Career

Food for career thoughts. Here I have a collection of articles related to career opportunities in the country. 

1. Life after SLC

This year, out of total 547,165 students appearing in the SLC exam, 41.57 percent has passed the examination, known as the 'Iron Gate' among the students. All the Best to fresh SLC graduates and Best of Luck to those who failed to enter through the gate for exempted SLC exam.

Obviously, now the students will start thronging in colleges to get information about higher studies. Basically, it is important to decide on the subject to be pursued for your studies and future career visiting any college inquiry. Most students who pass SLC are confused about their future academic course. This is happening mainly because of friends' influence and parent pressure.

Students can take advice from friends and family, however they must make the final decision themselves based on interest, capability and future scope competitive domestic and international labour market. Academicians opined that the students should examine the educational background of the past 10 years and opt for a course in +2 based on their performance in class 10. There will be no use opting for science if student is weak in math.

If you have always wanted to become a banker and is good in management, you can go for a management course without any dilemma. Similarly, students interested in making a career in the medical line can enrol in science and specialise at the bachelor's and Master's levels targeting the right career in the vast field of science.

Student must choose a course based on interest, educational background and future prospects. Conventionally, students obtaining over 80 percent marks in SLC choose science as if there were no other good careers for students. However, with the change in mentality of the parents and wider scope in the management field with lucrative returns, many students securing high marks have also started to choose management. Likewise, such students have also been found choosing humanities

The trend is changing. Interest in management from high scorers is increasing significantly. Pursuing an academic course in management leads students to become bankers, entrepreneurs, traders and many other professionals in the field of business, marketing, accounting, finance, ccommerce and economics. Management students can also study hotel and tourism management.

Humanities, which is considered as the field of creativity and art, opens the door to a future career in literature, the arts, politics, media, social sector, economic and many other professions related to social sciences, political science, arts, economics, dance and music. The faculty is the largest in terms of subjects incorporated in it.

Similarly, if one goes for science, one can become a doctor, engineer, nurse, food technologist, biotechnologist, environmentalist, agro-specialist or forestry officer. This faculty has always remained a preferred course because of its scope in a wide range of careers in engineering and medicine.

Likewise, there are options for pursuing education after SLC in education, fine arts, forestry, veterinary and vocational and technical courses offered by the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT).

No matter what course one chooses, it should be chosen based on the course's impact on building the perfect career. Likewise, where you study is equally important as what you study. Thus, while choosing a college, you must know about the faculties, fees, infrastructure and past performance among other considerations.

Generally, depending up on the college, it costs an average of Rs. 80,000 for 10+2 in science in private colleges. Similarly, for management and humanities, it costs around Rs. 40,000 and Rs. 30,000 respectively. In government institutions, the cost may range from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 30,000 except for science. There are altogether around 3,000 institutions offering 10+2 education.

Normally, all the colleges are good. But the students themselves should choose a college keeping in mind factors like college environment and potential student competitors.

Tips for +2 Aspirants
1. First, decide what interests you. Make a list of the fields of study that interest you in 10+2, and come up with a list of courses you would consider studying based on these interests. Add the topics that you were most interested in during school.

2. There are numerous resources like internet, newspapers, television, people and colleges around you that could be best for knowing more about the courses before choosing any particular one. Check online materials about the courses you are interested in and find out about the career scope and its prospects and other info. You can talk to people of the field in which you are interested in and know the real experience of their career.

3. It is also important to go through the course outline in which you want to pursue 10+2. Have a look at the subjects you must undertake and the types of learning, assignments and examination tasks involved in the college. Normally, even if the course is the same, the teaching methods can vary from college to college. This will simply help you to be informed about what lies ahead for you.

4. Before joining any college, visit as many colleges as you can with parents, friends or even alone. Check the list of the faculties, past record of the college, infrastructure, library, computer lab, classes, facilities offered and fees. Get to know the scope of the course from the college officials too. Colleges make good commitments, later they fail to implement them.

5. Get to know the extracurricular and co-curricular activities and facilities for sports. It helps students to learn easily through practical courses and extracurricular activities more than the traditional class learning process. Sports, dance, singing and drama are also important for amusement along side the daily education.

6. Unfortunately, some courses are too hard to get into, or just too hard to actually succeed in completing, so be honest with your course selection so that it does not let you feel down later on. You should look for other colleges or similar courses if you are not confident in being accepted into your first preference course. If the college you want to enroll in is famous and hard to get in, it will be difficult for you. In such a case, you should prepare very well for the entrance test. And also don't forget to know if the college is offering some kind of scholarship to top scorers in the entrance exam.

7. The cost of the course is another major aspect. It is better to know all the cost breakdown that you have to bear for the course as well as the additional costs that occur, such as text books and field trips. And do not let cost hamper your career choice, as there are colleges which also offer scholarships, get to know about such colleges.

8. Whatever course you opt for is completely for your future career opportunities. Look at the career prospects of the course before selecting one. Do consider factors such as income, job security, stress, responsibility and other benefits while researching a profession.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) on March, 2009

2. Become an animator and unleash your creativity

Are you creative and imaginative? If yes, you can make a man fly like a bird as inSuperman and you can also make an amazing amount of money from your effort. It is all about animators who make men fly, dogs talk and turn a truck into a gigantic robot within a few seconds like in the Hollywood movie Transformer.

Use of animation in Kollywood is increasing rapidly. Television commercials, music videos and movies are the main sectors where animation is in big demand.

“Since the use of animation is increasing in music videos, ads, architectural work, medical science, engineering and movies, there is big scope in animation,” said Karun Thapa, one of the pioneer animators who played a vital role in introducing animation in Nepal.

“The world is narrowing day by day due to digital inventions and the internet; one can sit at home and earn money from the U.S.A.” He also said that there was scope for outsourcing for international demand as the charges for animation in India were increasing. “We have heavy demand from abroad, but there are very few animators in Nepal to cater to the international demand professionally,” Thapa added.

There are an estimated 200 animators in Nepal and their monthly average earning ranges from minimum Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 100,000. Some animation experts charge their rate on a per second basis.

“I have received an overwhelming response from the audience. It also proves that there is a good future for animation in Nepal,” said Simosh Sunuwar, director and animator of Mission Paisa, which is successfully running in movie theatres. For the first time in Nepal, Mission Paisa had used a wide range of special and visual effects.

He said that due to competition, the charges for animated products and their quality was decreasing. It is also a sign that the field lacks skilled animators. “We used to charge up Rs. 30,000 per second about a decade back, but now we deal in packages,” he said.

There are just a few institutes offering animation courses. Of which, Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC), Pentasoft and Arena Multimedia are some of the leading institutions in the capital for animation courses.

The animation craze is increasing especially among youths. According to Gitanjali Shrestha, administrator of Arena Multimedia at Siddhi Bhawan, Kathmandu, there are 1,200 students who are undergoing training in Arena. “Most of the trainees are SLC students waiting their results,” she said. Arena offers animation courses with 3D Max, Elastic Reality and Spin Panorama at a cost of Rs. 14,000 and the duration of the course is four months. It also provides animation courses of 15 months.

Similarly, MAAC provides animation training for two years and its charges are above Rs. 125,000 which includes the required materials for the course. If you want to study animation abroad, the cost for the course would be more than Rs. 2.5 million, while it costs around Rs. 800,000 in India.

“Students get training but they do not continue in animation as a career. As a result, they become only application users or technical persons rather than skilled animators,” said Bishwadeep Lamichhane, an animator and managing director of Fluid International. 

He underscored the need of quality institutes for producing skilled animators in the country who could also address the demand from outside the country. He said that the demand for animators in the video game sector was also high. “But our Nepalese animators have not entered that sector yet,” he added.     

According to Thapa, a course in animation should be able to teach all the sectors of production from storyboarding to final output. “Most of the institutes teach only course modules,” he said. He added that only theoretical knowledge didn’t make one a real animator, he or she has to gather knowledge by practical experience. “The more you practice, the more you learn. One can learn practical tips and methods by visiting web sources, watching animated movies and serials and practicing at home,” said Thapa.

There is also plenty of options regarding animation suite computers in the local market. A computer having all the required hardware and software costs around Rs. 70,000.

“One can make his or her product and show it to any TV station or in any media house. If the product is good he or she can easily get a job. It is the age of competition. If you sit at home and wait for vacancy notices in the papers, there is little chance of getting a job,” said Lamichhane.

Reports say that the global animation industry will be generating US$ 75 billion by the end of 2009. In India alone, the industry will be generating around US$ 9.5 billion.

By: Ramesh Shrestha

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) on June 29, 2009

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3. Career as food technologist

Food, the first and foremost basic necessity of life, is any substance usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water that can be eaten or drunk by humans. And obviously it needs to be tasty, nutritious and safe all the times for us, whenever we open mouth to have something.

As we need safe food for healthy living, this concern itself highlights the importance of food in modern days and it is the job of experts from food technology sector who guarantee the quality of the food we eat every day.

In modern times, the instant meals, semi prepared foods and cooked food items, tin foods and pouches of various edibles is rapidly replacing the traditionally cooked breakfast, lunch, tiffin and supper.  With the increase in trend of having ready to eat foodstuffs that are easily available in a simple rural shop to a big shopping mall in cities, the scope of career in food technology sector is very high. 

According to food specialists, the trend of having ready to eat food had started during the Second World War when the army had to remain in battle field for days without other food substances. Later on, gradually the food technologists, researchers and scientists started to invent new foods indicating that even the food technology can be a lucrative and dignified sector for jobs.

They said that the food technology is a mixed technology with the presence of science, engineering, and agriculture in it which is applied in manufacturing and preservations of food products.

“Investment in food and agro-base industries is increasing every year creating huge scope for career in food technology sectors,” said Prof. Jagat Bahadur KC, former vice chancellor of the Purbanchal University. He is also the pioneer person to introduce food technology study in Nepal.

He said that there were career opportunities in various industries related to distilleries, noodle, biscuit, chocolate, beer, bakery, tea and coffee among other. “More than 75 percent of our industries are based in food technology but we lack qualified human resource,” he said.

One can also get job in food processing industries, research laboratories, hotels, soft drink factories, rice mills and manufacturing industries.

According to food experts, a qualified food technologist can get job of a production manager, supervisor, quality assurance specialist, laboratory technician, food packaging manager, research scientist, product development manager, lecturer, food inspector, nutritionist, dietician, research officer, quality controller and food specialist in emerging various field of food industries.

According to KC, one can earn from Rs. 8,000 to more than Rs. 300,000 in monthly basis including various allowances and perks depending upon the working industry and the job holder’s expertise in the field.

Besides private industries, there is also good career scope in government offices like Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC), Nepal Food Corporation, Customs and Quarantine offices.

“We lack many human resources in this sector but its production in the country is low,” said Jyoti Joshi (Bhatta), a food research officer at the DFTQC. She said that many students after the graduate in food technology leave the country for further study and jobs abroad.

Out of an estimated 710 graduates in food technology, more than 30 percent of them have left the country for study or employment abroad.  This has also clearly showed that the career opportunity is not only limited in the country. There are also many opportunity international job markets.

