Mamta Mittal, Team Leader, Evalueserve EVALUESERVE (Gurgaon) Number of Employees 850 Employee Profile MBAs, CAs, Engineers, PhDs and Lawyers Average Salary Rs 6-12 lakh per annum

Move over business Process Outsourcing (BPO) outfits. It's now the turn of Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) units to hog the recruitment limelight in the it-enabled services sector, what with the demand of 50,000 new people every year for the next five years.

"High value-added research, call it KPO or anything else, has a huge potential for growth in India," says Sunil Mehta, Vice-President (Research) at National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM). Currently at just under $1 billion (Rs 4,400 crore), the Indian KPO industry is set to grow 12-fold to $12 billion (Rs 52,800 crore) in the next five years, according to nasscom.

But what exactly is a KPO? Well, it's off-shored backend work that can be done relatively cheaply in India, much like the work BPOs do, but it's higher on the value ladder both in terms of employee skills and price realisations. Currently, there are about 300 KPOs in India, providing employment to close to 60,000 people.

A KPO essentially handles backend work in areas such as credit research, equity research, investment research, patent filing, intellectual property, asset management, and legal and insurance claims processing. And unlike a BPO's average English-speaking graduates, this work requires specialists such as chartered accountants (CAS), science graduates and post-graduates, MBAs, market researchers, engineers, lawyers and, in some instances, even doctors to man the operations.

Global Exposure, Good Money

Suresh Kumar, Assistant Manager, Scope eKnowledge

SCOPE EKNOWLEDGE (Chennai) Number of Employees 380 Employee Profile Science graduates,post graduates, MBAs, Engineers, PhDs and the occasional Doctor Average Salary Rs 5 lakh per annum

For 29-year-old Mamta Mittal, a qualified ca and also an MBA, it was the sheer monotony of research work she was doing at CrisInfac, a Mumbai-based rating agency, that made her turn to Evalueserve, a Gurgaon-based research services KPO. Now as a team leader with Evalueserve, her work not only involves standardising the financial statements of various companies so that they adhere to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), but also handling a team of 40 people, all of whom either have a ca qualification or an MBA under their belt. "Here (in Evalueserve), people are hungry as well as aggressive, and that promotes growth," says Mittal. She is now looking forward to becoming a manager and leading a team of over 100 people.

And it isn't just a good salary, upwards of Rs 5 lakh per annum even for greenhorns, that makes professionals like Mittal opt for KPOs. "It is a sunrise industry where professionals get to deal with decision makers and strategists worldwide," says Ashish Gupta, Country Head and coo, Evalueserve.

He's right. Global exposure and the prospect of jumping into a growth sector early on is attracting professionals across various disciplines to KPO jobs. Take the case of 24-year-old Susmitha Sundarlal, Head (Legal Practice) at the Chennai centre of New York-based KPO, Office Tiger. After graduating in law with a specialisation in intellectual property, Sundarlal worked as a litigation lawyer, first with the bar president in Chennai and then with the law firm G&W Associates.

Ashish Mistry, Instrumentation Engineer, Neilsoft

NEILSOFT (Pune, Bangalore) Number of Employees 400 Employee Profile Engineers (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Computer Science) Average Salary Rs 8-10 lakh per annum

"I moved from the traditional law practice to a KPO job because legal process outsourcing is an expanding area," says Sundarlal, who got the exposure to interact with and also learn the intricacies of us laws from us attorneys during her induction trip to New York. Today, she makes decisions related to real estate leases and litigation coding for us-based clients. "There is just a final consultation with the client, but my decisions are usually accepted," says Sundarlal.

Staying In Touch

For 30-year-old Suresh Kumar, who has a masters degree in chemistry and an MBA, it was again not just the monotony of his job as a chemist with Orchid Chemicals that made him opt for Scope eKnowledge (SEK), a Chennai-based KPO into scientific, technical and medical services. "I wanted to learn new things, see history being made instead of just studying the past," says Kumar. Today as an Assistant Manager with SEK, Kumar handles a team of 45 people working on cutting edge research in chemical taxonomy.

Susmitha Sunderlal, Head (Legal Practice) Office Tiger

OFFICE TIGER (Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore) Number of Employees 2,500 Employee Profile CAs, MBAs, PhDs, Lawyers and Graphic Designers Average Salary Rs 7-12 lakh per annum

"First, there was information technology and now there is engineering technology," explains Ketan Bakshi, Founder & MD of Neilsoft, a Pune-based engineering service KPO. Bakshi sees engineers who had left their disciplines to join the it bandwagon coming back to their domains for doing interesting work through KPOs.

Thirty-five-year-old Ashish Mistry, an instrumentation engineer who worked with Godrej Soaps, Dalal Projects and Mott MacDonald before moving to Neilsoft, is one such. "The job here provides me with global exposure," says Mistry. At Neilsoft, Mistry's work includes designing end-to-end solutions-from conceptualising to structural analysis to detailed drawings-for companies in Europe and the us in industries as varied as steel fabrication and construction.

