FLYING HIGH

Winged dreams

Nilakshi Sharma

Indian dreams are soaring to an all time. Scores of young Indians across the rural urban divide are united in their aspiration of flying high, both literally and metaphorically. The aviation industry in India is one of the most vibrant sectors of growth. The Indian aviation industry, with its staggering compound annual growth rate of 18 per cent in 2008 is still on an upward surge. The projected growth rate of India's civil aviation passenger is a whopping 20 per cent, one of the highest in the world.

Being a pilot seems like a dream career choice. The remuneration is substantial and the job is associated with both, travelling the world over and a sense of glamour. The requirements do not seem arduous. A 10+2 degree in sciences with a minimum of 50 per cent marks is the basic. The next step is training in flying and acquiring a recognised Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL). The next step is the series of examinations conducted by the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA), government of India. This consists of two medical examinations, a practical test and a written examination. Regardless of the validity of the CPL granted by say the FAA or Federal Aviation Authority (USA) or the European Joint Aviation Authority (JAA) a pilot cannot fly in the Indian skies without DGCA qualifications.

On average training can take anywhere from six months to two years depending on variable factors such as the student's learning curve and the school's curriculum. But the bottom line is money. CPL training is expensive. Mostly students head to foreign schools because until recently the schools in India were both, very few and plagued by infrastructural problems. With the recent crop of aviation schools being opened here such as the Orient Flight School in Chennai that lack is being addressed. But schools in countries such as Philippines continue to attract students in droves because they seem to offer the best deals in terms of time and money. The approximate cost cited hovers around Rs.20 lakhs. But that is actually a misleading figure because that turns out to be the minimum cost. Usually it amounts to upwards of Rs.40 lakhs. Deepak Raj Singh, founder International School of Aviation (ISA) in Delhi and the authorised recruiting agent for flight schools, is candid in warning aspirants. Be prepared for a substantial financial investment. He is wary of students who are mortgaging their all just to meet the stipulated fee.

Factors such as a hike in jet aviation fuel prices can increase training costs without warning. To add to the problems there are the horror stories of students being left in the lurch in alien lands when the school suddenly goes bust. Before opting for pilot training the aspiring student needs to be wary of the pitfalls. Unfortunately, there is a critical lack of organised information. Ideally, before committing to a school and the training program the student should compare the widest range of options possible and the research should be intensive.

Michael Sturgis, president of K&S Aviation Services, Inc., a highly regarded school in Phoenix, USA, took the time to answer a few questions dealing with the most basic issues confronting an aspirant.

For the aspiring indian students what should be kept in mind while choosing a school?

The most important decision in an airline pilots' career is the one that is made before training begins. The selection of a training institution will profoundly affect the direction, speed and overall success of an airline career. Becoming an airline pilot is much more than just flight training, accumulating flight hours and acquiring basic flying skills in general aviation aircraft. Unfortunately that is all that most "flight schools" provide world wide.

Developments in the airline industry have prompted airlines to look for commercial pilots that have more to offer than just technical flight competencies in small, general aviation aircraft. The industry demands competent, effective and efficient First Officers or Co-Pilots with prior Large Transport experience. Present industry training paradigms have forced many airline training departments to become flight schools of sorts and incurred enormous expenses training their cadets to acceptable levels of competencies. The aspiring students should address and require that their training be geared towards their goal that of becoming an airline pilot on a jet transport. .

What are common mistakes made by aspiring students?
Choosing a flight school purely based on price. Flight schools often base their prices on minimum required flight times. These are regulatory minimums and are seldom achieved by a student pilot. Students should calculate with a 20% buffer. Another mistake is choosing a flight school which cannot cater effectively towards their goal. As was said above, most flight schools do not cater to proper airline training. If a student wants to engage in this process with an agent, they should choose a reputable agent with a successful and identifiable track record of satisfied customers and not because he is the most popular for the moment.

NEW AGE CAREERS

Making the right choice

Be it IT or management, games designing or fashion merchandising, North India is increasingly becoming the mecca of education offering every education option or career choice imaginable

Moving around the northern belt of India, you will not only come across industries, agricultural farm land and the historical monuments but also the huge hoardings of educational institutes all over the place. New age educational institutions have sprung up in large number over the passage of time, while traditional educational institutions like Banaras Hindu University, Aligarh University, Allahabad University, Delhi University,

Kurukshetra University, Punjab University, Delhi and Kanpur IITs and Lucknow and Indore IIMs, etc., have paved an all new way for thousands of young minds to choose their career path.

