What Will Be the Hot Jobs of 2018 and beyond?

Parents insisted a few years ago that children take up the much treaded path of medicine and engineering to get jobs and secure their futures. However, with time things have changed and no longer do parents pressurize their children to take up a profession that may not suit them. The reason being today, there are a number of other opportunities available that can be equally rewarding. Let’s take a look at the hot jobs of 2018 and beyond so that you can make an informed decision about your academics. 

Even though the pressure is low on medicine and engineering, the highest paying jobs are bound to be in this area. It is estimated that there will be a requirement of graduates in more unconventional streams of engineering such as biochemical engineering for health care innovation. The coming decade puts a lot of emphasis on health care with physicians and psychologists being in demand.

It is important to know that all these predictions are based on the information we have today and the projections of a few years from now, however technological advancements can give rise to a number of other job opportunities as well. A few other jobs that are on the hot list also include financial auditors, dental assistants and computer software engineers for applications.

Why Koozba experts Recommend Small Companies

Small organizations can offer you the same benefits today that large Multi National Companies can. Of course the only difference will be in economies of scale and the name of the company on your CV. However, if your ultimate dream is that of working with a large organization, it would help if you take on a job or a summer or winter internship with a small company to hone your skills.

According to Koozba experts, small organizations are always in the need for assistance and take on volunteers on a regular basis to help with them administrative and other duties. By identifying small companies in the field you are interested in, and working with them for a few months and give you enough experience to put in your CV as industry interface and skills acquired.

A small company allows you to understand the industry and allows you to make an informed choice with regards to if this career option is perfect for you. When you work in a small organization you also have the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them so that you can apply them at the larger organization.

In fact the truth is that once you work with a small organization and start enjoying the culture there you may not want to leave and develop a sense of belonging towards the same. Both have their pros and cons, you simply need to decide what makes you happy.

IT companies to implement bond to retain talent - Students say no

High attrition rates have forced IT companies to introduce a bond while recruiting students from various colleges across the country. A failure to stay with the organization with the committed term would lead the employee to dish out the sum agreed to in the bond. Not many applicants are happy about the bond and in fact IITs across the country have refused to entertain organizations that come with a prerequisite of a bond. IIT-M academic affairs secretary Anuraag NVS, had the following to say on the introduction of bonds “Most candidates are not signing any bonds. We tell the companies that they need to incentivise students to work for them.”

Students today are very experimental and sticking with a company for more than two years unless they see scope for growth is unimaginable. Students are not averse to joining a small organization that allows their skills to be tested and offers them a hefty pay package. The brand of the organization matters, but when an opportunity comes their way that provides them with job satisfaction and good pay, the brand name can be ignored.

While companies state that the bond is a good idea because this way they can ensure that the time and energy they spend in training their employees is not a waste, students beg to differ. Companies like Wipro, Infosys, Satyam and TCS have all introduced bonds for freshers, but it has unfortunately been met with a lot of scepticism. To clarify the introduction, an Infosys spokesperson defended the bond by saying, "We make huge investments, both in terms of money and time, on our new recruits.” Last year Infosys spent $175 million dollars on training fresher, singing a bond now, doesn’t seem like so much to ask.

Wipro requires students to put down Rs 75000 as fixed deposit and failure to stick with the company for an agreed period of time would simply transfer the money to the company from the bank FDR. A fresher at Satyam said, “I had to take a loan of Rs 2 lakh for my bond amount. I have been working for almost a year now and continue to pay Rs 2,500 per month as interest on my two-year loan.”

The economy has picked up over the last one year and employment opportunities are increasing, students no longer want to be treated as bonded labour and wish to remain free and change their jobs as and when they please.

The days of loyalty and patronage to one’s organization have long gone, if you dangle a golden carrot in front of an employee, he will follow you and will leave you just as easily when another more lucrative carrot comes his way. The introduction of bonds may not be the best way to retain talent, as talent will not pick up a job knowing that they are bound to a company that does not offer them job satisfaction.

Government using social media for recruitment - Hiring trends in 2012

It’s a well known fact that today employers actively log on to prospective employee’s profiles to check weather they suit the organization. Therefore, it is essential that any information one puts up on a social networking website is clean and projects clean image of you. However, it’s not just employers who war checking out social media to hire employees, it works the other way around as well. People looking for jobs, often hop onto the facebook pages of prospective employer to learn weather the job is lucrative enough and weather the organization will offer them what they are looking for.

