[ampere]

Originally Posted by jigar1791@gmail

My domain has largely remained Logistics and Supply Chain, focusing on Road Freight Operations. I’ve been a startup guy, with 4 different companies, all into SAAS ans well ans Enterprise TMS (Transport Management System) Implementations.
...

I have started to feel it’s time to move away from startups and get into -
1. IT Services - MS, Oracle etc
2. Technology Consulting - Big4

Question: Why do you even want to switch to IT Services and Tech-Consulting? I see you have done well in supply chain. My suggestion: Stick to that. You can actually think of going to NITIE in Bombay for specialized programs that they offer in Industrial Engg.

And for those who dont know: NITIE is now IIM Mumbai!

[subraiyr]

Originally Posted by jigar1791@gmail

Looking for relevant advice from the knowledgeable community in this forum :

I’m close to gathering a decade of professional experience, and I have been into Tech-Functional roles throughout - as an Account Manager, a Customer Success Manager and briefly tried my hands at SAAS Sales before turning into a Customer Success Manager again.
My domain has largely remained Logistics and Supply Chain, focusing on Road Freight Operations. I’ve been a startup guy, with 4 different companies, all into SAAS ans well ans Enterprise TMS (Transport Management System) Implementations.

Big4 consulting have broadly 2 areas that they work on. One is the consulting part and the other is implementation (SI) part. For the consulting area, deep domain skills are required in SCM (supply chain management). A good place to start would be the IIM job board wherein lot of such opportunities come

Now that you have mentioned that you are a customer success manager, i am guessing your role would be more to interact with customers and manage relationships. For domain experience, you should have worked in line operations in SCM area.

Would suggest to proceed with caution. From what you have shared, Big4 might be a tough nut to crack for you

[jigar1791@gmail]

Originally Posted by ampere

Question: Why do you even want to switch to IT Services and Tech-Consulting? I see you have done well in supply chain. My suggestion: Stick to that.

I'm at a cross-roads of sort, with a dilemma to remain domain committed (Transportation and Supply-Chain) OR focus on skill-set driven opportunities (CSM/AM profiles demand skill-set fitment more than domain understanding).
While I will stick to technology related opportunities, I'm now looking out for a better brand plus a reasonably stable employment.
Which is why, my focus is to get into IT Services OR Big4 into tech-consulting practice.

You can actually think of going to NITIE in Bombay for specialized programs that they offer in Industrial Engg.

IF I understood you correctly - Do you reckon I should pursue a Masters/equivalent course in IE?
Well, external factors at the moment will not allow me to take up any further educational pursuits (I'm wanting to do an Executive from a top-tier institution since a very long time).
Plus, I am an average student at best, knowing my self-checks in terms of studies and the extra-efforts I need to put in to prusue my career + higher studies

Originally Posted by subraiyr

Big4 consulting have broadly 2 areas that they work on. One is the consulting part and the other is implementation (SI) part. For the consulting area, deep domain skills are required in SCM (supply chain management). A good place to start would be the IIM job board wherein lot of such opportunities come

Thanks for the advise, @Subraiyr. I have already applied on the reputed job portals, but haven't heard back from any of them so far.

Now that you have mentioned that you are a customer success manager, i am guessing your role would be more to interact with customers and manage relationships. For domain experience, you should have worked in line operations in SCM area.

Totally agree - the KPIs of a CSM are more towards revenue/logo retention + relationship management. However, I do not miss any opportunity to travel to on-ground locations where actual operations are happening (read - yards, warehouses, ports, depots, distribution centers). Staying loyal to 1 domain has definitely helped me hone a lot of operational know-hows/understanding, though I agree those may not be as good as an actual SC Ops guy.
With this, I'm confident I can take up consulting opportunities in SC practice @ Big4.

Would suggest to proceed with caution. From what you have shared, Big4 might be a tough nut to crack for you

Yes, being very cautious to make my next move, I have actually listed down a dozen criteria for my next workplace. I will be very considerative while planning my switch hereafter.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by jigar1791@gmail

IF I understood you correctly - Do you reckon I should pursue a Masters/equivalent course in IE?
Well, external factors at the moment will not allow me to take up any further educational pursuits (I'm wanting to do an Executive from a top-tier institution since a very long time).
Plus, I am an average student at best, knowing my self-checks in terms of studies and the extra-efforts I need to put in to prusue my career + higher studies

I would still persist with my suggestion. The education that would wanting (and aiming) to get now is NOT about an additional degree/exec-diploma alone to boost your career. It's actually a practicing knowledge art which would help you rise in supply chain.

NITIE folks have done amazingly well in their careers and it's been a fairly rewarding career. But then you need to invested in this field. If you're asserting you are not interested in this field then its a different scheme altogether.

The foot prints of NITIE is a solid Engg + Industrial Engg/Mgmt. Perfect for all kinds of supply chain career.

