Attired in dark business suit and a pleasant smile, Nikhil Arora cuts a dapper figure.  After finishing the Carlson Management Training Programme he joined Radisson as an employee on a gross salary of Rs. 20,000 per month. Many would consider this as a modest amount in comparison to corporate salaries but when pitted against the expense he put forth for the programme, he has an edge. His total programme fee: Nil. His stipend while training: Rs 16,000. Rise in salary: Rs 4,000 after confirmation. Job: Secure. Career: Promising and on track. Many youngsters like Nikhil ,who was inspired by his uncle to choose the hotel industry are choosing diverse areas depending on their interest. And now what seems to be a uniform goal is to take up job-oriented courses just like Nikhil so that they never fall out of favour from the job market, irrespective of the caprices of the market.

The beginning
Before the slowdown, the economy was witnessing an unprecedented growth. Enterprises were expanding, entities merging and businesses were being acquired as a result of which demand for trained professionals soared. When companies started facing shortage of qualified workforce, they had no option but to train their employees according to industry needs. Some firms took on the orientation task by conducting in-house training and some by tying up with educational institutes to get trained resource, ready to deliver from day one. This phenomenon, of organisations partnering with educational institutes to deliver tailored programmes held companies and job-seekers in good stead even in times of slowdown.

What’s the difference?
Some organisations partner with an educational institute and design the course syllabus jointly with the institution. Religare Commodites allied with Manipal University to offer Certificate programme in Commodities. “Commodity business is growing at a fast pace and needs special skills and knowledge, hence the need of talented and trained manpower is very critical for us from a long term business perspective,” says Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Commodities. When the course is completed – 3 months with Rs. 18,000 as fees - there is guaranteed absorption in Religare. “We also reimburse the fee over an employment period of 6 months,” informs Manglik.
&nbspHDFC Standard Life, the insurance division of banking giant HDFC, tied up with Manipal University in March 2009, to launch ‘First Advantage’, a 3-month certificate programme in insurance and management. “The key objective of this programme is to select, train and groom talent from across the country to ensure a ready pool of insurance-trained sales professionals for the company,” says Sharad Gangal, general manager, HR, HDFC Standard Life. Cost involved: Rs 30,000. Candidates who successfully qualify are assured a job in the organisation. In other instances, organisations don’t guarantee a job and they have no exclusive partnership with institutes either.  However, they readily snap up trained and skilled resources which the institutions churn out independently.
“It seems that industry has decided to take the bull by its horns,” says Rajesh AR of  TeamLease Services.

Nature of the offering
The career-courses offer certificates which are different from academic or degree programmes with no accreditation or recognition. At the most, the recognition enjoyed is only to the extent of industry reputation. The beauty of career-courses is that: students pay a fee, usually less than a lakh, in some cases they earn a stipend too. The courses are of short duration, extending for a maximum period of a year and the eligibility as well as selection criteria isn’t too tough either. Once the student passes out successfully, he doesn’t have to hunt for a job in the skills-starved market. Either the firms are ready with job–offers or institutes aid in placements. The hotel industry faced and recognised the need of adopting such a model way back in the ’80s, which other industries are doing now. So Nikhil, a 10+2 student, with hotel management degree refined his skill being an intern while his peers moved on to obtain management degrees.

It is a different matter that the slowdown in the global financial market causing heartburn to the buoyant job market here raised multiple questions on the substance of management studies. “Students are far from practical reality,” say human resource experts. The clamour for qualified manpower and the spurt in the career-related programmes corroborate the fact that the education hitherto imparted by institutions lacked in their offerings. But it will be unreasonable to dismiss the full-time academic programme as the holistic exposure that an individual gets from them is unparalleled. However in-depth programmes groom the students to get into actionable drive from day one.  Trained human resource is
a critical contributor to an organisation’s success.

