I am an economist who has been recently appointed the dean of a prestigious B-school. I have been an academic throughout my career but regard this particular assignment as a stepping stone towards my ultimate goal-entry into the corporate world. I would like to work as a senior economist or a consultant with a big-time corporate. How do I go about this and what is the best way to identify long-term opportunities?

Your position as a B-school dean can act as an ideal vantage point for you to spot opportunities and pick lucrative offers from corporates. You should begin by accepting invitations to various high-profile business events that increase your interaction with the industry. Organisations in sectors like banking, insurance, and financial services are usually more inclined to hiring economists. Public sector companies present another option for a person of your qualifications. As an economist, you must strive to keep in constant touch with top-level managers of companies as well as heads of industry associations.

I began my career at one of the biggest car manufacturers in India. The same company sponsored my MBA. After some years I moved on to a consulting firm to work as a software consultant. Six months on, I quit the consulting firm to join an e-business start-up. I have been with that firm ever since. However, I am not happy. I wish to switch sectors again but am not sure about my chances. Should I try returning to the automobile sector? Please advise.

Apart from e-business and automobiles, you could consider taking up a job in the consulting sector as a specialist in one of the sectors you have worked in. You could also go back to the automobile sector in a function that interests you, possibly the same company you started off in. In any case, given the experience that you have acquired since you last worked with the company, such a move should not be too difficult. You are not likely to encounter too much difficulty in switching to another function, provided of course that you are willing to compromise on the remuneration.

I am a businessman and have run my family-owned enterprise with some success so far. But of late, my business has come under tremendous pressure. The industry I am in is changing rapidly and the chances of my company's survival are getting dimmer. I feel the need to acquire new skills to be able to cope with the new challenges. The obvious choice seems to be a degree in management, but I cannot afford to take a couple of years off to do that. The other option would be to close shop and find a job, but the offers I have received for my business are not attractive. I am also not much of a team player when it comes to working for somebody else. What should I do?

If you want to stay in business, you need to look at diversifying into areas that are more lucrative. Another option would be to sell the business and get a job. This way, you will have some money in the bank as well as a regular source of income. If this is not possible, you should opt for a part-time management course. Most major universities and business schools all over the country offer part-time management programmes for working professionals. You could try enrolling in the five-month executive management programme offered by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Finally, you need to remember that being a team player is as essential to running a business as it is to working for others. Maybe the lack of team spirit had something to do with your business running into rough weather in the first place.

I was about to sign a one-year contract as a support officer with a company when I came upon a rather odd clause that said I would be entitled to medical leave only after six months of employment. Is such a clause in the employment contract legal?

Yes, it is. Many companies have clauses that allow their employees to take leave after six months or a year. This is particularly true of medical and privilege leave. Such clauses are also related to the tenure of a contract. Many companies do not have any provision for medical leave in a short, one-year contract. Most good companies, however, are flexible in applying such clauses to employees they deem valuable.

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.

SECTOR WATCH
Jobs Galore
With growth expected to double every year for the next five years, IT-enabled services promises to be a hot sector with endless job opportunities.

S. Varadarajan, VP (Talent Engagement & Devt.), Wipro Spectramind

India is emerging a favourite destination for it-enabled services (ITES) companies and is increasingly being seen as having the potential to become the back office to the world. According to a report by McKinsey and Co., the global market for ITES is projected to grow to $140 billion by 2008. India, the firm reckons, will have around $21 billion of this business. The industry is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 100 per cent, creating a million direct jobs in the market. A clutch of ITES firms such as Convergys and Daksh is already catering to global corporate clients such as Amazon, Yahoo, Dell, and Microsoft.

ITES offer candidates an opportunity to choose a career that balances work and fun. The opportunity to branch out into a functional or technical niches depends upon the interests and expertise of the individual. ITES need people with experience and skills in areas as diverse as logistics, engineering, marketing, law, and accounting. More than anything else, this industry demands from its employees the ability to rapidly adapt to new situations.

The minimum qualification required for an entry-level job in the it-enabled services sector is a bachelor's degree in any discipline or an equivalent qualification. It is absolutely essential to have good communication skills. Undergraduates over 18 years of age are also considered for certain positions. Besides this, the other essential qualities required are good listening skills, initiative, an ability to work hard and handle stress.

Most ITES companies conduct intensive training programmes that help candidates acquire the necessary skills. Training is an essential component of high-performance work systems; these systems rely on frontline employees to identify and resolve problems, to initiate changes in work methods, and to take responsibility for quality.

There is a perennial demand for middle-level managers having strong communication skills and leadership qualities in this sector. Managers with an it-background command a premium.

The growth of ITES has led to the emergence of a new class of professional process managers who are responsible for driving the business process, for providing end-to-end solutions, for customer satisfaction, and for managing the rest of the team. They form a critical link in the value chain of the industry.

ITES is still in its infancy. But with core India-related strengths like lower costs and higher returns, opportunities for people to grow in this sector are tremendous in the foreseeable future.

Jargon-Bender: Deadheading

Deadheading refers to the act of circumventing senior employees by promoting more qualified, but junior, employees with a view to bringing about a strategic renewal of an orgnisation's prospects.

As companies grow, they need employees at decision-making levels with different skill-sets than the existing ones. More often than not, this fresh talent comes from within the organisations themselves. The promotion of younger people over the heads of older employees is a form of shock therapy that can revive the flagging fortunes of organisations with ageing workforces and obsolescent skill-sets. Such a policy could also have negative fallouts such as mass exodus of middle-level staffers who cannot be easily replaced or widespread demoralisation of long-time employees and a loss of loyalty and goodwill.

The term, however, has an different meaning when applied to the transportation industry, where it stands for the movement of empty vehicles to a place where they are needed and also the practice of providing free transportation for the company's employees (a form of freeloading, in other words).