Government Jobs (2008-2009)
With over 18 million employees, government sector still accounts for over half of the total employees in the organized sector in India. And for millions of graduates and diploma holders in non-metros, a public sector job is still a passport to financial security, social status and general well being. Hence, despite impossible success rates like 1 in 10,000 for Special Class Railway Apprentices Examination, lakhs of people every year sit for hundreds of examinations conducted by a host of agencies for that elusive government job.

Recruitments in the government sector happen at four levels. The central government recruits through the Union Public Service Commission and the state governments through their own public service commissions. The public sector undertakings and autonomous institutions recruit either individually or through centralized recruitment boards on an all India basis.

And recruitments in the public sector are diverse. From gardner to advisor, government recruits for various job profiles and at all levels of responsibilities. The entry requirements, selection process, catchment area, and eligibility requirements are amazingly diverse.

To help you navigate the job market better, we present an analysis of most of the jobs announced in the public sector during the last financial year (2008-2009). Grouped into 14 different sectors, from agriculture to service engineering, over 1.7 lakh employment opportunities that are available for an aspiring youth have been examined. While the detailed eligibility requirements and examination processes are impossible to list out, a broad overview of qualifications, tips for examination and other relevant details have been incorporated.

The primary objective is to provide you a pen picture of the number, nature, selection process and prospects of available government jobs across sectors. This is in a bid to enable you to make sound decisions about your career in what would turn out to be a lifetime pursuit for most of you.

Medical officers were the most recruited among the several job titles in this sector primarily at the government hospitals, public sector corporations and other organisations. The health sector openings accounted for 4 percent of all jobs across all the sectors. The opening for Nurse/Nursing officers/Sisters - the second largest among job-titles require a BSc in Nursing or diploma in general nursing and midwifery and for higher level, in addition to the said qualification, two-three years of work experience is considered mandatory. However, for some positions in a smaller organisation, you may have passed class tenth exam with an added qualification in Nursing. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi recruited more than 360 Sisters (Grade II) last year. For the post of medical officers in their specialised area, a degree in related medicine field is essential. For insurance medical officers, who were recruited in large numbers by the Employee State Insurance Corporation, in addition to a medical qualification, it is obligatory that one should have completed compulsory rotating internship and also be registered under the Medical Council of India. These officers are posted in hospitals/dispensaries of E.S.I. Corporation after clearing the selection test. The other promising job opportunity in the health sector is at teaching and research positions. Last year 430 assistant professors were recruited in different medical colleges and hospitals in the country. While Lady Hardinge Medical College & Smt S.K Hospital recruited over 150 faculty members of which 68 were for assistant professorship, the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh filled in 200 faculty positions. Railway Recruitment Board selected 229 Health & Malaria Inspectors which required the candidates to have a degree in science, preferably with chemistry as the main subject. The other noteworthy openings here are at the level of Pharmacists, Medical Superintendents, Radiologists, Anaesthetists and Subject Specialists.

Agriculture and Allied Disciplines
For the first time in modern history the 1960s and 1970s saw impressive  growth in agricultural productivity aimed at making India fully self-sufficient in its food requirements. However, in the current scenario due to several factors like unsustainable use of resources, lack of scientific research, and coping with issues such as climate change, usage of fertilisers, power shortages etc. has compelled the government to have a rigorous and coherent policy to boost activities in agriculture, veterinary, forestry and allied areas. In our study we found that job openings for agricultural graduates increased considerably in banks  and financial institutions and the opportunities, particularly in the rural areas are multiplying. Scientists and subject specialists were in high demand for which postgraduation (PG) in relevant area was essentially required. Specialisation in subjects like agronomy, animal husbandry, horticulture, plant protection, soil science, entomology and microbiology were the most sought after. Most of these positions were at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute’s regional centres all over the country and at the research divisions of Indian Council for Agriculture Research . Many openings were seen at the Research Fellow (both senior and junior level) or Associate level in several projects that required at least a high second class PG or a higher degree like PhD. On an average the openings were at middle or senior level that required substantial work experience. Maharashtra Public Service Commission required over 150 Assistant Commissioners in the field of Animal Husbandry at a pre-revised pay-scale of Rs. 8,000-13,500. For such openings a Master’s degree is required and practical experience in Animal Husbandry for a period of not less than 5 years in a government department or in an industrial undertaking is a must. The responsibilities at such positions usually ask for scientific evaluation of various technical programmes and suggesting suitable remedial measures. The employment opportunities also were found at the Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK); Project Directorates on different agriculture/allied subjects, commodity boards and cooperatives. The KVKs usually employed programme coordinators, farm managers  and subject matter specialsts.  The recruitments are usually advertised in the Employment News and national newspapers, but one should always keep a check on the websites of the agriculture universities in the country and research institutions like National Dairy Research Institute, Forest Research Institute, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Indian Agricultural Research Institute etc. Last year, the State Public Service Commissions recruited the maximum number of people followed by research institutes of the Agriculture Council.

