New resources for Indian students

UCL

Meena Gurunathan Raju, an assistant with UCL careers service, has developed a series of handouts for Indian students looking to find jobs back home. These handouts compliment the session we run at Royal Holloway called “Find that job in India” which takes place in the Spring term.

Meena’s handouts cover the general economic situation in India, a guide to job-hunting and a useful reference guide for Indian style CVs and application forms. Copies of these can be obtained from the careers service, Horton building. You can also download them here: Economic Overview; Job hunting; CVs.

Thank you to Meena and the team at UCL for sharing these resources.

Indian graduates can stay in touch!

International students careers adviser, Andrew Falconer, recently met with the creator of an exciting new social networking site for Indian students who have studied in the UK.

Graduation often means saying goodbye to cherished friends and heading off on separate paths in different places. For Indian students who graduate this year, an excellent way of keeping in touch with fellow classmates and alumni is by becoming part of Indian Student Network in the UK, or INSTUK. INSTUK is a rapidly growing online social network established in April this year to provide Indian students in the UK

Registering is easy – just log on here  fill in your details and start networking!– past, current and aspiring – a platform to keep in touch, exchange useful information regarding student life in the UK and alert them to recruitment and other opportunities in the UK and India. Since April, INSTUK has registered almost 500 members, and is fast emerging as a vibrant and lively online community. Created by Admission Overseas, a leading UK education consultancy in India, INSTUK is the perfect way for Indian students in the UK to keep in touch and provides them, as well as those planning to come here for higher education in the near future, a great virtual support structure in many ways.

Marks and Spencers India needs you!

Today I visited with Shalini Naagar, Head of Human Resources for Marks and Spencer Pvt Ltd. Marks and Spencer’s have two distinct operations in India. MSI (Marks and Spencer India) is a wholly owned subsidiary company which is responsible for the ethical sourcing or products for M&S in the UK and overseas. Marks and Spencer Pvt Ltd is the retail business which currently operates fourteen stores in India. This organisation is a partnership between M&S and Reliance with M&S controlling operations in retail and Reliance providing infrastructural and logistic support. The company was formed by buying out previous franchise operations.

India is known as a nation of entrepreneurs and shop-keepers but there is a strong move towards branded retail outlets in the many malls being developed throughout the country. When I visited M&S in Gurgoan, Delhi, I passed one fully functioning retail mall with another large retail development being constructed close by. Marks and Spencer’s has very much focused on the elite high end market which still forms its development strategy over the next few years. M&S intend to hold fifty stores in the next five years. The company currently employs 325 staff but will more than double that over the next five years.

The company recruits into two central areas – retail and head office. Retail positions start with Store Advisor  to Supervisors and Store Managers. Progression is encouraged including laterally to Head Office.

Head Office business areas fall under a line structure from the CEO to department managers of Retail, Merchandising and Purchasing, Marketing, HR, Finance. Typical entry level for graduates would be around R 25000 per month.

Recruitment is through print media and online jobs boards but speculative letters are not encouraged. The company operates a staff referral scheme where employees can encourage friends to apply for jobs there. Many store advisors will be graduates interested in the career progression offered within the organisation – many do not stay at that level for long.

MBAs are encouraged either at entry level with a non accredited MBA or perhaps at a higher level position with an accredited one such as Royal Holloway’s MBA International Business. M&S are definitely interested in recruiting Indian nationals educated in the UK.

The growth of this sector is clear and M&S, in partnership with Reliance, are in a key position to dominate the high end market. In the UK the company has a great reputation as an employer and from what I have seen the ethos continues in India. The strong line on ethics and the environment is apparent as well as their ambition to develop a strong presence in India. At the moment it is not possible to transfer from the UK graduate recruitment scheme to India directly but any experience within M&S in the UK would make you significantly more employable, at a higher level, in India either in store or in Head Office.

Thanks to Shalini Naagar for her patience and enthusiasm in meeting with me.

