Turn into a finance whiz

Q: Could you please tell me about the MFC course offered by Delhi niversity?

• — Raghav Maheshwari

A: There is a demand for finance professionals who have an in-depth knowledge of mutual funds, derivatives and equities, real estate, investment analysis, insurance management, treasury management, risk management, portfolio management and project appraisal.

They should have the expertise of dealing with corporate and international finance, investment analysis and portfolio management, capital markets, including stock exchanges, depository services and stockbroking. They should have knowledge of merchant banking, leasing, credit rating, venture capital, banking and financial institutions, insurance, real estate, mutual funds, treasury operation, financial consultancy and advisory services.

Sure, the financial sector has been severely hit, but some areas like commercial banking, insurance and financial planning are bucking the trend even now. Besides, you will be entering the job market in 2011 by which time the sector would have hopefully bounced back.

Delhi University’s department of financial studies, South Campus, offers MFC (masters in finance and control) at the postgraduate level (www.mfc.edu).

The MFC comprises 16 courses in finance and accounting and a super-specialisation in the last semester to equip students with skills in financial planning, decision-making and control while familiarising them with the financial and regulatory environment.

The revised MFC curriculum which will be implemented in July ’09 will include courses in investor psychology, investment philosophy, mathematics of financial markets and technology valuation.

This is a good option for someone who wishes to focus on finance from day one. The two-year programme in finance is on a par with an MBA.

Play the right note for students

• Q: I have been learning music for the last eight years. Now that my children have grown up, I would like to take up the job of a music teacher in a school. How should I go about it?

• — Gopika Das

• A: To be appointed a full-time teacher in a school, the minimum requirement is a degree in music from a recognised university or a pass in Plus Two with any of the following:

Sangeet Visharad of Gandharav Mahavidyalaya, Mumbai, Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyapeeth, Lucknow, Indira Kala Sangeet Viswa Vidyalaya, Khairagarh (Chhatisgarh), Sangeet Prabhakar exam of Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad, or an equivalent qualification from any other recognised institute.

Of course, you could take music classes for children or anyone interested in learning, informally, if you don’t have a formal qualification.

Work animatedly towards success

• Q: What is the scope of multimedia and animation? What are the job prospects?

• — Mayank Sharma

• A: Multimedia covers a number of areas like animation, web design and CD authoring. Students who are not so comfortable in English can do the web designing and multimedia course easily.

For hardcore programming jobs, companies prefer those with BTech or MCA degrees but for multimedia and web designing jobs, these degrees are not so important.

Any student who has completed a multimedia course and has a thorough knowledge of the subject can easily get a job in this field.

Besides, you can also start your own DTP, multimedia or web designing business with a small investment.

Several private and some government institutions offer courses in web page designing and multimedia. But all these courses must be weighed for their worthiness with a pinch (if not a handful) of salt.

Make sure you select one that focuses on the fundamentals of web page design and production processes besides relevant languages like HTML, XTML and Java.

A good 6-12 month course should familiarise you with getting onto the Net and working with these languages, using various multimedia software for animation, moving images and colouring text — all of which go on to make a web page.

The next step is to team up with a website designer or developer to get the necessary hands-on exposure. You could even work as an assistant to a webmaster initially.

Also, it makes sense to invest in your own computer as the work requires a lot of practice and self-learning.

While reading and practice will sharpen your skills, finally it’s your talent and speed that will take you places.

According to Nasscom, animation and gaming are set to register an annual growth rate of 35 per cent and 78 per cent respectively to reach $950 million and $300 million by 2009.

Large companies like Sony Entertainment are looking at India as a market as well as a resource base for technology partnerships.

By the end of 2009, there will be a need for more than 30,000 animation professionals — give or take some, thanks to the slowdown.