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 Previous Week Topic |
| December 08 |
 Secrets of success for a B-School entre More... |
08-12-2008 |
B-schools conduct Group Discussions /Personal Interviews when students have already gone through an acid test. Isnt clearing MBA entrance test enough to show that you are worth it? The simple answer is NO, because B-schools are not simply looking for walking dictionaries or logarithm books, deduces, The Career Launcher Research Team | |
 Rhyme for all-time reference
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
‘For want of a nail, a kingdom was lost’ — an oft-quoted proverb deduced from a nursery rhyme teaches us that big things can be lost over trivial matters. However, what is more important is to understand the underlying process — how one thing led to another, and ultimately, to a bigger consequence.The process of winning and losing in GD/PI is also similar. One mistake can lead to another and then the next. So it’s important to critically analyse the entire process.
There is no set of rules that can teach you what to, and what not to do in GD/PI. This is because it is a process to assess a candidate’s personality, and you cannot apply the same set of rules to every individual. What becomes important in such a scenario is to understand the ‘why’ and ‘what’ of GD; and arrive at your own rules that fit your personality.
The first things first — why
B-schools conduct GD/PI when students have already gone through an acid test. Isn’t clearing MBA entrance test enough to show that you are worth it? The simple answer is NO, because B-schools are not simply looking for walking dictionaries or logarithm books.They want candidates who can be trained and polished to be managers.The entrance test is just one stage where they see whether you have the basic acumen to understand the course that will be taught during the MBA programme. In that, too, some parts of personality, like ability to take decisions, ability to perform under pressure, and analytical and logical thinking, are assessed. But in order to get a complete idea of a candidate’s personality, B-schools go through this long process.
Group discussions and personal interviews are accepted tools to select a student, because in a limited time they can give a fair idea to B-schools whether a candidate can become a manager or not. This brings us to another question: are managerial traits natural or can they be acquired? If they are natural, what is the need to do MBA?
An MBA course teaches students how to achieve larger goals and it polishes those personality traits. But there are some basic traits that a candidate should have to go through the MBA process and to know that, institutes conduct GD/PI.
Group discussion
A group discussion is generally a 20-to-30 minute process whose larger objective is to select those candidates who have the ability to perform in a team. Apart from this, the kind of topic given, also helps panelists to know various traits of a candidate’s personality. In most of the GDs’, you are made to sit in a semi-circle and discuss a given topic.The topic can be as general as ‘Women make better managers’ or as specific as ‘India-US nuclear deal’. What matters in group discussion is your stand on the topic, your ability to analyse, your awareness about the topic, and the way you present it. One person from the group is asked to introduce the topic, what follows is the discussion and the conclusion. The focus here is more on leadership and decision making, because in a GD you may or may not reach a consensus since the issues given to you are debatable. The end result of GD will not always be to reach a consensus, but to assess your people skill.
Who wins?
Those who have:
Good listening skills: Listening doesn’t mean hearing. It means understanding what the other person is saying. If you have good listening skills, you will be able to keep a track of where the group discussion is moving. You will know different points that have already been raised and you have to bring in some new point.
Knowledge of the topic: Earlier it was just about discussing pros and cons of an issue, but now knowledge gathered from various sources, analysed and presented in a structured form, holds the key to success in GD.
Reading newspapers, magazines, and going through Economic Survey would help in enriching the content of GD.
Confidence: You might have all the knowledge and good listening and analytical skills, but if you do not have confidence to assert what you are saying is right, that might prove to be detrimental.
Introduction: Introducing the topic can make or break the situation. Explain the topic, don’t read what is written.
Say what you think of it. People think that taking a stand in a GD might go against them. But there is difference in being assertive and in being rigid. You are expected to give your point of view.
Who loses?
Those who speak a lot: Of course, not speaking in GD will not take you anywhere but speaking too much can also make you lose the GD. Remember, it is not a one-man show. It is a group discussion. If you try to grab the attention of the panelists, cut other person short, it shows that you are not a team player. If you do not speak in the entire GD, but give valid points twice that can add value to the discussion, then you will be appreciated.