Today: Mentoring Scheme launch

The trial of the new International Student Careers Mentoring Scheme is taking place at 5.00pm in the careers centre.  The session will give an overview of mentoring, making the most out of developing networks and detail how the scheme itself will run.

Finding work in India

Last term this blog looked at how the global recession is affecting job prospects in India. Of course such information becomes out of date very quickly as the financial crises deepens. The recent “Get the Job in India” workshop held by the careers centre saw mixed reviews of the impact of the recession. There was a general feeling that India is escaping most of the negative effects but an awareness too that the graduate market is more difficult than before. This blog will continue to consider the labour market in India and other countries in updates to articles.

Indian postgrad work placement scholarships

The UK India Business Council is offering ten scholarship opportunities in India.

The scholarship programme allows students that are studying a post graudate course, or who have recently graduated from this course, to combine their academic studies & experience in a live business environment.

Business Scholarships

Each participating company has agreed to provide a specific project for you to work on whilst on the scholarship programme. On completion of the scholarship you will be required to write and present a report to the host company and the board of the UKIBC.

Scholarships are available in a number of business sectors. Where possible, the UKIBC team will place you in the company & sector that best suits experience, qualifications and career goals.

Click here for more information and to apply for the scholarships.

If you do not obtain a scholarship, there are self-funded programmes available through the UKIBC partner Expindia.

Has my career been credit crunched? India

This is the third in a series of articles considering how the Credit Crunch has affected graduate opportunities in different parts of the world. The first part in the series looked at career options for international students seeking work in the UK. The second part highlighted growth areas in the Middle-East. Others in the series will be linked from here when they are published. Because information can get out of date quickly, the following is only a guide. Please use the comments tag to share your experiences.

Background:

The job market in India is currently very mixed. The latest Business Today Employment Outlook Survey suggests business confidence is down by five index points and the employment outlook index has only grown by one index point. What does this mean? It means that employment is continuing to grow but not at the rate expected. However employers are increasing employment activity. According to the recent outlook survey, the employment growth prospects for the IT, ITES, manufacturing & engineering sectors are buoyant while financial services and telecoms are projected to witness a reverse swing in their hiring activities.

PWC India state that the economy is growing at 8% p.a. and that the issues in the financial sector may encourage the expertise to move from that sector to other growth areas.

However, the credit crunch is already having an effect on employment in India. Manpower India have suggested that just under 10% of those employed in financial services, insurance, IT,  and IT Enabled sectors could risk job loss as a result of the financial meltdown. The Times of India quoted Dr Naresh Malhan of Manpower India who believes that the overall employment market will remain strong with continued growth in manufacturing and construction. There is concern however that even if other sectors are not directly affected, global companies may use this period to shed un-necessary staff internationally, including in India. This could have a knock-on effect for graduates because highly qualified and experienced staff (for example from Lehman Brothers and Merill Lynch) will be recruited by smaller companies who may traditionally have preferred graduates.

The latest labour market information from India suggests that the overall net employment outlook (Oct – Dec) to fall from 43% to 45%. The Manpower index measures the difference between employers who plan to add jobs and those who expect to cut them, and India topped the 33 countries surveyed by Manpower despite the marginal fall from the previous quarter. According to the survey, India’s services-heavy economy grew the slowest in 3-½ years in the June quarter, weighed down by seven-year high interest rates and record oil prices. Growth in the services sector, which accounts for more than half of India’s output, slowed to 10 percent in the June quarter from 11.2 percent a year ago. Financial, insurance and real estate services growth declined to 9.3 percent from 12.6 percent. But more manufacturers are optimistic on hiring, with the sector index up 14 percentage points to 44 percent for the quarter, according to the survey. Miners and construction firms said they expected more employees joining, with a net of 54 percent looking to hire, 9 percentage points over the prior quarter.