“Earlier Nepal used to bring qualified human resource for this field from India, “said Jayandra Chudal, senior general manager, operation in Chaudhary Group, Nepal. “Now, Nepalis are also working abroad and the demands for Nepali human resource are still expected to increase more.”

He said that most of them are working in countries — Nigeria, Canada, U.S.A, Australia, Japan, Thailand, Fiji and India in various positions and some of them even work as professors and resource persons in universities.

Most of the students after graduation go abroad for further study in full scholarship and get job there after completing their study. “Normally, as the country is listed under developing nation, Nepalis students easily get scholarship,” said Rajiv Lochan Poudel, a student of Bachelor in Food Technology at College of Applied Food and Daily Technology (CAFODAT). He is studying in third year of food technology there.

Rajiv has also planned to try for scholarship in universities abroad. “If I don’t get it, there are also many scopes to do something in our country using agricultural products as raw material,” he said.

Currently, there are six colleges in Nepal offering B.Tech (Food Technology) or Bachelor in Food Technology. Interested students having I.Sc or plus 2 (science) can join the four year course.

Establish three decades ago, Central Campus of Technology, Hattisar, Dharan affiliated to Tribhuwan University, is the oldest college to offer the food technology in Nepal. Similarly, Lalitpur Valley College, Padhmashree International College, Goldengate International College and National Institute of Science of Technology also offer the B.Tech (Food Technology).

Affiliated to Purbanchal University, CAFODAT has also been providing bachelor level study since 2005. “Our first batch has not graduated yet. But most of them have already got job,” said Jagat Bahadur KC, who is also chairman of the college.

He said that the costs for studying bachelor level ranges from Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 400,000, which depends up on college and the facility they offers. Some colleges also offer good scholarships which lessen the financial burden to the needy students.

KC also said that the CAFODAT was also going to offer Diploma in Food Technology from this year for the SLC graduate with in a month and the total cost would be Rs. 200,000.

“Many students are not aware of the course and the career scope it offers,” said Chandra Shakya, a food research officer at the DFTQC and a resource person for the CAFODAT. She said that even the government should be more active to produce more human resource in food technology sector.

The food technology courses by the Nepali colleges are claimed to be internationally competent offering adequate education and knowledge to candidates regarding the quality analyzes of raw materials, packaging standards and methodology, health and hygiene parameters, processing techniques, storage and food value. Experts said that the future of the food industries, on a global scale, is in the hand of food technologists.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in October, 2009

4. Behind the scenes

How to become a documentary filmmaker

The charm of documentary films has been increasing significantly among the audience in recent years because of the reality and issues of society which they represent effectively through the audio-visual medium in a limited time frame.

Although the term “documentary film” originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can be either direct-to-video or made for a television series.

The word documentary was first applied to films of this nature in a review of Robert Flaherty’s film Moana in 1926, published in the New York Sun on Feb. 8, 1926 and written by “The Moviegoer”, a pen name for documentarian John Grierson, according to wikipedia.

With the advancement of digital technology and increasing interest in documentary videos, documentary filmmaking has become one of the most exciting and lucrative careers for those having creative ideas to expose the hidden realities of society.

“There is good scope in documentary film making if you have got patience, passion and dedication, ” said Dhurba Basnet, a famous documentary filmmaker. He said that digital technology and development in information technology had made it easier for interested people to unveil the truth of Nepali societies in the national and international arenas.

Recalling his days at Nepal Television, Basnet said back in the old days, they used to hire a porter to carry around 25 umatic tapes alone for a month long shooting. “Now, everything has changed from tape to camera enabling one to become a single man production unit,” he said.  

He said that the there was also a good opportunity for becoming a one-man production team, which is cheap in budgeting while producing a film. But the interested candidate has to be experienced at least in direction, camera and story telling.

According to Mohan Mainali, a senior journalist and documentary filmmaker, only technology and equipment access is not sufficient to become a successful documentary filmmaker. “Everybody uses pen and paper, but not all are story writers,” said he. He added that one had to be a perfect story taller on a visual basis with knowledge of documentary grammar.

Other qualities such as language proficiency in Nepali and English, knowledge of visual editing and lighting among others are also necessary for becoming a saleable documentary film director/producer.

Mainali said that as the world was becoming competitive, one should hold at least a bachelor’s degree in any discipline. “Most documentary videos are made with English subtitles, so language is vital for post production and dealing with interracial clients or audiences.”

Filmmaking, be it cinema or video, has to go through three main phases — pre-production, production and post-production. From planning and concept in pre-production, the phase ends in mastering and final output in the desired format.

According to documentary filmmakers, the field doesn’t give immediate financial returns as other careers on a monthly basis. One needs serious work experience to be sellable in the national and international market. But one can continue his or her journey to success by being involved in media houses, television stations, making music videos and promotional videos for NGOs and INGOs.

They said that a documentary filmmaker could more than Rs. 200,000 per project depending upon the client and the time spent on the project, continuing the job side by side. Once his or her work started to win the hearts of the audience, the maker can take part in international film festivals as well.

Especially, documentary films started to get momentum in Nepal after the initiation of Film South Asia in 1997. The film festival has been showing documentary films produced from South Asia region. Its latest four-day festival took place at Kumari Cinema Hall, in Kathmandu from Sept. 17-20 with the participation of 32 documentary films made on various issues of South Asian countries.      

Including Film South Asia, if one produces a good documentary other film festivals such as Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival, Nepal International Film Festival and SAFMA Film Festivals can be the best platforms to showcase the creativity he or she possesses.

“This type of festival help us to know more about technology being used and the art of video presentations of national and international filmmakers,” said Navin Giri, a beginner in documentary filmmaking.

He said that he had opted for a career in filmmaking because the medium gave him the best way to reveal his vision creatively. “It is a composite art of handling camera, joining visuals, writing story and presenting in a smooth way to the audience,” he said.

He said that he was currently undergoing training in visual editing from the Academy of Audio-Visual Arts and Science (AAVAS).

For the interested candidate, there are two options — either to take training from institutes or join the Bachelor of Film Studies of three years from Oscar International College (OIC) affiliated to Tribhuvan University.

“The interest among students in direction and production has increased,” said Tika Ram Pokhrel, principal of the OIC. He said that there were eight students specialising in production and direction in the second year.

According to the OIC syllabus, students choose the major subject in the second year and complete in the third year with varieties of practical classes. It costs Rs. 225,000 for the three-year of filmmaking academic course.

Or, one can go to AAVAS for its three-month course Television Programme Production/Direction. The training charges Rs. 15,000 and is fully based on practical classes. “As soon as we finish training, the best trainees get offers for jobs,” claimed Gagendra Poudel, team leader of AAVAS.

“If one has financial capability, he or she can go to Pune, India or to Germany, Norway, the U.K. or the U.S.A. for similar types of film producing training or academic courses,” said Purushottam Ghimire, a resource person of the OIC.

There are also some commercial institutes in the Kathmandu Valley imparting various courses related to direction and production. But such institutes are fine for only getting theoretical knowledge because most of them lack audio-visual equipment for practical training.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) September, 2009

5. Back to the drawing board

The scope for interior designers is looking better

With changing lifestyles and a boom in the real estate sector in Nepal, the trend of designing houses and office spaces in more creative ways based on the art of interior designing is increasing gradually.

Everybody wants his or her room or working place to be perfectly designed. Some design them in their own way and others want interior designers to use their art and creativity to develop a functional, safe and aesthetically pleasing space for their living or working comfort.

The technique of decorating interior spaces with the perfect blend of light, colours, materials, furniture design and architectural details can create a different world within our homes or offices. Mostly every apartment in high-rise buildings, housing colonies, offices, financial institutions, corporate houses, hotels, restaurant and shopping malls among various others have called upon the skills of interior designers. This clearly shows that the career scope in this creative field is also increasing.

“Demand for qualified interior designers is really increasing because of the emerging apartment culture and change in living standards and styles,” said Surendra Bajracharya, interior designer and managing director of Sky Fine Interior Designing Works, Patan.

He said that the profession was related with giving perfection to enclosed spaces in any building. These spaces include doors, windows, floors, ceilings, walls, lights, furnishing and furniture.

While decorating any space, the work of an interior designer draws upon many disciplines including environmental psychology, architecture, product design and traditional decoration and even knowledge of vastu shastra.

In the modern scenario, their jobs include planning the spaces of almost every type of building such as hotels, corporate spaces, schools, hospitals, private residences, shopping malls, restaurants, theatres and airport terminals.

Silu Malakar, an interior designer who works for Better Homes, said that the sector was getting famous gradually. “It is still in the developing phase. I hope that newcomers in a few years will be benefiting more,” she added. 

She said that financial returns from the field were also lucrative. “Fresh job holders earn Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000 per month depending on the company. Experienced interior designers earn more than Rs. 200,000 per month as they deal directly with big shopping malls, banks, corporate house and housing colonies.”

Since demand for qualified interior designers is increasing, students having a fine arts background and creative mind should opt for this career.

“Just study won’t do anything. Students should be able to use their creativity to transform what they have learned into a perfect design,” said Milan Shrestha, a trainer at the Lakhotia School of Art and Design.

The school is one of the oldest schools to offer designing courses in Nepal. Similarly, the IEC School of Art and Fashion and the National Institute for Fashion Design (NIFD) also provide similar courses on interior designing.

IEC offers a three-year Bachelor in Interior Designing course for +2 graduates and charges Rs. 281,000 for the whole package. It also provides a Diploma in Interior Designing of 15 months’ duration, which costs around Rs. 50,000. The basic qualification for the diploma course is School Leaving Certificate.

“Our two-year Diploma in Interior Designing course comprises six months of basic, six months of diploma and one year of honorary diploma,” said Sweta Shrestha, an official at the Lakhotia School of Art and Design. The monthly fee for the course is Rs. 2,500 and the one-time admission fee is Rs. 500, she said.

Likewise, the NIFD, a branch of the International Institute of Fashion Design of India in Nepal, also provides Advanced Course in Interior Designing for +2 graduates.

“Our two-year course costs Rs. 81,000 including registration fee. We also provide short-term courses for SLC graduates and interested candidates,” said Manju Lama, executive director of the NIFD.

Students who want to pursue interior designing abroad will find lots of opportunities to suit their style and wallet.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in August, 2009

6. Want to become a tourist guide?

Here are a few guidelines

The tourism sector plays a vital and indispensable role in Nepal’s economy by providing employment to an estimated half a million people and bringing in much foreign currency. Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit Nepal every year with around 20 percent of them opting to go trekking in the Himalaya. From excursions to heritage sites or trekking to Everest base camp, they have many options available to them. And no matter where the tourists go, unless they prefer to go on their own, there is always somebody accompanying them — a guide.

Among various career opportunities in the service sector, a tourist guide can be one of the best choices. A tour guide is a person who provides information on the culture and history of a place to the sightseers in his charge.

“There is always a good scope for new guides having professional training, good knowledge about Nepal and language competency,” said Vishnu Gyawali, president of the Tourist Guide Association of Nepal. “Good presentation, self-confidence, fondness for travelling and enthusiasm in meeting new people add quality to a tour guide,” he added.