Those who become emotional: There are topics that involve some sensitive issues. You have all the valid points to support that women make better managers, but bringing in the element of argument and accusing other persons in the group will only get you rejected.|
Those who over-dominate: You are taking and managing the group discussion well, listening to the arguments, giving your point of view and letting everyone speak. Everything is in your favour and suddenly you decide to be a godfather of somebody who has not spoken at all and who doesn’t have one single argument to present.
Cutting short somebody who is making a valid point and asking the silent one to speak, can actually go against you.
Personal interview
Your academic skills were checked in the entrance test, your people skills in GD. Now, comes the turn of gauging you on your own standards. The B-schools want to know how much you are aware of yourself and how much you relate your goals to your personal self.
Students spend most of the time in going through course books whereas 90 per cent of the interview questions are based on you. But answering questions on yourself can catch you in a tight spot. There can be some rules set when it comes to GD because there are certain expected etiquettes, but there can be no rules set for the interview because everyone has sui generis personality. The best way to tackle interview is to sit and know yourself in and out. Think why you want to pursue an MBA. Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses. Not only will it help you analyse your personality, but will also help you prepare for many other questions for the interview, including:
Why do you want to do MBA?
What are your personal goals?
Where do you see yourself 10 years down the line?
What are your hobbies?
What are your strengths and weakness?
Tell us about yourself.
Who wins?
Those with:
Self awareness: You should be able to delve on each and every aspect of your personality, family background, the city you come from and the institutes you have studied in. If you are aware of your strengths and weaknesses, you will be able to justify them. For example, the panelists may ask someone about his poor academic record. As long as he knows why he under-performed, he can come up trumps.
Goal clarity: You should know how the MBA programme will help you achieve your long-term goals. There might be different reasons for doing MBA, for different people, and even for one person there can be more than one objective to do MBA. But you should analyse it beforehand rather than doing it in front of the panel.
Ability to remain calm: The real you comes up when you are under pressure situation.The panelist will try to grill you on your weakness or on the answers you are giving. They want to put you under pressure and see whether you lose your calm once put under pressure.
Who loses?
Those who:
Give practised answers: You have your own strengths and weaknesses. But while attending the mock interviews, you were told how some students gave impressive answers and got selected. If you try to give the same answers, you might be caught.
Lie to the panellists: They are very experienced people and can catch you if you try to bluff them on your academic record, or on a fact-based question, or when you try to answer the question even if you don’t know the answer.
Think that the battle is over: The interview is not over till the last question is asked. The moment a candidate says, “I am sorry, Sir, I don’t know the answer,” he starts coming under the pressure. There is no harm in accepting that you do not know what the population of China is.
Belling the non-cats
IBSAT – 31st Dec 08
JMET 2009 – 14th Dec 08
XAT 2009 – 4th Jan 09
SNAP – 21nd Dec 08
NMAT 2008 – 28th Dec 08
TATA Institute of Social Sciences – 14th Dec 08
AIMA-MAT – 7th Dec 08
FMS – 11th Jan 09
If your preparation for CAT is sound, then the non-CAT exams should require less preparation. They would require application of the skills honed till now. But the competition for seats in institutes like XAT and FMS is even higher than CAT, because the number of seats in these institutes is significantly lesser than the IIMs.
XAT (4th Jan 2009): The XAT 2008 paper was nowhere comparable to the standard of XAT 2007. By and large, the RC passages entailed time-consuming reading. However, many of the questions were easy.The sentence completion questions were fairly simple. The paper had its share of critical reasoning questions, and, even here, the language of the questions was often vague and unclear. As regards XAT, you may not require to prepare much, if your CAT preparation is fine. You can orient yourself to poems which keep appearing in XAT. You can also specifically orient yourself to caselets, decision making questions and homophones which appeared last year.
