Q: I am 35 years old and I had been working in a premier housing finance company for more than 10 years where I was mainly associated with the company secretary. I was also in charge of individual housing loans for three years. However, due to the decision of the company to close down operations, I was out of employment for sometime. I have completed my C. S. Intermediate and am presently pursuing my finals. I am also pursuing MBA in a distance learning mode. Given my background, what kind of employment should I seek? What specialisation paper should I opt for in my MBA course? For the past one year, I have been working as a contractual employee in the cargo operations division of a reputed organisation. The stream being different, my present assignment does not provide me any job satisfaction.
Lisa Sen,
Calcutta
A: You are trapped in too many things ? one is not able to understand where you are headed. Your core competence (i.e. 10 years? experience) is in disbursing loans. Yet you chose to seek employment in a field unrelated to your line of experience. Further, you are doing MBA through distance learning. Why? How do you think it will help you and in which line of work? Why did you not think of doing a part-time MBA from a reputed institute?
How long do you intend to work in cargo operations? Eventually, do you intend to capitalise on your earlier experience in housing finance? Where does CS fit into this? I suggest that you first look into all these issues and then make some decisions about your career.
Q: I am a 25-year-old commerce graduate. I have three years? experience in handling accounts of a reputed IT company. I have been working in a manufacturing concern as an accountant for the last two-and-a-half years. Due to some financial problems I could not pursue any professional course immediately after graduation.
Now I wish to pursue CFA. What are the job prospects available to me if I go ahead with the course at this age? Will it be too late as per job market standards? Is there any prospect in accounting-based BPO with my four-and-half-years of experience?
Rohit Majumder,
Calcutta
A: CFA is a practical and logical option for you. You could also do a tally accounting course. There is ample opportunity in accounting for the BPO industry. Your four-and-a-half years? experience will stand you in good stead. CFA will be helpful when you have to be considered for a promotion. So do invest in working towards that as it will give your career a boost.
Q: I have got a job in a software company as a programmer. However, I would like to work in the HR department of the company. How should I go about this? Would any management course (distance-mode) help? Please advise.
Name Withheld
A: Many executives make a shift internally to HR. The most important qualities for making this change are your interpersonal skills or broadly, ?your human relation skills.? The only pre-requisite for an HR job is your ability to get along with people ? the other skills can be picked up on the job.
Yes, you could build your HR credentials by learning about performance management, developing competence in in-house training, developing training modules etc. All the best.
Q: I am 30 years old and a civil engineer by profession. At present, I am working for the state government. However, I wish to study for an MBA. Which stream should I specialise in? Can distance education help?
Sandeep Gupta,
Calcutta
A: I think you should be mindful of your current employment as a civil engineer and then look at options that will aid your growth in your chosen stream. What you choose to specialise in while studying for MBA depends on your interests: You could take your pick from finance, marketing or general management.
You should join a part-time MBA course rather than a distance education one. These days reputed institutes offer MBA degrees that cater specially to middle-level executives in the corporate world. Check those out.
Send your letters to HR Matters at The Telegraph, Jobs Desk, 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001; or fax at 2225 3142; or send emails to jobs@abpmail.com. All letters should have your full name and postal
address.
