to a lesser-known soft drink, if we have a choice?

Safe choice

Q I have a BTech in environment engineering. I am interested in safety management. What are the different fields that I could specialise in?

— Manvinder Kapoor

A With ‘Safety First’ as your motto, there are numerous sectors in which your services as a safety specialist will be sought:

Fire protection engineering: For the protection of people, property and institutions against fire and explosions fire management is one of the most important components of safety management. Armed with the basic tools of engineering fire specialists assess the damage and design appropriate systems like smoke detectors and fire alarms that automatically detect smoke and pre-empt the spread of fire.

Industrial safety: Safety of employees engaged in hazardous and even non-hazardous manufacturing industries is imperative. Stringent regulatory conditions have been prescribed by the Indian Factories Act wherein all factories employing more than 1000 worker have to employ a prescribed number of safety officers.

Industrial hygiene: Industrial hygiene is a key area in which specialists identify, and evaluate the extent of chemical exposure and other health hazards.

Environmental safety: Environmental degradation due to effluent release from industries is a major concern. Environment Safety Officers (EFOs) regulate the extent of ecological damage by recycling industrial waste and also ensure its appropriate disposal. Aspiring EFOs need to be well acquainted with environmental law, standards and regulations.

System safety: Hi-tech industries like military, aerospace, medical use precision safety systems that operate flawlessly to minimize the potential for failure. For this specialists are engaged to ensure that all equipments are in optimum working condition and there is absolutely no room for error.

Risk management: Modern organisations hire professional risk managers to cut their losses in case of an unavoidable mishap. Risk managers curtail the losses both in terms of size of the damage and expenditure incurred.

Construction and Transport safety are other fields that require safety management professionals.

Biotech branches

Q If I do M.Sc Biotech after completing my B.Sc Zoology, will it be sufficient to work as a biotechnologist in India and abroad?

— Abhishek Kumar

A Some of the fastest growing areas in biotechnology are genomics and proteomics, recombinant DNA technology, microbial biotechnology, tissue culture technology and cell biology, immuno-technology and protein engineering.

Although interdisciplinary theoretical teaching is imparted at the MSc. level, it has not been possible to provide students with adequate hands-on training largely due to lack of appropriate infrastructure and availability of qualified faculty with expertise in different Biotech disciplines.

Moreover, the industry feels that MSc. level qualification is insufficient for furthering the development of biotechnology to improve living conditions in any meaningful way. Problem solving and knowledge generating multidisciplinary projects are better undertaken at the post-MSc. level. This requires a high component of research and its application for which Ph.D. or MTech is necessary. As of now we have sufficient MScs in biotech but more quality PhDs are required.

Industrial and applied biotech problems related to healthcare delivery e.g. development of diagnostic kits etc., production of recombinant proteins, their purification and stabilisation, generation and propagation of strains expressing intermediate metabolites and creation of transgenic animals and plants can only be tackled through an interdisciplinary, problem solving approach and the right skill sets.

— 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