According to Gyawali, out of the 2,400 licensed tourist guides, 500 are actively involved in the tourism sector. They earn from Rs. 1,300 to Rs. 2,600 per day depending on their expertise and the languages they can speak. Normally, guides using English language are paid less than those who can speak Japanese, French, Spanish and others. The basic salary of a guide ranges from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 30, 000 per month excepting allowances and tips.

“Tips are one of the major attractions after the completion of a tour. But a good guide should never expect it,” said Tulasi Manandhar, a freelance tour guide who has been in the sector for the last 22 years. He added that a good guide should always be updated with the latest developments in the country and should be studious to research things and make an effective presentation to the guests.

Ram Kaji Koney, president of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA), said that the profession of a guide was an attractive job in terms of financial return and challenging too because he or she has to face new people everyday.

“The guide is a special representative of the nation to share the information about the country to tourists coming from various corners of the world,” said Koney. “Every tourist visiting Nepal is our promotional tourist; if our guide impresses them, they will bring three to five other tourists to Nepal.” He added that the scope of guides possessing proficiency in the Chinese, Korean and Italian languages was high because of an increase in tourist arrivals from these non-traditional tourist markets.

Interested candidate can take language training from the Campus of International Languages, Kathmandu. It offers training in English, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Russian and Urdu. A number of commercial education institutes in the Kathmandu Valley also provide training in such languages.

“It is better for students looking to join a tourist guide training course to specialize in a language first because most guides speak English but very few are specialized,” said Krishna Kharel, travel and tourism department head, Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM). “If you have an extra language proficiency, you can receive work even during the off season.”

The NATHM provides tourist guide training for a fee of Rs. 10,000. The educational background required for the course is a bachelor’s degree in any discipline. “As the job holds the responsibility of introducing the nation, the candidate wanting to take the course should be at least a bachelor’s degree holder,” said Kharel. He added that students take classes at the NATHM for five months and then undergo field-based training for five weeks. “Our guide course includes Nepali history, cultural activities, architecture, geography, wildlife, religion and anthropology, health and sanitation, among others,” said Kharel.

The NATHM holds its training in July or August. After completion of the training, students get a license from the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. Similarly, the academy also provides trekking guide training of one month. “Our course for trekking guides include study of tourism, English language, history, geography and natural attractions of Nepal, health and sanitation and mountaineering rules and regulations,” said Kharel. “We conduct this class twice a year in January-February and June-July.”

A trekking guide is a pathfinder who organises trekking and arranges porters, food and accommodation for the trekkers. Kharel said that the primary objective of the training was to assist the trainees in developing their skills to serve trekkers. A trekking guide is a special person who works as a pathfinder during a trek.

The basic requirement to take the training from the NATHM is either basic knowledge of English communication with two years of experience in trekking or SLC with practical training and internship as prescribed by the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN). According to TAAN, there are around 6,000 trekking guides in the country; but only 2,000 are working currently. “Most of them take the training, become familiar with the route and set up their own business,” said Jyoti Adhikari, president of TAAN. “There is a very good scope as a trekking guide, but a guide should also hold knowledge about the people, community, plants, animal and nature.”

According to a trekking agency, a trekking guide’s daily earning ranges from Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,500 depending on their qualification and clients. Beside this, trekking guides also get their basic salary plus tips.

“The monthly salary ranges from Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 15,000 including allowances depending on whether the trek is a teahouse or a camping trek,” said Dinesh Gajurel, a freelance trekking guide. He said that experienced trekking guides charge up to US$ 50 per day. A senior trekking guide said that a good trekking guide has to be a wonderful companion, guardian, advisor, attendant and a even mother to support trekkers in need.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) August, 2009

7. Hand to mouth

Dentistry is a well-paying and respectable profession

Everybody wants to be healthy wearing a beautiful smile with well set teeth. And it is the dentists from a specialized sector, oral health of the medical science, who treat mouth and teeth related diseases.

The oral health sector or dentistry deals with the study and practice of diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases of the mouth, the maxilla and the face and associated structures and their impact on the human body. In recent years, the new generation has started to become attracted to dentistry because of its good scope in Nepal and abroad and the excellent income it provides.

According to the Nepal Dental Association (NDA), there are around 700 dentists dedicated to the oral health service sector. Lack of sufficient dentists in the country and absence of awareness among the people about oral health have made it clear that there is a big scope for a career in this field, said senior dentists.

“Since the sector is emerging, there is a good future for candidates who want to pursue a career in this sector,” said Suraj Ram Bhakta Mathema, president of the NDA. He said that the number of dentists available in the country was not sufficient to offer oral health services to a population of more than 25 million.

He added that of the around 700 dentists in Nepal, 150 have left the country for further studies and jobs abroad. The U.S.A., Japan, the U.K., Canada and Australia are some of the major destinations for such purposes.

“Nepali dentists bound for the U.S.A. first complete two years of additional course and get jobs,” said Buddhi Man Shrestha, chairman of Kantipur Dental College (Teaching Hospital and Research Centre). “In countries like Australia and Canada, they do not have to study further. They just need to pass the licensing exam.”

A report in Dental Tribune, an Asia Pacific dental magazine published from Hong Kong, stated that dentists in Australia were ranked as the highest earning profession in 2007 and 2008.

Pawan Nyachhyon, a dentist at Kathmandu Model Hospital and department head of Oral and Maxillofacial of People’s Dental College and Hospital, said that earnings were good in Nepal too compared to other professions. He said that a fresh graduate in the starting phase earns Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 25,000 per month and experienced doctors earn up to Rs. 300,000 per month working as self-employed practitioners and providing dental care to the general public through various heath institutions as part-timers.

Even Kriti Mainali, a bachelor student of dental surgery (BDS) at Kantipur Dental College, said that a sound financial return was one of the main reasons for studying oral health. “I find that the field helps to make me financially stable with good recognition in society,” she said. “Moreover, the field is also a combination of art and science,” she added.

 

She said that people were still not much aware about oral health and that negligence could bring a number of diseases. “I want to be part of the social campaign to create awareness about oral health,” said Mainali.

Similarly, Den Kumar Sapkota of People’s Dental College and Hospital, who is currently doing his internship, said that there was a good scope for dentists especially in rural areas of the country. “Firstly, we do not have sufficient dentists and most of them are working in urban areas only,” said Sapkota.

Meanwhile, the trend of studying dentistry in Nepal and pursuing a career abroad is rising because of the cheap fees here. “The cost for studying dentistry in countries like the U.S.A., the U.K. and Canada ranges from Rs. 12.5 million to Rs. 20 million,” said Shrestha, chairman of Kantipur Dental College. Beside these countries, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan are the other South Asian destinations for studying dentistry.

In Nepal, the Bachelor in Dental Surgery (BDS) course is offered by five colleges and the total cost ranges from Rs. 700,000 to Rs. 1.7 million for the five-year course. Students must be an I. Sc +2 or “A” level graduate with a science background.

The colleges providing BDS in Nepal include Kantipur Dental College at Basundhara and People’s Dental College and Hospital at Naya Bazaar in Kathmandu, College of Dental Surgery (B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences) in Dharan, College of Dental Surgery (Universal College of Medical Sciences) in Bhairahawa and MB Kedia Dental College and Hospital in Birgunj. 

After completing four years, students will go through one-year internship. Similarly, after completing five years of study, students must pass the national exams conducted by the Nepal Medical Council to practice dentistry in Nepal.

Chairman of Kantipur Dental College Shrestha claimed that the education provided by Nepali colleges was also world class. “We have high-end technology, infrastructure, equipment and well experienced resource persons,” he said.

According to Pawan Nyachhyon, most Nepali students prefer India, Bangladesh or Pakistan for the BDS course as studying in other countries was very expensive.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in August, 2009

8. For those with taste, becoming a chef is a good choice

Everybody loves delicious food. But very few know the art of making good food. That’s where the role of a chef comes in. Don’t estimate the job of cooking, it is as lucrative as other professions.

A rise in the hospitality business in the country has made being a chef an attractive career option. And job opportunities are not only limited to the country, there is lots of work abroad too.

Those who have been associated with this profession for a long time say that the culinary profession is slowly turning into an exciting career. One of them is Babukaji Maharjan, executive chef at the Hotel Everest, New Baneshwor. Maharjan, who has been in the culinary profession for the last 40 years, says career opportunities in the field are increasing.

As executive chef, Maharjan supervises the entire kitchen staff, food preparation and cooking activities of the hotel. Most of his time is spent planning and writing menus, budgeting and making financial plans. Maharjan said, “I love my profession as it is the art of cooking and presenting food to the guests in a creative manner.”

According to Maharjan, the journey to become a chef is not that easy. “You must have a good education, dedication and practical experience to create and present good food,” he added.

There are around a dozen colleges to assist those who want to pursue cooking as a career. If you are interested in becoming a good chef, you have to attend a college or university to get a more in-depth knowledge of the culinary arts. You need to possess a 10+2 or equivalent to join the Bachelor in Hotel Management (BHM) course.

The Nepal Academy of Tourism & Hotel Management (NATHM), affiliated to Tribhuvan University, has been providing the three-year BHM course for Rs. 263,000 per student. But from this year, it will cost nearly Rs. 315,000 to complete the degree.

“Our academy is the cheapest in comparison to other college,” said Surya Kiran Shrestha, senior instructor, food production at the NATHM. “As the prices of everything is increasing, the academy has decided to increase the fee from this year.”

Similarly, Whitehouse College, affiliated to Purbanchal University, offers their four-year BHM course for Rs. 410,000 and, Silver Mountain provides the degree for Rs. 400,000. Similarly, Kantipur Hotel Management College offers the course at Rs. 407,000.

“The total expense looks large for the maximum practical of the course that the students have to go through,” said Pratap Raj Joshi, vice principal of Kantipur Hotel Management College (KHMC). Likewise, it costs Rs. 375,000 for the three-year BHM course at the International School of Tourism and Hotel Management (IST).

Only getting an academic degree is not enough to be a good chef. A good chef has many qualities and most of those qualities have more to do with management than cooking. One should be very familiar with food costs, labour costs and public health regulations besides possessing great interpersonal skills and being able to plan and organize all kitchen work, develop new menus, cater to customers with food allergies and so on.

“A chef is an artist who prepares varieties of foods with his knowledge of cookery,” said Jibesh Pokhrel, chef de partie of the Hotel De l’Annapurna, Durbar Marg. “The creativity continues everyday with different tastes and styles of decoration and presentation.”

With the hospitality business growing, good chefs will always be in demand. According to Pokhrel, there are plenty of job opportunities for chefs. The salary in the profession ranges from Rs. 9,000 to Rs. 250,000 per month depending on the position, expertise and the organization.

And the demand for good chefs is not limited to Nepal only. Many Nepali chefs are working in India and the Gulf countries. Some of them are also working on cruise liners. “The chefs working on cruise liners and in the Gulf countries normally earn US$ 800 per month plus perks,” said Pokhrel.

Pratap Raj Joshi, vice principal of KHMC, said that the college had been receiving requests for BHM graduates from India and the Gulf. “Last year, four of our students got jobs in Dubai,” said Joshi, adding that the demand for chefs from India is also increasing.