FMS (11th Jan 09): The questions in the English section have been of a moderate to difficult level. The words given for analogies, fill in the blanks and synonyms, are tough in terms of knowing their meaning. Other questions, such as classification into maxim, paroxysm, diatribe, etc, are also quite difficult. However, some questions such as those on idioms, quote and unquote, are of an average level. The passages given last year were all of high difficulty level, with the topics focussing on subjects like Psychology, Economics, Intermingling of senses, etc. Hence, FMS really requires you to consolidate on your CAT preparation in terms of Vocabulary and RC. Just continue the good work after CAT.
JMET (14th Dec 08): JMET is a much sought-after exam for engineers. The English section is of moderate to difficult level. The RC passages are generally short to medium in length but have close choices. JMET also has a good number of questions on Verbal Reasoning. Be prepared for tough syllogisms and critical reasoning questions.
IIFT ( 23rd Nov 08 ): IIFT has displayed some experimental question types in the area of homophones and reading comprehension, but they are attemptable. It has a typical question type in Reading Comprehension where statements from the passage are picked up and there are true/false questions, or even match the following type questions.
SNAP (21nd Dec 08) and NMAT ( 28th Dec 08): These two papers have been relatively on the easier side, with attemptable questions of various standard types in the English section. NMAT often comes up with some non-standard types like probably true/false types in the logic part. But they are crackable.
All in all, the English sections of most of the exams are getting more and more challenging. It also means that a well prepared student will crack most of the exams!
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| Why only "Ba Ba Black Sheep"? More... |
01-12-2008 |
| Gijubhai Badheka, a contemporary of Gandhiji, for 24 years, ran the most creative school for children in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. Everyday, he told children a story - which captivated them and whetted their appetite for more. In the afternoons, the children would enact those stories. Fact remains, programmatic instruction, today, is the antithesis of meaningful language experience for teachers and children, feels Arvind Gupta | |
 Billions of people across the world learn to read, using a diverse array of practices — from the ‘phonetic’ to the ‘whole sentence’ approach. Many children’s first exposure to the English language is through “nonsensical” rhymes like “Ba-Ba Black Sheep” or “Ring a ring a roses” — poems which make little sense to their contexts and whose roots are often macabre. Are there other ways more conducive to get children to read?
Many children experience difficulty with formal reading instruction, based on exercises, material and drills that are to a large extent, nonsensical.The philosophy of this kind of instruction, called ‘programmatic’, is that reading is a set of skills which can be taught and mastered in a pre-determined sequence, provided there are frequent tests. Programmatic instruction is the antithesis of meaningful language experience for teachers and children. It is primarily a method of control.
Frank Smith, in his famous book, ‘Reading’, throws light on the process of reading itself. He proposes the idea of ‘The literacy club’, which children need to join if they are to become successful readers. At the heart of Frank Smith’s analysis is the seemingly simple truth that it is only through reading that children learn to read. He describes the ease with which children become literate when they are personally involved with people actually making use of the signs, labels, lists, newspapers, magazines and books in the world around them.
Making sense
John Holt, the famous American educationist, recalls a very interesting case.The school was meant for Black African children and was situated in a low-income area.The children were not interested in the standard state textbooks. And if the books and their contents did not interest the children, there was no way the teacher could coerce them into reading. Many teachers tried the usual ways and failed, until a young lady teacher changed it all. She was a fresher, just finished her teacher training course and was looking for new innovative ideas to foster reading. It did not take her long to realise that her students were not interested in the dry, state sponsored textbooks. Her class was largely composed of poor Black African students. Most of them had never read or possessed a book; but their lives were full of music. What she did was simple. She wrote the popular numbers and songs the children sang, in big letters on chart sheets and hung them on the classroom wall. As the children already knew the songs by heart, they were soon reading them. For once, the written word made “sense” to them — the scribbling on the charts described their lives, their pains, their aspirations.This interested the children immensely.This was their ‘take-off’ point in reading.
Context & relevance
This brings us to the whole question of context and relevance. Often the curriculum is so far removed from the lives of the learner that he/she fails to make any sense of it. The plethora of ‘adult education’ material in India is ample testimony to it. It is often totally divorced from the life of the learner and the ‘exploitative’ context of his / her life. No wonder adult education classes never elicited any popular response and died their own death. The whole vocabulary itself is ‘loaded’ against the un-schooled poor. For instance, the first alphabet in Hindi ‘Ka’ for ‘Karz’ (indebtedness), would be more appropriate for the dispossessed, than ‘Ka’ for ‘Kabootar’ (pigeon).
