CAREER COUNSELLING

What is career counselling?

Career counselling is a personalized process that combines both

intuitive and cognitive techniques to help you understand yourself,
explore career options, and clarify and attain desired career/lifestyle
goals. The processes of career counselling offer insight, guidance and
support to help you understand and manage varied career and lifestyle
issues. Career counselling and guidance generally involves face-to-face
interaction, and/or interaction through other mediums like telephone,
letters, or Internet. However, most important of all is the one-to-one
interaction between the career counsellor and the client. A career
counsellor deals with people who are making career decisions and
choices or coping with changes like- choice of subjects, career
changes, and redundancy. The matter of career decision, and a
student's direction and progress towards professional goals often play
a crucial role in the development of individual identity and purpose, as
well as positive self-esteem and interpersonal functioning.

The Aim

Providing accurate, current and relevant information pertaining to the

personality and qualifications of the individual is crucial to career
guidance. Your Career counsellor guides you about different career
options and how one occupational field such as finance or medicine
differs from another and also about the different levels (specialist,
skilled or semi-skilled) of jobs within each field. Your career
counsellors guide you about the range of career opportunities available
with the sensitive use of alternative suggestions at the planning stage
itself. So, if you find your goal of entering engineering college is
unattainable, knowledge of other fields given by the career counsellor
could be used to generate equally interesting opportunities.

How is it done?

Career counsellors may want to use interest or aptitude tests in

counselling interviews. This acts as a process of self-exploration and
interest identification which helps in career choice and decision-
making. Career counselling, thus, spans both the internal psychology
of the person and the external contexts of education and employment.

1
The career counsellor in most cases would attempt to develop a
rationale for the interrelation between the two.

First Phase: Career Planning

This phase of counselling involves self-exploration:

1) A review of early life, past experiences and accomplishments to

identify interests, abilities and skills

2) Identification of current occupational interests by means of tests,

inventories or exercises

3) Assessment of individual traits and needs as they relate to the work

environment

4) Clarification and appreciation of personal values and goals as they

affect career decisions.

Second Phase: Career and Educational Information

This phase of counselling involves the gathering and exploration of

available information related to careers. This would involve individual
and guided use of the Career Resource Library. This information would
be used to develop a set of career goals and an initial 'career pursuit'
plan.

Third Phase: Job Search

On successful completion of educational training comes the phase of

Job searching. This phase would involve referral to and the assistance
of placement or employment personnel who would focus on finding
and securing a proper employment.

Benefits of Career Counselling

If you are trying to decide on your career or thinking of changing the

course of your professional life, then a few well-spent moments with a
proficient career counsellor might just get you started in the right
direction. The career counselling process will help you develop the
confidence, courage, knowledge and strategies to effectively manage
your own education, career -- and life.

2
 Top Careers

Finance Biotechnology
Retail Management Software Engineering
Computer System
Psychotherapy
Analyst
Law

What makes a career a great career? Obviously, different people will give
different answers. It's impossible to account for everyone's personal taste and
personality traits and how they might fit into a particular career. While talking
about great career opportunities one might consider the following points: How
much do you get paid? What kind of professional development opportunities are
available? How much room for innovation does a role offer? The following index
is based mainly on four categories: job growth, salary potential, education level,
and room for innovation and has been compiled from various reliable resources.

INTERVIEW TIPS

If you are looking for a lucrative career opportunity, you might be preparing
yourself to be interviewed by various organisations. Well then, you must expect
the unexpected. Gone are the days when a single interviewer asked questions
that simply expanded on your resume. Today, you might find yourself face to
face with employees you’d work with, if hired. An interviewer may hand you a
sheet of paper and ask you to write down the reasons you should be offered the
prospective job or you could find yourself, along with other applicants, being
asked to solve a problem collectively.

Put Your Best Foot Forward

Regardless of the format, expect team interviews to be challenging. The initial
exchanges with the interview team are the most difficult and decisive. At this
point, you and your interviewers are evaluating each other. During those few
minutes strong impressions can be formed which will last a long time. For this
reason, you must realise the importance of external items and mannerisms. How
you enter the room, your clothes and accessories, the way you shake hands,
your facial expression, eye contact, your voice -- everything creates an
impression. If you make a good first impression, strive to make it better during
the meeting. As a candidate, your goal is to find out whether the company’s
environment matches your interests and values. Your prospective employer in
his turn is trying to decide if your personality and background fit its culture and
ambience.

