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Q I have joined an Indian hotel group as a trainee after completing my bachelor's in hotel management. I like the hospitality sector but my colleagues feel that there is no point in hanging on to hospitality, as other industries, particularly BPOs, offer much better pay packages? — Naresh Batra A Most students and professionals these days are being lured to BPOs, multiplexes and retail because of the handsome packages being offered. The grass does seem much greener there. However, here is a word of caution to those looking to give hospitality a cold shoulder because of the fear of being underpaid and the clamour for higher pay packets and extravagant facilities.
You have just completed a full-fledged hospitality related course, which means it appealed to you over all other options, then why give it up now? For money alone? Why turn down jobs that have real depth and help you grow in your field. Various high-paying jobs can be dreadfully monotonous and demoralising. They in, no way, contribute to developing your unique skills, or to using your talents and improving your personality. Money is never enough, nor is it the sole yardstick of your true worth. It is better to hang on to your field of interest where you are given the opportunity to grow and develop as an individual. This is the key to success in your personal and professional life. Everything else will fall into place — money, family, job and personal contentment. Skill sets transferrable across sectors Q After a fairly successful career in the FMCG sector (marketing), I am now tempted to switch to the IT sector. Do you think it is possible, particularly at this stage? — M.J. Pant A For a while it was believed that the technology sector was so unique and so demanding that the crossover couldn't be made because of the technological skill set required. But there are a number of examples of people who have taken skills learned in other industries and applied them successfully elsewhere. Louis Gerstner, who retired after a very successful stint at THE IBM, really didn't know much about computers, coming from Phillip Morris, a tobacco company, but he certainly knew a lot about management and had the skill sets necessary to lead large, sophisticated environments. Moreover, the fundamentals of marketing (as also finance or HR or general administration) remain the same across sectors. Even at the senior level, the skill sets required of a CEO, CFO or a COO are pretty much transferrable between industries. And there are numerous examples like that. Talented people bring a fresh outlook and perspective. And that's valuable to any organisation. Look beyond traditional farming
— Mahinder Bhoj A With growing need for fertilisers and pesticides, small and marginal farms are increasingly turning into unviable propositions, especially if you are using them to cultivate traditional crops, such as wheat and rice. That is partly the reason why annual growth in agriculture in India has been mere 2%, far behind the overall economic growth of 9%. On the other hand, fruits and vegetables have shown an annual growth rate of 6%. That should suggest something. Move over to high-value crops, such as fruit and vegetables. If you want something still different, use the land to raise milch cattle and poultry or go in for vermiculture or even organic farming of salad greens or herbs. Or create a pond to rear fish. All these ventures are likely to give substantially higher earnings than traditional cultivation. B-schools abroad and work experience Q I am in the final year of B.Com. I want to study management from a reputed B-school in the US or Europe, but do not want to spend years on work experience before that. Is there a way to do that? — Eashwar Narula A Unfortunately for you, reputed B-schools in the USA or Europe do not allow admission without a few years of work experience. If you manage to get into one of the IIMs here, you may study for an academic term in one of the leading B-schools abroad and put the same on your bio-data through student exchange programmes. All IIMs have student exchange programmes, under which they partner with reputed B-schools abroad. Selected students can study at partner institutions for one academic term. The ABC (Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta) of IIMs send as many as a quarter of their regular PGDM students to B-Schools abroad under the programme. Many of these students win some scholarships from host institutions. Although the IIMs now increasingly prefer students with work experience, it has not yet become a mandatory requirement for admission. So if you score well enough in the CAT to join one of the IIMs and then get a really good CGPA to get into the student exchange programme, you may be on the way to one of your dream B-schools abroad. Biometrics beckons Q What is biometrics? What are its prospects in India? — Neeraj Puri A Once the stuff of futuristics and science fiction, biometrics - the authentication of identity through an individual’s unique physical or behavioural traits is now finding its way into a number of everyday applications. Common physical biometrics includes fingerprints, hand geometry, retina, iris and facial characteristics. Behavioural characteristics include signature, voice, keystroke pattern and gait. Spurred by security concerns raised after the 9/11 WTC attacks, many countries, led by the US, decided to move towards biometric passports. Some of the other fields using biometrics are enterprise-wide network security infrastructures, government IDs, secure electronic banking, investment and other financial transactions, retail sales, law enforcement, even health and social services. Among various biometric technologies, fingerprints cover about 80% of the Indian biometric market, hand geometry another 10%, iris and retina scanners 5% and voice recognition systems 5%. At the moment, career opportunities in India in biometrics are high in R & D (especially in software development), retail, product application and security consultancy, but not as yet in manufacturing. Manufacturing of biometric devices is still nascent in India. Creditable choice Q Can you please explain the work that credit analysts do. Who employs them? — Jeevan Adhikari A Credit analysts rate the credit worthiness of a company. They are hired by banks as well as financial services providers. They manage the relationship between front line managers servicing the public to ensure that they receive quality service and quick response to requests for credit. Credit analysts undertake risk assessment analysis of various types of lending proposals. They make a decision based on a number of factors such as the purpose of the loan, viability, track record, credit-worthiness of the customer and the collateral provided. They provide quality service to internal customers by developing and improving the quality of credit submissions, financial analysis, advising and recommending changes to policy and procedures and offering a consultancy service on credit issues and quality. A credit analyst needs to have strong quantitative skills with a sound background in finance. 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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Although lucrative
offers are being thrown at us from other industries, is it worth it
at the cost of our careers, personality development and an exciting
and challenging work environment that hospitality opens for us?
Q We have about 2
acres of land which has been left fallow for sometime, partly
because my parents did not find the earnings worth the effort. Can
you suggest to me something to put the land to good use?