The trend of Nepali students going abroad to study the culinary arts is also increasing.

“Most Nepali students choose India and Cyprus initially because of the low cost of the courses there,” said Pokhrel who completed a four-year package course in Bachelor in Hotel Management in India. “But students are also going to Singapore, Australia and the U.K. and the U.S.A.” According to him, it costs around Indian Rs. 700,000 for doing BHM in India, and the cost of studying in other countries is above Rs. 2.5 million.

One can take short-term specialized courses from the NATHM, CTEVT, Chefs Association of Nepal and other commercial training schools. The basic qualification needed for joining the course is SLC.

“There are many commercial training schools. But you should be careful when choosing one,” Shrestha said. “However, these types of short courses limit your creativity to become perfect chefs.”

He added that most of the people doing short-term courses are those who aim to operate their own business or students who want to study abroad. “The short courses are also for candidates who desire to learn cooking in specialised cuisines,” said Shrestha.

Where to study

Nepal Academy of Tourism & Hotel Management

Nepal Tourism and Hotel Management College

South Asian School of Tourism and Hotel Management

Whitehouse College

Silver Mountain School of Hotel Management

Kantipur Hotel Management College

Global Academy of Tourism & Hospitality Education

International School of Tourism and Hotel Management

Qualification

+ 2 pass or equivalent

Fee

Rs. 315,000-410,000 for Bachelor in Hotel Management

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) July, 2009

9. Design your career

The graphic design market beckons

Try as you might, you cannot escape from the creations churned out by graphic designers. The billboards that you pass by as you commute to work, the ad that nudges into the story space in the magazine you are reading, almost every graphic that impinges on your senses on web pages, the commercials that barge in just when you were getting to that juicy bit on your favourite TV show. Graphic designers affect your life, and how. You can’t beat them, and if you’ve got the instinct for design and the urge to make a buck out of designing, why not join them?

If you should decide to become a graphic designer, your job will entail everything from planning designs, analyzing whether a design idea will fly and figuring out how you can combine words, images and sounds to create the information you want your design to present to the audience.  And depending on the medium you choose, you’ll have to find the most effective way to get messages across in print, electronic media, and film, by employing color, fonts, illustrations, photographs, animation, and various print and layout techniques.

As a graphic designer, you’ll be expected to know how to use specialised computer software to create layouts and design elements and to program animated graphics:  Photoshop, Freehand, Coral Draw, Pagemaker, Quark Express, Adobe InDesign, and Illustrator. And if you want to say on the cutting edge, then you might also need to masters programs such as 3D Studio, Acrobat Director, Dreamweaver and Flash.

In most developed countries, graphic designers specialise in niches areas—advertising and related services, printing and related support activities, newspaper design and layout, book publishing and so on. Others choose to focus on computer graphics, videogames, webpages and all things electronic. A small number of designers also work in engineering design labs, or in scientific, and technical consulting firms.

In Nepal, most graphic designers still haven’t branched out into niches and most work on many mediums. “But our graphic design sector is developing rapidly, and soon our designers too will have to be working in specialised sectors,” says Subash Sharma, a graphic designer who owns Applied Value, an advertising agency.

According to him, most of the Nepali graphic designers have not yet mastered the techniques to the extent possible. Thus for any enterprising aspiring designers out there, you can use that opening to your advantage. The market needs you, after all.

The tremendous growth of the media industry, especially after1990, has meant a tremendous growth of jobs for graphic designers. With the industry already past the nascent stage now, there are plenty of career opportunities in media houses, desktop publishing companies, design studios, and advertising agencies, among others.

 The earnings are pretty good too. “You can make anywhere from Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 300,000 per month.  It all depends on where you are employed, who your client is and what the nature of your project is,” says Kriki Janardan Joshi….job title…

So the market is there and the money can be raked in. Now you need to decide on a school to learn the trade. If you want to get into the better graphic design programs, both here and abroad, you should be at least an SLC graduate. So get that out of the way, and then you’re ready to pick. To get into even better programs, you’ll need to finish your intermediates too.

One of the better programs in town is the four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) offered by the Centre for Arts and Design, Kathmandu University School of Arts. “We have been providing the Graphic Communication course in third year of the BFA,” says Sujan Chitrakar, the coordinator of the course. The course provides an in-depth understanding on how to build and implement original design concepts in visual communication. “Because the graphic designing career is becoming a lucrative one, we’re seeing many of our students opting for the course,” he says.

Another program you could check out could be the one offered by WLC College Nepal, a branch of WLC College India (WLCI). This college, which claims to be one of the largest professional education institutions in South-East Asia, has been offering career- oriented graphic designing courses since 2007. It offers Foundation Certificate Level, Integrated Certificate Level, Advance Certificate Level and Professional Certificate Level course in graphic design. Each course lasts a year and each level costs Rs. 140,000.

“Students can either start out at the Foundation Certificate Level or at the Advance Certificate Level, depending on whether they are plus-two grads or have a bachelor’s,” says Anil Aryal, the coordinator of the college. He says that the course is more expensive that other courses offered in the country, but that it’s because of WLC’s quality career- oriented and profession-oriented curriculums.

You could also opt for the Intermediate of Fine Arts (IFA) program offered by Lalit Kala Campus, Bhotahity. But the catch here is that the course is a comprehensive art course, where you’ll have to learn sculpture, music and carving, along with graphic design. If you only want to focus on design, then you’ll probably have to give this school a pass.

If you’re short on both time and money, then you could head for one of the hundreds of computer institutes in the town that teach graphic design courses. The course prices range from Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 10,000 depending on the institute. But remember, you’re paying less for a reason. “It is all right to join commercial institutes for learning software,” says Sman Karmacharya a freelance designer. “But don’t fall for institutions that claim that they’ll turn you into a graphic designer in only a few months.”

If you can fork out Rs.2.5 million, then there’s that ever popular option: study graphic designing in India, Australia, the UK and the US.

And finally there’s the DIY (do it yourself school) option. “If you are really driven, you can actually learn quite a lot through tutorials available on the web. The tutorials are pretty good and resourceful learners can learn quite a lot from them,” says Karmacharya. “You can also buy video tutorials—they cost Rs.70 to Rs 100— available in the local market,” he says.

Sachin Yogal Shrestha, the senior graphic designer at Business Advantage (P) Ltd., an advertising company, also vouches by DIY. He says that the main thing is to practice, practice, practice and sharpen your knowledge and to make yourself saleable. “If you go to commercial institutes, they’ll teach you only the tools because most of the trainers in such institutes don’t even know the basics of graphic designing,” he says. Shrestha is a self-schooled designer who’s done pretty well for himself on his own. And he says he did it by focusing on creativity, developing communication and problem-solving skills and enhancing his knowledge of computer graphics and design software.

With the media market ever increasing, with the web turning 2.0 with companies always ready to go one better over their competitors by splurging on advertising, and with every gadget from the cell phone to PDAs employing graphic work, graphic designers will always be in demand. But when you decide to take up the career, you will first have to decide whether you are better suited for school or to be a DIY designer, and whether you want to join the schools here or abroad.  

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in June, 2009

10. Music to my ears

Skilled music arrangers are well paid as they are in short supply

Skilled music arrangers are in short supply in Nepal, and with the music industry going commercial, it’s becoming a well-paying job.

Professionals associated with the music industry say that the production of various types of songs (pop, modern, dohari, hip-hop and movie songs), commercials and background scores for movies, documentary films and television serials has been increasing annually, but there are only around 100 music arrangers in the entire industry.

“Demand for skilful arrangers is high, but hardly a dozen available in the market are well experienced,” said Kiran Kandel, a music arranger. He said that due to lack of experienced arrangers, those who are good at their job were overloaded with work.

“I have work for the next two to three months, and most of the skilled arrangers are normally packed for months,” said Kandel. He added that the Nepali music industry lacked qualified arrangers due to which the workload for professionals was increasing.

According to professional music arrangers, a music arranger is a person who arranges a piece of music for a singer, a group of performers, movies, advertisements, commercials or documentaries. Their primary job is to arrange pieces of music based on the needs of a performer, producer or music director. The music that an arranger works on may be original or an existing piece.

“They are the professionals who make sure that every aspect of a musical piece is well harmonised as per the composition,” said Manohar Sunam, a senior arranger and son of Ganesh Pariyar, a pioneer arranger in Nepal’s music industry.

He said that the career was lucrative and that it was rewarding for those who love working with people and bringing the art of music to life.

Arrangers generally know how to play several instruments, have a good grasp of music theory, are able to read and write music and transpose and transcribe, and have a background in orchestration, harmony and composition.

“A good arranger must be original, creative and adaptive to reflect the art of music to the general audience in the best way,” said Nhyu Bajracharya, a senior musician who arranges his own compositions.

He added that only good knowledge and skill in music arrangement were not enough to be successful. “Good arrangers must be able to demonstrate their creativity and earn goodwill by arranging music as per the composition of the song,” said Bajracharya.

He added that a good arranger must be an all-rounder possessing up-to-date knowledge about the changes being taking place in the music sector.

Arrangers normally charge Rs. 6,000 for pop and modern songs and Rs. 8,000 for movie songs. They have different rates for arranging the background score for movies, television serials, documentary films and commercials.

Phanindra Rai, a well-known music arranger, said that a music arranger with good public relations and experience can earn to the tune of Rs. 120,000 per month. He added that arrangers of pop and dohari songs make even more as it takes less time to arrange them.

“If you are well experienced, you can arrange music for up to three pop songs in a day,” he said. He added that music arrangers normally charged Rs. 6,000 per pop song.

There are around 150 music recording studios in Nepal, and many music arrangers have their own studios equipped with computers, monitor speakers, keyboards, mixers and microphones. They also possess various musical instruments, synthesizers, plug-ins and software.

The cost of setting up a studio ranges from Rs. 600,000 to Rs. 1.5 million depending on the equipment, tools and studio design.

“There are several arrangers who are running their own studios and are earning well,” said Rai, who is owner of Purple Recording Studio.

It is very hard to enter the field as a music arranger as there is no opportunity to acquire a formal education or the training needed to become an arranger, he added.

“The main thing is your relations with the professionals in the music industry. If you have talent, you can go to a music studio and demonstrate your creativity.”

He said that having training in musical instruments was a plus point for aspiring arrangers.

There are many music schools in the Kathmandu Valley where interested candidates can learn to play musical instruments. They charge from Rs. 5,000-10,000 for the basic course for any instrument.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in December, 2009

11. A hardware engineer is something to be

With the rapid growth of information technology in the country, computers have

become one of the fastest growing sectors in the Nepali economy. This sector has created numerous career opportunities in communication and information technology.

Among the various job options, becoming a hardware professional is a good choice as demand for such personnel is shooting up because of a boom in IT and an increase in the use of computers and the internet even at home, which was a farfetched idea till a decade ago for Nepalis.

According to professionals working in the hardware sector, even though the country does not have manufacturing companies or research-based projects dealing with hardware, professionals are in demand for after sales service, maintenance, computer-based system networking and server installation, among others.

