Veterans have a platter full of career choices

Pervin Malhotra
email your queries to [email protected] 

Q.I’ve taken voluntary retirement from the Army because of some health problem. I am fine now and wish to take up a private job. How should I go about finding a viable second career? Please advise. — Capt A N S

A. Armed Forces personnel are valued for their integrity, efficiency, sense of discipline, commitment and responsibility to their task in the private sector where they fare well across the board in jobs ranging from security, facility management, and administration to training, logistics and personnel management among others in large and medium-sized companies.

Their excellent leadership qualities and communication skills enable them to integrate well within any organisational structure. Besides being stable, honest, trustworthy and open, they also make excellent team players.

Good technical knowledge combined with the ability to work within tight deadlines comes in handy while executing demanding time-bound projects and customers.

Since you haven’t mentioned your specific rank, branch of service or other qualifications, I suggest you take stock of your skills, talent and interest and try matching your profile with the requirement of jobs in the public and private sector to find a second career that’s just right for you. Besides the D/o Ex-servicemen Welfare  (desw.gov.in/directorate) some other websites like www.naukri.com/army-retired-jobs, www.exarmynaukri.com/APA/WEB/common/index.jsp, etc. serve as a common platform for ex-servicemen and employers. There are separate sections for job hunters as well as potential employers. Registration is free of cost. And should you require it, some of them even help prepare your resume, get interview tips and negotiate salaries.

Should you wish to augment your managerial capability, there’s an array of courses — short and long-term — offered by prestigious B-schools like the IIMs (Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Lucknow, Indore), XLRI, MDI, IIT-D, NMIMS, MDI and Symbiosis to name a few.

Besides helping officers handle the business operations of the armed forces (e.g. logistics, supply chain management and project management), these courses open up a host of career opportunities for defence personnel like you who wish to get into civvy-street by equipping you with additional managerial skills and business savvy to face the challenges of the corporate world after you retire. There are equally attractive courses on MOOCS platforms like Coursera, etc that will bring you up to speed with new developments and skills across sectors. 

Reservation policy norms

Q.I am a reserved category student studying in a school in Mohali. As my parents are moving to West Bengal, will I be able to get admission benefits in colleges there? — Paromita  

A. Clearing the air on the reservation policy to be followed by states and UTs, the Supreme Court has held that a person belonging to the SC/ST community in one state would not be entitled to benefits and concessions in other states where their castes or tribes are not notified.

The verdict came on a batch of petitions that raised the issue whether a SC/ST in one state can seek reservation in another state where his caste is not notified as SC/ST.

Try for financial aid

Q.I am a Buddhist boy in studying in Class X in a government school. As my father is no more, my mom is finding it difficult to pay for my further education. I am very keen to study medicine for which I need to take physics, chemistry and biology in Class XI. I would like to go to a better school but don’t have the means. Please help me to fulfill my dream. — Siddharth Asangha

A. Lack of funds need not deter you from achieving anything in life – provided you’re willing to work hard and consistently. Government of India’s Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) offers scholarships under these 3 schemes for six minority communities (Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis.

Eligibility: School, College University students of Minority community who wish to pursue a course of minimum one year duration at any level (as long as the institution is registered on the National Scholarship portal). They should have scored min 50% in the last annual Board/class examination. You should apply under the Pre-Matric Scheme for Minorities, which covers students from class 1 to X whose family income does not exceed Rs 1 lakh/p.a., Tuition fee of Rs 350/p.m. Plus Maintenance allowance ranging from R 100 – 600 for 10 months in every academic year.

Hostellers and day scholars of Class VI–X get an admission fee of Rs 500 p.a.

For further details, log onto: www.minorityaffairs.gov.in

You can also call their Samadhan Helpline: 1800-11-2001

Make sure you don’t miss the Application Deadline: September 30, 2018

Apply online: www.scholarships.gov.in

Best of luck!

Admission criteria for reserved category students

Q.I scored 59 per cent marks in MA (History). Can I  get admission to MPhil in a good university by rounding off the marks? I am a reserved category student who is very keen to pursue academics. — Pareena kashyap

A. The 2016 UGC regulation, which was implemented by all Central universities, including DU, made it mandatory for students to score at least 50 per cent marks in entrance exams to qualify for MPhil and PhD interviews.

However, concerned about the mounting vacancies in reserved seats following the introduction of the two-step admission process, the latest UGC notification, ‘Minimum Standards & Procedure for Award of MPhil/PhD Degrees (1st Amendment) Regulations 2018’ now permits a relaxation of 5 per cent of marks (from 50 to 45 per cent) for SC/ST/OBC (non-creamy layers)/differently-abled category candidates in the exam conducted by Universities across the country including the Central Universities of Punjab and Haryana.

And, should any reserved category seats still remain vacant despite this relaxation, universities will launch a special admission drive for that category within a month of the closure of admission of general category students by setting their own criteria.