Jobseekers should consider industries that have remained unaffected by the slump. ADVICES:-
Sanush Vijay was all starry-eyed when he filled in his forms for a postgraduate course in travel and tourism. The 23-year-old was confident of a successful career in this sector, as the tourism industry was heading north and the aviation business was enjoying its glorious days. But within a year, things turned topsy-turvy, leaving the Delhi boy in a state of confusion.

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TROUBLED WATERS: Despite the turbulence, it is not yet time to press the panic button.
“I have been searching for a job for the past three months. I contacted a couple of airlines and travel companies. But so far, I haven’t received any interview calls,” says Vijay who regularly updates his résumé on job sites and is in constant touch with consultants. “Maybe I should look for other options,” he laments.

The global economic crisis has ushered in some major changes on the job horizon. Some organisations are retrenching people, some have frozen recruitments, and others are opting to push employees into taking forced leave or to consider outplacement options.

“A few companies are scaling down staff strength, which definitely means fewer jobs in the market. The coming year will be challenging from a demand perspective,” says Sanjeev Bhikchandani, CEO of Info Edge, the parent company of Naukri.com, the jobs portal.

However, not everything is as bleak as it seems, and recruiters feel that it is not yet time to hit the panic button. Jobs are still available, even for people with diplomas or degrees in travel and tourism, an area that has taken a beating in recent months.

The good news is that some sectors have so far remained unaffected by the global meltdown. It is time to look at options that may not be as high paying as jobs in the information technology (IT) sector or investment banking, but offer a secure work environment.

“Businesses that are domestic-centric are more insulated than other sectors,” says Bhikchandani. This would mean looking at recession-proof sectors such as consultancy, healthcare and education.

One has to keep in mind that employment is like a Ferris Wheel — sometimes the rate goes up and sometimes down. Today some of the most sought-after industries are shedding people. According to a recent report by the New Delhi-based industry body, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), Indian firms are likely to lay off a quarter of their employees in the next few years. Not everyone shares that assessment, but the apex chamber forecasts that the cuts would be in sectors such as steel, cement, construction, real estate, aviation, IT-enabled services and financial services.

According to Bhikchandani, a few other areas that have been heavily affected include the stock markets and the banking and export industries. “The high interest rates and unavailability of credit has also affected sectors such as real estate and automobiles,” he adds.

But if some segments are feeling the heat of the global economic crisis, some are sailing through. “Industries such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, energy and education are still growing,” says E. Balaji, CEO of Ma Foi, the Chennai-based management consultant company. Ma Foi, however, projects a 12 per cent reduction in the number of recruiters approaching it for candidates.

Education, as the experts stress, is a sector that is not going to see a southward dip. The spurt in the number of schools and higher learning institutes has opened up new avenues for students who have studied different disciplines. Apart from teachers, educational institutes need administrators, finance and IT experts, public relations managers, counsellors and so on.

“The options for back-end operations people are aplenty. People with a corporate background are given preference in educational institutions,” says Poonam Arora, a client service manager who recently switched from a bank to a prominent playschool in New Delhi.

Hospitals are again an area that is flourishing. Medical tourism in India is projected to grow by 30 per cent annually, indicating a huge demand for marketing professionals, doctor-patient relations managers and back-office employees. MBA graduates can consider hospital administration as a specialisation as administrators are in high demand in state-of the-art hospitals in major cities.

“These are areas where people from the aviation and hospitality sectors can fit in. A cabin crew member can work as a client manager anywhere. It’s just a matter of broadening one’s job search,” says Jitin Chawla, director of the Centre for Career Development, New Delhi, a career-counselling organisation.

In the current scenario, consultants are advising jobseekers to switch streams and consider long-term career goals, instead of focusing on immediate benefits only. For example, it may be worthwhile for MBA students to contemplate specialisation in human resources or marketing over the much sought-after options such as finance and retail. IT graduates too can think of jobs outside of software concerns. In fact, IT professionals are much in demand in media houses and health and educational institutes.

Other promising sectors are consultancy and counselling. “During the gloom period, more and more people approach consultants and counsellors. Manpower consultancy and outplacement consultancy will be booming during this period,” says Chawla. There are a few organisations that lay off their workers but ask an outplacement consultancy to place the retrenched employees.

There’s also a silver lining to the recession cloud — talented people will be more in demand than ever before, for companies are going to be choosy about whom they hire. It is a time to polish your soft skills — learning languages, for instance — while adding more strength to your résumé. “This is a time when only skilled workers will find an edge. Pick up skills that will give you additional qualifications and broaden your job search,” says Shiv Agrawal of ABC Consultants.

Consultants would also advise a jobseeker to opt for a brand rather than money. According to Agrawal, a person on the job hunt should focus more on the organisation than the salary offered. “Get the best possible experience and money will follow suit,” he says. “Across sectors, rationalisation of salaries will happen,” adds Balaji.

On a positive note, recruiters are confident that the gloom won’t last long. “This is a temporary phase and things will fall back in place soon. A positive outlook will help you sail through the tough times,” says Chawla.

Drop anchor:

Healthcare: This is an industry that will never see any dearth of openings. The sector will have openings for hospital administrators, psychologists, nutritionists and wellness experts, besides doctors and para-medics.

Education: Playschools, online learning portals, coaching centres, creative learning centres and institutions of higher learning will not see any downsizing.

Consultancy: In an age of pink slips, manpower consultants are in great demand. Recruitment agencies will see jobseekers as well as recruiters queuing up, for better openings and talented people, respectively.

Marketing and HR: MBA students will never be out of demand, provided they opt for the more traditional specialisations such as marketing and HR. Almost all organisations, big or small, have a team of HR and marketing professionals.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata India)

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