Essential Tactics
Team interviews are more challenging than traditional one -to-one encounter. But

3
when handled well, you can show several people at once that you have the right
potential. You may not be told in advance that you’ll be interviewed by a team, be
prepared for this possibility. You must forge ahead with confidence and tackle
each query bravely and coolly. Once your interviewers start getting impressed it
will be on their faces. And you have won! Remember, your interviewers
understand how formidable non-traditional interviews can be and want you to
succeed.

The following tips can improve your encounters with interviewing teams
1. Alter your answers
If you’re called back for subsequent interviews after the preliminary one,
you will face different interviewers. So, find ways to make the same
information sound different. Don’t describe the same project you managed
to all the interviewers. Instead, describe a different project in each of the
successive interviews.
2. Activate your interpersonal antennae
As quickly as possible, try to read the various personality types and adjust
to them.
3. Expect to feel additional stress
You would have very little time to frame your answers unlike during
traditional interviews, when the interviewer might take notes before asking
another question. But with several people doing the questioning, you can’t
have this luxury, because while one person is taking notes, another will
fire the next salvo of question.
4. Recognise that interviewers too are human
Most understand that you’re nervous and will try to make the experience
as comfortable as possible. They’re not interested in seeing you squirm.
Their job is to determine if your talents will match with the opening.
5. Practice hard
Gather together some friends, siblings or relatives with different
personalities and have them ask a series of questions without pausing in
between. This should replicate an actual team-interview situation. Ask for
feedback on which of your answers impressed the mock interviewers and
why so.
6. Know what characteristics to emphasize
List the 10 traits associated with the position you’re seeking and prepare
to demonstrate them during the session. Would creativity, presentation or
facilitation skills be important? Ask people who are familiar with the kind of
job you’re seeking to create short tests that might allow you to illustrate
your skills.
7. Ask intelligent questions, do not state the obvious
If you’ve done your homework, you’ll know the organization’s culture and
how you’ll fit in. Ask questions that reflect your knowledge of that culture.
But don’t overdo it.
8. Read between the lines
With several people asking questions consecutively, you won’t have much

4
 time to prepare a response. However, if you read people well, you’ll be
able to respond to the concern underlying the interviewers’ questions.
Picking up on and responding to these issues is certain to impress an
interview team. For instance, if an interviewer says, "Here at ABC we have
a long tradition of teamwork," what he or she wants to know is, "How good
are your teamwork skills?"

Watch out!
Sometimes what you may consider to be of little consequence may be
important to the interviewer. Consider the following factors:
o Be careful about how much cologne/ perfume you wear.
o If you feel that you do have a problem with bad breath, it makes
good sense to take a chew of some good quality mouth freshener
before the interview. However do not keep chewing the gum/mouth
freshener during the interview proceedings. This is supposed to be
bad manners.
o You should dress appropriately for the type of job you are being
interviewed for.
o Be punctual. It is better to arrive at the venue before time rather
than being late

One word of advice: sell yourself!

Sell yourself. Learn as much as possible about the vacant position, the company,
and the interviewers themselves. The more detailed information you have about
the company and the position, the better prepared you are likely to be. Visit the
company’s website, if it has one and acquire detailed information about it.

Employers want someone who wants to work for them. Demonstrate this
by:

 PREPARING QUESTIONS. No matter how thorough the employer is in

the interview, you must ask questions. This demonstrates interest and
thinking ability.
 ASKING, "WHAT IS THE NEXT STEP?" Tell the employer you were
intrigued prior to the interview and are now even more.
 EMPHASIZING AREAS OF YOUR BACKGROUND. Think of specific
examples that demonstrate this.

Be prepared with answers to the following:

1. Why do you wish to leave your current employer?

2. What do you know about this position and company? Why are you
interested?
3. What are your short-term and long-term goals?
4. How do you feel about your current supervisor?
5. What are your strengths?

5
 6. What are your weaknesses?
7. What are expectations regarding salary?
8. What information is important to you in making a decision about this job
change?
9. What questions do you plan to ask the employer either about the job,
company, or other things? Who have you learned the most from?
10. What was it? Why was it important?
11. What could be improved in your boss?
12. What do you like about your current boss?
13. How soon can you join?
14. What would you change here?
15. Are you willing to relocate? Change industries? Travel?

Listed below are the 10 most commonly asked interview questions. A well
thought out answer to each of these questions, prepared and rehearsed in
advance with the logical sequencing of the events will help you sail through.

