I am a 36-year-old chartered accountant with a reputed public sector company, a post I have held for the past two years. I also teach finance and accounting on a part-time basis. I have now realised that I enjoy teaching more. I am seriously considering taking up a full-time teaching job with a management institute in India or abroad. Is it advisable for me to switch from a corporate job to an academic one at this stage of my career? And to what extent will a PhD help me find a lucrative teaching assignment abroad?

I know quite a few people who have made the transition from the corporate world to academia. You must be absolutely clear that this change is in line with your long-term career objectives. Teaching part-time and holding down a corporate job gives you the best of both worlds. A full-time teaching job, however, is likely to be intellectually more demanding. You must also consider that academics are usually not as well paid as corporate executives. However, it is common practice for most academics abroad to supplement their income through consulting assignments. As to whether you would require a PhD to land an academic job abroad, that depends almost entirely on the profile of your future employer.

I am a 31-year-old post-graduate working as the training and placement officer in a private engineering college. My superiors have expressed their satisfaction with my performance in the past 12 months and have given me an increment on that basis. I would now like to enroll in a short-term programme from a reputed institution that would help me perform even better in my job. Kindly suggest some programmes.

There are several training and career enhancement programmes that are conducted by institutions like the Indian Institute of Training & Development, the All India Management Association, and most reputed business schools. These are short-term programmes and some of them are available in the distance learning format as well. Most of these programmes are flexible and can be taken up at any time of the year. For a start, you should research the programmes on offer and shortlist ones that appear most promising.

I am a 27-year-old management graduate from the Indian Institute of Labour Management, Delhi, with over three years of work experience. For the past year, I have been working in an automotive battery MNC as branch manager. Although I am happy with the job profile, I am not satisfied with the compensation. Should I look for another job that pays better or should I negotiate with my company for a higher salary? Do you think I should go in for a MBA from a premier institute to get on to the fast track?

You could try negotiating with your company but it is unlikely that you will succeed in your effort unless there are serious anomalies in your compensation structure and your peers are drawing much higher salaries than you are. Your best option would be to look for another job that pays better. To answer your second question, a degree in management from a premier B-school will undoubtedly help accelerate your career but that would require you to take a two-year break. If, at the age of 27, you are comfortable taking this break from your career, do so. Otherwise, a part-time management programme from a premier B-school might not be a bad option.

I am a second-year B.Com. student and have cleared the foundation exams for Chartered Accountancy (ca) and the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI). I am more interested in pursuing a MBA. I want to know whether it makes sense to club an accounting qualification with a MBA. Is it true that candidates who have a ca or an ICWA certificate along with a MBA diploma are given preference by recruiters?

A ca with a MBA is a good combination from the point of view of the job market. However, if you are seriously considering doing a MBA, you will need to put in a concentrated effort in your entrance exam preparation.This might not leave you with enough time to study for the ca exams. It is rare for undergraduate students to study for a MBA and ca exams at the same time. You could continue with the ca exams even after you have finished your MBA. If you have the aptitude for it and can manage your time well, I would definitely recommend doing all three at once.

Answers to your career concerns are contributed by Tarun Sheth (Senior Consultant) and Shilpa Sheth (Managing Partner) of HR firm, Shilputsi Consultants. Write to Help,Tarun! c/o Business Today, Videocon Tower, Fifth Floor, E-1, Jhandewalan Extn., New Delhi-110055.

Recruiter's Diary
Ever considered adding a line or two to make your CV look perfect? Think again, as Ronesh Puri explains how recruiters spot the loopholes.

Ronesh Puri, Managing Director, Executive Access

The curriculum vitae usually helps a recruiter form his first impression about the candidate. It is from this document that we first gauge the suitability of a candidate for an assignment. The final assessment, of course, is based on the CV as well as a personal meeting with the candidate.

Executive Access' internal studies and experience in the business indicate that more than 70 per cent of candidates state facts, not as they are, but as they assume will look impressive. What is surprising is that this trend is most predominant at the senior levels.

I recently had the chance to interact with one such candidate while conducting a CEO search for a large MNC. His CV was impressive. He came from a top B-school, had acquired experience across diverse industries and had a number of achievements to his credit.

In the personal interview, I proceeded with the usual probing to discern any contradictions in the CV. I noticed that he was extremely uncomfortable answering questions pertaining to the early part of his career. On investigating his background further, I discovered that he had grossly misrepresented facts relating to the first five years of his career. The MNC that he claimed to have worked with during that period confirmed that he had, in fact, worked there only for four months.

Hiding short tenures, claiming a colleague's achievements as one's own and fudging compensation details are shockingly common practices in India. Doctoring one's credentials to suit a job reflects poorly on a candidate's values and results in automatic rejection. Most experienced recruiters are well aware of these fudging techniques and can easily spot the loopholes in a CV. Some even hire dedicated verifiers to carefully investigate each fact mentioned in a CV. Remember that you might succeed in deceiving a recruiter on the odd occasion, but if you are caught, your career could be tainted for life.