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By : Dr. T.K. Jain, Management consultant and Career advisor
Ph: 0151-254475 M: 9414430763, afterschool@in.com
Date : 1 May 2011
Venue : VC Secretariat, M.G.S. University, Bikaner

After graduation, a typical student finds himself in dark. There are students who get confused. The
problem with most of the students is that they don͛t find someone who can give them proper guidance.
I must thank Maharaja Gangasingh University for starting career guidance programme. This is indeed a
very useful initiative for the students. Companies select fresh graduates in order to train them and
mould them as per their requirements. Students find that there are no jobs. Companies find that there
are no employable graduates. There is a mismatch. Some students have unrealistic expectations about
salaries, placements and job profile.

The starting points ͙..

Banks are talking about KYC (know your customer), I shall say KYS (know yourself). First understand,
what you want, what are your own aspirations, what motivates you and what are your own dreams and
passions

1. You can succeed only if you are passionate about that field. Understand your true potential and
try to take up a path of your own dreams
2. Identify your strengths and build them further, so that these strengths can help you in your
success.
3. Work toward your career goal in a team environment.
4. During graduation itself, prepare yourself in following : a. English improvement b. Mathematics
and quantitative aptitude c. Logical reasoning d. General awareness e. data interpretation f.
Group discussion and team projects
5. Prepare a biodata and show all your achievements in this. You will realize that your active
participation in college activities like NCC, NSS, sports have enabled you to prepare a good
biodata. If you haven͛t participated in these, you will regret while preparing biodata.
6. Don͛t leave education just due to monetary reasons or family pressure. You can find means to
continue education. Education is the best investment of your time and resources. It prepares
you for the future.

Career opportunities in commerce and computer science: -

Services sector is growing at an amazing pace, and this sector will open plethora of opportunities for
commerce and computer science professionals. A few essentials are as under:
 1. Develop good communication skills
2. Develop understanding of business environment by reading at least one business daily
3. Develop positive and constructive attitude and a willingness to take up responsibilities and
associated risks
4. Develop skills that corporate world values like team working, interpersonal skills,
comprehension skills etc.

Commerce as a sector has following positives: -

1. A good commerce graduate (who has actually attended all the lessons and has actively
participated in college activities) can easily get placed in companies like Infosys. The candidate
must be flexible, willing to learn and must have the required K.A.S.H (knowledge, attitude, skills
and habits)
2. A few professions are going to be in huge demand ʹ namely : chartered accountancy, company
secretariship, merchant banking, investment advisor, actuary, financial analyst, media planner,
real estate consultant, cost analyst and cost accountant, Intellectual property right experts,
business plan developer and business consultant etc. Can you be one of these? Even if it takes
you 5 years in becoming a chartered accountant, it is worth it ʹ as you will be able to have a
good career for life.
3. Commerce graduates can easily develop to the level of branch managers for the corporate
houses. For this they must develop leadership skills, communication skills and coordination
skills.
4. During your studies, start a detailed study on at least one sector that can give you career. You
and focus on sectors like Banking, insurance, tax consultation, investment consultation, mutual
funds.
5. Companies like Infosys are almost always recruiting. Their recruitment process spans over 4-5
stages. Try to know about their recruitment process and participate in these processes. If you
get selected, work for at least 3 years before planning to switch over.
6. The courses in commerce sectors are comparatively low priced. For example the fees of these
courses are (approximately) : CA (Rs. 35000), CS (Rs. 25000) , ICWA (Rs. 28000), actuaries (Rs.
18000), port and shipping ($ 5000), CFA / FRM ($ 30000). These courses can be studies on self
study basis also. There are many professional coaching institutions also. Some students take up
multiple courses simultaneously (because about 40% courses are similar).

Addresses of some of the good institutions in commerce are :

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Computer science graduates can look for following career options:

1. There is a huge demand of software developers in the following sectors: - a. gaming softwares,
b. animation softwares c. security systems d. relational database management systems e. office
integration and automation software f . Online payment and authentication software g. artificial
intelligence software.
2. Some companies may need you for software testing and documentation development. In that
case you have to have good understanding of corporate systems and good command on
language.
3. Some companies will need you as team leaders (for guiding other software developers). For this
you have to build your expertise in team working, corporate work culture and leadership skills.

Some students undertake MCA or MSC (computer science) after BCA. It is better to start working for the
companies from graduation onwards. During graduation, the students must undertake their practical
projects very sincerely and after graduation they must join companies, they can take up higher
education after a few years͛ experience.

Career issues force many students to get frustrated. I want to share a few insights with you, which are
based on my own experiences of counseling the students:

1. Those students, who are clear about their career goals, end up achieving their goals and are
generally more satisfied in life.
2. Those students who periodically take guidance from their teachers, mentors and seniors, are
generally able to move in positive direction and are able to succeed
3. Those students who have big ambitious goals and are patient enough for their goals, actually
achieve major milestones
4. Those students, who try to acquire skills and knowledge, are able to perform better than those
who just try to acquire degrees.
5. Those students, who undertake practical training / internship, find their first job itself very
satisfying.
6. Merit and good behavior is rewarded everywhere. Looks simple, but it is difficult to find these
two qualities, hence, there is no need to panic about career, if you focus on these.
 7. Instead of acquiring 10 degrees, it is better to acquire one good degree with dedication and
commitment
8. A good degree is one which can prepare you to the demand of the market; here market means
the corporate world. The law of demand and supply works in the field of manpower also. These
was shortage of marketing, IT and finance executives a few years ago, hence these persons were
paid handsomely, but now the scenario has changed. Now there is a shortage of skilled
accounting professionals and experts in business negotiations, mergers and takeovers, and
therefore these persons are in huge demand.
9. Along with education, focus on overall development also, which can particularly develop your
attitude, emotional stability, self control and networking skills. These skills are the core skills for
success in any career.
10.Prepare yourself to move out, in search of better knowledge, skills and career. But if you get a
chance, give first preference to serve your own village / town.
11.Do participate in workshops, seminars, conferences, trade-fairs relating to your own sector,
these will help you in continuous learning. The world is very dynamic, if you don͛t update, you
are out of the industry.

The new technologies and new businesses have brought with them new jobs. There are skill
mismatches. There is no dearth of employable persons, but if you ask any company, you will find that
the company is not able to get required manpower. There is a real dearth of the persons who can fit in
the requirements of the company. I want to share with you 5 important lessons regarding the corporate
world: -

1. Companies don͛t select for what you are, but companies select you for what you can do for
them as per their requirements
2. There are always vacancies (some are hidden) in companies, because most of the companies are
not working to their full capabilities and they are not able to find persons who can match their
requirements ʹ hence as a job seeker, try to understand the requirements of the companies
3. Different companies have different cultures and different sources of recruitments. Try to make a
study about different companies, so that you know your path. Meet with corporate executives
to know about these.
4. While studying, always ask fundamental questions like how you will apply these skills if you
were yourself an executive. This will enable you to be practical and companies will recruit only if
you practical (able to apply theory to practice). This is the reason, why students of IIMs are in
huge demand, because they have case method of study and they are oriented to think from
company executive perspective.
5. Companies want a person, who can give first priority to the company ʹ so be prepared to give your
100% to the company. Wait, have patience, you will get your rewards. Don͛t over-react, when you
received negative feedback and are asked to improve. These will help in your development. Many
students fail to bear the stress of the corporate world and switchover jobs ʹ ultimately they ruin
their career.