Science & Technology
When Aarti Srivastava, a polymer scientist, started looking for a job in her field, she attempted a balanced approach to both teaching and research. Her PhD supervisor at Banaras Hindu University told her she would be competitive for faculty positions, but her post-doc advisor suggested that her research outcome would be more suitable to a career in research. She thus chose a public sector oil company’s Research & Development centre where she now relishes the challenge of developing real-world products. In the past one year such openings have been advertised at different levels in different functional areas. Of the 2,627 job positions in this sector, nearly half were that of scientists at different levels.

While public sector enterprises such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, Indian Oil Limited, Uranium Corporation of India Limited, Hindustan Organic Chemicals Limited and the like recruited several S&T personnel last year, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and its laboratories also employed many senior/principal scientists. The number of chief scientists recruited were relatively less. The strategic sector has also recruited hundreds of scientists, for instance the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) recruited 500 scientists ‘B’ last year. Interestingly, a majority of those employed at DRDO were graduates from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). For such positions the Recruitment and Assessment Centre conducts a Scientist Entry Test (SET) usually advertised on their website and Employment News.

The S&T sector has wide range of opportunities for personnel in all critical areas like health, education, basic science, power, protection technologies and so on. In the past few years, an increasing number of posts have been devoted specifically to research and teaching positions in academia. Research Associates, Research Fellows & Assistants, Junior and Senior Research Fellows were very much encouraged to render their services in various projects. Academic institutes such as central and state universities, National Institutes of Technology, IITs and like regularly recruit candidates at the above positions who are later employed as faculty  members. The projects were seen to be largely sponsored by department of science and technology, biotechnology, atomic energy, space ministry of environment and forests and health & family welfare.

 Banking Sector - Money Matters 
Amrendra Nath Sinha, a probationary officer at the Indian Overseas Bank reflects on the need for a much wider-ranging of knowledge than was required, say a decade ago. The range of products and services which banks can offer is so extensive following the deregulation of the sector. In the previous year (2008-09), banking sector recruited the maximum number of personnel at various levels ranging from management trainees to assistant managers and agriculture officers to marketing & recovery officers (rural).

However, the two most demanding job positions offered at the entry level are at the Clerical Grade and as Probationary Officers (PO). These positions draw a dominant pay-scale of Rs. 4,410-13,210 and Rs. 10,000-18,240 respectively. With stiff competition coming from private sector and foreign banks in India, most of the nationalised banks enable a greater adaptation of life-long learning to the present and future qualification needs. In the present context of an increasingly complex finance sector, the qualifying criteria for vacancies were found to be postgraduation with relevant specialization at the middle and senior level positions. Knowledge of computers is an add on.  The usual openings were for chartered accountants, cost accountants, management, agriculture and commerce graduates. The other job openings in the sector include investment officers, insurance advisors, foreign exchange manager, systems manager, financial analysts, corporate credit personnel and so on.  In the coming years, it appears that the development of vocational or professional qualifications would be a priority for the Indian banking sector. 

Within banking, employers look for people with following skills: numeracy and mathematics, relationship management that makes you understand client needs; industry and product knowledge; interpersonal skills; knowledge of information and communication technology; and languages and cultural awareness.