An interesting thing to note about the new age institutions is that apart from offering regular courses like engineering, management and applied sciences; they also offer different courses all together pertaining to upcoming and budding sectors such as entertainment, travel, hospitality, aviation, advertising and mass communication. Moreover with the burgeoning of different industries in the northern belt, new age careers such as Actuarial Science, Retail management, Hospitality management, Animation, etc., are now taking the top seat as youngsters preferred choice, as these career options help you get a feel of self worth and self esteem, apart from facilitating your livelihood. Here’s a sneak peak at some of these emerging new age career options that various educational institutions in North India offer:

Hospitality Management

With the Indian government’s ‘Incredible India’ campaign having proved a major success, India has seen a steady flow of visitors not only looking out for leisure but also seeking health and with a curiosity about the heritage and spirituality of the country. With such a booming hospitality industry, the sky is now the limit for the youngsters who wish to become a part of this fascinating hospitality industry. The employment graph of this industry is continuously rising as career in hospitality sector opens up various opportunities related to the service industries like hotels, restaurants, health care, spa centers, café's bars, discotheques, various clubs and many more.

Retail Management

Today, the retail industry is considered amongst the largest in India. There are a number of retail marketing jobs out there, wherein one is not a sales executive, but one who creates and supervises sales strategies in the retail market. It is a challenging job, as marketing is far more difficult than actual selling. In marketing one is involved in brand building and brand maintaining.The work profile of a retail professional involves developing marketing gimmicks along with the marketing team. Whereas, one has to shoulder far greater responsibility if one is employed to look at the retail sales of all outlets stationed at the mall.

Actuarial Science

An actuary is a business professional who analyses the financial consequences of risk and Actuarial Science is the science of insurance. Being a multi-disciplinary field, it revolves around the study of uncertain future events, especially those of concern to insurance and pension programmes.

An actuary has several options to exercise his skills. Ranging from insurance companies, consulting firms, the government, employee benefits departments of large corporations, hospitals, banks and investment firms or, to a more general need for managing financial risk, an actuary can do it all.

Animation

If you have a passion for figures and a creative eye for detail, a career in animation could well be your ultimate destination. Though Animation' sounds simple but a lot of work goes into its preparation. It is the art of conceiving an action by drawing inanimate objects or characters, which are made suitable for filming.

There are ample career opportunities in the 3-D animation industry and a passion for the job can take aspirants to great heights. Though one need not be an artist to be a successful animator, he/she should have basic appreciation of art and the requisite skills can be honed at the college. You can be absorbed at various levels depending on your skill sets, as graphics designer, visual artist, supervisor, digital film animator, senior animator, content writer, clean up artist, web designer or web author. What's more, there is no age limit for learning and one can be successful even at a late age.

(Compiled by Suruchi Sharma)

Downturn drives IITians to air force

D Suresh Kumar | TNN

Chennai: Even when your imagination ran wild, you may not have conjured up the image of an IITian wearing a defence uniform. But this is no longer in the realm of fiction—the economic slump is driving IITians to consider a career with the Indian Air Force (IAF).

With the number of financial majors and global consulting firms on campuses dropping this year, over three dozen final year students of the Indian Institute of Technology here (IIT-Madras) have now applied for a career with the IAF.

“More than 40 students applied for the IAF’s technical graduate entry scheme this year. In contrast, last year, not a single student responded when the IAF came for placements,” Jayakumar, deputy registrar (training and placement), IIT-M, told TOI. “I don’t think such a thing has happened in recent years. We have only heard that in the 1960s, there were IITians in the defence services.”

From among the 40-odd aspirants, the IAF services selection board (SSB) has short-listed 17. “How many of them will eventually clear the SSB is a million dollar question. The SSB has a testing process, which includes a psychology test, group task and personal interview,” Jayakumar said. If selected, these students will undergo strenuous physical training like other IAF officers, but their jobs will be confined to the technical wing.

Amit Garg, students secretary (academic affairs), admitted that the move was a fallout of the meltdown. “Recruitments have been slow with just 50% of the 1,000-odd students who had registered for the campus placements being selected. For the first time, we have found that students responded positively to a career with the defence services and even nongovernmental organisations,” he said.

The slowdown has forced the authorities to extend campus placement till April; it usually ends by February. “We decided to extend the season since many companies informed us that they were waiting for the current financial year to end before finalising their manpower requirement,” Garg said. Sensing that those who had come for campus recruitments may not pick all aspirants, the authorities utilised the PanIIT meet to network with alumni and also entrepreneurs running start-ups to ease the situation.