The government is also actively using social media today for recruitment and that can be seen in the number of facebook pages that the government has online today. In fact, the state of Missouri hired their first employee off a portal called Second Life, in response to this CIO Dan Ross said, “He came to our job fair as a cat with a red bow tie on”. Recruiters are finding new ways to keep their prospective employees entertained by looking at avenues that are unconventional and therefore finding like minded individuals in the process.

35% of companies both private and public use social media as a platform to create communication on the net with prospective employees and clients. The idea is simple, create a connect with your stakeholder and make sure they are engaged so as to create top of mind recall. A company official at Capgemini also mentioned that, “Through social media channels, we provide prospective candidates a glass-door view into the company.”

A number of government as well as private organizations use the medium of social media to recruit employees simply because it is necessary to exploit every resource that is available.

S. Balaji, CEO MaFoi Consultants believes that while using every resource is a great idea, “The type of recruitment channel used by a company is based on the kind of recruitment needs. Different positions require varied approaches. While bulk recruitment of engineers would not happen through advertisements on social media, laterals for specific positions would.”

The government is actively using social media to recruit employees by hosting listing for openings in a variety of sectors by way of social media. The trend may have been started by small organizations who do not have the marketing capacity to use traditional medium of marketing to attract attention, but the reach of the medium has coerced a number of large conglomerates as well as government agencies to use this medium as one of the main source of finding employees that may do justice to the job.

There has been a paradigm shift in the way people craft their recruiting strategies now, the need of the hour is to maximise resources that are available, and with social media offering an inexpensive and comprehensive approach to recruitment, it is here to stay.

Job market on the Road to Recovery: TCS to Hire 37,000 Freshers, Railways to Hire 3 Lakhs

Students graduating from management and engineering schools have reason to rejoice. In contrast to the last few years, this year brings with it a number of opportunities for students all over the country in a number of fields. TCS is going to hire a total of 37,000 freshers and the Railways are going to hire 3 lakhs employees this year. IT companies are on a roll with Infosys and TCS being on a hiring spree.

This indeed comes as great news for students who were afraid that the job market in India had almost frozen. The road to recovery seems to be open and placement committees across the country are awaiting companies to come to campus and hire chunks of students. However it’s not just the job offer that is bringing happiness, it’s also the packages that are rewarding.

The last few years saw the economy face a massive slump, with lay offs came lack of opportunities and disappointments, but the future seems bright and with lakhs of job offers mushrooming in a number of sectors, students have nothing to complain. Most students who opt for engineering or management in our country take on huge loans, which they wish to pay off once they get a job, the grim scenario has lifted and now students do not have to worry about the heavy load of paying off their loans as jobs are coming in.

The Railways is hiring people from all across the country and has already started holding entrance tests. The railway Minister, Mamata Banerjee is elated at the opportunity that is going to be presented and has said, “We will take 2.5 Lakh – 3 lakhs people all over the country. But I am sure that we will get over three crores job application”. In a country as large as ours, even three lakhs seats are going be tough competition for those vying for a job with the railways.

TCS does not require students to sit for an entrance test and allows students that have a consistent academic performance of over 70% to sit for an interview. A spokesperson at TCS said, “The entrance test is more to check your aptitude and we think academic consistency takes care of it”. However TCS is only approaching schools that have a ration A+, A and B to ensure that they can scout the best talent in the country.

With so many jobs opening up, there is a smile across the faces of students who in the midst of their course had started imagining the worst. But the turnaround has been welcomed with much celebration as both private and public organizations are picking up the freshers.

Let Employers Approach You

Wouldn't it be wonderful if an employer approached you directly and offered you a coveted position in the organization without you actually applying for the job you desire. Well, it’s possible, however you have to put in some effort into ensuring that the right people notice you and approach you.

Start Blogging: One of the best ways to get noticed and create a brand for yourself is through blogging. The platform of blogging allows you to air your views, opinions and any other ideas that you may have. If you have a particular industry that you are interested in, you can use your blog to dispense your ideas regarding the industry on your personal blog. Of course you need to them market your blog using social media as well.

Reach out to people who hire: If there is a particular company that you are looking at to be a part of, you will need to do some amount of research. Use your contacts and resources available on the web to find out who the key people in the organization are. Find ways to connect to them through twitter, professional networking sites etc. Once you have established a contact, request them for advice, by no means ask them for a job directly.

Offer your ideas: If you are really keen on letting the management in the organization know that you have ideas that can work be willing to put in some work into drafting a proposal of ideas that can help the organization, if they like it, they will call upon you and you may get what you have always dreamed of.

Show your presence: Out of sight is often out of mind and therefore make sure that you keep reminding prospective employers that you are around. With the help of social networking media you can ensure that. Publish papers, keep posting articles on your blogs and be active.