Similarly, ‘Sa’ for ‘Sood’ (interest on borrowing), would be more appropriate for the oppressed, than ‘Sa’ for ‘Saraswati’. Sylvia Ashton Warner in her famous book ‘Spinster’ writes, “What a dangerous activity reading is; teaching is. All this plastering on of foreign stuff! Why plaster on at all when there’s so much inside already? So much locked in? If only I could get it out and use it as working material. And not draw on it either. If I had a light enough touch, it would just come out under its own volcanic power.”
Sylvia was teaching Maori children in New Zealand to read. She stuck ‘labels’ on all familiar objects in the classroom. Small cards with ‘fan’, ‘table, ‘bench’, ‘blackboard’, ‘door’, etc, written on them were stuck at appropriate places. Children would see them often, read them and soon become friends with them. Sylvia encouraged children to recount their stories, tell their experiences, which she wrote down in the children’s own words. And because they were the children’s own stories, they loved reading them and drew pictures to illustrate them. In one semester, this poor village school in New Zealand produced over 60 illustrated stories, each, a record of their experiences, in short, a tapestry of their own lives.
Following a similar method, Paulo Freire began by talking with Brazilian peasants about the conditions and problems of their lives, and showed them how to read and write those words which were most important for them. He found that it took only about 30 hours before the wretchedly poor and demoralised peasants were able to explore reading on their own. In the process, they also traced the roots of their exploitation.
Not the word but the world!
Gijubhai Badheka was a contemporary of Gandhiji. For 24 years, he ran the most creative school for children in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. Everyday, he told children a story — which captivated them and whetted their appetite for more. In the afternoons, the children would enact those stories. Soon, they became so adept with words that there was no need to ‘mug-up’ the dialogues by ‘rote’. If they forgot a few lines, they could ‘invent’ them on the spot. Gijubhai felt it was totally illogical and foolish for every child to have the same, state sponsored textbook.
He said, “What could be more foolish than all the 50 children having the same book.” So, when the new session began, Gijubhai urged the children not to buy ‘textbooks’ but instead, give them the money for buying storybooks. So, in the 1920s’, Gijubhai swept aside textbooks and bought three different storybooks for every child. With this large collection of illustrated storybooks, he started a classroom library.This was a library with the children’s own money — not gifted by UNICEF, Pratham or the World Bank. Instead of three textbooks, children could now read over a hundred colourfully illustrated storybooks. Gijubhai’s progressive vision of education “not the word but the world”, has been replicated by few schools since independence.
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| Securing the nation's future citizens More... |
22-12-2008 |
It was not the gong of the school bells, but the shrill alarm bells of 16 hoax bomb calls that ran through schools and colleges in Bangalore, right from January this year. With the trauma of the Mumbai carnage still fresh in the minds of many, who now realise the long arm of terror knows no boundaries of place or age, Shonali Misra finds out what security means to the heads of various educational institutions, and how they plan to ensure a safe environment for their students and staff | |
 Herbert Hoover said, “Children are our most valuable natural resource.”
The source of the resource undoubtedly, the nine months of safety in the mother’s womb. As the child grows up and ventures into the (actually) ‘ Big Bad World’, he/she is no longer under the protective umbrella of his parents. Thereafter, the next ‘shelter’ for the child is only the school.
There is uncertainty in the air — a prevalent unease — Are we safe today from the Machiavellian tactics of the perpetrators who want to wreak havoc and sniff out lives? In the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, security has been stepped up in all major establishments — be it defence, government, IT, etc. But what is the security picture in our schools and colleges?
According to police sources, out of a total of 84 bomb hoax calls, from January 2008 till date, 16 of the hoaxes have been reported from educational institutions. What this implies is that there is no dearth of troublemakers even where normal functioning of schools and colleges is concerned.