1. Tell us about yourself

This is an open canvas for you, giving you an opportunity to direct and lead your
interview in the direction you want. A. good idea would be to structure your
answer in the following three broad heads:
 Family Background
 Educational Background (starting from schooling to professional
qualifications)
 Achievements

In all the above subheads speak only that information which will give strength to
your candidature. Avoid verbose description of yourself.

2. Why do you want to join us?

To answer this question, you need to research the company well. Here you can
quote some of your personal beliefs, which are in conjunction with the values of
the company or talk about specific products and services which could be of
interest to you too.

In the event where your skill set is mapping with the requirement of the company,
do not miss the chance to highlight the same. Specify the initiatives taken or work
done to attain that skill set.

3. What would you like to do in five years' time ?

This question is asked to assess candidate’s career plan and ambition for growth
and to see if the company will be able to provide that opportunity over period of
time. Also to assess if your personal goals are not totally off tangent with what
company’s objectives are. It is also to check your stability with the organization. It
is good idea to be very realistic in your answer. If required guidance should be
taken from your seniors who are already in the corporate environment.

6
4. Do you prefer working with others or alone?
This question is usually asked to determine whether you are a team player.
Before answering, however, be sure about the requiremnet of job profile, that
whether it reuires team work or you to work alone. Then answer accordingly.

5. What are your biggest accomplishments?

You could begin your reply with: "Although I feel my biggest achievements are
still ahead of me, I am proud of my sense of involvement. I would like to make my
contribution as part of that team and learn a lot in the process".

It will be a good idea to close your answer with also specifying what attributes
and circumstances made you succeed.

6. What are your favorite subjects?

It is a leading question giving direction to the panel members for possible areas
where they can probe in further for your knowledge base and in-depth
understanding. It is advisable to select the topics that you are competent in.

7. Why should we hire you?

Keep your answer short and precise. You should highlight areas from your
background that relates to the need of the organization. Recap the organization’s
description of the job, meeting it point by point with your skills.

8. What are your hobbies?

This question is generally asked to assess whether you are "desktop" kind of a
person or an "interaction orientated person". It also indicates your preference for
team-oriented activities or projects with solo contributions. It enables the
organization to place you accordingly after selection. Be candid in answering the
questions.

9. What is the worst feedback you have ever got?

To answer this question you must admit and share your areas of improvement.
Also sharing an action plan for improving oneself will indicate your ability to take
criticism well. Your answer should reflect your open-mindedness.

10. What is the most difficult situation you have faced?

Here you should be ready with your real life story. The question looks for
information on two fronts: How do you define difficulty and how did you handle
the situation? You should be able to clearly lay down the road map for solving the
problem, your ability to perform task management and maintain good interaction
with your team members and other peers. It is advisable to close by highlighting
the lesson learnt out of the incident.

7
 RESUME TIPS

A Curriculum Vitae (CV) is the mirror which gives a company complete picture of
the candidate. CV is a medium to market yourself.

Most people underestimate the importance of a CV (resume). Many of us put off

writing our CV until last moment and do an inadequate job. Others feel that they
know it all and treat the job of writing a resume far too casually. Actually, you
would be well advised to ensure that both your resume and covering letter are
so well prepared that they stand out among a thousand others, not only in
content but also in presentation. Any compromises at this stage and you may not
be short listed for the interview.

CV -Crucial in getting an Interview

Your CV is your first communication with the perspective employer. It serves as
personal advertisement for you and must therefore, be organised in such a
manner so as to make it interesting, attractive, brief and informative. Whether the
interview is granted or not depends to a large extent on the impression created
by the CV. If you wish to be one of the few to be called for an interview, you must
ensure your CV is distinct from the hundreds of other CVs of candidates who
may be as experienced or as well qualified as you. Today a good 20 to 30 per
cent of candidates get rejected because they have not presented their CVs well.

Moreover, your perspective employers do not have the time or the inclination to
meet all the people who may be interested in an opening, that makes it more
important that among the other thousands of CVs, yours must stand out; not only
in contents but also by the way it is formatted.

Essential Information must be Mentioned

There are certain items which must be included in every CV. Other items may or
may not be mentioned depending on whether they are relevant or not. The items
which must be included are given below:

Personal Information:Name, date of birth, marital status, language known,

address, telephone number.

Educational Background: Institutions attended with years, marks obtained,

qualifications, achievements, computer literacy.

Employment History:Name of organisation(s), years, designation(s),

responsibilities, achievements and training programme attended. Include any
part time or summer employment if you do not have any full time experience.