[VWAllstar]

PMP certification - Yes or No

I am an MBA (FT) from Mumbai University plus SAP Functional certification. Currently working with an IT giant for nearly 10 years out of which 4 years have been into SAP consulting and the last 6 years into SAP Project Management. I like management over technology and hence I could keep going even with limited technical knowledge and exposure. I enrolled for PMP before pandemic but due to certain personal as well as work load I could never give the exam even though I have the pre-requisite PDUs. Now I am actually stuck at my designation and payscale. This year the appraisal was pathetic as across IT industry and with some help from certain websites & seniors, I got to know that I am being paid lesser than the Industry average (considering experience and designation)

I don't know if a PMP certification or any other certification trumps over actual real life experience. Is it worth to spend time & efforts (less about money as it would be reimbursed by the company) to get certified, and if yes then which one?

[sinharishi]

Hi all,

I am a network consultant with over 10 years of experience, out of which 8 years I have been associated with the current vendor/company. The vendor is situated in USA, and I get contracts on 6-months to yearly basis. The risks are very high but it has been 8 years now and I currently have secured a contract for another 6-months.

Looking for guidance on how can I pursue something similar in India. How is the Indian market, IT/Fin/Healthcare in particular when it comes to contractual roles? Are their enough opportunities? As per LinkedIn, Naukri etc are very less. Most opportunities are FTE, which I am not too keen on, reasons being - more taxes, no fixed working hours from whatever I have seen working with teams located in India, stuck under a toxic manager etc.

The only reason to explore Indian market is I am tired of working EST hours. Looking purely from health perspective as I am nearing 40. I have a BCA with CCNA, CCNP and CCIE (year 2015) certs. Core skills include Cisco - Routing, Switching and Wireless.

Are my assumptions wrong about FTE roles in the country? I will appreciate any help/advice/suggestions. Thank you.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

I have a BCA with CCNA, CCNP and CCIE (year 2015) certs. Core skills include Cisco - Routing, Switching and Wireless.

Ah, a guy who understands networking. You are part of a dying breed. Thanks to cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, GCP, etc., it is very hard come across someone who understanding networking. They have made networking a lost art.

First about the FTE. In India, that's the only thing you can find. Technical consulting is next to impossible in India, customers simply don't want to pay a fair price. And they don't trust non-employees with infra-sec. So you need to make your peace with becoming FTE.

Networking is a hard skill to learn, but the demand for it is limited by numbers. Even a company with 1000 people can usually manage with 1-2 network administrators. So most people become python programmers instead of learning network administration.

As a result, even large companies with massive network infrastructure, have very few employees who understand networking. As a VOIP software designer, I have no choice but know networking. As part of that job, I have to frequently work with many folks from Airtel/Tata who provide us with SIP trunks. Hardly any of them understand networking. Their operations team is mostly 20 managers and one networking guy. You have to keep fighting with the managers until they reluctantly reveal the networking guy.

Even the broadband division is no better. I have asked Airtel to give me two static IP addresses in a /30 IP pool, so that the router can consume one IP and my firewall can have the other. Even after a month they are unable to figure out how to do it. My local contact has been trying convince me that it is impossible to provide more than one static IP to a router. Such is the state of network expertise in India.

So, you have a niche skill that is truly valuable, with very little competition. Number of openings will be less, but job security should be high.

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

I have a BCA with CCNA, CCNP and CCIE (year 2015) certs. Core skills include Cisco - Routing, Switching and Wireless.

Are my assumptions wrong about FTE roles in the country? I will appreciate any help/advice/suggestions. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Ah, a guy who understands networking. You are part of a dying breed. Thanks to cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, GCP, etc., it is very hard come across someone who understanding networking. They have made networking a lost art.

.......

So, you have a niche skill that is truly valuable, with very little competition. Number of openings will be less, but job security should be high.

I agree to what Samurai has mentioned 100%. However, if you do decide to take a full-time job in India in your technical domain, look for companies where security is very critical (Healthcare, Finance, Banking, Defence, etc). Your expertise will be valued there. Since you are in Mumbai region, Finance/Banking would have such opportunities for sure.

Alternatively, look for a position/contract with the cloud providers globally first, if your skill set matches with what they need. Since they provide the Infra across the globe, eventually they may have some assignments in India or Asia where work hours would be better.

[sinharishi]

Thank you Samurai and sunilch.

I am going to shortlist a few companies in healthcare, finance mainly. Most of the IT companies in India are offering support roles which is a degrade for my profile. What I want is some core engineering/design role.

I'm going to start giving interviews to assess where I stand, it has been 6+ years since my last interview.

[ZenMaster]

Are there any NITIE alumni here?

How is the VLFM course offered there. I have around 5 years of experience (2 in R&D for DRDO + 3 as Design and Development engineer at a major Automobile OEM in India).