DH Education interacted with the heads of various institutions to get a feel of what adequate security means to them and how they plan to make their institution a safer haven than it already is.
No ‘safe’ place
“No place on this earth is safe now,” says M Geetha, Principal, Ryan International School, Bannerghatta. “ Will they (terrorists) spare the educational institutions? Probably, someone might get the bright idea of holding the entire institution to a ransom.” In agreement is Prof N K Prasad, head, Corporate Relations, International School of Management Excellence, Whitefield. He says, “Any place can become a target since attacks are aimed: (i) to give recognition to the organisation that would take the credit and the executor; (ii) ill-gotten funds that would change hands; and; (iii) to generate fear.” Therefore, “ it is better to be proactive,” feels Lt Col P K Sharma, Principal, Rashtriya Military School. He stresses, “ While the staff and students should be made aware of security threats, there is need to make them more vigilant.”
Isn’t there a general attitude that educational institutions are by far, (with the exception of bigwigs!), safe from such dangers? Some don’t agree and thankfully so!
No insulation
“ We believe educational institutions should not be under the impression that they are insulated from the possibility of such attacks,” avers Prof Dilipraj Dongre, Deputy Director, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Hosur Main Road. “The recent terrorist attack at the IISc is a case in point. Subsequently, educational institutions should take care to ensure that appropriate security safeguards are in place at all times of the day.”
For — “The life of every child is precious, regardless of its education in a big or small institution. The responsibility and onus lies with the institution to safeguard and protect the child, and we owe that to the parents who implicitly trust us” — feels M Geetha.
Given that most educational institutions already have the appropriate security apparatus in place, they might still fall short of the safeguards in the (god forbid!) event of a more calculated form of intrusion into their premises. Yet, what are the safeguards in place? Have security arrangements been upgraded?
Stepping up security
One that has, is Vidya Niketan School, Hebbal, that has a student count of 1,200. Principal Nalini Ponnappa says the school is looking at strengthening security at the entry point, after the Mumbai attack. Believing that it always helps being alert, she says the school’s buses are checked daily before the children board them. In addition, phones have caller IDs, she adds.
In the 7-month-old Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, security personnel are stationed at the hostels, entrance, lobby, recreation areas as well as inside the campus. Adds Prof Dongre, “ Along with the security in the institution, the latter is patrolled by the Electronic City Industries Association (ELCIA) Police patrol team, who update the campus administration on all necessary precautions.”
Foreign students
While, on one hand, ensuring the address details, antecedents, etc, of Indian students is important, it is more so in case of foreign students. What are the measures educational institutes, take, in order to do so?
There are six foreign students in RBANMS College, Ulsoor. “There is no system to verify their antecedents, apart from checking their passports,” says Principal, Dr B S Srikantha. “Though the police department collects information on foreign nationals from time to time, there is no support from the government for the same,” he adds. “Very recently, the Education Secretary was instructing us to be careful in the wake of the Mumbai incident.”
Symbiosis has 29 foreign students and takes the necessary safeguards while admitting such students. The institute undertakes verification of all necessary documents and certificates of students. A thorough verification of passports of foreign students, visa documentation and ID proof is also carried out. Security has been stepped up after the November 26 incident. A thorough examination of bags and belongings of students and visitors to the institution, along with visitor ID confirmation by security personnel, is carried out.
How effective can governmental measures like introducing smart cards, etc, be, in stepping up security?
“Government keeps trying to do many things, but doesn’t succeed,” says a skeptical Rev. Father Jerome Rego, Principal of St Germain High School and Pre-University College, Frazer Town. The institution started using Smart Cards four years back. But having an ID card is more practical than the Smart Card, says Father Rego. Also, according to him, degree colleges need to be more security conscious and take the adequate measures for student and staff identification. “Schools have a personal touch in interacting with students and parents that degree colleges don’t have,” he opines.
Security measures from the school’s side are never compromised, keeping in mind the 1,500 high school and 400 college students of the 60 plus-year-old institution. College students are always supposed to display their ID cards. There is 24-hour security at the main gate and entrance, and the school buses are stationed inside the school compound only.
