En route to becoming a model teacher? FIIT-JEE's Manish Sharma at work in Delhi

In the next three years, we will be among the top three recruiters across all Indian Institute of Technologies," boasts D.K. Goel, who offered jobs to 102 IITians during last year's placement season. He must be one of those top it recruiters or at least the human resource head of a big engineering company, right? Wrong. Goel, hold your breath, is the Managing Director of Delhi-based Forum for IIT-Joint Entrance Examination (FIIT-JEE), the coaching company that runs 22 centres across the country for 10+2 students wishing to break into the exclusive IIT club. And the 85 fresh IIT graduates who finally joined him in 2004, work as Physics, Chemistry and Math instructors at FIIT-JEE centres across the country.

If you thought a bright, young IITian would have preferred a plum posting with a happening Indian or global firm, think again. At Career Point, another pre-engineering coaching institute, a third of the 350-strong faculty hails from IITs. It is much the same for institutes preparing students for B-schools, such as Career Launcher, which employs over 60 top business school graduates, 40 of them from the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). Another B-school focussed institute, Institute of Management Studies (IMS) boasts over 70 top B-school MBAs teaching full- and part-time at its 75 centres.

It isn't surprising that these schools should hire people from the IITs and IIMs. The boom in the education sector, the need to professionalise their operations, and competition are just some of the reasons why such schools, some 20 of which have mushroomed across India over the last decade, are focussing on hiring the best. The question that is begging to be asked, however, is: what's in it for young engineers and PGDBMs from institutes such as IITs and IIMs?

Money, Life And Growth

"They offered me something different, freedom," says Anirudh Phatke, a 35-year-old IIM Lucknow alum on his reason for joining Career Launcher right after his graduation in 1999. "I did not want a corporate job; the teaching bug had bitten me," says Phatke, who tried his hand at human resource consulting with PeopleOne in Bangalore for some time before returning to Career Launcher in 2003. Or take the case of 25-year-old Manish Sharma, who graduated in textile engineering from IIT, Delhi four years ago. He always wanted to be a teacher and FIIT-JEE paid well.

People such as Sharma are consciously choosing to enter the vocation; there is no hint of being bulldozed by either circumstance or lack of job options. "There is simply no frustration, for the IIT label could have got me any other job," says Sharma.

A full-time teacher, especially one from an IIT or IIM, starts at a salary of Rs 6-8 lakh per annum, with those who stick on reaping the rewards pretty fast. According to FIIT-JEE's Goel, Sharma's employer, the IIT-Delhi alum is thriving at his job; if all goes well, he hints, Sharma could be earning double the Rs 6 lakh he does now, next year. Now, even happening industry sectors such as aviation, media, entertainment or it do not offer 100 per cent jumps in compensation within a year of joining.

Switching gears: IIM-graduate Anirudh Phatke (left) and IITian Satyendra Kumar have been bitten by the teaching bug

"There is nothing better than teaching. Every other job breeds monotony," says Satyendra Kumar, a faculty member at Career Point, Kota, Rajasthan. After graduating from IIT Kharagpur in 2001, Kumar, 26, came to Kota to teach simply because he finds cracking IIT-JEE question papers challenging. With just four years of teaching experience behind him, Kumar, who gets paid Rs 14 lakh per annum, is already a hot favourite in this coaching institute town, with job offers pouring in from most competing institutes almost every day.

Other Designs

Even though these coaching institutes have become a serious career option for many premier engineering and management school graduates, there are others for whom it is just a short-term affair on the road to better things, or simply a second source of income. "Yes, there are some people who use these institutes as a stop-gap arrangement, but it's rare," says Ritesh Hemrajani, Regional Director at IMS.

For 30-year-old Nikunj Bhagat, an IIM, Bangalore alumnus and a chartered accountant by profession, teaching at IMS in Kolkata was a ticket back to his hometown after working for a year with Hewitt Associates in Delhi. "It's a good floatation device in terms of money," says Bhagat, who, while he enjoys his stint at IMS, has his heart set on growing his ca practice in Kolkata. Whatever the recruit's reasons for joining, clearly these coaching institutes have their flags firmly placed at the best engineering and management institutes in the country. Infosys, Hindustan Lever and McKinsey, please take note.

COUNSELLING
Help, Tarun!

I am a 30-year-old engineer working for a steel manufacturing company. My manager, a very focussed and driven person, reaches office before others, works long hours and is willing to sacrifice family and friends for work. The problem is that he expects his staff (including me) to emulate him. While I do my work sincerely, I feel I should also give adequate time to my family for a more balance, less stressful life. How do I approach my boss on this?