In our analysis, among the top recruiters, the State Bank of India emerged as the largest recruiter with over 27,200 vacancies in the last year - the largest share being taken by Clerical Grade followed by Probationary Officers (PO). The other large recruiter was Union Bank of India.  The entry level eligibility criteria for the former is 12th pass with 60 per cent marks while for the POs it is graduation with stipulated percentage that varies from bank to bank. The selection for POs is through preliminary and main examination followed by group discussion and interviews (also see page 24 for details on Bank PO exam).

The 2-hour preliminary exam is objective comprising English language; test of reasoning; general awareness including computer knowledge; and quantitative aptitude including data interpretation. The 3-hour main examination also has a descriptive section on English. A similar exam pattern is adopted for clerical grade but the emphasis is on numerical aptitude, reasoning and language skills. Recruitment details are available on respective websites of banks, Employment News, job portals (look for reputed ones) and national dailies.
 

Education - teaching for a new India
Faculty openings in academic institutions are best suited for motivated self-starters who have gone through both the rigours and exciting facet of a higher degree, usually a PhD, while post-doctoral experience is an added advantage. The highest rewards are given to those who are able to identify and explore original problems in their fields. With the Sixth Pay Commission in place, the education sector is particularly seen to attract many people.

The attraction is also due to the relatively flexible structure of the profession. There were close to 8,000 teaching jobs advertised last year in the public- funded universities and organisations, research institutions, schools, municipal corporations, and public service commissions. Out of these, nearly 50 percent were at the entry level as lecturers and assistant professors. In view of several academic institutions being set up by the government and private sector in the country, many teaching and research responsibilities are imminent. In order to equip oneself for a faculty position, one needs to pass the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) conducts the UGC/CSIR-NET for natural sciences. The prerequisite to appear for this test is a postgraduate degree in the respective subject. The test is conducted by the UGC twice a year usually in June and December. There are two papers of which the first tests your teaching and research aptitude, while the second paper is designed to test your knowledge in the subject. Employees State Insurance Corporation and Uttarakhand Public Service Commission recruited about 1,500 assistant professors/lecturers. Banaras Hindu University also recruited nearly 500 faculty in last year. Major recruiters also include different ministries, Railways and defence services.

Administration - the glue that binds
Administrative jobs are classified under Central and State. While central government jobs are branched into All India Services and Central Services, a similar categorisation is seen at the state level. Most of the jobs in this group were small in number but at higher ranks from directors to heads of government undertaking and from joint secretary to secretary level. Vacancies in larger numbers were listed by Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), insurance firms and government. For higher echelons, aspirants need to write Civil Services Exam conducted by UPSC at the central level or a similar exam conducted by the State Public Service Commissions. Last year, various insurance corporations, scientific research organisations, and government departments listed more than 600 vacancies at Administrative Officer’s level in the dominant pay scale of Rs. 8,000–13,500/Rs. 11,110-20,910. RRB recruited close to 750 Assistant Station Masters and Depot Material Superintendents. Ministry of Home Affairs employed over 50 Intelligence Officers at its Narcotics Control Bureau. The eligibility at entry level for above jobs is a graduation degree and selection is done through written test, GD and interview. Recruitments happened in Ministry of Finance, Defence, ESIC, Department of Animal Husbandry and Food Safety & Standards Authority of India.

Office Support - the nuts & bolts
Nearly 8,000 job vacancies were listed in this category that include lower division clerks (LDCs), stenographers, office assistants, draughtsman, private secretary, typist, library attendant, telephone operator, receptionist and messenger and at a higher level job titles like upper division clerks, section officers, and office superintendents among host of others. In all there were 3,018 positions of clerks and 3,125 posts of office assistants which together account for 78 percent of all positions in this category. Section Officers account for just over 2 percent of all positions. A sizeable number of LDCs were also employed by Ministry of Shipping and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. For entry in clerical grade, one needs to appear in a written exam in two parts: first is an objective paper of 200 marks equally divided into sections on reasoning ability and clerical aptitude; English language; numerical ability and general awareness. Part two comprises a typewriting test.