A good source of information about the Indian economy and business news is The Economic Times and students wishing to follow careers in India should read it regularly.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has actively called on business leaders not to cut jobs in the current economic climate. Business leaders have been sympathetic but there is a difference between not cutting jobs and actively recruiting.

So where are the jobs?

Professional Services

In an economic downturn there are usually businesses that benefit and Professional Services seem to have a positive outlook in the different regions covered already in this series. In India, Deloitte have announced they are looking to recruit another 2000 employees by the end of the current financial year. They are looking to expand into three broad areas in India-strategy and operations, human capital, human resources and technology. PWC, E&Y and KPMG are all continuing to hire graduates at various professions across audit, tax, and advisory services. It is best to consider applying to local offices first. Remember that many candidates just think about applying to the Big Four but there are many smaller and specialist consultancy firms who are keen to benefit from fresh graduates.

Banking and Finance

The Government of India is considering to lift the virtual ban on recruitment in the Regional Rural Banks – RRB’s. According to CareerFinance.com this would lead to recruitment of approx.18,000 people in the 88 Regional Rural Banks over the next four years.  The ban was lifted in 2004 but there has been limited recruitment since.

Oriental Bank of Commerce is applying for 100 licenses to open more branches in India. The bank already has license for 60 branches, which would be opened during this year.

Chennai is set to benefit from Standard Chartered Bank which is looking to double its existing 5,000 staff over the next five years, making Chennai the bank’s biggest technology and operations hub.

Government and Public Sector

The Government and public sector still remain very significant employers. Whilst many Government functions are being adopted by private enterprises, there are many walk-in graduate opportunities across a wide range of professions. Government jobs are not centralised and many vacancies are advertised locally or at State level. However Sarkari-Naukri and 123oye both have credible Government jobs sections.

IT and ITES

The IT and ITES sector has been heavily dependent on the financial sector. The top five IT service suppliers depend on the finance sector for 45% of their business. This is already having an affect with Satyam’sshares fell to a five-year low recently. Tata have also published disappointing results but are currently recruiting in a range of fields.  With about 50% of all business coming from the US there are going to be further ramifications across the sector – for example, the merging of banks will consolidate outsourcing contracts and will cut back on duplicated work for different clients.

However the forecast is promising. The industry has been proactive and understanding the need to reduce the dominance of US contracts. The sector already has 35% of the business process outsourcing market globally. According to ZDNet, Arup Roy, a senior research analyst at Gartner, noted that while India still ranks number-one as the outsourcing destination of choice, Indian outsourcers have made a “conscious effort” to shift low-end work to other countries.

Careers in IT and ITES are still strong with hundreds of walk-in opportunities for graduates. The International Job Online website usually has dozens of such vacancies courtesy of our Indian jobs partner.  Other vacancies can be found here

Retail

The big players are very much moving into the Indian market. According to the Indian Economy blog, “Tesco has chosen to come with Tatas, while Reliance has tied up with Wincanton. The big daddy of them all, Wal-Mart is coming to India courtesy the Bharti group.” But what sort of jobs are involved in retail?

It isn’t just stacking shelves!

Tesco are currently advertising a wide range of roles through their Hindustan Service Centre . In IT they are currently recruiting in development, programming, testing, project management and quality assurance. In Business Services there are roles in finance, estates, advertising, general and process management. Tesco are also recruiting in finance. Their careers site is here. As you can see, retail isn’t just about working in a store. It is about all the back-room activity that needs to be in place to ensure the store is managed efficiently and maximises income. Think also of the supply chain – which companies will benefit from the superstore revolution? Logistics and supply chain companies will definitely benefit and there is continued growth in these sectors.

Finding those jobs

The Careers Centre has some resources that may help. Ask to see our copy of “Your first job – from campus to career”by Rajiv Khurana. We also have a very useful guide to designing CVs for India.  The International Job Online website has a comprehensive range of vacancies in India. Additionally, Naukri is one of the easiest job websites to navigate. Manpower have a useful, if a bit random, list of recruitment agencies here. It is better to find a recruitment agency that is embedded in the sector you want to work in. Remember, if you are uploading a CV to a jobs website, check the privacy statement on the site – who is going to be able to access your personal information? Be cautious about uploading CVs and make sure the site is authentic.

