The big deal

ON OFFER Students graduating from the Arts, Commerce and Science streams are being offered hefty starting salaries in campus placements. The big selling points, say companies, are their soft skills and analtyical capabilities

There’s a rapidly growing number of positions that require data crunching or analysis, for which students from maths, statistics and economics backgrounds are well-equipped. DEVASHISH SHARMA, founding member of HR consultancy PeopleStrong

It’s not just engineering, management and law. Highly paid campus placements offers are now being made in fields beyond the professional and technical courses, to students graduating in arts, science and commerce too.

ISTOCK

This year, a final-year Economics student at Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram (LSR) College received a salary offer of Rs 38 lakh (all salary figures are per annum); last year a Commerce student from Sriram College of Commerce (SRCC) got a starting offer of Rs 31 lakh. In Mumbai, arts and commerce students got offers averaging Rs 6 lakh, with the highest going up to Rs 19 lakh.

Companies are offering better packages because they would rather hire young people who are easy to train than experienced people who need to unlearn practices and come with a higher price tag, says Smita Sharma, placement advisor at SRCC.

Another big draw is the fact that these students tend to be equipped with good soft skills.

The average engineering student, for instance, is less likely to have good communication skills, says Devashish Sharma, founding member of India’s largest HR Technology and Talent Acquisition solutions company PeopleStrong. “There’s a rapidly growing number of positions that require data crunching or analysis, for which students from maths, statistics and economics backgrounds are well-equipped,” says Soni George, placement convener at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. “Students from other departments are also eligible to apply for these. We have had students from life sciences take up analyst jobs too.”

At both Xavier’s and SRCC, campus recruitment picked up around 2004-2005 and has been growing steadily since. “This year, we added 20 more companies. Some startups have started coming to campus too. Though they don’t offer huge pay packages, they do offer a lot of exposure,” says Smita Sharma, placement advisor at SRCC.

The brighter job prospects in these subjects have now allowed more students to choose freely when it comes to picking a stream. “I chose economics because I really wanted to study the subject. I did not even know whether I wanted to do a job right after college or not,” says Yashovat Saharia, who graduated from SRCC in 2017. He received among the highest salary offers of his year, according to his college, and has worked with that company, Parthenon EY, ever since.

Saharia says he doesn’t plan to study economics further but he’s glad he picked it to begin with. “I now firmly believe that one should study the subject one likes and not look for one with ‘better job prospects’ because it gives you a strong foundation when you specialise in one field,” he says. At Parthenon EY, his job is that of a senior associate; it involves crunching data to explain to companies why a deal or acquisitions is or isn’t a good idea. “My background in economics and my grooming in presentations made me both good with numbers and capable of communicating what those numbers say, effectively,” Saharia says. Economics has been on the top of recruiters preference for a long time but now recruitments in good honours courses in both sciences and humanities have a lot of takers too, says Sharma of PeopleStrong. “Whereas campus recruitment for general science courses are increasing in fields like pharmaceuticals and chemical research, in the humanities and social sciences there is a rise in recruitment from among psychology students, by corporates and institutions like hospitals and schools. Also, the services side of new age Internet companies are employing humanities graduates with good communication skills in their customer support teams,” Sharma adds.

Source: Hindustan Times (Mumbai edition) e paper dated 20 March, 2019.

Lateral breakthroughs: NEW DIRECTION Consultancies, fellowships, even senior positions in govt are now open to graduates and executives, and new institutes are helping students prepare

This approach of lateral entry into the government has worked well in countries such as the us and UK. if implemented comprehensively, it will help bring in fresh ideas and new approaches to governance here too. DEVASHISH SHARMA, founding member of PeopleStrong, an HR firm

Not all government jobs require an entrance exam. Lateral entry allows qualified candidates — those with a relevant graduate or postgraduate degree, and / or experience in the field — to bypass the civil service exams and directly interview for consultant positions.

“Such candidates can apply for positions in government bodies such as NITI Aayog, the National Skills Development Council and Quality Council of India,” says Luis Miranda, member of the governing council at the Indian School of Public Policy. “If there is an opening for the position of a risk management consultant in these institutions, for instance, MBAs and chartered accountants are accepted. If there is a vacancy for the position of an urban planning consultant, your architecture degree could help you get a job.”

Right now, the job profiles available are a bit scattered, says Devashish Sharma, founding member and chief of strategic accounts and alliances at PeopleStrong, a human resource solutions firm.

“Most of these jobs are for consultants, but there are also positions open for fellows and even joint secretaries in certain departments.”

In June last year, the central government invited lateral entry applications for 10 joint secretary positions from “individuals with expertise in the areas of revenue, financial services, economic affairs, agriculture, road transport and highways, new and renewable energy, civil aviation, and commerce”.

“This approach of lateral entry into the government has worked well in countries such as the US and UK,” says Sharma. “If implemented more comprehensively, it could help bring in fresh ideas and new approaches to governance.” CORRIDORS OF POWER Towards that end, the Indian School of Public Policy, a Delhibased private institute, will launch its flagship programme in policy design and management in August.

“The one-year Master’s equivalent course will help students learn about what the government is looking for in lateral entry candidates, and what such a job would entail. Students will learn leadership skills, administration and communication,” Miranda says.

Faculty will include senior academics, policy experts and former administrators. “The plan is to have students placed with government organisations, consulting firms, thinktanks and maybe even run for election at the end of the programme.”

Graduates can also apply directly for fellowship programmes such as the state government’s Chief Minister Fellowship Programme and the fellowship programme of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

The central government also launched the India Smart Cities fellowship and the Delhi government announced an Urban Leadership Fellowship last year.

Before deciding to make the move, make sure it’s the right one for you. “These jobs are generally contractual, so you may not get the desired career growth, and you also will likely not get the type of job security that generally comes with a government position,” says Sharma. “Secondly, you should know that it’s very different from working in a corporate setup. There are processes in place and intricate protocols to follow. There is considerably less democracy and much stronger power structures in place.”

Source: Hindustan Times dated January 16, 2019