If you've got an eye for three-dimensional detail, know where money grows or care enough about climate change, you're on track to make it big in some of the most happening sectors.
Chief Sustainability Officers (CSO):
A decade ago, sustainability meant ensuring an organisation’s adherence to environmental, health and safety measures. However, corporations have come a long way as consciousness levels rise. Enterprises are focused on having the least or even zero negative impact on the economy and global and local environments.
Today, there are chief sustainability officers (CSOs), whose role is to provide strategic direction to company policies. These are the poster boys of global and Indian businesses, ensuring that businesses meet the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit.
Globally, companies hire chief sustainability officers as C-level or high-ranking executives, and Indian companies are doing the same. AT&T, DuPont, British Petroleum, Google and Dow Chemicals have all recruited CSOs. As have the Tata Group, Mahindra and Mahindra and Wipro. But since there is a dearth of talent, expats are being hired.
Typically, a CSO needs an environment engineering background, would have worked on community-friendly projects or with voluntary organisations. Salaries for expat CSOs can range between $ 300,000 and $ 450,000. For a domestic CSO, who has held the job of an environment, health and safety officer, the transition to a bigger role might earn him Rs. 70 - 80 lakh, depending on the scale of the organisation.
But in the next five to six years, this might change. Indian institutes are churning out candidates specialising in the subject. TERI University, for instance, offers a business sustainability course, Delhi University, an MA in Environmental Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, an MSc in environmental sciences, and Indian School of Mines, a BTech in environmental engineering.
In the next few years, the institutes are expected to be the breeding ground for some of the best CSOs in the country.
Stem Cell Therapist:
The search for a cure for incurable diseases like Alzheimer’s, Diabetes or Thalassemia may end soon. The hottest treatment option being explored and researched worldwide is stem cell therapy, giving birth to a whole new speciality – stem cell therapist.
Essentially, a stem cell has the potential to regenerate tissue over a lifetime and accelerate healing. In India, there are stem cell banks, where cord blood stem cells from new - born babies are preserved for future treatment.
This has opened up opportunities for stem cell biologists and bio-technologists. The Reliance Group, Apollo Hospitals, Fortis, Manipal Group, and Chennai and Gurgaon - based stem cell banks Life Cell and Cryo banks are planning to take the leap into stem cell therapies.
Stem cell technicians in India earn between Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 50,000 a month. At senior levels, salaries are a lot higher, with demand overshooting supply. A mid-to-senior level stem cell therapist can earn between 5 lakh and 20 lakh a month. Stem cell therapy has already become a practice in eye care, and other areas will become mainstream over the next few years.
There is no death of opportunities for training in the field. The National Centre for Cell Science in Pune offers a PhD, while the Nichi-In Centre for Regenerative Medicine, an Indo-Japanese joint venture in Chennai, offers specialised training. The International Institute of Information Technology in Pune offers post-graduate courses in stem cell therapy.
Wealth Managers:
When the economy is on a roll, the stock market is bullish and the billionaires’ list is growing by the day, you need people who can keep track of all the money and help it grow. In 2010 alone, 69 billionaires made it to the Forbes India Rich List. All this is certainly making one job among the most sought-after in the country today: that of the wealth manager.
Wealth management is a service provided by financial institutions to help high net-worth individuals protect and grow their wealth. Not only does a wealth manager help a client build an investment portfolio, he also advises him on how to prepare for present and future financial needs.
In a broader role, the job includes philanthropic counselling, and coordination of governance and routine administration of large business families. From banks and mutual funds to asset management and portfolio management companies, every one requires wealth managers. Indeed, this could be the best time for wealth managers to be around.
Various segments need different kinds of wealth managers and professionals’ pedigree, exposure and age profile would vary. For the top end, for instance, professionals would be from the best institutes, with a global outlook and familiarity with alternative asset classes like art, he adds. But professionals in India still have to learn the hard way. There aren’t too many courses in the field; neither is there an accepted certification. Professionals like MBAs, CFAs and CFPs are involved in the business.
The money, though, is good. Salaries range from 6 lakh at the starting level, and an equivalent amount is earned through commissions. At the higher end, these could go up to Rs. 75 - 80 lakh.