Skills-starved job market
As and when companies face shortage of trained professionals, they take recourse in career-oriented programmes to address the demand constraints.  The trend started early on in the hotel industry and as the economy boomed, it spread on to information technology, retail, banking, financial services and insurance sector. Public sector units too have now joined the fray. Last year, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Institute of Cost and Works Accountants (ICWA) launched “Certificate in Accounting Technicians”, programme  with a view to increasing the number of skilled junior-level accountants.  For CWA course, the postal coaching fee is Rs. 20,200 and while training on the job, the stipend is anywhere between Rs. 5,000- Rs. 7, 000. “ICWAI has introduced a low cost course called the Certificate in Accounting Technicians (CAT) in English and Hindi to equip candidates with the knowledge of maintaining accounts, preparing income tax return, service tax return, filing of returns under income tax, VAT, service tax, etc.,” says Kunal Banerjee,  president ICWAI. 
While a majority of programmes are classroom-held, some are online too, as it is in the case of Indian Institute of Real Estate (IIRE), which runs two of its programmes online. The Pune-based institute, after enrolling the students, gives them a password which allows access to the course. “The projects given require the student to visit developers and financers thus exposing them to professionals who end up employing these students,” says Professor Suresh Malkani, academic dean, IIRE.

Will you benefit?
In depth study of one function area creates understanding in core business principles, gives deeper insights and is practically relevant. Payal Pal, 26, wanted to take up a bank job, specialising in area of banking operations. “I always wanted to be in it”, she says. So, after completing MBA (finance) from Institute of Management and Advanced Global Excellence, Bhubanswer, she enrolled in Post Graduate Diploma in Banking Operations (PGDBO) programme run by NIIT-IFBI. After completing the three-month programme, Pal is presently interning in ICICI bank, Pune.  “I am getting Rs. 7,600 as stipend and will join them after completing internship.” Payal is assured of her job. She adds, “Such courses may be short-term but it enables one to choose and focus on the area one wants to really work in.”

Some courses have a minimum qualification requirement of 10+2. Ashok Srinivasan, vice-president, Expertus, has a word of advice for undergraduates. “Undergraduate years should be spent in more general course study after which one should take up further study or work in the area of one’s inclination,” he says.

 

Delhi-based career counsellor Jitin Chawla echoes similar thoughts. “The work culture is thrust upon students too early,” he says. However, he also mentions the positives. “It helps students to imbibe the academic concepts much better.” On an advisory note, alongside the practical training, the participants should continue to study for a Bachelor’s degree. Says the corporate spokesperson of Oberoi hotels, “While taking a 3-year Systematic Training and Education Programme’, with Oberoi, undergraduates can also pursue Bachelor of Tourism Studies (BTS) degree from Indira Gandhi Open University.”

In order that students gain maximum benefit in minimum available time, the courses are subject to review and are fine-tuned according to market’s demand. Harpreet Singh, corporate training manager, RHW Hotel Management Services, which manages Radisson Hotel, Delhi says, “Every year, we re-examine the course content and make necessary additions.”
 
Due diligence by students
Unlike management, engineering or medicine programmes, career-related certificate programmes are not AICTE, UGC or government approved. So, what is the validity of these career-oriented programmes? Does the certificate hold value if a student wants to take-up advanced studies? According to Jitin, these certificates  are not recognized in India for further education. “But abroad, it still holds good, because a number of universities decide on enrolments based on practical experience of candidates,” he says. Dr C S Venkata Ratnam, Director, International Management Institute, which recently partnered with Max New York’s Life to launch Professional Programme in Insurance & Sales Management, says that the certificate is not valid for higher studies. “It is a job- oriented programme leading to a career in insurance and sales,” he clarifies.
But the industry, he says, will recognize the certificate. “The course meets the competencies required from a professional in insurance and sales management,” says Dr. Ratnam.