However, when it comes to probing the credentials of parents, Father Rego says they are ‘very sensitive and don’t like to be questioned.’
Safeguards aplenty
St Joseph’s Boys’ High school is celebrating its 150th year of existence. With a student strength of 2,325, Principal Rev Father Celestine Sera says the school is increasing the security safeguards post the Mumbai incident, particularly, with parents expressing the urgency to do so. It has almost doubled the security personnel from the previous four to seven now, and will regularise ID cards for all students as well as those who come to pick them up. “There will be strict measures to ensure vehicles are not parked inside and around the school compound and handing over of tiffins will not be permitted during school hours. Eight CCTVs were installed all around the school in October this year, to monitor every activity and person inside the premises — because, “ Safety of the students is our priority.” The school also invited the Fire Detection & Disposal Squad to conduct a demonstration for the students on what to do in case of a fire or explosion, in September 2008.
Nothing works better for safety than each person being fully alert against all forms of danger — be it students, teachers, parents or any other person. “Students have to be on guard always and not be attracted to unattended articles,” feels Father Celestine. His words of advice for students: “ Use your prudence and don’t try to be a good samaritan always — for you never know when it might backfire.”
Security at all times
Principal of Sacred Hearts Girls’ High School, Sister Preeti, feels security in schools is mandatory throughout the year and should not be connected to any incident as such. The school plans to have its own bus service soon and stricter control regarding entry of visitors, including parents and servants who come to hand over lunch parcels. The Principal is not in favour of ID cards for the students and prefers to have the parents presenting the particular student’s ID card at the entrance, instead.
Times have changed and will continue to change, maybe for the better or for the worse. Like Principal Ponnappa observes in her two decades of heading Vidya Niketan — “ Our school is situated in the suburbs, and in the earlier years, our school gates were unmanned and left open at times. Today — we ask visitors for personal details.”
We have to — for it would be prudent to remember India’s first Prime Minister and teacher, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s words — Children are the future of society, country and mankind. So we just have to remind ourselves that ‘One generation plants the trees, and another gets the shade.’
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| 'Think Before You leap': for the 'right' career More... |
15-12-2008 |
| Skills OR paper qualifications / instant job and quick bucks OR time-consuming studies and steady job thereafter the unending dilemma of students wanting to opt for jobs that feed their talent and pay well OR go for the traditional degree course and do long-term career planning, is something to be thought about with great care before taking the plunge, feels Dr Ali Khwaja | | Sunil was a good student till he came to high school. Sports, friends and the computer, overtook his interest in studies over a period of time, but with great pressure from his parents and teachers, he still managed to get over 75% in his tenth standard board exams. In PUC, his grades went all the way down, he started bunking college, and was finally debarred from appearing for exams due to low attendance.
Sunil did not seem unduly disturbed. He had developed an interest in computer gaming, and had already started programming his own action games. Soon, he was glued to the computer, refused to continue with his studies, and started earning big chunks of money with his creative talent. His parents are still in a dilemma — whether to allow him to continue in his vocation or to pull him back and send him to college. Only time will tell whether his decision was right or wrong.
Making the right choice
There are many intelligent and capable young persons like Sunil, who are choosing to give up on traditional graduate studies, and pick up skills that will get them a good career. In an era of fast changing technology and lifestyles, it is yet to be seen what the future will be, for people like Sunil. But one thing is certain — to keep abreast of advances, the current generation will have to keep up continuous education and learning — or they will be left behind. While a lot of the learning can take place on-the-job, some more will require formal training, either by taking an ‘off’ from work and going back to college, or through online or correspondence courses. Without a university degree, higher education may be out of bounds.
Some professional bodies have actually started doing away with the requirement of a university degree — the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, being a prominent example. Now, students who have completed 10+2, can start with the CPT (Common Proficiency Test), and move on to the Intermediate and Final exams of CA. In order to complete their computer and articleship training, they need free time that would otherwise be taken away by college classes. Even though graduation is no longer a prerequisite to become a chartered accountant, it is observed that most serious contenders for CA are continuing with their degree courses in the correspondence mode. This is because if later they wish to acquire dual qualifications like MBA. etc, they will not be left behind. A capable youngster who combines qualifications like CA and MBA, will have a definite edge over others who have only completed their CA.
