Investment banking and management consultancy are popular career options for graduates from the country’s top institutes. Campus Fever brings to you the potent opportunities these lucrative careers entail.

Ask most MBAs what they want to do after they graduate and the answer is likely to be: work for an investment bank (i-bank) or a leading management consultancy.

Consultancy and i-banking are similar, but offer two separate career paths. While both are fiercely competitive and involve travelling, dealing with clients and large salaries, i-banking pays more. On the flip side, i-banking hours are longer and often involve all-nighters, leaving little time for a social life or family.

 

I Banking

 

Investment banks provide governments and firms with services such as buying, selling and trading securities, managing assets and giving advice.

Consultancies advise firms and the government on strategic, operational and organisational issues. A typical project handled by a consultancy firm would be providing a company that hypothetically wants to enter the Chinese market with expertise.

According to Rohit Balasubramanian, manager, Global Finance Transformation Deloitte Consulting, LLP, “There’s a strong focus on service and value creation,” he says, “This means value to the client, fellow practioners, the community and to self.”

 

New trends

Campus Track T-Schools, a study by ACNielson ORG, which collects perceptions from recruiters, has found i-banks and management consultancies recruiting from the top 20 engineering campuses across the country. “These are the top firms that we're talking about,” asserts Prasenjit Das, associate director, Client Service, The Nielsen Company, as he reels off names such as Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Deloitte and McKinsey.

Skills in demand

The transformation from a bright B-school or engineering graduate to a savvy investment banker or consultancy associate involves a few factors. True, the skill set differs according to the area, but there are a few attributes that are common across all sectors. These include:

Building relationships: Both consultancy and i-banking require graduates with excellent people skills. “Ideas are only good when clearly understood by all stakeholders,” says Balasubramanian, “It’s about thinking out of the box and coming up with new ways of responding to challenges.” Neeraj Aggarwal, recruiting director, Boston Consulting Group, Mumbai, agrees. “Relationship building is a vital part of the job. You need to come across as approachable and be able to articulate yourself.”

A lot of deals are made over golf, tennis, lunches or drinks. “At the end of the day, it's all about relationships,” sums up David Varughese, a private banker now based in Singapore. It may sound simple, but each transaction Varughese makes with a client begins at USD one million.

 

Attitude: “When recruiters come for campus interviews at IIM, they look for a few things in our graduates, including attitude,” says Sarsaraz Khimani, external relations secretary, IIM Calcutta. Attitude in this case means being able to work under pressure and what Khimani calls “an appetite for risk”. “In i-banking, such an approach is important for areas such as trading and equities,” he explains.

 

Analytical skills: Students have to be very good at analytical analysis if they want to get into areas such as corporate banking and management consultancy. According to Balasubramanian, analytic ability is important. “It’s the ability to sift through volumes of data, requirements, noise and effectively hone in on key issues to be addressed,” he says.

 

Recruitment

Getting a foot in a consultancy firm or i-bank is tough as competition is cut throat. Firms are, however, clear on what they expect from candidates at interviews. I-banking firm Goldman Sachs, for example, not only expects graduates be aware about the firm's business and culture but also ask questions about the firm during the interview.

BCG recruits undergraduates for associate positions and MBAs as senior associates. “We are looking for students who demonstrate excellence. We are looking for out of the ordinary behaviour,” says Aggarwal.

 

Remuneration

One of the main attractions to jobs in consultancy and i-banking is the money. “I'd estimate starting salaries to be from Rs 7.5 to Rs 8 lakh a year,” says Das.

 

Courses
According to Khimani, the first year of a top B-school provides an overview of what to expect for those aspiring to go into consultancy and i-banking. “Students usually decide whether they want to go into i-banking or consultancy in their fourth year and IIM offers electives in areas such as corporate finance, portfolio management, corporate restructuring for them,” he says.

 

Some institute offer diploma and certificate courses in banking while the Tamil Nadu and Manipur Universities offer graduate courses in banking.

 

* B.B.A. Banking and Financial Services

* Diploma in Banking Technology

* Diploma in Banking and Finance

* M.B.A. Banking

* M.Com. Banking and Insurance

* Post Graduate Diploma in Banking, Insurance and Financial Services Management (P.G.D.B.I.F.M)

Campus Fever brings to you an in-depth look into the realm of Legal Process Outsourcing.

In Legal Process Outsourcing Companies, Law Firms and Lawyers outsource legal work from off-shore areas where cost of providing Legal Services is high (United States of America, Europe, UK, Germany, Australia) to Countries where the cost of Services is comparatively cheaper - India, Philippines etc.

Legal services are the next destination for a "cool" BPO. With legal process outsourcing (LPO) recording a 50 per cent growth last year, LPOs are coming up in a big way in many metropolitan cities in India. Since 2003, in India alone, the number of companies offering legal process outsourcing services to U.S. and U.K. law firms has grown to over 120

The growth in the sector is primarily due to the increase in demand, vendor maturity and the capability of vendors to offer higher value services.