8
Stick to the Basic Rules
Stick to these proven guidelines for writing a CV:

 The term "Bio-data" is out. Curriculum Vitae (CV) has replaced it.
 Do not make a mistake of beginning your CV with the title "Bio-data"
especially if you are applying for the managerial position.
 Before writing your CV sit down and think through what information you
want to highlight. Include your achievements, your hobbies and interests,
academic qualifications, details of your work experience (if any) and your
job objectives. Don't write a final CV without including all these.
 Begin your CV with a section on personal particulars. Exclude family
background.
 Write your date of birth and not your age. If your CV were to go in a
databank, only to be retrieved 2 or 3 years later, it would be difficult to
make an estimate of your age.
 You must give your phone number even if you do not have your own
phone. Give a phone number of your friend or a relative who can pass on
a message to you quickly. This is very essential as many vacancies have
to be filled urgently and interviews have to be set up at a very short notice.
Always mention the STD code of your town of residence if applying
outside the city and remember to mention country code as well when
applying abroad.
 Don't clutter your CV with irrelevant information. Mention your nationality
only when applying abroad or when specifically asked to do so.
 Mention your father's occupation when applying for a position at the entry
level or a junior level non-management job, or when specifically asked.
 Try and give maximum possible information in minimum space.
 You may include a job objective at the beginning. Your objective should be
as specific as you can make it or it can be tailor-made to exactly
correspond with the requirements of an advertisement to which you are
replying.
 Make sure that the reader is quickly able to assess your accomplishments.
If you have had work experience, start with your most recent experience
and then the experiences that you have had with the organisations you
were previously in. Your most recent experience will be the one most
relevant to your new job. So mention it first and your previous experiences
later.
 Similarly, start your academic background with the most recent
qualification.
 Make sure that your CV is not longer than two pages. It should, at the
same time, not be so short that your prospective employer does not know
anything about you after going through it. It must be concise and should
be informative.

Presentation
Make sure your CV looks good. Presentation is of  utmost importance. You must:

9
(a) Avoid spelling mistakes.

(b) Use good quality paper.

(c) Do not send curriculum vitae with spelling errors corrected by whitening fluid
or by hand.

(d) Use proper margins and spend time formatting it properly.

(e) Send the printed laser outputs instead of photocopying. It may cost you more
but it says a lot about you.

Don't lie even if it is a small lie. Usually such lies are about achievements, grades
and marks or summer projects. The personnel departments in most companies
do take pains in verifying claims.

References
You may include references at the end of your CV. These are names, addresses
and phone numbers of two or three people who could vouch for your character,
competence and commitment. Ideally, these should be people who have worked
with you, or your college professors. Many job seekers starting out in their
careers feel that important people's references will impress prospective
employers. Nothing could be further from the truth. A big name will communicate
that you are a name-dropper who gets by on his father's contacts rather than
achievements. An experienced interviewer will be far more impressed with the
references of people who know you professionally. In any case, your prospective
employer will check with referees, so make sure you ask your referees'
permission before putting their names in your CV.

Use one or at best not more than two typefaces while preparing your CV. If you
are looking for visual relief and highlighting then you can use block capitals,
italics, bold type, underlining, varying font sizes, or any combinations of these.
Choose a font that is simple and easy to read. Do not go in for a fancy typeface.
It will take away legibility of your CV.

Don't leave gaps in your CV. If you have lost some years between your +2 and
graduation or after your graduation, explain the gap.

Special Tips for the Fresher

Even if you have a professional degree from a prestigious institution and are
looking for a position at entry level, you need to market yourself effectively to get
a plum offer. If you are not from a coveted institution your task becomes that
much harder because a number of top recruiters may not even visit your campus.

Your basic task is of communicating the fact that your skills, school and college

10
education work experience, achievements, projects and extracurricular activities -
all add up to make you the right person for the job.

Don't underestimate the value of your summer jobs, and your extra curricular
activities. These are opportunities to use skills related to the job. They are often
more job related than the academic qualification itself. The skills that you can
demonstrate through any project or extracurricular activity include leadership
skills, an ability to negotiate, plan and organise. In the absence of any direct
organisational experience these add real meat to your CV. In other words, they
help to differentiate you from the crowd and are often the most interesting part in
your CV. Be sure to include all projects that you were in either alone or as a team
and anything 'extra' you did.

Let us take a look at some of these in more detail.

Summer jobs: Normally any interview will include questions on summer jobs to
test whether you understand the industry, the organisation and area of relevance.
You are expected to be an expert in the area directly related to your training.

