Women in retail
Are you looking to change your career or experiment with a profession you
always wanted to pursue? Write to Quest at crossroads.dna@gmail.com
Renowned career expert Pervin Malhotra will keep her pen poised to
answer your dilemmas
POLITICS
Can I join politics after doing an MBA? In what
way can I help a political party as an MBA
professional?
-Garima Shinde
Many B-school graduates have joined politics in the
last decade or so, including Kumari Shailja,
Jyotiraditya Scindia, Naveen Jindal, Milind Deora and
Sachin Pilot, but not as management professionals.
But now graduates from top B-schools are
increasingly being employed in politics as
management professionals. IIM-Lucknow alumnus
Ranjan Kumar, now a full-time Congress worker, gives
strategic inputs to the party general secretary, Rahul
Gandhi's team.
Prodyut Bora, a '99-batch IIM-A graduate, left his
consultancy business to join the BJP as the national
convenor for its IT cell. Sidharth Nath Singh, an alum-
nus of FMS, Delhi, has found the right mix of running
a business and devoting time and energy for the BJP.
Singh deftly balances three balls: an assignment with
UK's design and engineering consultancy firm WSP,
while holding the post of party in-charge for
Nagaland, besides being appointed as B JP's publicity
in-charge for the upcoming Gujarat elections.
Young Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit, himself an
alumnus of Institute of Rural Management Anand, has
motivated a few other IRMA graduates to work full-
time on a project to assist over 50 MPs on policy and
constituency development work. Interestingly, IIITM,
Gwalior offers an MBA in Public Services management
and e-Governance. On the other end, many of our top
B-schools including some of the IIMs, SP Jain Institute
of Management, MDI Gurgaon, TERI School of
Advanced Studies (Delhi) offer PG courses in Public
Management and Policy, Political Governance etc for
mid-career Civil Servants and those in the gov-
ernment.
RETAIL
I am interested in working in the retail industry.
Is it a good field for women?
-Lika Gogte
A lot of women are coming forward to strengthen the
sales force in this industry. In fact, the retail sector is
poised to emerge as the largest employer for women
in the country. Industry estimates suggest that women
constitute 30 per cent of the total sales force on the
shop floor and their number is rising fast with the
expansion of existing players and new entrants. This is
largely because of retail majors offering them a level-
playing field as far as jobs are concerned. In certain
categories like household products, grocery and
garments, women
turn out to be better marketers compared to their
male counterparts. Lack of trained and qualified
people is a very major challenge for this industry,
which means you have a bright future in this industry.
IT
I am an IT professional and I want to serve my
country by joining the defence forces. Is it too
late for me? What are the various options left
for me to join the Army?
-Madhav Rao
IT professionals can join the Territorial Army (TA) and
undergo two months training in a year so that in case
of emergency they serve the country with their
expertise in the IT sector. Presently there are 66 units
in the TA of which 42 are departmental units. In all,
more than 48,000 jawans are engaged in the TA.
There are quite a few IT professionals who work as
Commissioned Officers. They train their TA unit for
eight hours every weekend while continuing with
their regular jobs.
In times of war or similar situations, TA officers and
personnel are called in for active duty and become
regular army officers drawing the same perks and
emoluments as the others. All you need to do is train
for 46 days in a year on weekends and enjoy all the
privileges of being an officer.
The Mayor of Delhi has recently called upon
citizens to join the TA to serve the nation. She
announced that every Municipal Corporation of Delhi
(MCD) officer and employee who joins the TA will be
given two months' leave with full pay to undergo
training. Anyone between the age group of 18 and
42, who clears the Services Selection Board test and
the medical exam can join the TA.
The author is director, Career Guidance India
(CARING)