This sector has potential to grow and large number of foreign firms are outsourcing work to India, as these LPOs offer quality work at a lower rate. A recent study by the US-based Forester Research pegs the current annual value of global legal outsourcing at $146 million, which could rise up to $640 m by throwing up 32,000 jobs by 2010 ($4 billion and 79,000 jobs by 2015).

Indian LPOs are in demand because we produce a large number of legal professionals who have a good working knowledge of English. Currently there are about 100 LPO firms in India. Companies such as Inventurus, Pangea3 and Integrecon, Mindcrest have started massive hiring in Mumbai.

Work in an LPO is diverse involving quantitative/low-skilled tasks, qualitative/skill-intensive tasks, legal transcription, drafting contracts, research memoranda, pleadings and briefs.

The future growth will be in high-volume services like document review, eDiscovery, legal publishing, etc. as well as niche areas in Intellectual Property and contract services.

As most of the work comes from American and UK law firms, it is essential to be familiar with their law, as it gives the company an edge over its competitors. Law colleges such as Pune-based Indian Law Society, Symbiosis and Government Law College, Mumbai, are already collaborating with US law schools to teach US law to their students.

The job could be contractual or an hourly-wage basis. However, most LPOs prefer working on a contract basis, as this is hassle free.

Fresh law graduates prefer to join LPOs instead of jostling for clients in crowded city courts where the opportunities for freshers are somewhat limited. Moreover, LPOs offer lucrative salaries — as high as Rs 25,000-30,000 for an entry-level job. Even lawyers from traditional legal firms are quitting to join LPOs for fatter salaries.

Why outsource law?

The legal industry across the globe is gradually turning towards outsourcing for gaining efficiencies and staying profitable in a highly competitive marketplace. Recognition of the fact that legal companies need to focus on their core competencies and leave back office processes to the hands of competent outsourcers is creating a compelling case for outsourcing out non-core processes. A further rationale for the outsourcing is to facilitate at the same time the in-house counsel of the foreign law firms to concentrate on core legal issues. The availability of outsourcing ventures with world-class resources and expertise is also boosting the growth of outsourcing by legal entities. Legal Process Outsourcing is a lucrative route to reduce cost and increase efficiency by outsourcing legal works to India.

The Realm of LPO

The LPO derives its roots from KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing). KPO refers to knowledge-intensive work that involves specialized domain expertise. High value processes that fall into this realm include: valuation research, investment research, patent filing and legal and insurance claim analysis. LPO in India started as a low-end work that mainly included transcription. But now LPO in India is a high-end knowledge intensive work. Presently everything from patent application drafting, legal research, pre-litigation documentation, advising clients, analyzing drafted documents, writing software licensing agreements to drafting distribution agreement is being outsourced to India. This potential growth took place to such an extent that today patent filing has its own separate existence different from LPO referred to as Patent Process Outsourcing (PPO).

Why is India a preferred location for outsourcing?

The Indian Legal System is much like the UK, US, Canada, and a sizeable part of Europe -- the major source of outsourcing. The Indian litigation and dispute resolution methodologies are well founded on the classic Constitution of the biggest Democratic Republic in the world and are understood universally. Indian legal system is also one of the most researched and informed legislations to ensure a uniform yet practical interpretation of the legislation throughout the breadth and depth of this land of unique diversity.

There are several factors that favour Indian attorneys:

The advantage of the time zone Availability of English speaking attorneys Familiarity with common law doctrines Indian attorneys with US/UK qualifications are in plenty Labour cost differential- It almost costs up to 80 percent less than the US firms The quality and speed of work done Most LPO outfits in India are reported to be staffed 24/7 The Indian legal professionals are taught to analytically interpret the laws Regulations of the Land by generously drawing on the similar legislations of other similar legal systems and are exposed to Common English Laws.

Service Providers

None other than the U.S does the majority of legal outsourcing. Legal services, outsource-able from the US alone are pegged at 3-4 billion dollars comprises paralegal and research support, contract drafting and revising and contract management, library services, patent and trademark prosecution and litigation support. It also includes some other European countries. Other major countries providing legal services market include UK, France, Australia, South Korea, Japan and China.

The Growth Prospects

Industry (ASSOCHAM), more than 200 top US companies alone are looking for offshore locations towards achieving saving of 30-70 per cent. The Chamber says, "India is already known for its large and increasing pool of quality engineering graduates, many of who are being attracted to the patent services segment of legal BPO."

About one-third of the registered professionals currently provide patent services to European and American end clients, and this number is likely to double to 1,800-2,000 by 2010. India is set to achieve significant growth from its current share of 3-4 per cent to 6-7 per cent in the 250 billion dollar global market of Legal Process Outsourcing, by 2010.The global knowledge process outsourcing industry is expected to reach about USD 17 billion by 2010, of which USD 12 billion would be out sourced to India.

In addition, the India KPO sector is also expected to employ more than 250000 KPO professionals by 2010. Legal process outsourcing, as it is being called, has very high growth potential. It can fetch 79,000 jobs in India by 2015. While the LPO industry is rather nascent and has initially encountered many of the same struggles that early BPO outsourcing faced, it is poised to become a major sector of offshore outsourcing in coming years.

