BUSINESS TODAY

They don't have top gun self-images, but they do understand that high returns entail high risk. That seems to be what they were thinking when they took up jobs right in the centre of two of the most volcanic parts of the world: Iraq and Afghanistan.

What else were they thinking? And what are they thinking now? Not much, hopefully, about kidnappings and other scares. That would be awful for morale. Ever since December 2003, when the ticker-tape rattled off news of two Indians working on Afghan highway reconstruction kidnapped by suspected Taliban guerrillas, relatives and well-wishers of anyone working in a hotspot have half missed a beat every time they've heard of violence involving non-combatants.

Most of the danger is media alarmism, aver some. "It is actually quite safe in the day," says Rajan Sharma, Group General Manager, Telecom Consultants India Limited (TCIL), who has made four visits to Afghanistan after TCIL won a contract last year from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (mea) to set up and operate computer centres across the war-ravaged country. "But at night," he concedes, "things can get slightly dicey, so we stay inside. It is quite safe in most places, but in Kandahar and Jalalabad things can get hairy." Having set up five computer centres in Kabul, Heart, Jalalabad, Kandahar, and Pol-e Khumbri, TCIL has over 50 personnel in Afghanistan at any given moment. The project, says Sharma, is a success.

So is it work as usual most of the time? Not really. Caution is the operating principle. The use of security services, for instance, is de rigeur. "As much as possible," says Sharma, "we do not take cars across the country, because there are flights operated by the local airlines or the United Nations. But to go to Pol-e Khumbri, we have to take taxis. The Indian Embassy in Kabul does help in organising security approved transport."

Yet, he adds, the biggest problem facing TCIL employees in Afghanistan is not bullets, but boredom. "Well, we're stuck inside a basic hotel room, and the only entertainment is cable TV-and there are places where there is no TV either. However, once in a while we do rent out DVDs. Thankfully, you get the latest Bollywood and Hollywood movies."

The bland fact is that some of the most desperate-to-be-done jobs are in places that are far from comfortable. P.S. Pravin, Senior Engineer, Punj Lloyd, cites the instance of his company's pipeline-laying work in Georgia to pump oil from Russia to the Black Sea-winding through some of the most treacherous terrain of the globe.

Manpower, says Pravin, has never been a problem. "We have sent 160 people to Georgia, including 50 of our own staff, the rest being labourers. Most people we feel just want to go abroad and earn in dollars, and they do not care where they have to go," he says.

Perhaps a bolder danger zone veteran is the RPG Group company KEC. With experience in the strife-torn Algeria of the 1990s and sanction-hobbled Libya of the recent past, it makes no secret of the subcontract work it is doing for the US-led Allied coalition in Iraq. KEC is helping rebuild the country's power transmission infrastructure.

It's critical work, says Ramesh Chandak, Managing Director, KEC. "As a company," he says, "we need to expand, and there is work in Iraq, and there is no reason why we should not do it." The opportunity in Iraqi infrastructure projects tops $20 billion (Rs 8,800 crore), by his reckoning, and the foolhardiness would be in letting it pass. The company is currently working in zones of relative (a big word) quietude: Basra in southern Iraq and Erbil in the Kurdish territories. "There should be no controversy about this work," says Chandak, in whose view any cross-country infrastructure project involves some dangers that need to be mitigated through precautionary processes. "In fact, our experience has taught us that it is often far more dangerous working in certain parts of India than in the Middle East and Africa," he adds, only partly for effect. "We did transmission work in Jammu & Kashmir during the height of the insurgency. Our employees know full well the dangers of the job they are doing."

No matter what companies say, postings to places such as Iraq are not routine-and must be compensated for. Firms do not disclose money figures, but speak of "dollar earnings", other salary incentives and "generous insurance".

So-have things gone awry? Chandak clams up a bit, but regains himself to make the point that people working to alleviate the country's pains are unlikely to be attacked. People need infrastructure rebuilt, and they need people doing it who understand their trauma.

The point he doesn't make is the difference in goodwill levels between people from, say, the US and from India (unless that's just a myth from the old days). It's noteworthy that the mea has not issued a travel advisory dissuading Indians from Iraq, even if it urges caution. All said, it's not all black and white: it takes a fine calculation of probabilities to see when reward expectations outweigh the risks.

Want to play a snoop? An interesting new job on the block is that of a store detective. Nabbing shoplifters-or kleptomaniacs-is an accurate version of the job description, though that is an oversimplification. In large-format stores such as Big Bazaar at Gurgaon's Sahara Mall, you have to be a tech-savvy detective, plugged into a maze of close-circuit TV monitors and theft-beepers. "There is extensive monitoring at all counters where impulse to lift the product is higher," reveals Sameer Mathur, Operations Manager, Pantaloon Retail India Limited. The stiffer challenge is in using your understanding of the human mind to gauge whether the smartly turned out lady is concealing, say, an 'under-dress' on her way out. And this, without being offensive.