With KPOs' annual revenue per employee ranging from $20,000 (Rs 8,80,000) to $120,000 (Rs 52,80,000) per annum, almost five-times that of an average BPO, employers have already upped their ante on retention and recruitment strategies. One example: there are no odd hours for KPO employees. Then, there is the prospect of learning from the best in the field and overseas induction trips to boot. "In time, more work involving decision-making will be outsourced to India," says Joseph Siegelman, co-CEO of Office Tiger. An employees market, did you say?

COUNSELLING
Help, Tarun!

I am a 60-year-old retired IFS (Indian Forest Service) officer with more than 30 years work experience. Besides having a Master's degree in Agriculture and Forestry, I also have a PhD in Forestry from a well-known German university. I am currently working for an NGO as a forestry specialist for Uttaranchal, but I do not find this job challenging or satisfying enough. I am at a stage in my life where I would like to give back something to society. What kind of a job would be best-suited for someone like me?

First of all, do you want to do something related to forestry only or are you open to exploring other avenues too? How about social service? You can either work as a volunteer in an old age home or, even better, open your very own NGO. With the kind of background you have, working for a cooperative is another area open to you. Then, there are these foreign organisations that undertake various social forestry projects from time to time. So, you could also try your luck there. With the kind of administrative and organisational skills you have or must have acquired over the years, in addition to your rather impressive qualifications, it won't be long before opportunities come knocking at your door.

I am 20 years old, and have recently graduated in BSc (Maths). I want to get into the information technology (IT) sector and, therefore, am planning to complete levels O, A, B and C exams of DOEACC. However, my friends say the courses offered by institutions like DOEACC or IGNOU do not have any market value and are a sheer wastage of both time and money. What kind of a course/courses should I undertake in terms of having a long-term career in IT?

At this point, the best thing for you to do would be a post graduation in it. There are various institutions that offer an MCA (Masters in Computer Applications). You could also try your hands at short-term software courses. With a degree in Maths, you could easily qualify for most of these programmes. You could also go in for an MBA (Masters of Business Administration), with a specialisation in it. But remember that before getting yourself enrolled into any institution, do try and find out whether it has a placement cell in place and what its (placement) record has been till date.

I am a 26-year-old Group C government employee with nearly seven years of work experience. I got this job while I was still doing my graduation in Commerce. I have done my post-graduation in Economics and now, I want to pursue an MBA. But, I have some doubts about the appropriateness of my experience-for the first five years, I was in the Railways' ticket checking cadre and thereafter, I was supervising revenue collection and passenger amenities. Will my experience count during campus recruitment or should I switch to the corporate sector right away?

Your earlier experience may count for nothing when it comes to campus placement post MBA. (However, as far as your selection for MBA is concerned, it will not do you any harm). Remember, any job at the clerical level is not given too much credit, even if it is in the corporate sector. You are only 26 and, though your earlier experience will be discounted, you will still be in good shape at campus placement. So, don't waste any more time and just get yourself enrolled for an MBA programme at the earliest. Armed with an MBA degree, getting into the corporate sector would be quite easy.

I am an insurance advisor with a leading private insurance company. I have a (three-year) diploma from the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology and am currently pursuing a PG diploma in Business Management. Simultaneously, I am also pursuing an engineering degree from AIME. I recently passed my Insurance Regulatory Development Authority test. My ultimate goal is to set up my own business. Please advise on whether I should do my specialisation in HR or marketing?

You seem to be the jack of all trades-insurance, plastics, engineering, management-that is quite a combination! But then, if you can make the most of it all, nothing like it. But since your ultimate goal is to start your own business, I suggest you go in for a double specialisation (if possible) in hr as well as marketing. What's more, even if you are forced to shelve your business plans due to some reason or the other at some point of time in the future, you could very well find yourself at a senior-level position, thanks to your rather impressive qualifications.

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..

Job-hunter Go South
South and services sector dominate new hirings.

There are hardly any surprises in the ma FOI Employment Survey for July-September 2005. With it and ITEs sectors most bullish on recruitment, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the South dominates the hiring binge, with three cities-Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad-featuring in the top five. There is hiring buoyancy in service companies, and even old economy sectors such as textiles and chemicals are creating new jobs.

-Shailesh Dobhal

Jobs For Supply Side People
Surging sales spell jobs down the supply chain.

Supplies are here: Thanks to the supply chain

There is an unlikely job profile that is becoming hot in the current sales boom being witnessed across the consumer goods industry. Whilst marketing and sales pros keep the consumer and trade hooked on to the brand, it is the unglamorous, back-room supply-chain professionals towards whom corporate India is turning to ensure uninterrupted flow of merchandise, as well as to keep costs in tight check.

So much so that companies such as Hindustan Lever, Philips India, Gillette India, Tata Motors and LG Electronics have completely separated their supply chain functions, hitherto clubbed with marketing, sales or finance. "It is necessary for us to focus on the supply chain, and so the empowerment of this as a separate division was important", says S.N. Rai, Head (Supply Chain & Logistics), LG Electronics. Companies are aggressively recruiting MBAs, engineers, even chartered accountants (CAS) for managing their supply chains. And with a starting salary of Rs 5 lakh per annum for a supply chain executive, it's a pretty good option for anyone starting out.

-Supriya Shrinate