Top Colleges

1. NLSIU, Bangalore
2. NALSAR University of Law , Hyderabad
3. NIKU, Bhopal
4. National Law University , Jodhpur
5. Campus Law Centre, Delhi University , Delhi
6. NUJS, Kolkata
7. Symbiosis Society’s Law College , Pune
8. ILS Law College , Pune
9. Government Law College , Mumbai
10. Amity Law School , Delhi

 

The Merchant Navy is a non-combatant commercial fleet, which deals with transporting cargo and occasionally, passengers, by sea. Its fleet is therefore composed of passenger vessels, cargo liners, tankers, carriers, as well as other special types of vehicles. A career in this field is full of adventure and long voyages to exotic places. Above all this, the excellent pay and promising promotional opportunities make the career lucrative and exciting in spite of all the hard work life and long absence from family and home. Have a look with Campus Fever!

Nanotechnolgy is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. Contrary to common perception, nanotechnology is not a new technology and has been in use since the Roman era. Campus Fever tells finds out more!

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The contemporary essence and potential of nanotechnology can be understood in the context of manufacturing. Nanotechnology entails manufacturing at the nano level wherein per-capita consumption of useful materials is significantly reduced. This in turn can help in reducing costs and achieving economies of scale. Moreover, at the nano stage, matter is at its purest form.

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Hence, nanotechnology is all about manufacturing products that are free of defect. According to experts, current collaborations among countries in this field exist in the fundamental area of information exchange. However, there is scope for collaborating in terms of the actual manufacturing process and for discussing future areas of application. Nanotechnology has to move beyond the confines of a laboratory to make a mark in industry. Research and development in this domain has to be socially responsible. Such activities necessitate collaborations between educational institutions, policy organisations and industries at the global level.

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As to how collaborations with foreign universities can help in improving research in nanoscience and nanotechnology, MP Singh, Director, Ansal Institute of Technology says, “A nucleus of select institutes can be created through research collaborations. This nucleus should ideally facilitate scholarly interaction between international conferences, seminars and workshops.” Nanotechnology has significantly impacted the domain of information technology by generating novel semiconductors and displays, nanologics and quantum computers. It plays a role in the food industry too. Its applications have wide ranging aspects including diagnosis and treatment of disease, drug delivery and conservation of energy and environment, to name a few areas. Given its cost effective proposition, nanotechnology holds promise for developing countries. However, most of these countries lag behind developed nations as far as discussions and explorations in this field are concerned. The best way is probably to strengthen human relations between scientists of underdeveloped, developing and developed nation.

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Education of young scientists in the best labs of developed nations is also a good idea. These scientists can eventually return to their countries to apply their learning. Also, developed nations have to multiply the number of grants to welcome students from developing nations. Talking about India’s immediate future and requirements in terms of nanotechnology, Singh says,“The government has recently approved a proposal to invest Rs 1,000 crore under a five-year nanoscience and technology mission. There is a growing demand for trained manpower in this field. The emphasis should be on industry-oriented postgraduate programmes in nanotechnology so that competent scholars trained in relevant areas are employable in emerging industries. In fact, active research is a priority in some of India’s research centres. 

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More such research initiatives should be encouraged through industry tie-ups.” So how does one encourage bright minds? “With large funds allocated to develop nanotechnology in India, we should try to promote and attract brilliant students through the National Science Talent Search scheme. Also, special funds should be allocated to focus on students who have completed their class XII examinations and waiting to be selected for higher studies in this field,” shares Singh.

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Eligibility

The starting point of a career in nanotechnology would be a strong bachelor’s degree in science or engineering followed by a master’s degree in nanotechnology or integrated MSc-PhD Nanotech or an integrated MSc or MTech.

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Skills required

A scientific bent of mind and an interest in research are qualities that are expected of those who want to pursue Nanotechnology. Much of the work in nanotechnology involves basic research and development (R&D) with practical, commercial applications in such diverse fields as health care, information technology, manufacturing, and national defence.

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Institute watch

Postgraduate and research programmes in nanotechnology are offered by: Panjab University, Chandigarh Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal Sathyabhama University Chennai University of Madras, Chennai

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Source: Times Education AIT

The term actuary, commonly referred to as insurance, is a promising area for those with an affinity for the financial sector. Actuarial science deals with the application of mathematical principles to assess risks of insurance and premium, and actuaries are organisations that provide services in sectors like finance and investment, insurance (health, life, general) and several benefit plans with reference to employee retirement.  

Area assessment   

Actuarial science includes a number of interrelating disciplines, including probability and statistics, finance, and economics. It is built on the statistical evaluation of the financial and economic implications of possible contingencies. Rakesh Verma, who is a Senior Manager at a life insurance company, asserts, “Insurance or actuary is now being considered as a very proficient course, unlike its earlier image of being the common man’s cup of tea. Traditionally, actuarial science used deterministic models for constructing tables and premiums. But in recent times, due to advancement in technology and use of high speed computers and the synergy of stochastic, actuarial models are used with modern financial theory.”