|
|
            
|
CAREERS TODAY Best Jobs Best CEO Picks CEO; West Bengal Electronics Industry development Corp.; Kolkata; PG/MBA/Telecom Engineer with relevant experience; Age around 45-50 years; WBEIDC, Webel Bhavan, Block EP & GP, Sector V, Bidhannagar, Kolkata-700091. CEO; Satya Infosoft; Delhi; Masters in Comp. Sc./MBA with relevant experience; Satya Infosoft, Le Meridien Commercial Tower, Windsor Place, New Delhi-110001 Best Finance Picks V-P (Finance & Accounts); Satya Infosoft; Delhi; Masters Degree in Computer Science/MBA with relevant experience; Satya Infosoft, Le Meridien Commercial Tower, Level Six, Windsor Place, New Delhi-110001 CA & CS; Unitech; Gurgaon; CA and Company Secretary with 8-10 years experience; Unitech Ltd; Unitech House, L Block, South City-1, Gurgaon-122001 Best Overseas Picks Manager (Custodial); Saudi Arabia; B.E. (Mechanical/civil) with P.G. Diploma in Business Administration with 10 years of relevant experience; R.K. International, 605, Hemkunt Tower, 6, Rajendra Place, New Delhi-110008. Manager (Manufacturing); Saudi Arabia; Engineering graduate with 5 years experience; R.K. International, 605, Hemkunt Tower, 6, Rajendra Place, New Delhi-110008. Group Finance (Director); Dhaid Travels; Kuwait; CA/MBA (finance) with 12-15 years experience; Dhaid Travels, 708, Stock exchange Tower, Dalal Street, Mumbai-400001. e-mail: dappa@india.com
The Past Catches Up What do you do when your old company acquires your new company? Move out, what else. So, after the acquisition of International Bestfoods by Unilever, it was natural to expect the former Leverites on the Bestfoods side in India to hit the road. The most recent to do so is Rajnish Rohatgiri who as V-P (Staples) managed the Captain Cook brand salt and atta for Bestfoods. Rohatgiri, with 11 years experience in Lever and two years in Bestfoods, moves to Pepsi (another popular haven for former Leverites) as the Vice-President in charge of implementing any Pepsi sales system rolled out in India. He will be reporting to the newly appointed Customer Development Director Sundar Hemarajini (the New York-bound Chitra Talwar's successor and again an HLL alum). Will the other former Leverite, and the Chairman & Managing Director of Bestfoods in India, Salil Punoose, be the next to move on? Another HFCL Coup HFCL's Mahendra Nahata has pulled off another coup by roping in Ranbaxy veteran Rajendra Sinh. News about the 48-year-old Sinh quitting Ranbaxy was doing the rounds for some time. At one point of time Ranbaxy's Vice-President (HR) was rumored to be signing up with Subhash Chandra's Zee, but the potential posting in Mumbai was a little too far from home for the confirmed Delhiite. Now as President (HR), HFCL Group, Sinh is all charged up about his new assignment. Yes, moving from Ranbaxy did pull at the heartstrings, as he says: ''It is natural to be emotionally attached after so many years (21, to be exact).'' Meanwhile, Ranbaxy has apparently been working overtime to fill the slot left vacant by Sinh. Some very high profile names are on the pitching list ...Watch this space! All's Not Well At Honeywell All's not well at the Indian headquarters of Honeywell if market buzz is to be believed. It's apparently another case of employees bearing the brunt of a global acquisition. When GE acquired Honeywell in early 2001, it became evident there would be some sort of manpower restructuring. The fact that Honeywell resumés were doing the rounds, thus, did not come as a surprise. Even globally employees of Honeywell have been opting for the severance packages being doled out. Compensation issues, as well as duplication of jobs, has led to a high level of insecurity in the company in India. Going Places For Rajiv Batra, his second innings with Xerox is proving to be even more fruitful than the first. The CFO of Xerox Modi Corp is off to Xerox's worldwide headquarters at Stanford, Connecticut, to take charge as Vice-President (Business Controls & Operations Support) for the developing markets. Batra, a ca by qualification, spent 12 years with the then Modi Xerox Corp in his fist innings before being hired by Digital Equipment as CFO. When Compaq acquired Digital, he did a one and a half-year stint as CFO for Compaq India before coming back to Xerox. Now it's off to Stanford to oversee ops of 120 countries for the man. AB(B)-out Time So what if ABB was only halfway through a transformation attempted by its former President & Chief Executive Goran Lindahl, when Jorgen Centerman took over the mantle on January 1, 2001. He has already scrapped Lindahl's group structure, re-oriented the group, and converted four industrial divisions to five customer groups. The new strategy involves becoming a one-stop shop for customers. The aggressive moves in its HQ will impact the Indian operations too. The Indian team, used to a more stable environment, is grappling with the change, and will have to wait for the group's transformation representative to come to town to help them interpret what's happening. COUNSELLING
An additional qualification in sales-unless it is a specific skill enhancing course-is not really necessary at this point. On whether you should get into computers or stick to sales, you should first find answers to questions like: do you enjoy your job; what part of it do you enjoy; and are you good at what you are doing? give yourself some more time. Look for other opportunities if the current one is not exciting. But flitting from one career to another will only make you lose precious time. I am a 28-year-old consultant working with one of the Big Five firms in India for the past six years. I am considering doing an MBA in the US. I am currently employed as a senior consultant. Do you think it would be a good idea at this stage in my career? How would it help my career prospects? You haven't mentioned your educational qualifications. Therefore, it is difficult to figure out how an MBA will drastically change things. However, at an absolute level, an MBA will always enhance your career prospects-one from a B-school based in the US will also give you international exposure and a chance to work abroad, if that is one of your ambitions. If you want to get into a good B-school in the