When it matters
Similarly, there may be occasions when a candidate is competing with a colleague for promotion, and if both candidates have similar track record in work, the organisation may promote the person with a degree superceding the one without graduation.
When it comes to degrees by correspondence, many students are apprehensive that they may not be given the same weightage as those who studied through regular classes. This is true to a great extent. But if the same candidate has spent his time wisely, acquiring experience in the field, then he will definitely have an edge over a fresh graduate who spent the past three years in the classroom. Incidentally, degrees through correspondence are considered sufficient for candidates appearing for IAS, Civil Services, and various other competitive exams. In fact, the person who studied through correspondence and spent his time preparing thoroughly for competitive exams, may have a better chance of getting in.
There are some students who wish to take a break after schooling, and before going on to graduate studies. There is nothing wrong in that, provided they have a clear focus and determination that they will definitely get back to higher studies after exploring the practical world of work for a year. If they get lured by the easy money, move into dead-end routine jobs that pay well, and take up the attitude of “I’m earning more than graduates do, so why should I study?” — they may have to pay a big price in later years.
Thinking ahead
For those seeking short cuts and an easy way to finish studying and start earning, there is one point they need to keep in mind. In this generation, retirement age is likely to go up to anywhere between 65 and 70. So a person who is around 20 years of age now, needs to plan 50 years ahead of him. The ease with which he can acquire a degree now, will not be so later. And if for any reason he realises decades later, that he is not progressing up the ladder of success at the rate he would like to, because of lack of higher qualifications, then it may be too late to catch up.
Many students who have financial or academic difficulties, are not aware that they can take the path of the three year polytechnic diploma after their 10th, and after gaining this basic qualification, build up their motivation and complete a B.E. degree in three years, without losing a year. Such ‘Lateral Entry’ is now being offered by many universities in various courses.
While the three-year basic degree sounds the easiest and simplest, and longer professional degree has distinct advantages — even if one does not pursue the career in which one has qualified. For many decades, engineering has been the foundation for successful careers in a wide range of fields. Not only do engineers constitute almost three-fourths of those who get into IIMs’, they are also in civil and military service, banking, politics, creativity, communication, etc. Now, the scope of professional courses has extended beyond engineering. A candidate can opt for professional courses in hotel management, medical, veterinary, pharmacy, law, paramedical sciences, architecture, and various others that drill a student through projects, group work, presentations, practical work, etc., and hence enhance his ability to take up challenges, build leadership skills, and be successful in any field he eventually chooses to settle in.
Since the largest employers now are the private sector, who are focussed more on skills rather than paper qualifications, there is a strong lure to quit studies and start earning. Yet, the fact remains that many of these jobs become routine and monotonous, and the candidates without degrees or higher qualifications find it very difficult to move to anything better, thus stagnating for long periods of time. A formal university qualification is an insurance against such a mishap.
Categorisation of university degrees
In India, all recognised universities offer degrees after a minimum of study of 3 years. For classroom and correspondence courses, one has to complete 10+2, while under the open university (distance learning) scheme, anyone above the age of 18 can enroll if he passes an entrance exam.
1. The traditional 3-year degree courses are BA, BSc and BCom. Later additions are BBM/BBA, BCA, BFA, and many others specialising in fields ranging from banking to social work, biotechnology to tourism and visual communication.
2. Four year professional courses include the most popular BE/BTech, paramedical sciences, hotel management, pharmacy, design, etc.
3. Five year professional courses are medicine, law, architecture, integrated masters degrees in science or social science, etc.
Many foreign university degrees are not recognised for higher education or government employment in India. Other than recognised universities, no other institution is permitted to award ‘degrees’. One needs to be cautious of coaching centres that enroll students for degree courses. A university degree from India is generally recognised all over the world, and opens the doors for higher education, and better progress in one’s career.
