MBA students see signs of U.S. job market thaw

Thursday January 28, 12:20 PM

By Ros Krasny

BOSTON (Reuters) - Students at one of America's top business schools see evidence that high-technology, start-up and alternative energy companies will hire more actively this year after a difficult 2009 for graduates.

MBA students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School recently took their annual "tech trek," testing out the demand for summer internships for the class of 2011 and full-time jobs for this year's graduates.

Students fanned out across Boston, Silicon Valley and Seattle, meeting with energy and high-tech enterprises. In December others visited six Boston-area biotechnology companies.

And what they found gave them reason to hope; tech outfits are finally seeing demand pick up, energy companies are pushing hard to develop renewable fuels and together the two sectors could lead the way out of a job market morass.

Employment growth in the United States has famously been powered by small- and medium-sized businesses. So far in the fragile economic recovery many small firms have been reluctant or unable to take on new staff.

"Our MBAs are unbowed, and they came back with a lot of gusto," said Sloan adviser Paul Denning, who has made the trek to California for several years. "The general consensus is that things are better, particularly in Silicon Valley."

Last year, Denning said, even tech giant Google, "was really not hiring. Everything had contracted after the financial market collapse." Now, green shoots are popping up.

Google did hire some Sloan graduates from the 2009 class but was not among the top 13 hirers listed by the school.

COMPANIES ARE OPTIMISTIC

Jaclyn Loo, 26, who will graduate in 2011, said she hopes to secure a summer internship in e-commerce or mobile technology -- perhaps with a little guidance from Sloan's robust alumni network in the San Francisco Bay area.

"Overall, the companies were optimistic. The economy is starting to turn around little by little," she said after meeting with firms from computer giant Apple and design consultants IDEO to web reservation firm Open Table.

Belt-tightening during the recession, which started in December 2007, has left many companies with aging equipment badly in need of refurbishment. That is already boosting the results of large tech companies and could trickle down to smaller ones and jump-start a fresh round of start-ups.

This week, a National Association for Business Economics survey showed 44 percent of U.S. companies expect to increase capital spending this year, with much of the investment in computers and communications equipment.

MIT's students are among the brightest in America. In 2009, Sloan was ranked No. 5 among business schools by U.S. News and World Report. Normally its graduates are in heavy demand, many landing six-figure starting salaries at high-profile firms.

But 2009 was a tough year for even the best qualified as the U.S. economy shed millions of jobs, companies cut to the bone and financing for new businesses largely dried up.

Students said many 2009 graduates spent months seeking work, always with the knowledge that a new crop of competitors was coming up behind them.

The class of 2010 senses a change.

"It seems that most of the companies we're speaking to are looking to hire. They're keeping us in mind," said Mike Norelli, 26, who graduates in June.

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Sloan students visited Oasys Water, a start-up with seven employees which hopes to redefine the small but growing market for water reuse and desalination using technology developed at Yale University.

Chief executive Aaron Mandel said the company relies on "a lot of consulting, a lot of outsourcing, and a lot of free work." But a recent Department of Energy grant to demonstrate its water purification prototype could propel Oasys' slim headcount into double figures by year-end, he said.

(Editing by Mark Egan and Cynthia Osterman)

Hiring on the recovery mode

Monday January 25, 01:52 PM

New Delhi, Jan. 24 -- With the recovery of the economy, companies are back hunting for talent to support their own expansion plans. At a two day "placement fair", organised by Shine.com - a Hindustan Times initiative in association with ABES Engineering College, Ghaziabad, as many as 75 companies participated to hire fresh executives. According to officials, 2,200 students appeared for the interviews organised at the fair.

While 550 students have been offered jobs on the spot, 1300 have been shortlisted by these companies for further screening.

Big names such as Infosys (INFOSYS.BO : 2476.7 -17.65), Pantaloon, Fullerton Securities, Reliance Life, Bajaj (BAJAJAUTO.NS : 2101.05 0) Capital were present at the fair. A member of the organising committee said that this year there has been seen a sharp increase in the number of companies that have participated at the fair compared to last year.