They said that most of the computer engineers working in the country were dedicated to software and application development only. Very few of them are involved in hardware, and many hardware jobs are done by a semi-professional work force — hardware technicians.

“There is good demand for skilled hardware engineers in telecom, banking, hotels and IT companies,” said Samir Lal Shrestha, manager of the support department, CAS Trading House. “As we do not have such a highly skilled workforce here, such work is being done by hardware engineers from Russia and South Korea.”

He added that hardware work was not limited to assembling and replacing defective parts as perceived by the general people. “Many problems related to the hardware aspect of laptops and desktops are also solved by hardware professionals,” he said.

The number of computer hardware engineers and technicians is relatively small compared with the number of computer-related workers who work with software or computer applications. Moreover, hardware professionals say that around 80 percent of the hardware-related work in Nepal is being done by Indian personnel.

“As we do not have a qualified workforce, hardly 20 percent of the Nepali hardware engineers and technicians are working in Nepal’s information technology sector,” said Surendra Yadav, a computer engineer who also works as a freelance hardware professional.

Normally, the job of a computer hardware engineer includes researching, designing, developing and testing computer hardware besides supervising production and installation. Hardware is the term applied to computer chips, circuit boards, computer systems and other equipment like keyboard, modem and printer.

“Even if we don’t have manufacturing companies, maintenance work of network systems, servers, circuit boards, laptops, desktop computers and printers has increased,” said Subarna Shakya, executive director, National Information Technology Centre. “But we should also be able to attract manufacturing companies to the country for wholesome development of the IT sector and employment generation.”

He said that the scope for outsourcing for qualified engineers was high even if we do not have manufacturing companies. “Demand for hardware professionals will go up as we can’t remain fixed on software and application development alone,” he added.

Ajay Kumar Nepal, executive officer, customer support division, Mercantile Office System, said that many hardware engineers were involved in management, supervision and corporate marketing as the real hardware engineering field was developing gradually with an increase in the computer business and market.

Nepal said that ordinary work like repair, maintenance and other after sales support were being done by hardware technicians. A hardware technician earns between Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 50,000 monthly depending on work experience, he added.

As for the monthly salary of hardware professionals who have an engineering background, they earn from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 100,000. “Hardware professionals working in banks earn Rs. 10,000 as a fresher while a senior receives more than Rs. 50,000 a month,” said Chandra Gurung, a hardware technician working in a commercial bank.

For those interested in entering the hardware world of the IT sector, there are two ways — vocational training at an institute or academic education.

“Those who choose vocational training should take at least the basic hardware and networking training,” said Nepal. “Once they are selected as hardware technicians, they will have to go though six months of on-the-job training.”

Regarding hardware engineering courses, students can pursue a Bachelor in Engineering (Computers) or Bachelor of Engineering (Electric and Communications) at any college and specialise in hardware. The cost of a four-year bachelor course ranges from Rs. 300,000 to Rs. 500,000 depending on the college, whether it is a government or private institution, and the facilities offered.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in December, 2009

12. Helping hands

Demand for physiotherapists has just gone up

Be it for prevention, cure or rehabilitation, the importance of physiotherapy is always high in the healthcare field. That’s why the saying “Doctors add years to life, and physiotherapists add life to those years” is very famous in the profession.

Physiotherapists are healthcare personnel who treat patients with physical difficulties resulting from illness, injury, disability, ageing or prolonged inactivity. They treat people of all ages and stroke patients and people with sports injuries.

Their work includes identifying and improving the patient’s movement and function. They help promote their patient’s health and wellbeing, and assist in the rehabilitation process by developing and restoring body systems, in particular the neuromuscular, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

The profession of a physiotherapist is one of the highest-paying jobs in the West because of the awareness about physiotherapy and its importance for both unhealthy and healthy people.

Nepali physiotherapists say that awareness about physiotherapy has been increasing among the Nepali people and health personnel. As a result, demand for physiotherapists has gone up significantly in recent years at hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, rehab centres and sport centres.

“Till seven years ago when I entered in the field, many people and even hospitals were not much bothered about the importance of physiotherapy,” said Dr. Kanchan Sangraula, president of the Nepal Physiotherapy Association (NEPTA). “Now hospitals have started to set up a different department for physiotherapy, and the trend of keeping private therapists is also increasing.”

She said that demand for physiotherapists in the country was expanding with the rising awareness, and that there was a shortage of qualified professionals.

It is estimated that there are around 150 physiotherapists, 76 assistant physiotherapists and around 30 physiotherapy aides in the country. Many of them may have left the country for further studies and career options abroad.

“Compared to our population, the number of physiotherapists is very low,” said Dr. Hari Prsad Lamsal, chairman of the Nepal Heath Professionals Council (NHPC) and Physiotherapist Society of Nepal (PSN). He said that the NHPC was consulting with the government to create more jobs for physiotherapists in hospitals across the country and even in health posts.

“After the government gives the go-ahead to hire new physiotherapists, we will be needing hundreds of trained physiotherapists,” he said.

According to Dr. Pramod Bajracharya, head of the physiotherapy department, Kathmandu Model Hospital, physiotherapists can specialise in various branches of physiotherapy such as orthopaedic, neuro, cardio, paediatric, geriatric, rehabilitation and manual therapy among various others.

He added that the profession was becoming attractive because of the increasing demand for physiotherapists who make house calls. “Many physiotherapists treat their patients by visiting their homes and earn Rs. 600 to Rs. 1,500 per visit,” he said.

The financial return from the profession is also lucrative. Physiotherapists say that the monthly income goes beyond Rs. 100,000 if they can make house calls and work part-time at clinics in addition to holding a full-time job at a health-related organisation.

Dr. Saurab Sharma, a physiotherapist at Dhulikhel Hospital and physiotherapy teacher at the Kathmandu University School of Medical Science, said that the minimum salary was at least Rs. 10,000 at the entry level.

Moreover, job opportunities are not limited to the country. Candidates can also pursue a Master in Physiotherapy and work as a registered physiotherapist after the completion of the course.

Dr. Sangraula said that many Nepali physiotherapists were working in many foreign countries like the U.S.A., the U.K. and Australia. “They earn from US$ 60,000 to 70,000 in the U.S.A. and US$ 50,000 to 60,000 in Canada annually,” she said.

According to physiotherapists, the trend of leaving the country for further studies is increasing because there is no opportunity for higher studies in Nepal and also because the income is better abroad. Currently, there is no institution to study physiotherapy in Nepal.

Earlier, the Dhulikhel Medical Institute used to offer a three-year Certificate in Physiotherapy for SLC graduates, but it stopped the course with a view to providing Bachelor in Physiotherapy due to the increased demand for high-level physiotherapists, said Dr. Sharma.

He added that the Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences was all set to start Bachelor of Physiotherapy lasting four and a half years for +2 (science) graduates from February 2010. “We are currently discussing starting Bachelor of Physiotherapy in Kathmandu University, and we are sure that interested students will be able to study physiotherapy in the country,” he said. Most of the physiotherapists in Nepal are products of Indian and Bangladeshi universities.

Once students complete their studies, they can apply for a job as a physiotherapist in hospitals, nursing homes, private clinics, fitness clubs, sport centres, paediatric centres, rehab centres and sports centres. They can also set up their own clinic.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in June, 2009

13. The beauty lies in the profession

People are becoming more conscious of their hair and face make-up, skin care and appearance to make them look beautiful or handsome. Beauty and appearance has become a major matter of concern in the modern society.

With increasing consciousness among the people about fashion, beauty and health, the profession as a beautician has become an attractive career option for individuals with interest in adding to the people’s look. 

According to senior beauticians, the profession is interesting, in that it doesn’t change as frequently as trends and people’s tastes tend to do. The core job of a beautician never changes as the profession focuses exclusively on making people look at their best.

“The demand for skilled beauticians is high because of increasing consciousness about beauty and care, but we do not have skilled workforce to meet the market needs,” said Kamala Shrestha, President of Beautician Professionals’ Association of Nepal.

She said that there are more than 18,000 beauticians in the country, where the beauty industry is facing the shortage of skilled and quality workforce.  

Neel David Katawal of NeelDavid’s Salon of Hair and Beauty said that the attraction of new generation toward the profession was increasing as the profession has unlimited scope in and out side of the country. “As we have less male beauticians, the scope for them is a lot better as compared to that of a female beautician,” said Neel David, famous for his art in hair designing.

According to beauticians, many people – irrespective of the gender they belong to – the trend of choosing career in beauty industry is increasing due to the glamour and charm associated with the professsion.

“Even male are now conscious about Ultra Violet protection, pollution and the problems related to skin,” said beautician Urmila Bista. And, the trend is increasing significantly, according to her.

However, the job of a beautician is not easy. It takes a good training and artful mind to make one a saleable beautician in the industry.

Beauticians are professionals who offer many different types of services and treatments to their clients to add to their beauty and appropriate get-up by different face and hair treatments.

The best part of being a beautician is that there is no barrier of academic qualification. All that one needs to do is to learn and acquire a set of skills that can be useful for the entire life. But senior beauticians said good education can be a major plus point in the profession, as well. Beauticians need to possess keen interest in giving the clients satisfaction.

Normally, a beautician analyses the needs and desires of her clients and then recommends the most appropriate treatment. She offers many beauty therapy treatments to the face, skin, hair and body. Treatments include facials, massages, eyebrow threading, manicures, pedicures, and skin treatments. Beauticians also suggest cosmetics and other products depending on the skin-type and help clients apply make-up and styling hair for special occasions.

According to beauticians, what the earning that they make at the end of the day is quite lucrative. Shrestha said monthly incomes ranges anywhere from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 800,000 if one operates a beauty parlour with experienced work force offering quality service. Naturally, the cost for establishing such a parlour depends on the type and quality of service and products which the parlour offers.

“It costs a minimum of Rs. 250,000 for setting up a simple parlour. Opening a better equipped, big parlour with more facilities would cost more than Rs. 1.5 million, said Neel David.

A parlour-employed professional would earn a monthly salary ranging from Rs. 5,000 to over Rs. 30,000 depending on his or her experience and skills.

Neel David said that the demand of Nepali beauticians in foreign countries such as Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. was rather high. Nepali beauticians in these countries easily earn up to US$ 15 per hour on an average, he said.

Senior beautician Shrestha said young Nepali students tend to go for the beautician training before leaving abroad for higher or further studies. And, the trend is on the rise, according to her.

“The students do some course here and work as part-timers, thus making some money to contribute to their study abroad,” said Shrestha.

There are a number of institutes and academy in the country that train the aspiring beauticians, but one should choose the training institute carefully as many of them are being operated by non-professional people. “There are so many institutions imparting beautician’s training at cheaper price but make sure that the one in which you are enrolling provides quality training,” said Neel David. 

The cost of the course varies depending upon the institute one enrols in for the training. During the training one can either opt for being a beautician, professionalising in its various attributes or just specialising in any one. For example, as a beautician one can offer beauty therapy, hair styling and cutting, facials, manicure, pedicure and eye make-up among various others.