US, your age and work experience will stand you in good stead. Most US B-schools prefer students with work experience. At the very best, your present employer will be happy to have you back if your track record with his firm has been good. However, if you already have an MBA from a good business school in India and going abroad is not one of your ambitions then the whole equation changes. I am a 27-year-old computer engineer and will be completing my MBA (Marketing & HRD) in June, 2001. Please advise me on the options open to me after my MBA so that both my engineering and management degrees are used optimally. I am very confused as to whether I should get into marketing or stick to the technical side. You have a great combination of qualifications that leave so many options open to you. My advice to you would be to find out where your interest and aptitude lie. If you are not too sure at this stage as to what would suit you, you could always try marketing or HRD for a while and then get back into technology. If you are ambitious and want to get into general management, then marketing or technology would be preferable to HRD. Another way to make optimum use of your qualifications would be to start working in the technology side of an infotech firm with a clear understanding of getting into marketing later or vice-versa. This would give you a solid grounding in two of the most important functions in the organisation. It would also help you decide which function you wish to specialise in. I am a 30-year-old graduate working as a stenographer for a Government of India enterprise for the past eight years. My present job is entirely secretarial in nature. I am in the process of completing my MBA in finance. I am interested in joining the private sector. Do you think I will be hired, and at what level do you think I should apply? You will have to apply at the entry level in the private sector since your experience as a stenographer will not be considered very relevant. However, if your current organisation gives you credit for your additional qualification and allows you a transfer to another job, that would be the best route to adopt, especially if that protects your years of service. You could always shift to the private sector later-maybe at a higher level than you could get in at now. Tarun Sheth, the senior consultant at the Mumbai-based recruitment and training consultancy firm, Shilputsi, addresses your career concerns every fortnight. Write to Help,Tarun!!! c/o Business Today, F-26, Connaught Place, New Delhi-1. BUILDING ME-INC Why would you leave a comfortable job with great perks and the promise of better things for a tougher job that comes with less pay? Some do because money and power are not always the motivating factors. For this episode of Building Me-Inc, Mily Chakrabarty catches up with the Corporate Indians taking the NGO route in their quest to make a difference. Ingrid Srinath
Srinath was looking for more than a job, and CRY gave her the gratification of knowing that she was doing much more than just enriching an anonymous shareholder. Apart from the 'feel good' factor, the job also provides her with a far greater challenge than a typical corporate job. She believes that she has learnt more about marketing and advertising, and handled far greater responsibilities in the last couple of years than in any of her earlier jobs. But all isn't fine with her switch from the corporate world. She had to take an 80 per cent cut in her pay. Srinath admits that the most difficult part was giving up her economic independence. But she had the advantage of a financial buffer in her spouse, who holds a corporate job. But she still misses some of the creature comforts of the corporate world. Well, you lose some and you gain some. Raghuvansh Saxena
But Saxena firmly believes that people who place satisfaction before monetary gains fit well into an NGO. The lack of high salaries is the one major factor that stops people from joining this sector. But he has been able to manage within the subsidised pay package as he is a bachelor. He believes that the social sector requires managers like him to professionalise and streamline the sector. |
|
Issue Contents Write to us Subscriptions Syndication INDIA TODAY | INDIA TODAY PLUS | COMPUTERS TODAY
| TEENS TODAY
© Living Media India Ltd |
 |
 |
I
am a 27-year-old with an MBA in marketing from a second-tier B-school and
have three years experience in concept selling. I work for a small company
that offers limited opportunities. Should I go in for an additional
qualification at this point of time? Do you think I should opt for a
computer course or do you advise sticking to sales?
After 13 years in advertising,
Ingrid Srinath's need to create a lasting impact brought her to CRY (Child Relief
and You) as Director (Resource Mobilisation). With a background in
marketing and advertising (she is a graduate from IIM-Calcutta, and her
last job was with Lintas, Mumbai, as a general manager), Ingrid fit right
into CRY's resource mobilisation cell. Today, she runs CRY's national
resource mobilisation efforts. CRY raises resources in a variety of ways.
Managing this involves addressing issues related to market analysis and
strategy, brand management, direct marketing, advertising, and media, both
online and offline.
He wanted to make a difference and not just
climb a corporate ladder. In 1996, Raghuvansh Saxena (an MBA from Birla
Institute of Management, Delhi) took the plunge after spending six years
as a consultant in the infotech industry (in companies like Olivetti and
Xerox Copiers). Even though his colleagues told him he was committing
''the ultimate professional mistake'' by quitting a booming industry, he
stuck to his guns, took a 50 per cent cut in his compensation package, and
joined the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). For the next couple of years,
he worked at the grassroots level on community management and
bio-diversity. Today, as the Head of Strategic Planning and Network
Coordination of the Fund, he works in tandem with other NGOs and
transnational organisations. He concedes that the career shift took a lot
of courage because it meant giving up the comforts of the corporate world.