"On one hand, we have got companies looking for right talent and on the other aspiring students looking for the right opportunity to start their career at one single platform and we are happy with the success andeffectiveness of the same, " said Amit Garg, business head, Internet, HT Media.

Amit Sharma, 23, who travelled from Jammu to participate at the placement fair said he was keen to get a job which offered him career growth. "I have come all the way from Jammu to be present at the fair and I am hoping that I get atleast one offer," he said. "We are looking to fill up all these 500 vacancies in these two days," said Bharat Joshi, chief divisional manager, Bajaj Capital. He added that are about 500 vacancies in the NCR. Source: Hindustan Times

Careers in real estate

REAL estate agents are matchmakers, bringing buyers, sellers and homes together. A real estate agent is an individual who works for a real estate brokerage firm and represents one of the involved parties interests during the sales process. The term real estate, or "real property," refers to the ownership of land and interests in land. Most real estate agents are independent salespeople who provide their services on behalf of a licensed real estate broker. The broker pays the agent a portion of the commission earned from the agent's sale of property. Earnings are almost always based strictly on commission. Good real estate agents understand the local market inside out. They help house- seeking clients find neighborhoods and homes offering the best balance between their lifestyles, concerns and budgets.

Qualifications & skills

Realtors agents also act as intermediaries in price negotiations between buyers and sellers. It requires the ability to search for clients and close deals. A common misperception is that someone interested in homes and architecture can have a prosperous career and success in this line of work. Aspirants' must be able to interact effectively with various types of people, as this is a relationship business. Flexibility is also an essential quality. There are neither fixed working hours nor a fixed monthly income.

Work

Developers can work as a prime negotiator and a financial whiz. Developers buy land, persuade zoning officials to grant permits and manage the labour that builds a commercial or residential project, all the while overseeing the budget and sales team.

There are a number of choices in area depending on where your interests lie. The residential part tends to attract people focused on building homes and creating individual living environments. . Retail attracts people who are sales-oriented and interested in commerce, the movement of goods and the space in which to do that effectively.

If you're a relationship builder, you can consider becoming an acquisitions expert who generates property leads, negotiates purchase contracts and works with government officials before handing the property over to a project manager. If you're more analytical and have a head for numbers, an asset manager who handles budgets, forecasting, cash flow, accounting, operations, and long and short-term financing, could be just your cup of tea. In general, larger the firm the more specialised the job.

If you're have some capital, you can start your own firm buying distressed property and renovating for sale. If you don't have a college degree, you can sign on with a small developer and work your way up. No formal education is necessary though it is desirable. Gaining practical experience by trying to do a few deals of your own is important. Courses in technology will also help, because you'll need to know how to use spreadsheets, databases, graphical analysis and geographic information systems.

You can also go into real estate business part-time. The most important attribute of a productive real estate career is not so much the amount of time you put into it, but the quality of the time you invest.

Whatever size company you choose, it is important to choose a reputable company and to find a situation that provides a suitable work atmosphere. With experience you can make a shift from selling real estate to managing others selling real estate by becoming a branch manager. While individual agents are the players who get the glory of hitting the home runs -selling the property, signing the difficult buyer or convincing people to relocate, branch managers are the realty industry's coaches.

Regardless of how you enter the field, real estate development as a career is like a smorgasbord of marketing, finance, and material organization and supply chain management.

PAROMITA PAIN, The Hindu

Indian cos’ hiring activity picks up 4.1% in Sep

The naukri.com’s monthly ‘JobSpeak index’ increased to 729 in September from 701 in August this year

PTI

New Delhi: India Inc’s hiring activity picked up 4.1% in September with IT, BPO and real estate sectors turning bullish after a long time, a report by job portal naurkri.com has said.

The naukri.com’s monthly ‘JobSpeak index’ increased to 729 in September from 701 in August this year.

“The secular trend is positive across sectors. Had it not been for an early festival season we may have seen further improvement in the index.

“The good news is that the IT and BPO sectors which are big employers especially at entry and junior levels seem to be in positive territory after a long time,” Info Edge (owner of naukri.com) COO and director Hitesh Oberoi said.