I would like to shift to a techno-management role withing the manufacturing industry in the future since growth within the auto industry and my company as an engineer in steady but sloooow. And yearly appraisal ratings here does not have any relation to the quality of your work.

I have also come to realize that my entire yearly salary would barely afford me a base model CSUV. Basically, I can't afford (not in absolute terms but in a financially sensible way), the cars I design and develop. Also, I would like to move out of the current city because it's just too polluted and too expensive and I don't want to get settled here)

The course seems quite attractive to me. But, I'd like to get an idea of life after the course from someone whose done it or know somebody else who did it. Especially since I have to resign from my quite well paying and VERY STABLE job and will not be able to rejoin this company(ever), unless they change their policy. (Even though I'm cribbing about the cars I can't afford , I realize that what I'm being payed now is still an amazing package and is enough to put me in the highest tax bracket, even if it is less compared to the IT industry. It also makes me realize how much of the lifestyle followed by people around me are propped up by loans that put them in a debt trap basically ensuring they can't take any risks and will be stuck with their job and this is something that I want to avoid)

Also, as someone approaching the "marriageable age" and being pressured by family for the inevitable, I'd like to finish off with studies before that.

I'd like to get the input of experience members in this forum on whether a 1 year Executive PG course from IIM Mumbai would be beneficial for me, or whether I should solidify my foundation by gaining more experience in my current role and then switch within the auto industry.

[PatienceWins]

Originally Posted by thoma

My cousin is looking to do pilot training from anywhere outside that can land him in a job. He is into his pre-final year mechanical engineering, interested in flying but clueless on how to proceed. He is learning for GRE as a backup to study abroad in case flying does not materialize.

Kindly refer any good career counselors in this regard in Chennai, Cochin or online.

My son is interested to become a commercial pilot after 12th and I was looking for any relevant details in forum. Did you get any useful information?

Appreciate if there are any pilots on the forum who can give guidance. Thanks

[k88k]

I am a B2B business development guy working for a major global MNC. Have given 12+ years in this role, mainly in Chemicals/Processed chemicals, industries being Automotive, General & Consumer electronics with experience in managing global customers. Have a decent domain knowledge when it comes to B2B selling cycle esp. GTM, Commercials, KAM etc.

I had done pretty well in my CS engineering course, but the MBA + placement channeled me into a Sales & Marketing. Off-late, I have been yearning for adding some Software skills to my resume. The most suitable skill with a close relation to my line of work is learning Salesforce (have some work experience on the same). Plan to start off with the Admin certification and move on to SF developer/marketing cloud. Is there any other course which can complement my existing domain of work?

As we plan on moving to Europe (wifey has a solid chance very soon), will the SF skillset + German language (A1 in progress), increase my chances to secure an opportunity there? May be in Germany, Netherlands or the Nordic.

Will appreciate a few pointers from the knowledgeable lot here. Cheers.

[Aluminium]

Originally Posted by PatienceWins

My son is interested to become a commercial pilot after 12th and I was looking for any relevant details in forum. Did you get any useful information?

Appreciate if there are any pilots on the forum who can give guidance. Thanks

I am a mechanical engineering graduate interested in becoming a commercial pilot. I would like some guidance as well. From my research, there are a few flight schools in India but I am on the fence wondering if the investment is worth it. I can't rely on my family to fund the same. So it will have to be a loan. Apparently, you can fail the psych test and it will be a shut door after that. And, after getting a commercial license, you will have to specialise on a plane which also costs money.
Any info will be highly valued. Thank you.

[kushagra452]

Originally Posted by k88k

Is there any other course which can complement my existing domain of work?

As we plan on moving to Europe (wifey has a solid chance very soon), will the SF skillset + German language (A1 in progress), increase my chances to secure an opportunity there? May be in Germany, Netherlands or the Nordic.

German in specific and EU economies in general seem to be struggling since the start of the Russia NATO Ukraine conflict. Might be worthwhile to do your due diligence before setting foot in Germany. Even after covering all your bases, you might find yourself struggling to get meaningful employment simply because of the the economic slowdown (or recession).

Since 2008, EU is not the best place to search for full time work, esp for Indians. This region is perennially either about to enter a recession or in the midst of one. The language requirements add another layer of complexity.

Hope your read my comments in the right spirit. I have worked and traveled in Europe and wanted to give a heads up regarding the ground realities. Best of luck!

[rohitoasis]

Hi guys. Can anyone in our forum guide on career choices post ISCM course. I have an acquaintance who has BE in Mechanical completed, has 2+ years experience in project management in a decent sized manufacturing company. but has enjoyed solving logistical challenges in company and wanted to check if ISCM would add value if they chose a career in companies like DHL, Fedex, etc.

Does anybody have any advise for such an individual. Any colleges which are better than the rest on this.