Marketing your skills

Q: I am a final-year MBA student. Marketing is my area of specialisation. I want to know about the future prospects. Please help.

Sandeep Kumar Roy

A: With marketing emerging as the focal point of business, this is an exciting and challenging career option that offers performance-linked incentives, growth opportunities, upward mobility, etc.

Information technology (IT), fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), apparel, retail, real estate and financial services are the major sectors that young energetic MBAs are headed for these days.

However, a good B-school only provides you with a launch pad. You need in-depth market knowledge as well as a good understanding of customer needs, and these you learn on the job.

A killer instinct combined with sound analytical and communication skills, a willingness to work long hours, an ability to adapt swiftly and decisively to new market conditions, spotting untapped potential and an ability to do research on customer needs and translate the findings into revenue growth for the company are the qualities that will take you a long way in this field.

Good products are always in demand. However, some of the best-known brands rely on clever brand positioning for success. Consumers will pay a high price only if they perceive the value they associate with a particular product or service.

Hence, marketing is always the key to a company’s success. A good marketing professional is therefore worth his weight in gold!

Compensation package for a marketing or sales job varies greatly with the nature of the job and the company you work for. But as a rule, marketing professionals make more money than their counterparts in sales.

Material science to the fore

Q: I am studying electrical engineering. Please tell me something about material science and the institutions where it is taught.

Arpan Banerjee

A: Products like electronic gadgets, space-based communications and other engineered items are now playing a pivotal role.

As a result, high performance materials are being designed and fabricated quite easily. We can even build a variety of functions into a particular material.This explains the increasing demand for material scientists.

Material science is a competitive field and it’s available only at the MTech level. It is taught at IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, IIT Mumbai, IIT Roorkee and Institute of Technology, BHU, Varanasi. Admissions are through the GATE exam. Taking up this career can prove to be very fruitful as prospects for material scientists seem bright.

Bioinformatics opens up exciting avenues

Q: I am pursuing an MSc degree in zoology. I have a diploma in IT, certified by the West Bengal government. What other IT courses can I opt for? Could you please also suggest any other career option suitable for me, keeping in mind my qualifications?

Sharmistha Banerjee

A: Since you have not mentioned any details about the IT diploma, it is difficult for me to suggest a specific course of action. For instance, it is not clear whether you have done a course in programming or computer applications or hardware. Basic computer skills are now mandatory for day-to-day work in just about every job.

Of course, after an MSc in zoology, you can specialise in related areas like sericulture (rearing silk worms), aquaculture, pisciculture (breeding fish and other marine life), social forestry, conservation of wildlife, dairy and poultry farming and animal husbandry. You can also check out the fields of biotechnology and bioinformatics.

In fact, given your leaning towards IT, bioinformatics may be an ideal solution, as it will connect both your fields of study. And luckily for you, there are plenty of one-year post-MSc courses in bioinformatics available all over the country.

Beside academics, you can also work as a research assistant with a university, any government body, health authorities or industry. Positions are also available as analysts in food and beverage industries or pharmaceutical industries in order to maintain and certify the quality and consistency of various products.

Wildlife and forest conservation is another area you can check out. The work will involve conducting biological surveys and making recommendations regarding the management of endangered plants and animals as well keeping their habitats safe.

Forest and wildlife management is another hot and happening field. The Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal is a premier institute in this field. The Indian Forest Service also offers rewarding career opportunities in the reserved forests and wildlife sanctuaries. Yet another area you can consider is marketing pharmaceutical and healthcare products to medical and veterinary practitioners, retail pharmacists, hospitals and clinics.

So check out all these options, analyse their prospects, think carefully, and then choose.