Beauticians said training is crucial to understand the nitty-gritty of the profession. The various short and long term course fees range from Rs. 10,000 to over Rs. 50,000, of course depending up on the course and the academy.

Siam Institute of Hair Design and Beauty Care and Neel David’s Saloon of Hair and Beauty Academy are among the famous institutes in Kathmandu for beauticians’ training.

Siam Institute of Hair Design and Beauty Care is approved by the council of Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) and offers a six-month long special course aimed at making its students trained beauticians as they pass out. “Our certificate is valid in various counties,” said Shrestha who is founder/principal of Siam Institute of Hair Design and Beauty Care.

Similarly, Neel David’s academy offers two types of training. While the shorter course costs Rs. 18,000, the longer one charges Rs. 32,000.

“We have also been offering special – 15 to 25 days – course for students planning to leave the country for further study,” said Manjali Raj Bhandari, course director at the Neel David’s Saloon of Hair and Beauty Academy. She said that this type of course helps students find part-time work abroad to support their study.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in June, 2009

14. Looking good

The future of plastic surgery is very bright in Nepal

A career in the medical field has always been one of the foremost choices in Nepal conventionally. The medical profession offers social prestige and good financial returns at the same time. There are many attractive jobs in this field, and one of them is plastic surgeon, which has become one of the most in demand in Nepal in recent years.

Plastic surgeons said that that the field was known to a very small population, and that awareness about the surgery and the positive changes it brings in life was increasing gradually every year.

“The future of plastic surgery is very bright in Nepal as awareness of the people about the disease and deformity which can be treated is increasing,” said Dr. Raju Raj Pandey, a consultant plastic surgeon and managing director of Nepal Plastic Surgery Hospital.

Plastic surgeons said that there were only five professional plastic surgeons in Nepal. This clearly indicates that there is big need for plastic surgeons in the country.

“Since the field is new for Nepal, there is good career scope,” said Dr. Basanta Mathema, a senior plastic surgeon. “This field is demanding, challenging and creative as well.”

According to professionals, plastic surgery is a specialised medical field concerned with the repair, restoration or improvement of lost, injured, defective or misshapen body parts. The word “plastic” is derived from the Greek “plastikos”, which means able to be moulded or to be shaped. Its use here is not connected with the plastic we know in general.

And the specialised medical professional in the field is called plastic surgeon, they perform a variety of reconstructive and cosmetic procedures. They often perform delicate and precise procedures such as skin grafts, musculoskeletal reconstruction, tissue transfers, and mastectomies, breast augmentation, face-lifts, and sexual reassignment surgeries. Special knowledge and skill in the design and surgery of grafts, flaps, free tissue transfer and re-plantation is necessary to work in the field.

They work with many different patients such as those that have suffered from birth abnormalities, accidents, burns, cancer, and other injuries. Plastic surgeons carefully plan their incisions and make sure they line up with natural skin lines and folds.

Plastic surgeons said that the field could be a rewarding and challenging career. As a plastic surgeon, days will likely be filled with numerous special medical challenges unique to each patient.

According to Dr. Mathema, a senior plastic surgeon, there are mainly two types of plastic surgery — one is cosmetic (aesthetic) plastic surgery and the other is reconstructive (re-plantation) plastic surgery. The first one improves the patient’s features on a purely cosmetic level, in the absence of any actual deformity or trauma. And reconstructive surgery or re-plantation deals with correcting any physical feature which is grossly deformed or abnormal by birth congenital disorder, illness or trauma.

According to the Plastic Surgery Department of Kathmandu Model Hospital, people are becoming more conscious about their age, appearance and look. Burn cases, cleft lips and palates are normal in Nepal, but lately people have also slowly started to become aware of reshaping their organs such as nose, eyes and breasts.

“Mostly, the cases we deal in surgery are reconstructive, the need of cosmetic surgery is being felt in Nepali society slowly because they are poor and their concept of traditional belief needs to be changed,” said Dr. Mathema.

According to plastic surgeons, the field is one of the most lucrative jobs in the West, so it is very hard and expensive for Nepalis to get admission to pursue study.

Dr. Mathema said that if newcomers were interested in this field, they could first complete three years of Master of Surgery in Nepal after MBBS and then can go for specialised plastic surgery courses in India, Bangladesh or China.  

According to plastic surgeons, Teaching Hospital and Kathmandu Model Hospital also provide plastic surgeon’s specialised course “Fellowship of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (FCPS)” under the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan; but the seats were very limited and only a few very competent candidates made it to the course.

Salaries for plastic surgeons are some of the highest in various countries. When asked about monthly earnings in Nepal, plastic surgeons said that their earnings range from Rs. 200,000 to Rs. 1,500,000 depending on the instruction, clients and types of surgeries they carry out.

They said that the plastic surgeon’s career can be a great choice for individuals interested in serving patients and improving their appearance and function through reconstructive and cosmetic procedures. Plastic surgeons must have excellent bedside manner, be quick on their feet, and be able to effectively work independently as well as part of a team. Creativity, detail-orientation, good eye-hand coordination, and excellent communication are all essential qualities of plastic surgeons.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in November, 2009

15. Engineering is in

Opportunities for civil engineers have exploded with the building boom

With the budget allocation for construction of infrastructure increasing and the country facing a shortage of qualified personnel, especially civil engineers, the attraction of a career in civil engineering is growing every year.

Civil engineering, one of the oldest engineering disciplines after military engineering, deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings.

The field is traditionally broken into several sub-disciplines including environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, transportation engineering, municipal or urban engineering, water resources engineering and construction engineering, among others.

According to senior engineers, a civil engineer plays a vital role in constructing various physical infrastructure which directly affects national prosperity and enhances the quality of life. A civil engineer carries out work such as planning, designing and managing the construction and operation of public and private facilities, including highways and transportation systems, hydropower plants, buildings, dams and water and wastewater treatment facilities.

There are a number of types of civil engineers such as construction management engineer, geotechnical engineer, public works engineer, research engineer, structural engineer, transportation engineer and water resources engineer.

Senior civil engineers said that the scope for qualified civil engineers has increased especially after the end of the decade-long People’s War as development and reconstruction works resumed across the country. Even the number of students pursuing civil engineering has been increasing enormously in the last few years.

“From 2007 onward, the number of students applying for BE (Civil) has increased by 100 percent,” said Hari Krishna Shrestha, principal of Nepal Engineering College. The pass-out percentage has been increasing, but every year 30 to 40 percent of them leave for further studies.  

Hari Om Srivastav, a senior civil engineer and president of the Nepal Engineers Association, said that career opportunities in civil engineering were increasing because of three main reasons — governmental development activities have been increasing by more than 20 percent annually, a rise in the number of construction companies and an increase in grant assistance by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for various infrastructure development projects in rural areas.

They said that the country needed more and more civil engineers because the trend of leaving the country for further studies and employment on the part of fresh and experienced engineers has expanded very rapidly in recent years which has created a lack of qualified engineers in the country.

Yaksha Dhoj Karki, president of the Federation of Contractors Associations of Nepal, said that fresh engineers work here two to three years and leave for further studies and work abroad. “If the trend continues, it will be very hard for us to carry out development works in the future,” said Karki

He said that civil engineers were attracted to leaving the country because of good pay, international degree and better career options. “Most civil engineers leave the country for work in the Gulf, the Middle East and Afghanistan” said Srivastav. “In Qatar alone, there are more than 150 Nepali civil engineers.”

According to senior civil engineers, fresh civil engineers in Nepal earn from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000 per month; and experienced professionals earn up to Rs. 115,000 per month. Their income abroad ranges from Rs. 350,000 to Rs. 800,000 monthly.

There are an estimated 20,000 engineers in the country, and more than 60 percent of them are civil engineers. But as per the Nepal Engineering Council’s online data, there are 6,024 registered civil engineers in Nepal.

“Civil engineering will continue to be the best field for choosing a career for up to the next 50 years,” said Binod Gautam, a civil engineer who is currently busy in a road connectivity project in Ramechhap district funded by the Asian Development Bank.

He said that since the people were becoming more educated in the country, they now know the importance of infrastructure development. “Development works are taking place in all village development committees on a high or low scale,” he said.

Srivastav, who is also deputy director general at the Planning and Design Branch of the Department of Road, said that government offices too were suffering from a shortage of civil engineers. “The government has been expanding the budget and development works under many departments every year, but it is not recruiting the needed number of engineers,” he said.

As a civil engineer, one can find jobs in private construction companies, where he or she plans, designs, constructs and operates physical works and facilities used by the public. He or she can also work as a resource person in government and private colleges to teach engineering students or conduct research.

If a civil engineer works for the government, his or her work will revolve around city and/or regional planning, layout and construction of highways, bridges and canals.

Or if civil engineers can invest the required cash, they can set up their own construction company.

There are around half a dozen government and private colleges offering BE (Civil) in the country. The educational background needed for the course is an ISc or +2 with science background. The four-year course costs from Rs. 275,000 to Rs. 500,000.

But if one manages to get a scholarship in a government college, the candidate will be able to attend the course for around Rs. 10,000.

“Our total charge hovers around Rs. 400,000 to Rs. 500,000,” said principal Hari Krishna Shrestha of Nepal Engineering College. He said that students were also provided scholarships on a merit basis. Students who are financially sound and want to pursue their studies abroad can try for various colleges in India, Italy, Japan, Cyprus, Canada, Australia, the U.S.A. and the U.K.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in June, 2009

16. Lawyers are in high demand

The country will be needing 3,000 to 4,000 lawyers immediately after the re-structuring into a federal system because we need to deliver law services at the grassroots level.

In each and every community of the world, law and order is essential to create a fair, just and lawful society. If there were no laws in society, every human being could do just as he or she pleased. However, with the existence of law and order, the people know that the nation enforces rules that makes it possible for people to live together without conflict and in justice.

And it is the lawyers who offer services required on different fronts in different situations of life. If there is any dispute or a matter of legal concern, it is the duty of lawyers to counsel their clients about legal rights. Lawyers provide legal remedies and courses of action in matters of contention.

As the country has entered the new era of a republic, the issue of making a new constitution and re-structuring the nation into a federal system is talked about at every gathering of people who take an interest in the New Nepal building process. And if the country is re-structured into a federal system, empowering local bodies will be the top most agenda for which the nation will need a huge number of legal professionals.

But legal experts said that the present human resources available in the legal profession field would not be sufficient for delivering legal services at the grassroots level after the restructuring of the nation.

In Nepal, there are so far 12,785 advocates who have received licenses from the Nepal Bar Council to practice law in the country. However, legal experts said that only 40 percent of them are directly involved in the core profession.

Prof. Ram Kumar Suwal said that as the country will be needing 3,000 to 4,000 lawyers immediately after the re-structuring because we need to deliver law services at the grassroots level.

“But we have an estimated 5,000 legal professionals who are directly involved in the law field,” said Prof. Suwal. So far, the government with the view of providing law services at the local level, has recruited lawyers in the municipalities only.

“The present workforce will be only 10 percent of the total need after going into the federal system,” said Prof. Dr. Yubraj Sangoula, executive director of Kathmandu School of Law. He said that demand from non-governmental organisations, international non-governmental organisations working in various sectors, the banking sector, hydropower and notary public for lawyers was increasing every year. 