Cloud Computing:
This is the latest technology that will make life easier for people in organisations dealing with huge amounts of data and information. Today institutions, both government and private, invest a great deal in maintaining servers to store that information. However, not all of this data is accessed frequently. This result is under utilisation of available services and unnecessary costs. That is where cloud computing helps.
It uses remote servers to store and maintain data for clients who can access it when they need too. You don’t need software or a server for this; all a consumer requires is an internet connection to start sending emails. The server and email management software is on a ‘cloud drive’ on the internet and is managed by service providers like Yahoo, and Google.
Since cloud services have a huge potential, the demand for professionals will be equally high in the coming years. Moreover, since India does not a have ready talent pool, they might command a premium.
According to a study by global IT consulting firm Zinnov, the global cloud computing market is expected to be over $70 billion by 2015, and India will create job opportunities for about 3 lakh people in the same period.
Salary levels will be equally impressive. An entry-level professional, perhaps with 5 - 6 years of experience, can earn around Rs. 12 - 19 lakh; while a mid-level executive will get around Rs. 20 lakh. People with 10 - 15 years experience can hope to get Rs. 30 lakh or more.
For those who want to upgrade their skills, the options are, however, limited. For their staff, IT companies themselves are providing training and there are some certificate courses offered by Aptech and NIIT, among others. Job seekers and students, who want to enter the exciting world of cloud computing, might have to wait a while before choices for study open up.
Product Design & Simulation Engineering:
A world of opportunity has opened up for people with an artistic nature, knowledge of materials and consumer needs. With consumer goods flying off shelves in a buoyant economy, designing products like automobiles, watches, mobile phones and jewellery promises to be a niche and rewarding career choice. There is also likely to be a great demand for simulation engineering, where projects are designed through life-size futuristic projections.
Companies that will require product designers are mainly in the transportation and FMCG sectors. By 2015, the sector will become more fragmented and specialised, providing a range of opportunities. National Institute of Design, Industrial Design Centers are some of the institutes that provide industrial design training. Salaries range from Rs. 40,000 to 60,000 a month.
Recruiters are keenly watching an allied field: simulation engineering. This involves preplanning infrastructural and engineering projects, making them more user-friendly and testing their strength and durability. Through life-size projections, one can recreate buildings as they stood earlier. The requirements for this profession would be a bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, mathematics and physics in addition to strong analytical skills. Large IT firms will hire simulation engineers, with pay scales in the region of $90,000 - $100,000 per year.
Carbon Credits Specialist:
As greenhouse gas emissions keep increasing — regardless of whether protocols and talks between nations to curb emissions succeed or fail — the demand for consultants and professionals specialising in carbon credits and its calculation will keep rising. One carbon credit these days is valued between 803 and 927, which a company can earn if it manages to curb or decrease emissions in any way, as part of its functions.
There are about 100 small and big carbon credit consultants in India, including the Big Four — Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG and Deloitte Touche. Corporates like ONGC, Reliance Industries, JSW Steel, CESC, Essar, Adlabs, RPG and the Tata Group are also creating such positions. According to industry estimates, there are some 1,000 carbon credit experts in India at the moment, and the numbers of jobs in this sector are growing at 30 - 35 %.
A carbon credit specialist is expected to have strategic advisory skills, as well as knowledge on climate change. One needs to detail how will a project with reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thereby help generate carbon credits.
While there are no dedicated educational courses that can help one study to become a carbon credits specialist, an engineering background, along with a business management course in finance, is an ideal combination. Five years of experience can easily snag you a pay packet of Rs. 15 lakh every year.
Besides, if you are a consultant, you can also be eligible for a percentage of the credits that the company earns. Commissions can be anything between 0.5% to 8% of the amount. A carbon credits specialist needs to offer a framework on how to implement and modify existing equipment to reduce emissions.
Earning carbon credits requires extensive documentation, alongside some knowledge about the industry. The person should also be able to outline a carbon strategy, calculate a company's carbon footprint, and conduct energy audits and diagnostics.
Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/6974807.cms
Thank you,
Minita Aiya
Client Service Associate
DENIP Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
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