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Q What are the rules for migrating to Denmark, especially for a nurse like me? What is the population of Indians in Denmark? — Kanika Goel A Denmark has a job card scheme under which those finding employment in specific job categories become immediately eligible for residence and work permit for a maximum of three years, subject to extension. The country is experiencing a shortage of qualified professionals in certain job categories, including those in sciences and allied disciplines (for example, doctors, nurses, engineers and IT professionals), as well as lawyers, economists and accountants. Moreover anyone who gets a job offer with an annual pay of DKK 450,000 or more, regardless of job category, becomes eligible for this scheme. With a large number of Danish companies setting up shop in India and Indian companies looking at business opportunities in Denmark and the rest of Europe, there’s been an overall increase in the number of work and residence permit applications from India. Correspondingly, the number of permits issued by the Embassy of Denmark in New Delhi rose to 800 in 2006. Incidentally, there are 3000 plus Indians in Denmark, presently. Online MBA Q I am a B. Sc graduate working in the pharma industry for the last three years. Since I’m married, it is not possible for me to go for a regular MBA. Is an e-learning programme preferable to a correspondence one? —Pamela Kaushik A Sure, e-learning is better than traditional correspondence learning which delivers the same lessons to everybody. E-learning, on the other hand, can provide individualised, adaptive lessons. With e-learning, you can study from the convenience of your home through a computer and Internet. It is certainly more interactive as you can communicate with the teachers instantly, unlike through correspondence, where you have to wait for the weekend for classes, if any. Then the feedback loop is also greatly shortened (to a few minutes), instead of the few days or weeks of correspondence learning. Opportunity calling Q What is the scope of a career in the Mobile Value-Added Service Industry?
— Geetika Sharma A The mobile phone today serves multiple functions - in addition to making and receiving phone calls. They have now evolved into toys for grown-ups beyond text-messaging, ringtones, games, GPRS data, MMS and what have you. According to a recent study, the Mobile Value Added Service industry in India could be worth more than Rs 4,500 crore by end 2007. And since it is a service industry, the concept of shelf-life does not apply to it. It is expected to sustain and provide stable employment. On the technical side, employee profiles include three main categories — application development, database integration and writing protocol stacks. The main qualification required is expertise in Database Management. Prospects get better if you know languages like VB, VC++ and Open Source technologies like Linux, MySQL and Oracle. On the marketing end, sales executives are not referred to as sales managers, but as consultants. These professionals drive innovation. They don’t just sell items, but instead, sell concepts to customers. There are no hardcore must-have qualifications for this job, but it sure helps to be conversant with telecom technology. Gender issues Q I am preparing for the Civil Services exam. But everyone says that women don’t stand a good chance when it comes to the final intake. —Mili Garg A As a matter of fact, 20 per cent of the 2 lakh plus people writing the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Exam are women. But they constitute 8 per cent of the 6000-odd candidates who clear the Prelims. Nonetheless, the women who manage to clear the Prelims perform better at the Main exam and Interview vis-à-vis their male counterparts. As a result, nearly 20 per cent of those finally selected for the Civil Services are women, the same percentage as those writing the Prelims. In the last Main Exam (2006) and Interview, women scored a success ratio of 1:4.8, while that of men was 1:12. From barely 10 per cent of those finally selected for the Civil Services in 1985, women climbed up to 20.6 per cent in 2005. And they have retained their share of 21 per cent for the Main exam in 2006. In overall rankings too, women seem to be scoring better than men. In the latest exam, women constituted 24 per cent of those allotted the IAS, 18.5 per cent of those allotted the IPS and 15 per cent of those allotted the IFS. May their rank increase. Tutored success Q My daughter who has just completed her Eco (Hon) and wants to go for teaching, hopefully, as a college professor, while I want her to do an MBA. And get a job in industry where she can have a secure and relatively prosperous future. What do you advice? — K V Lakhotia A While it’s true that professors get paid less, often in the range of Rs 20,000 p.m., while a fresh MBA graduate may end up with lakhs ( or even as high as a crore p.a.), the situation is likely to improve for college professors in the near future. With the likely implementation of OBC reservations, the student intake will rise by 54 per cent, with a consequent rise in infrastructure and faculty. A sub-committee dealing with OBC reservations has estimated that educational institutions will have to hire more than 12,000 additional faculty, half of them in central universities alone. To attract this additional faculty, their salary and perks have to be made more attractive, including a higher retirement age. So, if that’s what she is interested in please encourage her to do so. Social responsibility Q I am a doctor, working in a village hospital in Jharkhand for the last four years. I would like to study for Ph.D. at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Can you please tell me about its eligibility requirements? —Ravi Bhalla A The best place to start looking for a study programme for a well-known institution is to go to its website, in this case, www.tiss.edu. In case you do not know the website of the institution, you can always go to one of the respected search sites like, www.google.com, type the institution’s name and get its website. Having said that, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences offers Ph.D. in Health Systems Studies; Management & Labour Studies; Social Sciences; and Social Work. Direct admission to the Ph.D programme are made twice a year in June/July and January/February. Different categories of people are eligible for admission; among them, those with an M.Phil, or practitioners in health care administration, human resource management, development work or social work with at least five years experience. Soft skills Q Do B-schools teach soft skills or does one have to learn them on one’s own. — Kamlesh Gaur A The IIM-Calcutta has teamed up with Tata Steel Adventure Foundation to develop team-building among students through group activities like river-rafting and other outdoor adventures. Similarly, XLRI, Jamshedpur, offers compulsory courses like organisational behaviour, which cover a range of issues at the individual, interpersonal and organisational levels. At the same time, it also offers electives like managerial counselling, interpersonal skills, leadership and influence and negotiation skills.
Write chance Q I study in Class X. I am considered to be very good at writing and want to be a journalist. How can I become one? —Sarthak Jain A If you want to take a formal training to become a journalist, that starts only after you have completed Class XII by pursuing a bachelor’s degree course in journalism/mass com. But there have been well-respected journalists in the past, as well as today, without any journalism degrees. While I will still recommend you go for a formal journalism course when the time comes, the best way to move towards a career in the field will be to follow those illustrious journalists. Start working as a journalist today. Start writing pieces for your school or neighbourhood magazine or newspaper. Other than that, you can also write for Yamuna, a quarterly tabloid published in English and Hindi. Started by Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, the newspaper has about 25 journalists from Delhi, 40 from across the country and 12-odd from abroad — all school students. Only school-going students can contribute; you quit after Class XII. Students are provided with various training programmes as well as help with their stories. Get the relevant information from the website: www.gandhismriti.nic.in. And there are several other such options on the Net to which you could contribute, including creating your own blog. 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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