Career Today: Help Tarun!!!

CAREERS TODAY: COUNSELLING
Help Tarun!!!

I am a mechanical engineer and a MBA, with four years of work experience. For the past three-and-a-half years, I have been working for an IT recruitment company at a senior management level. I have handled various types of assignments at this company-complete office management, client interface, compensation survey marketing, training, training needs analysis, need-gap analysis, and so on. I feel, considering the software slowdown, that I should start looking for a new job-even though I am not in any risk of losing my existing one. I have an inclination towards training, but I don't feel I have enough experience in that field to be able to find a lucrative job as a trainer. What do you suggest?

You need to undergo training if you want to be a trainer. A variety of courses is available. All you need to figure out is which area you wish to specialise in. But here, I must mention that in a slowdown, training budgets-more often than not-are slashed first. Thus, if you are looking for an alternative to combat the slowdown, this may not be the right answer. There are other careers you could pursue, like joining the hr department of a bigger company and then moving on to their training department. But do that once the economy is booming once again.

I am a 26-year-old MBA involved in space-selling in a media company for the past one year. Earlier, I was working for a product management company. Even though my present job is quite interesting, the compensation is very low. Should I look for a better opportunity at this stage of my career? What would be a more lucrative option: space-selling or product management?

It is very difficult to make a blanket statement on what is better. It depends on both the kind of job and the position you are looking for. If we are talking of consumer products, then product management may tend to pay more, though I would not like to make such a generalisation. It would depend a lot on the growth of your organisation and the concerned industry. For example, certain television channels pay their sales personnel very well. Also, there must have been a reason for your move to media sales, so you need to consider why you moved in the first place, and whether those reasons are still valid.

I am a 35-year-old senior marketing manager at a FMCG company. I am a MBA and have been working with this company for the past 10 years. Until a couple of years ago, I was on the company's list of high-performers. Not any longer; the reason behind my current poor performance is the head of the department's inability in assessing the market. However, the entire team is being blamed. What can I do to correct my position within the company? I fear to talk to someone senior about my boss' faulty strategies, as it would be politically wrong. Is looking out for another job my best option? Is this the best time to consider a shift?

It would not be a bad idea to talk to a senior. You have been in the company for the past decade, and have been a high performer. The company is likely to listen to what you have to say or at least look at it seriously. Having said this, organisations sometimes behave in ways that do not go with individual interests and hence, you must also start looking for a new job just in case your initiative is not looked upon kindly. However, I must warn you that now is not the time when you will necessarily get a job in a hurry. Consider that before you take the leap.

We are a team of four working in the marketing department of a Bangalore-based software company. Due to the existing market conditions we haven't been able to get many orders. Therefore, the management has not paid our salaries from April, this year. Although, we have managed to book orders worth Rs 40 lakh in the current financial year, the management has informed us that our performance is still not satisfactory. Our appointment letters make no mention of performance-based salary. How can we claim our salaries? Can we take any legal assistance?

Yes, you do have legal recourse and you need to get legal advice. Suffice it to say that under normal circumstances the company has to pay your services till your services are terminated. There are some strong legal remedies, and you could take legal advice to send a notice to the company. Check if this is a civil and/or a criminal offense (especially if pf contribution has not been paid by the company).

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.

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