Security - the men in uniform
After banking, maximum job openings were in security. The State Police, Industrial Security Forces, Border Security Force/s and even Banks employed security personnel, although majority were at the constable level in the dominant pay scale of Rs. 5,200-20,200. Educational qualification for Constable-general duty is a pass in class 10/10+2. Other job-titles in the sector included security and vigilance officer, assistant commandants, security supervisors and coast guards. The sector had 35,632 jobs which accounted for 21 per cent of total vacancies in the last one year. Total vacancies for post of constables was 34,459 or 97 per cent of all security openings. CISF, Delhi Police and ITBP together accounted for 68 per cent of the jobs or 22,340 men and 1,486 women constables. For selection, one needs to qualify physical efficiency test and written test. For example at CISF, the former consists of events like race, long and high jump which carry 25 marks and the latter consists of both objective and descriptive test for 50 marks. The exam assesses candidates’ general awareness, knowledge of elementary maths and ability to observe and distinguish patterns and basic knowledge of language. Interview and special qualifications like creditable achievements in sports, NCC, scouts/guides or any extra curricular activity have a weightage of 15 and 10 marks respectively.

Non-technical Jobs - support staff
The job titles in this category include Store Keeper, Security Guard, Driver, Labourer, Peon, Washerman, Gardener, Laboratory Assistant, Blacksmith, Sweepers among others. The total number of vacancies in the last year was close to 5,000 or about 3 percent of total number of vacancies.  Apart from the major recruiters listed out, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Ordinance Factory, Railway Recruitment Board, Sashastra Seema Bal and Military Engineering Services also employed sizeable number of people. Candidates with educational qualification of class VIII at the minimal level need to apply for the above listed job titles. While the prevalent age group for such aspirants was observed to be 18-25 years, the dominant pre-revised pay scale was Rs. 2,550-3,200 and Rs. 3,050-4,590. Unskilled labourers, however, need to be literate up to class V in order to be eligible. An additional qualification of an ex-serviceman is generally essential for the job of security personnel in establishments such as CISF or Border Security Force. The applications are aplenty for these positions as the hopefuls consider this as a safe and secured option. The other advantage is the adherence to office timings which in case of most of the private firms is highly ignored.

Specialists: Management, Social Science, Computers, and Law
The specialist category includes professionals from the field of Management, Social Sciences, Law and Computers that excludes computer engineering. Management Trainees, in particular those who graduated from Business schools in less than 1-3 years were the most in demand with organisations like Steel Authority of India Limited, National Thermal Power Corporation, Uranium Corporation of India, NHPC Limited formerly called as National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd and Syndicate Bank recruiting them in different functional areas like finance, human resources and marketing. The Social Sciences had fewer positions that asked for applications for the posts of regional officers in Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) also asked for applications from those willing to pursue PhD for 40 doctoral fellowships in the open category and 15 in the northeast category. In computers, programmers/assistant programmers that have a diploma or degree in computer applications were asked to apply for nearly 250 positions. Similarly job titles like Administrative Officer and Manager-IT/Systems were advertised for in organisations like Employees Provident Fund, Andhra Bank and Oriental Insurance Company Limited.In Law, several banks like the Central Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra looked for law officers in the prevalent pay band of Rs. 14,300-18,300. The eligibility criteria for a law officer in banks is a mandatory law degree with 60% marks and active practice at the Bar for 5 years or as law officer in legal department in a commercial bank/financial institution. The High Court in various states were on the look for Restorers in the pay-scale of Rs. 5,200-20,200 short-listed through a two-hour written examination based on multiple-choice questions in language comprehension, general awareness, mathematics and reasoning. Restorers or Junior Judicial Assistants are selected after a two-stage   exam comprising comprehension/essay writing, type-writing and in interview.

Service Engineering
This category includes all such vacancies where a professional is likely to be involved in fabricating, operating, testing and troubleshooting, and maintaining existing equipment or systems. In other words, the job vacancies included anyone holding a qualification in vocational training (say diploma from Industrial Training Institute or Polytechnic) who was qualified to typically install, test, and maintain products in the field and was integral to the manufacturing process. This sector accounted for nineteen  percent of all job-vacancies in our study. The maximum openings were for the job title Assistant Loco Pilot/Loco Pilots by the Railway Recruitment Board.