According to him, the scope will expand more after one year as Nepal’s service sector too enters the World Trade Organization. After this WTO agreement in the service sector, Nepali lawyers will be able to work internationally.

The legal profession is also the profession which is traditionally considered as one of the respected and lucrative professions. According to legal experts, the monthly earning of an advocate ranges from Rs. 5,000 to more than Rs. 2.5 million, but it depends on the advocate’s experience, clients, goodwill and expertise.

Hari Prasad Upreti, vice president of the Nepal Bar Association, said that the law field was one of the most potential sectors to make a career in. But he said that the sector didn’t give returns only after receiving a degree and license as the field was totally practice based. “You need to show your capabilities and earn goodwill to make yourself competent and saleable,” said Upreti.

According to legal experts, there is good scope in constitutional law, criminal law, civil law, commercial law, corporate law and foreign diplomatic missions and one can work as a legal advisor to business firms or even set up a law firm and start work independently.

If one is fascinated by the system of justice and is attracted to the legal profession, he or she can pursue a career in law. It is a very exciting and adventurous career for those having vision to do something in the field.

According to legal experts, to be a successful lawyer, just qualification is not sufficient. One should acquire professional competence through experience and practice under the mentorship of efficient lawyers.

“To be a good lawyer, you need to have good communication skills, patience, logical reasoning and a very good memory,” said advocate Ram Prasad Luitel. “You should be cunning, clever and mindful,” said.

He said that the struggle of an advocate starts after receiving a license from the Nepal Bar Council. Advocates said that the initial years known as trial phase would be hard for newcomers, but that is also the period to learn practically and earn the goodwill and build public relations.

“This is the most difficult period for fresh advocates when they need to maintain patience and continue work in field,” said Luitel. He said that most of the law firms don’t even provide a salary during the initial days; and even if they pay, the salary would be below Rs. 10,000.

There are two institutions to pursue professional law courses in Nepal. One is Nepal Law Campus affiliated to Tribhuvan University and another is Kathmandu School of Law affiliated to Purbanchal University. It costs around Rs. 6,000 for the three-year course of the LL.B. and basic educational background needed for the course is bachelor from any disciple. Similarly, the college also offers the two-year of LL.M. course which costs Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 30,000. Students can focus on one of several areas of specialisation such as environmental law, corporate law, constitutional law, criminal law and international law, among others.

Krishna Prasad Basyal, assistant campus chief of Nepal Law Campus said that the college was also going to introduce five years of LL.B. from next session witnessing the high demand of the law education.” Currently, we are preparing syllabus,” he added.

He or she can also visit Kathmandu School of Law. It offers five years of LL.B. and two years of LL.M. The courses cost Rs. 135,000 each. Here, one can pursue an LL.B. after graduating in +2 or proficiency certificate level from any stream. “Our five-year LL.B. produces internationally competent graduates with our syllabus based fully on practicals,” said Sangoula.

He added that student flow in the master’s level was also increasing every year. The educational background required for the LL.M. is a B.L. or an LL.B. from any renowned educational institution.

On completion of the course, one has to pass the exam of the Nepal Bar Council to get a license to work as lawyer. The council is the statutory body that forms a self-regulated code of law for legal professionals practicing in Nepal.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in November, 2009

17. Anyone want to be a vet?

Animal doctors are highly sought after these days

We all know that Nepal depends on agriculture and livestock is an integral part of the agricultural production system. A majority of the population is engaged in agriculture to earn their livelihood. Nearly 80 percent of the total population depends on agriculture. In this situation, it is good news that they are slowly changing their livestock raising pattern to a commercialised form thereby creating more jobs and helping to improve the living standard.

 

As a huge section of the population is involved in farming, it is also clear that the country cannot escape from its deep-rooted poverty without replacing subsistence farming.

Experts in the livestock sector say that the trend of characterising it as a traditional profession is changing, and the new generation has also started to seek careers in this sector. Among the various careers available in the sector, veterinary doctor is becoming one of the most sought after in the country.

“Due to increasing commercialisation in the poultry industry, hatchery industry, dairy industry and fishery and the increasing trend of keeping pets, demand for veterinary doctors has increased across the nation,” said Dr. Adarsha Pradhan, president of the Nepal Veterinary Association.

There are a total of 524 registered veterinarians in Nepal, and around 60 of them have left the country for jobs abroad. “We need at least 4,000 veterinary doctors in the country so that they can go to each village and know the real situation to encourage and help commercialised animal husbandry,” said Pradhan.

According to veterinarians, a majority of the doctors are employed by the government. However, the government has not been able to recruit the required number of vets at 999 Animal Husbandry Service Centres. The trend of leaving the country for further study and work after receiving a license from the concerned authority of the destination countries is also increasing.

“Many are working in the U.S.A., the U.K., Australia and even in the Gulf countries,” said a veterinary doctor at the Directorate of Animal Health.

As livestock population is very small in urban areas, most veterinary doctors are working in kennel clubs and private clinics. And with the rise in the trend of keeping pets, demand for such doctors at pet care centres and clubs is also increasing.

“There is a scarcity of veterinary doctors,” said Suresh Shah, managing director of Mt. Everest Kennel Club, a pioneer kennel club in the Kathmandu Valley. “It is hard to find a good doctor even if you pay good money.”

They said that a veterinary doctor’s monthly income ranges from Rs. 15,000 to more than Rs. 200,000 depending on the expertise, experience and goodwill. If one enters as a civil servant, he or she gets an officer level post with a salary as per the rules of the civil service.

“There are many things to be done at the grassroots level,” said Dr. Sharad Singh Yadav, general secretary of the Veterinary Practitioners Association of Nepal. “But government activities and qualified workforce are not sufficient.”

In Nepal, the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) at Rampur, Chitwan affiliated to Tribhuvan University, which is also known as Rampur Campus, and Himalayan College of Agriculture Science & Technology (HICAST) offer bachelor and master level courses to become a veterinarian.

 

Any ISc or plus 2 graduate can join the bachelor course at Rampur Campus. It is the only government college in the country that provides Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry ( B.V. Sc & A.H.) of five years and Master of Veterinary Science of two years duration. It costs an average of Rs. 5,000 per six month for the bachelor level.

Similarly, the one and only private college affiliated to Purbanchal University, HICAST also offers B.V. Sc & Animal Husbandry. According to the college, it costs Rs. 819,000 for the five-year bachelor degree course. “There is good demand for veterinary personnel, but we have not been able to meet it,” said Subarna Lal Shrestha, principal of HICAST.

Government offices related to agriculture and livestock, veterinary and public health labs, poultry farms, national parks, dairy farms, army stud farms, public health and meat inspectors, non-governmental organisations, international non-governmental organisations, kennel clubs, clinics and feed industries are some of the major areas where veterinarians can find employment.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in November, 2009

18. Catch them young

Opportunities for pre-primary teachers with training in early childhood education is increasing

We all know that education is one of the most important necessities. Quality education must be provided as per the children’s age to develop them as responsible and good members of society who can later on contribute to the family, society and the country as a whole.

Normally, a child starts to learn after the age of two and half and our formal education begins only after the age of six. So, the period between the ages of two and half and six years which is known as formative years is very import in a kid’s life for laying the foundation of intellectual, social, emotional and physical pattern of behaviour.

“Children of early childhood education age cannot concentrate for more than five minutes,” said Reiny de Wit, director and chief executive officer of Early Childhood Education Centre (ECEC), a pioneer institution that provide training to pre-primary teachers based on ‘Play-way Method’. “They must be assisted to learn by mediums such as games and excursion,” she said.

Till a decade back, the trend of building a child’s psychology for formal education was based of traditional rote learning. But now the time has changed, most of the pre-primary schools, kindergartens and day care centres are adapting new techniques to educate children in innovative and world standard methods; and even the parents are becoming aware about the necessity of quality early childhood education for their children.

Sanjay Lama, chairman of Best’s Montessori Children House said that teaching in the practical way of the Montessori Method in pre-primary schools was very important for a child’s step by step development as per age.

“Parents are very much aware about early childhood education and child admission rate is also increasing every year,” he said. He said that even housewives were becoming pre-primary teachers obtaining training to become a model mother in rearing their own children at home.

With the increase in awareness about the importance of pre-primary education among schools and parents, the scope of pre-primary teachers possessing training in early childhood education is increasing. “Now, parents are educated and they know the meaning of the formative years of a child,” said Wit.

She said that demand for trained pre-primary teachers was high as the trend of imparting education to children in world standard way was becoming a basic need in the modern world.

The trend of recruiting qualified pre-primary teachers is increasing due to the changing style in the early childhood education sector. “We have been receiving many demands from schools for teachers,” said Lama who is also director of Best’s Montessori Training Centre.

According to Lama, there are an estimated 2,000 trained and qualified early childhood teachers. But the need of the nation is more than 20,000.

“There are around 18,000 to 20,000 schools in Nepal except government schools,” he said. “Even if we recruit one trained teacher in each private school, we will need 20,000 pre-primary teachers for quality early childhood education.”

According to early childhood education experts, a pre-school teacher is simply a second parent who imparts education in a joyful way being like a mother. He or she has to take care of all the things related to a child each day for step by step learning of the child.

They said that the children of this age group are not mentally developed so they get very much curious about every new thing about him or her. They only learn by doing practically to learn something new.

“The method is completely different from the traditional theory based curriculum,” said Srijana Ranabhat, a Montessori teacher. “If you teach them involving them. They pick up very fast.”

The job of pre-primary school teacher includes taking care of child, developing new materials, imparting education in practical ways being involved in fun filled ways like art, dance, drama and songs which help the children to pick up easily.

“As a teacher, we have to know a child’s psychology, nutrition and health among various others,” said Elsa Jha, a pre-primary teacher and co-ordinator of pre-primary wing of Genuine Secondary School, Bhaktapur.

The scope of pre-primary teacher is increasing abroad as well. “There are Nepalis who are working as pre-primary teachers in Canada and Australia,” said Lama of Best’s Montessori. He said that they were earning an average of Rs. 200,000 monthly.

As for the salary in Nepal, a pre-primary teacher earns an average of Rs. 4,000 per month and after getting two years of experience they can earn more than Rs. 10,000 depending upon schools and expertise.

If anyone is interested in choosing a career in early childhood education sector, there are three institutions — Nepal Montessori Training Centre (NMTC), ECEC and Best’s Montessori Training Centre.

Candidate can choose various types of pre-primary teachers’ courses on the basis of their educational background. The basic education requirement is School Level Certificate (SLC).

ECEC offers a basic course in Early Childhood Development training of 160 hours for SLC graduates. Besides other courses, it also provides a one year accredited Personal Teacher Training in collaboration with Kathmandu University and NLA, a Norwegian University. The requirements are minimum +2 from any discipline and a bachelor’s degree holder can continue for one term at Kathmandu University to earn a Bachelor in Early Childhood Development. “This course costs Rs. 4,000 per month,” said Wit, director/CEO of the ECEC.