The next article in this series will focus on graduate careers in China.

Publication w/c 17 November 2008

Has my future been credit crunched?

 

Storm clouds over the City

For many students and graduates this is a time of significant uncertainty. The newspapers are full of gloomy headlines and the effect of the financial crises is clearly global.  In this short series we will try to explore how the credit crunch might affect your career prospects when you go back home. We will consider graduate prospects in the USA, South America, Australia, Middle-East, Africa, China and India.

So what does a bank closing mean for you? What is getting a job in a recession like?  We cannot cover everywhere with this short series but please do post comments and your experiences no matter where you are from. Your experiences can be very valuable for other people and might dispel some of the myths of the current job market. You might also find this article from the BBC about the last recession in the UK (not career specific). This series is not going to concentrate on just careers in the financial sector but the current turmoil has ramifications across each economy.

For those who aren’t sure of what the Credit crunch is (or are too afraid to ask!) there are some basic guides here and here. Or ask an economics student. Essentially it is a sudden loss of the availability of credit and banks start to worry about liquidity. Credit becomes more expensive and institutions struggle to finance their business.

Careers in the UK

The introduction of the 2 year Post-Study Work immigration status gives international students the opportunity to work in the UK and gain valuable experience. However you must be realistic. Applying for the visa does not guarantee you a job. All it does is allow you to join the Home and EU candidates in applying. You must keep your expectations moderate.

Also bear in mind that at the moment there are few experts. The pace of change in the economy is causing uncertainties. Employers recruiting this week may not be recruiting next. Some employers may keep recruitment at a very low level until they are sure of their requirements. Please also note that the information below was correct at time of writing but may become obsolete quickly.

I wanted a job in banking but there’s no point now.

With that attitude, perhaps. It is certainly easy to think that and the media keeps telling us about job losses in the City and banks cutting staff. Clearly there are some jobs that are going to be harder to get into than others – no change there then. And yes, if you want to be involved in Short Selling then this probably isn’t your time.

But banks are still recruiting. Merrill Lynch is currently advertising graduate roles in sales, trading and structuring, IT and capital markets. Barclays Capital and UBS are actively looking to hire analysts although there are suggestions that positions might be deferred for a year (i.e. successful applicants will not start work until Autumn 2009). The situation will continue to change and each company will evaluate its own requirements and yes there will be fewer jobs than before but that does not mean the sector shouldn’t be considered. Perhaps think about different roles within banking. There is a perception that smaller investment banks such as Jeffries, Houlihan Lokey and Gleacher Shacklock recruit only from the top Oxbridge colleges. The reality is that yes, some employers do tend to recruit only from a select University background. However by looking through staff profiles on these bank websites you often see greater diversity than you would expect. They are always worth trying but just be aware that they may not have policies on recruiting international graduates.

Banking? Maybe I meant the “City”.

Often people confuse banking with the “City”. The City has many different types of institutions within it. So what happens during a financial downturn like we are facing now? In fact, who “benefits” from a financial downturn? The big one surely must be in financial regulation. The UK’s Financial Services Authority is currently recruiting through its graduate schemes – Graduate Development, Legal Development, Management Accountancy and Actuarial Development.

Consultancy / Professional Services

Professional Services are involved in much of the mergers and acquisitions currently taking place. PWC have not decreased their graduate intake this year and in some business areas may look to increase opportunities. Both PWC and E&Y have a strong on-campus presence this year. With many of these organisations the roles available may be different from before but that just reflects the current market. For example, Ernst & Young are very keen to encourage applicants to their non accountancy roles and are running a session on campus to discussion those career options. For those still interested in accountancy, there may well be options to work with some of the mid-sized City firms such as Moore Stephens and CRA.