The other job openings apart from the ones listed in the table in sizeable numbers were that of fitters, mining sirdars in coalfields, technical officers, assistant workshop superitendents, chargemen, crane operators, electricians, foremen and machinists. Railway Recruitment Board in various zones collectively looked for nearly 10,200 people in this sector, while the Ministry of Shipping/ Road Transport & Highways advertised for over 4,150 jobs in service engineering. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd also announced close to 1,300 vacancies, of which 789 posts were for Station Controller Train Operators.  The Directorate General of Employment and Training (DGET) which is the agency responsible for implementing vocational training programme in the country has observed the need for skilled personnel for openings in both manufacturing and services in India. The latest annual report of DGET (2007-08) states that in order to sustain adequate supply of semi-skilled workers, and also for value creation through dynamic vocational training policy and infrastructure, 6,906 Industrial Training Institutes (ITI)/centres (1997 in government sector and remaining 4,909 in the private sector) are functioning all over the country. These ITIs  have a seating capacity of 9.53 lakh and they impart training in 110 trades. The general educational qualification needed for applying to positions such as foreman, fitter, chargeman or junior supervisor is a diploma in a relevant discipline from an ITI or a similar institute. The positions such as assistant technicians, craftsmen, laboratory assistants and junior attendants require 10/10+2 pass and relevant experience depending on the nature of job and responsibilities. Recruitments also happened in Public Sector Enterprises like Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited that recruited over 250 Operating Technicians and Eastern Coalfields Limited that emloyed Mining Sirdars. The Department of Atomic Energy also advertised for more than 100 stipendiary trainees in different areas, mainly for their Hyderabad Station.

Others: Music, Dance, Theatre, Arts; Hospitality; Media; Language; and Sports
There were fewer jobs in government and public sector organisations in disciplines like Music/Dance/Theatre/Arts, Media, Hospitality, Language, and Sports. The job titles in Music et al that were in demand last year included painters, photographers, instrument players, dancers and vocalists. Organisations looking for such posts were Indian Railways, National School of Drama, Kathak Kendra, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Banaras Hindu University and Ministry of Shipping.  In Hospitality, the National Aviation Company of India Ltd called for applications to fill 547 posts of Trainee Cabin Crew at a pay package of Rs. 28,000 per month. Media jobs were advertised the least last year. 21 Junior Proof Readers were advertised by Parliament of India, while other organisations announced their requirement of Public Relation Officers and Sub-Editors in this domain. In languages area, Rajbhasha Assistant and Hindi language translators were the most sought after. One needed a Master’s degree in Hindi and about two years of relevant experience for the above posts. Other job-titles too were linked to Hindi language as there were openings such as Hindi officer, Hindi typists and official language officers. Largest recruitment was through the RRB and Public Service Commission, Uttar Pradesh. Even banks such as UCO, Andhra, Canara, Dena, Allahabad and Bank of Maharashtra called for applications for official language officers. Indian Railways recruited the maximum number of sports personnel in different disciplines like hockey, football, tennis, cricket, volleyball and badminton.  This category had one percent of total job vacancies in a span of one year. The other job was that of Assistant Coach in institutes required a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and a Diploma in Coaching from an institution like NIS Patiala.

Concluding remarks
With over 1.7 lakh jobs, the government and public sector still collectively account for about half of the jobs that are available in the organised sector and hence are very much in demand, especially in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.But what motivates individuals to opt for public service varies. Prof. Purshottam Agarwal, Member UPSC when quizzed about civil services said, “Services as a word is integrated into sheer conceptualization of a government job, which is why it is termed as public service. In terms of diversity, challenges, and ability to make a difference, no other job can match civil services.” On the other hand, it is iron clad security that a government job offers, that motivates many aspirants, is the opinion of J.Subhramaniam, Research Director, NTPC. Whether it is service orientation or security,  a public sector job offers scope for both.