Career Tips
Planning for exams
Aren’t you used to seeing the above type of headings only in February/March every year? “We’re hardly into December, and why should we be planning for exams so soon,” may be the thought entering your mind. For example, if you are in PUC 2nd year, it is exactly three months for your exams to start on 13th March. That’s almost a hundred days to go.
Perhaps you are making vague plans as to how you will study in these three months, or maybe you are just drifting along, studying whatever seems important on that day. Let us see how these hundred days, or 13 weeks, are going to go by:
There are at least one or two days in the week when you either don’t study at all due to distraction and loss of motivation, or are so bored and tired that nothing goes into your head. You can knock off 25 days straight away.
Unless you keep absolutely perfect health, you will lose at least 5 days to some minor sickness or ailment.
Knowing how our families and society function, you will lose at least 10 days for weddings, religious functions, bandhs, guests at home, or visiting relatives.
In small bits and pieces, you will lose up to 250 hours (approximately ten days), to household chores, haircuts, shopping, telephone conversations, games, Internet, TV, etc.
Hence, you actually have only half the productive time that you actually think you have. If your exam is a hundred days away, make a plan as though you have only 50 productive days to study. Only then will your plan be realistic. The additional time you get over and above those fifty days, is your bonus for revision and better preparation.
From highly competitive entrance tests to annual academic exams, it is not the most brilliant students who succeed, it is those who start preparation early, work systematically, and keep a track of time. The story of the hare and tortoise is actually true. Do you want to be the hare or the tortoise?
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| NEW YEAR More... |
29-12-2008 |
The New Year is an event that happens when a culture celebrates the end of one year and the beginning of the next year. Cultures that measure yearly calendars all have New Year celebrations. Western new year In countries governed by the Gregorian calendar, the celebration of New Year is celebrated on January 1, the date that is considered the most festive of them.  Celebrations on the Bay of Valparaiso, Chile; beginning of the show called "New Year at Sea," the largest in the world stage. Traditionally, the Roman calendar Gardens began the first day of March. However, it was in January (the eleventh month) when the consuls of ancient Rome assumed the government. Julius Caesar, in 47 years a. C., changed the system, creating the Julian calendar, with some modifications in the time of Marco Antonio consul in 44 a. C., the emperor Augustus Caesar in 8 a. C. and finally by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, is used today. In this year begins on January 1. Subsequently, the Gregorian calendar had the habit and the celebration was marked with a religious significance during the Middle Ages and later centuries. With the expansion of Western culture to the rest of the world during the twentieth century, the January 1 date became a universal in nature, even in countries with their own New Year celebrations (ex, China). At present, the celebration of New Year is a major event in the world. Major events are held in major cities around the world New Year's Eve (New Year's Eve for the December 31), being accompanied by the largest fireworks events. The largest events in the world are focused on:  Australia Sydney  Hong Kong Hong Kong  GBR London  USA New York  Brazil Río de Janeiro,São Paulo  Chile Valparaíso
While in Sydney was launched at midnight over 80,000 fireworks to more than one and a half million attendees, being the most-watched event on television worldwide last year at Valparaiso receive more than two million visitors to witness the largest fireworks in a natural setting and the huge worldwide; a total of more than 21 kilometers of fireworks on the bay, from the commercial port city of Valparaiso to Concon, Chile, all in 25 minutes of entertainment. In New York, the celebration is focused around a big crystal ball that descends on a crowd in Times Square, is also the party with the largest number of attendees last year: more than three million people. Moreover, much of the huge holiday clubs. In the culture of Latin America there are a variety of traditions and superstitions for these dates as a way of omens for the coming year. The uncorking a bottle of champagne at 0:00 1. January still remains a symbol of New Year's celebration. The New Year feast is closely related to the celebration of Christmas Eve, Christmas and Hannukah. Due to the closeness between all these parties is that much of the world sees the last week of the year as the beginning of the holiday period, either in winter (in the Northern Hemisphere) or summer (in the Southern Hemisphere). According to the Judeo-Christian tradition, on January 1 coincides with the circumcision of Christ (eight days after birth), when the name of Jesus |
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