Archive for the ‘Job Training’ Category
Call Centre Training at British Council
Candidates looking for quality voice and accent training are generally confused when it comes to choosing a training centre. Riding the BPO boom, plenty of such institutes have mushroomed all over and naturally they all claim to have excellent faculty and infrastructure. However, a name that is well known and respected all over the world is the British Council and we can be reasonably sure of the quality of its programmes given the vast experience which backs its claims.The British Council offers a course for BPO aspirants where pronunciation, orientation to accents,proper telephone conversation and functional English are duly covered. So for those of you who want to be well-equipped to make it big in BPOs, the call centre training offered by British Council should be an obvious choice.
Click here to learn more about the course and how to apply.
Onward to Online Training
For the industry, training is an important aspect alongwith hiring. As educational institutions usually offer nothing more than theoretical knowhow, companies have to take up the responsibility of grooming new recruits and getting them ready for all they have to face in the corporate world. Therefore, on top of the expenses associated with hiring, there comes the additional burden of training expenses. While profile-related specific training can be best learned from seniors and qualified corporate trainers, more and more companies are looking at alternate means of training when it comes to general training such as communication, ways of dealing with clients and using certain popular software.
A solution in this regard is online training which is emerging as a productive as well as cost-effective solution. With the internet becoming an indispensable part of our lives and the multitude of tools available online, it is no wonder that online training is gaining some serious ground. With the advent of online training, the debate that is doing the rounds is whether it will completely replace face-to-face teaching in the long run. Before attempting to answer that question, a thorough examination of the potential of online training is pertinent. More posts to come on this exciting field.
Get Trained and Master Your Domain
Would you like to be known as the jack of all trades or master of a domain? As you go ahead in your profession, you have to keep this in mind. You may have a set of skills that makes you eligible for several positions. But it is always wise to select a domain that you like best and stick to it so that in a few years, you come to be regarded as one of the authorities.
Jumping jobs and exploring different avenues might sound exciting but that never allows you to settle in a particular line of work. You end up learning the basics of a lot of domains but will never be able to master any. Your growth and prestige largely depends upon your mastery, so a concentrated effort on an area of your liking is advisable. Frequent job changes and alteration of position also results in a question mark on your credibility. Looking at your records, Companies will not be able to trust your commitment. It is always more impressive to display a record of excellence along a particular line of work as opposed to dabbling in a variety of spheres.
Make your choice early in your career. Decide upon an area that you find exciting and rewarding at the some time. Equip yourself with all the skills necessary to make it big in the area of your choice and stick to it. With all the experience and expertise that you will gain, you might even consider starting your own company after a while.
Explore, Learn and Decide
Many of us, prior to looking for a job, have the impression that whatever we are doing in our classrooms and laboratories are exactly what we will be doing in professional life. In a way we view work as an extension of our student life. There is no denying that our education is equipping us with certain skills and theories which will be put to practice once we step into the professional sphere, but there are a lot of other things we need to know and be prepared for. As long as we were students, we never really knew what deadlines mean in the industry, how critical a project and its timely execution can be and how quickly we need to think and improvise. Often our services might be required for something apart from our projects and it will be expected from us that we adapt and deliver.
As the course comes to an end and thoughts of starting work dawn, it is important to research and get to know more about the functioning of different companies. A good idea about the structures of various organizations, big and small, will go a long way in giving aspirants an idea about what to expect. It is important, in my opinion, to look at the various profiles, develop an understanding of the core and added responsibilities, get to know the management and explore opportunities to grow and learn. Working for big companies will enable you to boast of a name and expose you to an assembly-line style of work but ascent will take time and the work can get monotonous. New and smaller companies can be a little disorganized and might want employees to figure things out on their own but offer flexibility and quick growth.
A decision has to be taken regarding what kind of exposure and work-experience would one like before taking up the first job. Once that decision is made, a lot of things become clear.
A Look at Copy Editing Jobs
As mentioned earlier, this is my second post on working in a publishing house and in this post I will attempt to give an overview of copy editing. While attempting to gain a thorough experience in proofreading is an excellent way to start your career as an editor, copy editing is what will put your skills to a tough test. Copy editing often involves starting with a raw manuscript and working with it all the way till it gets published. This essentially involves starting from scratch it is surprising how much the manuscript changes from its initial stage.
While working on such a project, you need to interact extensively with the author and keep informing him/her of the changes you are making and if it is okay to make them. If you come across potentially objectionable or controversial arguments, you will need to tell the author to rework on them and rephrase them as much as possible. You need to keep the reputation of your organization in mind and should be very careful that no such content is published which may raise a hue and cry. While copy editing, you will have to constantly cross check the references made in the manuscript and the sources cited. In case of online journals, make sure the links given are correct and the dates of publication match. Often manuscripts undergo so many makeovers that the final product turns out to be vastly different from the first manuscript. There are instances where editors have to rewrite entire essays owing to lack of cooperation from the authors.