I am a first class commerce graduate working with a call centre for two years now. Of late, I've started to feel that my job isn't challenging enough and that I need a change. After considering a few options, I've decided to go in for a career in investment banking. In keeping with this goal, I have even signed up for a certificate course on finance and a simultaneous three-month part-time certificate programme on capital markets. Will these qualifications help me get a good break in an asset management company or a leading stock-broking firm?

While the courses you are currently pursuing could help you initially, you will need a degree, preferably an MBA with specialisation in finance, if you want to make it big in an extremely competitive industry such as investment banking. Since you are a first-class commerce graduate, you should consider enrolling with a first-rung B-school. Simultaneously, you should go in for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) course. If you acquire these qualifications, you will stand a sporting chance of making it big in the financial sector.

I am a 30-year-old marketing agent working with an auto parts manufacturing major ever since I graduated in commerce nine years ago. The company I have been working with has been satisfied with my performance in my present capacity over the years. However, despite there being many opportunities for growth in the industry, my career has not progressed much. When I took this matter up with my superiors, they politely hinted to me that I should forget about rising any higher in the organisation given my present qualifications. Is it too late for me to go in for additional qualifications that will qualify me for higher positions in the industry?

Consider doing an MBA. You are only 30 and can afford to take two years off to pursue the qualification. This would put you in a position to bargain for the best and further your prospects in the industry. Even otherwise, I am sure there are plenty of other auto components players that would be happy to give you the career break you want despite your lack of additional qualifications. If you haven't made much progress so far, it could be because you haven't tried hard enough.

I am a middle level manager working with a leading FMCG company. Recently, the company adopted a strategy to wipe out the middle management altogether and hire low-cost trainees in its place. This cannot be a simple cost-cutting exercise since the company posted record profits in the last financial year. Growth at the middle management level is also being consciously hindered by the seniors. Most of my colleagues have been forced to leave and I am beginning to feel that I am the next target. What should I do?

The first thing you must realise is that it is not just you who is being targeted-your colleagues were forced to leave too. It could be that the senior management is trying to achieve a lean structure in the company. While I say this though, I must confess that companies do go a little overboard on the lean structure bit and then suffer from problems like succession. There is nothing you can do about it except concentrate on doing your job well. If the insecurity is too great, you could start looking for a change.

I am a 43-year-old executive working with a multinational bank. Until recently, the bank was giving perks separately, not clubbing them with the salary, for taxation reasons. The bank has now decided to pay us a consolidated salary wherein the tax liability is quite substantial. The management has also told us that all the staff members will be treated as consultants and paid a consolidated amount. In real terms, this is a sizeable loss for most employees. What can we do?

You could collectively approach the management and sort things out. When a company goes in for such consolidation, it usually does so to avoid the burden of multiple points of taxation and the resultant expenses. If, however, your real income gets affected as a result of this rationalisation, you need to ask the management to compensate you adequately for the loss incurred. In most instances, organisations are more than happy to rectify oversights that result from such changes since their gains far outweigh what they would have to pay out additionally to the affected employees. However, if the bank adopts a take-it-or-leave-it attitude, you should consider looking for another job.

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

Have BPO salaries plateaued out? The industry has been rife with speculation. After all, demand for call centre agents has been such that entry-level salaries have hit the monthly Rs 7,500-16,000 zone (for international operations). For well-trained people, the scales are higher. No wonder hr chiefs are still fretting over poaching. Deepak Dhawan, VP (HR), EXL Service, is hopeful that, "more cooperation within the industry over data support and sharing of information are bound to ensure better employment practices and shape up the rules of the game". Could a fall in recruitment rivalry rein in runaway salaries? Unlikely, feels Vipul Prakash, Partner, Elixir Web Solutions, who is of the view that the "depreciating dollar, increasing facilities, and mushrooming call centres will not let the salaries nosedive despite the consolidation". The fact is, new players are always hungry for talent. "More companies obviously mean more business, and the volume of transaction compensates for profit margins," says S.V. Raja, Vice President (HR), Wipro Spectramind. Salaries, then, are still on an incline. Competitive market forces are still in charge, consolidation or not.

-Supriya Shrinate

Your Money For Your Life
Want to be a Certified Financial Planner (CFP)?

CFP effect: Helping people think way ahead

Quick, what's common between a valet and a certified financial planner (CPF)? The former is responsible for your appearance, while the latter helps give you the cash to keep up appearances. Except that CPFs are 'certified' by the Association of Financial Planners (AFP). "In layman's terms, a CPF acts as the personal financial guide for a client in order to help him achieve his financial goals over his lifetime," says Rohit Sarin, Partner & CFP, Client Associates. ''This," he elaborates, ''is done by gathering a client's personal financial data in terms of his aspirations and existing financial situation, quantifying the aspirations into a financial goal, assessing the client's risk-taking ability, designing investment and insurance plans in order to achieve the objectives of the financial plan, and monitoring and reviewing the financial plan in terms of the changing life situation." Apart from interpersonal and analytical skills, CPFs must be skilled in finance, accountancy, tax, investment, insurance, law or counselling to gain certification. Compensation? Make a guess. It has huge scope for value enhancement, is a new field, and there are only 1,000-odd CPFs around in India currently-in the face of significant latent demand.

-Payal Sethi