Although you may find it difficult to get through to your boss, try raising the 'work-life balance' issue in a subtle way so that he, at least, starts thinking about it. If, however, you feel that he resents you in some way or has told you in no uncertain terms what his expectations are, you probably need to have a chat with him. I'm sure there must be others in your office in a similar position. In that case, you could all approach your boss' superior together, who may be able to counsel him. Having said all this, I must also tell you that there are times when deadlines dictate long hours and hard work, and you need to be able to cope with this.

I am 28 years old and work for a mid-rung pharmaceutical company. I've been offered a job with another pharma company that is one of the leaders in the country, and the pay packet offered is also much better than what I get now. Normally, I wouldn't have thought twice about joining this company, but the problem is that I have received negative feedback on my future manager from friends who work in that company. Should I take the job?

Without having any specific information on what exactly the issue is with your future boss, it will be difficult for me to give you any specific advice. Generally speaking, however, if it is something you think you can handle or at least ride out for a couple of years, then go for it. You will at least gain some experience, which will only add to your resume and boost your future career prospects. On the other hand, if you think you are going to be miserable, then you need to give this offer a second thought. But, do remember that sometimes one can get the best possible training only under a tough boss. Remember the timeless saying: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

I am a 60-year-old retired civil servant and along with three of my relatives, I wish to open a chain of restaurants. Although I don't have any kind of training/experience, my would-be partners have enough of it. The problem is that we don't have sufficient finances, so we're thinking of taking a loan. Do you think entering into a new territory is a good idea at this stage of my life? Also, do you think that I should undertake some kind of training?

There are many people for whom retirement doesn't necessarily mean an end of their professional life. However, don't put your entire retirement money into the business. Make sure you keep a certain sum aside so that there is a fall back option if the business doesn't do well. Secondly, choose your partners carefully and remember too many cooks always spoil the broth. And even if your partners are experts, I suggest you undertake some training. When you take a loan, make sure you and your partners have equal collateral in it. Lastly, it is a bad idea to do business with relatives. All I can say is that it tends to complicate things.

I'm a highly-qualified music teacher in a small-town boarding school. Although I've made numerous improvements to the school's instrumental music programme, I experience incessant bullying from a person they hired to co-teach chorus with me. This co-teacher, a housewife, doesn't even have a formal music degree. This lack of qualification (and knowledge) has probably made her insecure, and I believe she is spreading rumours about my lack of ability. All this is hurting my self-esteem. Should I quit?

Is it the co-teacher's insecurity or is it your own? If you are insecure, it will give others a chance to take advantage of it and as a result, the gap between the two of you will only get bigger. I suggest you see this co-teacher as an ally rather than an adversary. Once you start treating her like that, you may be surprised to see her attitude change. I must also bring to your notice that legendary musicians Vishnu Digamber Paluskar or Lata Mangeshkar did not have formal degrees in music. Always remember that in every school, there is going to be some amount of politics and you will have to learn to deal with it.

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..

Headhunting The Headhunter
It's a buoyant job market for headhunters too!

Stanton Chase's Venkat Shastry: Headhunters add value

A buoyant job market and a steady influx of new executive search firms over the past year or so has resulted in an interesting trend of headhunters being headhunted. Across the hierarchy of executive search firms, from consultants upwards, offers are literally pouring in from corporates, competition, even second tier placement firms. At the partner level, it's quite a mixed bag with offers to head new search firms, even offers to join the corporate bandwagon as hr heads becoming the norm today. "Corporates are beginning to realise that headhunters add value," explains Venkat Shastry, a partner at executive search firm Stanton Chase. Even top business school graduates are looking at executive search as a serious start-up career option these days, primarily to receive some exposure to top management. There has been a 20-25 per cent growth in salaries for headhunters, with partners taking home almost Rs 35-40 lakh per annum, and that's not including the 30 per cent plus incentives on placements they make.

-Amanpreet Singh

Bank(ing) On Relationships
Banks cannot have enough of relationship managers.

May I help you? A relationship manager at work

It was bound to happen. A strong economy, a buoyant stock market and sky-high corporate salaries have fuelled the demand for 'relationship managers' across banks in India. With more money in an average middle-to-upper class Indian's pocket, he/she is not just saving and spending, but looking at investing wisely. It's here that the banks' relationship managers come in, both in prospecting for new consumers (and there are enough out there with retail banking penetration at just 8 per cent) and helping manage existing consumers' portfolio across products such as deposits, loans and investment in stocks and mutual funds. "The customer is doing us a favour by banking with us and we need to nurture the relationship," says K. Ramkumar, Head (HR), ICICI Bank. No wonder all banks, public, private or foreign, are hiring relationship managers with a vengeance. Such is the demand that anyone with an MBA will do, greenhorns included. ICICI Bank alone is hiring 500 relationship managers for its retail banking operations across India, South-East Asia and West Asia; the requirement across the industry is an estimated 10,000-12,000 new openings this year.

-Supriya Shrinate