Industry-recognized courses
It is advisable to take up programmes which enjoy industry recognition or are run by industry bodies. They may not guarantee a job but by virtue of industry contacts, placement offers are usually never hard to come by.  National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), for instance, conducts Real Estate Certificate programme. “Though it doesn’t guarantee placements but having 150 members on board, the students get placed easily,” says Asad Mudin, co-founder, NAREDCO. Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) runs three short-term programmes for working professionals. “Since we have exporters, merchandisers and retailers as members we recommend the students to them,” says the spokesperson.
Saurabh Singh, General Manager, ICICI Bank says, “The number of industry-academia partnerships have gone up significantly because unlike in medicine or engineering, where candidates are trained in specialized areas, we only had plain graduates in the field of finance. Initially, the academic community was suspicious and reluctant - academic institutes are not training colleges. It took us a year to convince Manipal University and NIIT for such programmes.”

Faculty checks
Before enrolling in any course, candidates must interact with former students to know their opinion. Also check faculty background. An inexperienced faculty will not be able to guide a student or answer his queries better. Chances are that a significant number of the faculty do not have sufficient exposure to the industry  to be able to capture and translate the nuances of the industry into their teaching material. Besides, there aren’t many India-specific books or case studies available to the faculty to enable them to provide contextual learning. If the Institute highlights programme affiliation with foreign universities, go to the universities’ website, e-mail them or give a call to cross-check.
Irrespective of what the college says and no matter how rosy the prospective career picture portrayed, before registering, corroborate every piece of information that you get. An informed decision can help students save plenty of time.

Other items on the checklist 
The other parameter on a student’s checklist is to find out if they will have to enter into any bond or any kind of written agreement with the organisation. RHW Hotel Management Services says that the students of Carlson Management Training Programme are not bound by any bond to work there. However, there exists an understanding whereby pass-out students work in the hotel for at least two years. Nilesh Mitra, Director, HR, RHW Hotel Management Services says that such bonds don’t have any legal binding anyway.


There is a lot of interest in areas such as journalism, fitness or retail which are seen as glamorous. There is a mismatch of perceptions, feels CK Kurien, general manager, marketing & relationship, Future Learning and Development,
Pantaloon Group. In the context of retail, he says, “At the outset it looks alluring. On -the-job training allows the candidates to see the reality.” This, according to him helps them make the transition with ease.

Future of such alliances
In all likelihood such alliances will become increasingly common. For industries that can’t find quality workforce with specialised skills, collaboration of this nature helps them to bridge the demand-supply gap. “The career-course practice has become quite popular with agro, automobile and iron and steel industries,” says Rajesh AR. The partnerships suffered due to the economic meltdown. Companies started reviewing the tie-ups. One such 8-month programme, Experience Design and Management, an alliance between Future Group and Pearl Academy of Fashion was temporarily put on hold soon after commencement of two batches. This programme which commands a fee of Rs 80,000 might be resumed in July, informs AKG Nair, group director, Pearl Academy of Fashion.
Pros & cons of career-programmes The drawback of such career-intensive programmes is it’s exceedingly focused approach. It is said that crises expose the true character of a person. In the educational context, the economic slowdown has exposed the flaws in our teaching set up. It’s time institutions and job-seekers introspect a bit.  Academia alliance is the future

Hari Menon, Vice President and Head, Professionals and Skills Education, Manipal University

Industry-academia alliance is the future. Industry has always been very apprehensive about academic output not being aligned to industry requirements. Such alliances ensure that curriculum is industry relevant as industries contribute to the content development process. In such alliances usually industry provides for on-the-job training and most importantly they provide placement opportunities. All of this is very relevant and critical in creating job-ready resource – what we call “First Day First Hour Productive”. Short-duration courses make the candidates job-ready. The focus of short term courses is to create the necessary skills required for the specific job. The entire curriculum and delivery methodology focuses only on that and does not delve too much into generic content. There is a significant component of practical/on-the-job training which helps create outcomes in short periods of time. These courses are highly focussed on the job needs.