Other roles in the City include insurers Lloyds of London who are continuing to recruit for their graduate programme. And of course, all of these organisations rely on the efficient exchange of information. Thomson Reuters have been recruiting in journalism, finance and IT. Their competitor, Bloomberg, are also advertising roles for graduates.

Are you surprised?

If you think about it, there is logic to these companies continuing to recruit at graduate level. Graduates are cheap. Yes the salaries may be excellent graduate salaries (and they often are) but compare that salary to that of somebody in middle or upper management and it doesn’t take long to see where cost savings can be made.

So things are not as desperate as you might think. There are still career prospects in the financial sector but we have to accept that the roles and priorities have changed for the moment. Competition for jobs in the City is always high and the current situation could increase that.

There are several useful online resources that can help you find out more about different business environments. Efinancialcareers tries to keep up to date with events in the City. The Telegraph newspaper has an awkward online version of its finance careers guide and Careers Tagged is a new resource with substantial information about a range of career options.

Ways in

The conventional route into the City is through a graduate training scheme. However these can be costly for employers and, in the current market, they have limited opportunities. There are often other routes in and you should consider if they are appropriate for you.

Get Qualified First!

It may be possible for some graduates to secure positions in accountancy by undertaking the qualifications first. This can be a costly experience and there may be issues with immigration visas. The different qualification routes have varying requirements so it is worth looking at the ACA, ACCA , CIMA and AAT. You can dramatically increase your employability by undertaking these qualifications with the potential to enter City firms at a level higher than most graduate entry.

Internships

Some banks are not currently recruiting because they have offered positions to last year’s interns. Whilst this should not be your expectation there is little doubt that interning can boost your potential. Interns are favoured by regulators and companies because they can try out prospective employees without having to commit to recruiting them. There are internships at many City firms despite the financial crises. Even small Investment Banks like Gleacher Shacklock and Greenhill have a number of internship opportunities. However you must be applying now for internships in summer 2009. Internships are advertised on company websites and careers websites.

Speculative Applications

A speculative application is where you send a CV and letter to a company in case they may have a suitable job. It can be more effective than you think. Sometimes companies are reluctant to advertise vacancies online because they may get hundreds of applications for one job. Speculative applications are often kept on file and referred to. To make this work your CV and letter must be extremely effective, targeted to a specific job in a specific company. You can take advantage of market intelligence to increase your chance of success. If it looks as though a company is going to pursue a new business area then perhaps you can market yourself as being a useful part of that process. Some companies do not accept speculative applications and state it on their websites. You should respect that.

So, not as bad as you thought?

If you are thinking about a career in the City, be it in a bank, regulator or wherever, you need to be clever – not just academically but also in how you go about developing your own skills and making yourself slightly more employable than the many others who might be interested in the same job.  The key task whilst at University is to build up your knowledge of the sector beyond your academic requirements. Many organisations recruit from most degree backgrounds so you don’t have to be an economist to apply. But they all expect you to know something about what they do. What do the different roles mean? What makes one company different from its competitor? You need in-depth knowledge and, quite frankly, if you had to read the links above to find out about the credit crunch, things aren’t looking good!

The next article in this series will cover MENA.

Due for publication w/c November 3 2008

 

Fantastic jobs for Indian students

For those of you who haven’t seen it, International Job Online is the online international jobs website from The Careers Group, University of London.  The site is still young and yet already has had hundreds of jobs for RHUL graduates to apply for.  RHUL students may be interested in the large number of IT (software development and IT enabled particularly), banking and consultancy roles already advertised for students interested in working in India  There are also jobs for RHUL graduates now living in India – walk in jobs accross many sectors.  International Job Online is the most developed University jobs site in the UK and students from external Universities are already taking advantage of the many jobs on offer.  There are currently over 350 jobs accross many sectors and countries including volunteering and internships to full time careers. Well worth a visit!