Moreover, on the three-month moving average, the index inched up to 719 in September from 715 in August.

Last month, companies’ hiring activity saw a positive trend with 14 out of 41 sectors covered showing a double digit rise in hiring activities.

The IT-enabled services (ITES) and BPO, real estate and retail sectors saw a significant push in September as compared to August, the report stated.

The ITES/BPO sector, saw an increase of 18.3% in hiring activity in September, while real estate and retail saw a rise of 36.8% and 12.2%, respectively.

A single digit increase was reflected in 13 sectors, while 11 functional areas reflected a dip. Sectors like construction and engineering, insurance and IT Software rose by 6%, 4.5% and 2.1% in September compared to August, the naukri.com report stated.

However, Banking & Finance and Oil & Gas saw a drop in hiring activity by 6.5% and 4.6%, respectively in September as compared to August.

Out of the top 13 cities covered in the Naukri.com survey, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi/NCR saw an upward trend in hiring at 9%, 8.4% and 3.5%, respectively.

Smaller cities like Ahmedabad and Vadodara saw double digit growth at 11.8% and 12.5%, respectively. Meanwhile, hiring activity declined by 5.4%, 3.4% and 2.4% in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune, respectively in September as compared to August.

The job index has been calculated on the basis of job listings added to the website month on month with July 2008 been taken as the base month with a score of 1,000 and the subsequent monthly index is compared with data for July 2008.

The data has been sourced from Naukri.com and it reflects job listings and therefore hiring trends on the site.

More CEOs plan to hire than fire in 2010: Survey

Wednesday January 27, 03:10 PM

By Reuters 

Business confidence is bouncing back after the sharpest drop in economic activity since World War Two, prompting more industry leaders to start hiring again, according to a survey on Wednesday.

Job creation plans, however, remain small-scale and largely concentrated in emerging markets, where the economic recovery has been strongest and wages are lower.

Growth hopes in the developed world remain markedly more subdued, the study found.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey of 1,200 chief executives in 52 countries found 39 per cent of industry bosses aimed to increase headcount in 2010, while 25 per cent planned more job cuts, down from nearly half who slashed jobs last year.

"Last year we clearly were in a crisis mode," said Dennis Nally, global chairman of the consultancy group.

"CEOs are much more optimistic today, although there is a fair amount of caution as well, and the concerns depend on where you sit. If you are a CEO in a developing country you are feeling much more upbeat than CEOs in the developed world."

The survey was released on the opening day of the World Economic Forum, where 2,500 of the world's business and political elite are meeting in the wake of the economic crisis.

Markets have been buoyed by $5 trillion of cheap money, designed to float the global economy off the rocks, but as governments and central banks prepare exit strategies many business leaders see only a slow recovery.

Companies have eased up on layoffs but remain reluctant to hire beyond the minimum needed to deal with the weak upturn.

"I don't think for the next 12 months you are going to see any significant job creations coming out of this," said Nally, noting even CEOs adding jobs are often expanding their workforces by 5 per cent or less.

MULTI-SPEED RECOVERY

Still, things are looking a lot better than 12 months ago.

Overall, 81 per cent of CEOs worldwide are confident about revenue prospects for the next 12 months, up from 64 per cent a year ago, and 31 per cent are "very confident", up 10 per centage points from last year's low.

PwC rival Accenture paints a similar picture of an improving business mood, but adds stock market expectations have been running ahead of the day-to-day reality experienced in corporate boardrooms.

"Everyone is trying to work out where we are in a cycle. But the interesting thing is that it is not one place because we are clearly in a multi-speed world at the moment," said Mark Foster, Accenture's group chief executive for management consulting.

Companies that have weathered the downturn in reasonable shape are now looking for opportunities to move ahead of rivals, as evidenced by Kraft Foods Inc's acquisition of British chocolate maker Cadbury Plc, Foster added.

"If you are the first mover, there are bargains to be had. There is a window of opportunity over the next 12 to 18 months," he said. Source: Indian Express Finance