Extracurricular activities:These usually demonstrate interpersonal,

communication organisation liaison, coordination and leadership skills. Were you
elected to various offices? Did you organise any college festival? Were you
instrumental in organising symposia? Did you contribute to the college
magazine? Quite often any projects or extracurricular activities, are the most
interesting part of you. If these are presented and defined well these activities
can be a useful marketing device to land you with the right job, at right time.

Many companies have standardised application forms on the basis of which they
shortlist candidates. Typically, the application form may be required to be filled in
two or three methods before the interview and would include a statement of
purpose. Many a candidate has slipped up in the interview even when all was
going well in the interview. It is simply because what he said during the interview
was inconsistent with the application form. Therefore, we would recommend that
you keep photocopies of all your completed application forms carefully,
especially of the statement of purpose, till the interview.

Group Discussions

How to Face Group Discussions

A group discussion consists of: GD for MBA

1. Communication Skills Entrance
2. Knowledge and ideas regarding a given
subject
3. Capability to co-ordinate and lead
4. Exchange of thoughts

11
 5. Addressing the group as a whole

6. Thorough preparations

Communication Skills

The first aspect is one's power of expression. In a group discussion, a

candidate has to talk effectively so that he is able to convince others.
For convincing, one has to speak forcefully and at the same time
create an impact by his knowledge of the subject. A candidate who is
successful in holding the attention of the audience creates a positive
impact.

It is necessary that you should be precise and clear. As a rule

evaluators do not look for the wordage produced. Your knowledge on a
given subject, your precision and clarity of thought are the things that
are evaluated. Irrelevant talks lead you nowhere. You should speak as
much as necessary, neither more nor less. Group discussions are not
debating stages.

Ability to listen is also what evaluators judge. They look for your ability
to react on what other participants say. Hence, it is necessary that you
listen carefully to others and then react or proceed to add some more
points. Your behavior in the group is also put to test to judge
whether you are a loner or can work in a group.

You should be able to convey your thoughts satisfactorily and

convincingly before a group of people. Confidence and level
headedness in doing so is necessary. These add value to your
presentation. In case you are not good at it, you might gain by joining
an institute that offers specialized courses in public speaking. For
instance, British Council Division's English Language Teaching Centre
offers a wide range of courses like conversation skills, business
communication skills, business writing, negotiation skills and
presentation skills. Mostly people attend these courses to improve
their communication skills. Students here are involved in activities
which use communication skills and teachers provide inputs, monitor
and facilitate the classes. The course at the Centre makes you
confident enough to speak before people without any nervousness.

Knowledge and Ideas Regarding a Given Subject

Knowledge of the subject under discussion and clarity of ideas are
important. Knowledge comes from consistent reading on various
topics ranging from science and technology to politics. In-depth

12
knowledge makes one confident and enthusiastic and this in turn,
makes one sound convincing and confident.

Leadership and Coordinating Capabilities

The basic aim of a group discussion is to judge a candidate's
leadership qualities. The examiner withdraws and becomes a silent
spectator once the discussion starts. A candidate should display
tactfulness, skill, understanding and knowledge on varied topics,
enterprise, forcefulness and other leadership qualities to motivate and
influence other candidates who may be almost equally competent.

Exchange of Thoughts
A group discussion is an exchange of thoughts and ideas among
members of a group. These discussions are held for selecting
personnel in organisations where there is a high level of competition.
The number of participants in a group can vary between 8 and 15.
Mostly a topic or a situation is given to group members who have to
discuss it within 10 to 20 minutes.

The purpose is to get an idea about candidates in a short time and

make assessments about their skills, which normally cannot be
evaluated in an interview. These skills may be team membership,
leadership skills, listening and articulation skills.

 A note is made of your contributions to the discussion, comprehension

of the main idea, the rapport you strike, patience, assertion,
accommodation, amenability, etc. Body language and eye contact too
are important points which are to be considered. .

Addressing the Group as a Whole

In a group discussion it is not necessary to address anyone by name.
Even otherwise you may not know everyone's names. It better to
address the group as a whole.

Address the person farthest from you. If he can hear you everyone
else too can. Needless to add, as for the interview, attend the group
discussion in formal dress. The language used should also be formal,
not the language used in normal conversations. For instance, words
and phrases like "yar", "chalta hai", "CP", "I dunno", etc. are out. This
is not to say you should use a high sounding, pedantic language.
Avoiding both, just use formal, plain and simple language. Hinglish,
(mixture of Hindi and English) should be discarded.