The usual routine of checking for spelling, grammar and consistency remains unchanged. In case of illustrations provided, you will have to see whether they complement the accompanying content. While the manuscript is turning into a book, you will have to keep a keen eye on the layout, the consistency of fonts and highlighting and the page numbers. After everything, you can revel in a job well done when you see your project becoming a bestseller;though the lion’s share of the credits will go to the author.
Stop by the Finishing School For Job Training on Your Way to the Industry
Conducting finishing schools for students on the threshold of entering the industry is emerging as a welcome initiative. I have come across several reports of colleges and universities arranging finishing schools which are all about putting the icing on the cake. Throughout the years spent on their courses, students have been made to focus primarily on theory and domain knowledge. However, as it is well known, you need a lot more than just domain knowledge to make yourself the right choice for recruiters. Finishing schools attempt to equip students with all the necessary extras to make them employable.
To instill confidence in the students to face recruitment tests and interviews, finishing schools train the participants in all they can expect from the selection process. Effective communication, logical reasoning, numerical and analytical prowess, group discussions and interviews are put under the limelight and plenty of practice sessions enable students to form a reasonably clear idea of the kind of questions that await them in the tests and interviews. Some finishing schools also incorporate workshops where students get trained in some important software which they will have to work with on a daily basis.
Much as I admire this concept, I hope institutions do not leave everything to the finishing schools and keep training students as they pursue their courses. Otherwise the finishing schools might be left with too much to handle and too little time in which to handle everything.
Consider Internship Jobs
If you want to taste professional life before plunging into it and would like to experience what it feels like to handle a real time project, an internship can be a very good idea. Several major concerns offer opportunities for internship where you get to learn all about life at work and gain valuable experience in the domain of your choice. Internships can be part time or full time for a limited period, so you can probably take them up along with your studies. Internships can help you make up your mind on your choice of career as there is nothing better than to actually be a part of the industry and learn your work hands on.
Bear in mind however that internships might or might not come with a stipend all the time. So you might have to arrange for your accommodation and travel if your company asks you to report to an office in another state or country. However, good performance will always be rewarded and the company might offer you a position at the end of your internship if you manage to impress them. Google, Infosys and even the United Nations among many others, offer good internship opportunities.
Fast and Accurate:The Keywords of Typing
In this post, I would like to focus on a skill which i feel is somewhat neglected by trainers and trainees alike. When you talk of job training or improving employability, the first few things that come to your mind are communication, organization, writing etc. However, several positions in the industry require you to possess efficient and fast typing skills in addition to the obvious ones. It will definitely add to your credentials if you work on your typing speed and accuracy.
Practicing typing is largely similar to practicing writing, with the difference being you can choose not to be imaginative and just copy text from a book or article. While typing, keep a watch handy so that you can calculate how many words you are typing in a minute. Most companies which are keen on your typing speed would want to know your WPM (Words Per Minute) count. As you go along, pay attention to accuracy as well. It won’t do to have your fingers flying all over the keyboard at lightning speed only to create content which is full of typos. Try to stay away from the “delete” and “backspace” buttons as much as possible and hit each key only once to form words.
Start slow and with practice, you will surely pick up pace.
Infosys Training Attempts to Address Employability Issues
How does an introduction to the booming IT industry at an early age by a premier company sound to you? That’s exactly what Infosys is doing in their “Catch Them Young” programme. The programme is aimed at identifying talented school students and training them for a successful IT career. The students are chosen through a written test and trained in computer languages and other IT functions.For outstanding performers,there are opportunities for working on a real time project with Infosys paying a stipend.
In addition to this, Infosys also runs the “Rural Reach Program” where school students in rural areas are exposed to the basics of computer education so that they can aspire to a career along those lines later. The “Train the Trainer” programme is also worth mentioning as it’s objective is to train the lecturers of technical institutions so that they can handle their courses better and equip their students with the right skills.
Foreign Language Professionals In Great Demand
Continuing on the many prospects foreign languages can offer you, i thought of sharing an exciting information here. A one-day workshop was conducted jointly by the University of Hyderabad (HCU) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in which we came to know that the industry will require around 1,60,000 foreign language professionals by 2010. The University of Hyderabad offers proficiency courses in a few foreign languages already and plans to inaugurate a full fledged centre for teaching foreign languages. It will offer courses in Japanese, French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian initially and more will be added later.
This is promising news indeed and all the more reason for you to consider picking up a foreign language to make yourself employable for lucrative openings coming your way.