13
Confidence and coolness while presenting your viewpoint are of help.
See that you do not keep repeating a point. Do not use more words
than necessary. Do not be superfluous. Try to be specific. Do not
exaggerate.

Thorough Preparation
Start making preparations for interview and group discussions right
away, without waiting till the eleventh hour, this is, if and when called
for them. Then the time left may not be adequate. It is important to
concentrate on subject knowledge and general awareness. Hence, the
prime need for thorough preparation. Remember, the competition is
very tough. Only 460 candidates make it to the final list from 2.75 lakh
civil service aspirants each year.

It may so happen that you are called for interviews and group
discussions from three or four organizations but are not selected by
any. The reason obviously lies in your not being well-prepared. 

In a group discussion you may be given a topic and asked to express

your views on it. Or in a case study GD, students have to read a case
study and suggest ways of tackling the problem. For this you should
have a good general knowledge, need to be abreast with current
affairs, should regularly read newspapers and magazines. Your group
behaviour and communication skills are on test, i.e. how you convince
the others and how clearly you are able to express your points of view.
You should be articulate, generate ideas, not sound boring, should
allow others to speak, and adopt a stand on a given subject. During
the course of the GD this stand can even be changed, giving the
impression that you are open to accommodate others' viewpoints.

Additional marks may be given for starting or concluding the

discussion.

Points to Remember

 Knowledge is strength. A candidate with good reading habits has

more chances of success. In other words, sound knowledge on
different topics like politics, finance, economy, science and
technology is helpful.
 Power to convince effectively is another quality that makes you
stand out among others.
 Clarity in speech and expression is yet another essential quality.
 If you are not sure about the topic of discussion, it is better not
to initiate. Lack of knowledge or wrong approach creates a bad

14
 impression. Instead, you might adopt the wait and watch
attitude. Listen attentively to others, may be you would be able
to come up with a point or two later.
 A GD is a formal occasion where slang is to avoided.
 A GD is not a debating stage. Participants should confine
themselves to expressing their viewpoints. In the second part of
the discussion candidates can exercise their choice in agreeing,
disagreeing or remaining neutral.
 Language use should be simple, direct and straight forward.
 Don't interrupt a speaker when the session is on. Try to score by
increasing your size, not by cutting others short.
 Maintain rapport with fellow participants. Eye contact plays a
major role. Non-verbal gestures, such as listening intently or
nodding while appreciating someone's viewpoint speak of you
positively.
 Communicate with each and every candidate present. While
speaking don't keep looking at a single member. Address the
entire group in such a way that everyone feels you are speaking
to him or her.

Mantras for Success

In an era of stiff competition, success can only be achieved if one makes the right
kind of endeavour  at the right time and in the right direction.

The Following are the seven mantras for success :

1. Communication Skills -Most of what goes on as business in an organisation

is, in fact, communication. Anything that is not communication is probably
dependent on something to
initiate communication or keep it going. This is why one needs to master the art
of communication both verbal as well as written.

2. Influencing Abilities - This is more of a leadership trait. It includes

persuading and negotiating skills. Persuasion means convincing and
encouraging people to do, as against being pushy and aggressive. It is a very
powerful tool, especially in conflicting situations both in your professional as well
as personal life.

3. Managing Skills -In layman's words this term means getting things done. But
from the career perspective it means managing things, people and of course,

15
managing yourself, that is , your time, resources and money. To be able to
achieve success one needs to prepare and train himself/ herself in the art of
effective management.

4. Problem Solving -It means knowing how to recognize and define problems,
implement solutions and track and evaluate results. Effective problem solving
skills will help to become the backbone of any team, which in turn will help in
career prospects.

5. Creative Thinking - It is said that intelligence is central to both the right and
left modes of the brain. But the majority of people give more importance only to
the logical approach in problem solving. What is really required is a blend of
logical and lateral thinking processes together to generate new ideas and
solutions, seeing things in the 'round' and having an open mind.

6. Social Skills -It means one's ability to relate to people, having insights,
helping others and facilitating. Interdependence today is of greater value than
independence. Thus it becomes that much more important for you to take a
genuine interest in people with whom you work and spent time, emotion and
money on them.

7. Managing Money-If in spite of possessing all the above mentioned skills you
fail to achieve success it may be because you are poor in the number game !
You must have your figures, statistics and accounts in place. You must be
shrewd in  the money matters. As an old saying goes, " Money begets Money.

16