Best’ Montessori has been offering three types of courses targeting pre-primary teachers. The basic one is Junior Montessori Training of duration three months for SLC graduates and the course cost Rs. 18,000 in total. It provides Senior Montessori Diploma of four months of duration to the candidate obtaining the training of junior Montessori at Rs. 50,000.

According to Best’s Montessori Training Centre, the candidate after receiving the senior diploma course can easily work as vice principal , house in-charge or wing co-ordinator of any pre-primary schools and training. It also offers a special course of 31 days namely Express Montessori Diploma for Rs. 25,000.

NMTC, a pioneer in Montessori teacher training in Nepal, offers Diploma in Montessori Method of Education for intermediate or +2 graduates from any discipline having good skills in writing and speaking English.

Candidates who wish to study abroad can pursue their education in the U.S.A., Australia, the U.K., Japan and China. “It will cost Rs. 1.1 to Rs. 1.5 million as fee alone depending on the country and course duration,” said Lama.

Experts said that the candidates after obtaining the training can also find jobs in child education related non-governmental organisations and international non-governmental organisations. Or they can even establish pre-primary schools, child care centres and kindergartens.

“I established Montessori Disneyland in Butwal at around Rs. 1.1 million and it is running successfully,” said Srijana Ranabhat. She said that the cost would come down below Rs. 500,000 if you do not add vehicle facility in the school.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in October, 2009

19. Are you fit to be a fitness instructor? Read on.

It is a universal truth that health is wealth. It is impossible to live a truly happy life if you do not have good health. Health is the foundation of a beautiful life which must be maintained with good nutrition, fitness and precise daily exercise.

If you have good health with a smart body, you are always an icon to be talked about among the family, relatives and friends’ circle. But it is also a challenging job to maintain good health in modern days as the days are packed with work and mental stress and even the foods are not as pure as they used to be a few decades back. Claiming they are hygienic and nutritious, most of the fast foods, canned foods and packet foods are slowly replacing our daily fresh food.

But no need to worry, this is where the job of a fitness instructor becomes vital. Fitness professionals physically train people in the right kind of exercise they should do to remain fit and prevent occurrences of health problems related to the heart in particular.

Shova Gurung, head instructor at Jasmine Fitness Club and Spa, said that a changing lifestyle, increasing literacy rate, awareness about health and consciousness about remaining fit and fine in the young generation have started to created a good business and career in the fitness sector.

According to professional instructors, the job of an instructor holds the responsibilities of making plans, developing and executing fitness sessions, teaching necessary exercises from normal lifting to aerobics, weight training, monitoring if the exercise techniques are being carried out correctly and safely and conducting health and safety checks of students or consultants.

Fitness instructor is slowly becoming a rewarding career as people are becoming very conscious about their health because of their busy life, information technology dominated sedentary jobs and a changing lifestyle. It clearly says that there is a good career scope to work as a fitness instructor.

Gurung has been in the field for the last 15 years. “Earlier, when I started the job, people were not aware about staying healthy by doing exercises and eating a balanced diet,” she said. “Now, all are aware and one can make a good career in this sector.”

She said that interested candidate having a passion to achieve can pursue the career.

Those with good height, proper physique, flexibility and ability to communicate in English and Nepali with a knowledge of the human anatomy can enter the field.

Similarly, patience, self-confidence, hardworking habit and good inter-personal communication skills are other plus points to take fitness instructor as a career. Instructors said that people having study background in nutrition, food and physical education can have a plus point as the field is about managing diet and physics.

“Balanced food plays vital role in making one perfect by health and body,” said Sachit Pradhan, an instructor at the Hardic Fitness Centre and winner of the third Mr. Himalaya Bodybuilding Championship held a month back. He is currently busy doing preparation for the World Bodybuilding Championship on Nov. 3, 2009 in Dubai.

People wanting to make a career in this field need to constantly maintain a superior level of physical fitness. “If you want to be saleable you have to be up to date with new techniques and technology too,” said Imtiyaz Uddin, a gym trainer at the Jasmine Fitness Club and Spa.

Besides mastering skills to train well, aspirants must have stamina and will power and maintain a responsible attitude towards health issues, safety, nutrition and diet, said Uddin.

He said that even if people had become conscious about their health, most people did not know that there was good scope for a career in this field with a healthy life.

Trainers also said that they have to be motivating, outgoing, energetic, enthusiastic, tactful and approachable as they would be known as fitness icons. They said increasing  knowledge about the anatomy, variety of exercises, learning new skills through books, websites and enhancing practical experience further support career aspirants in mastering basic skills.

They said that the monthly salary one can earn through this career currently ranges from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 20,000 excluding perks; but it depends on the organisation, qualification, skills, experience and exposure.

One can also work as a part-time trainer in the morning or evening shift in various fitness clubs. If one also works as freelance or personal trainer, he or she can earn more than Rs. 50,000 a month.

“Freelancing has become more lucrative in recent years,” said Gurung. Normally, a freelancer charges between Rs. 300 to 1,000 per session.  

Once the aspirant gets experienced or certified, he or she can work as a personal trainer or fitness trainer in gym clubs, hotel chains, health clubs and recreation centres or as a gym teacher in schools, beauty centres and rehabilitation centres. Or one can even start off one’s own business by opening a fitness club.

Uddin said the trend of setting up a gym or fitness section at offices would start soon in the near future in Nepal as the trend has already started in India.

There are an estimated 200 plus gym and fitness clubs in Nepal, and most of them are being run with only experienced instructors who learned through practical knowledge, not proper training. “Certification is only a tool, the main job comes when you have to do practicals,” said Uddin.

He said that there were very few certified trainers in Nepal. As per him, there are only five-seven certified fitness instructors. He also admitted that the career had not attracted people as there was no formal training school or study destination in Nepal.

Since there is no institution to offer courses in Nepal, interested candidate can pursue training in India, Singapore, the U.S.A., the U.K.,  Canada, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong or Australia for basic training to advance degrees.

“If one goes to Singapore it costs from Rs. 200,000 to 300,000 for an FISAF course except accommodation and food charges,” said Gurung. She is a certified fitness instructor from FISAF Singapore.

As per instructors, if one is really interested and willing to work hard, he or she can also start fitness club learning from instructors, books, web portals and magazines. There is no limit to education. “After you are well trained, you can apply for certification online from various famous fitness organisations known worldwide,” Gurung said. “You have to read the material and give an online exam.”

www.acsm.org, www.acefitness.org and www.fisaf.org.sg are some of the websites which can be useful to get certification for a fitness instructor.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in October, 2009

20. Popular mechanics

With infrastructure development taking off, the sky’s the limit for mechanical engineers

Mechanical engineering is the broadest discipline of engineering that deals with designing and developing everything that is mechanised from a simple toaster in our kitchen to robots and supersonic fighter jets.

The professionals from this discipline — mechanical engineers — are the driving force behind the advancement of technology being used in our daily lives as they are the ones who design components, machines, systems and industrial process. They analyse their designs to ensure that the product functions safely, efficiently and reliably and can be manufactured at a competitive cost for general consumers.

In a way, mechanical engineers are involved in creating a better future for human beings.

Even though Nepal has not been able to fully exploit the benefits of design and product development like other countries, there is a good opportunity to pursue a career in sectors such as renewable energy, automobile, hydropower, infrastructure development and manufacturing, among others.

“When Nepal started establishing industries in the Tarai, the investors used to bring technical personnel along with the machinery from India for installation, operation and maintenance,” said Madhusudan Adhikari, solar energy component manager, Energy Sector Assistance Programme, Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC).

“Now the industrial sector is not the only option, there are lots of other fields for aspirants. For example, there is renewable energy and infrastructure development where many types of heavy equipment are used.”

Micro hydro, biomass and solar technology sectors are some of the sectors where demand for qualified mechanical engineers has increased led by increased support from development partners targeted at the country’s rural areas.

“Investment in industrial sector has gone down,” said Ram Chandra Poudel, a wind energy specialist. “But investment in rural energy has increased significantly by the donors creating good career scope in renewable energy sector.”

Similarly, infrastructure development is gradually increasing across the nation after the decade-long conflict. Many heavy equipment are being imported and deployed in many projects as well as in other construction activities by the private sector. This trend has demanded more mechanical engineers for operation and maintenance of heavy equipment like tippers, dozers, rollers and excavators.

“Earlier, such vehicles used to be maintained by mechanics, but now they are being taken care of by mechanical engineers specialised in their profession,” said Bhuwan Adhikari, a senior divisional engineer, mechanical branch of the Department of Roads.

A mechanical engineer at the department, Mahesh Kumar Isher, added that since construction and renovation never ends in any country, there was a good career scope for working in operation and maintenance of heavy equipment.

He said the Ministry of Irrigation, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Labour and Transport Management, Nepal Electricity Authority, Nepal Oil Corporation and Nepal Telecom are some of the organizations where jobseekers can try if they want to work under the government.  

Generally, mechanical engineering is concerned with all types of machinery in industries and aspects of their mechanism and functioning; the design, development, construction, production, installation, operation and maintenance such as large steam and gas turbines, components of thermal power stations, internal combustion engines, machine tools, air conditioning and heating machines and refrigerators, to name a few.

“Nepal’s industrial sector is in poor condition with low employment opportunities for mechanical engineers,” said Adhikari, who is also a senior mechanical engineer. “Once the situation gets better and the country speeds up real industrialisation, job opportunities will increase so much that even engineers looking for work abroad will want to stay back while those working in foreign countries will want to return.”

Currently, an estimated 72 mechanical engineers are being produced by Tribhuvan University, Institute of Engineering and Kathmandu University School of Engineering annually, and some 20-25 engineers enter the labour market each year after graduating from Indian universities or other institutions.

According to Nepal Engineering Council data, Nepal has produced 1,050 mechanical engineers. And professionals said that only around half of them are employed in Nepal as the rest have left for foreign employment or further studies abroad.

They said that many engineers leave for jobs in the Gulf countries, Afghanistan and India and for further studies in Canada, the US, Australia and Japan where they also even settle after completing their education with good employment opportunities.

“The Gulf countries absorb Nepali engineers to work in sectors such as gas pipelines, air conditioning, refrigeration and mines offering a high salary and India takes engineers in the industrial sector,” said Isher.

As per professional engineers, those working in the Gulf are offered US$ 1,200 to 1,500 monthly. Those working in Afghanistan earn US$ 12,000 to 15,000 per month.

They said that the remuneration and conditions of service in Nepal depend on the job providers and their functions. Engineers who choose to work in the private sector can negotiate their terms and conditions with the management themselves and fix the salary accordingly.

“The pay of mechanical engineers in Nepal ranges from Rs. 10,000 to above Rs. 200,000 which depends on one’s expertise, experience and goodwill,” said Adhikari of the AEPC.

Similarly, those working in the government sector make around Rs. 14,000 per month at the entry level. They can be promoted up to joint secretary based on performance.

“In the first three years, freshers will be earning Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000, and after three years their salaries may double,” said Adhikari.

To become a mechanical engineering, it’s necessary to be extremely good at maths and science. This is because mechanical engineering is all about using maths and science in order to use materials from nature and forces of nature to make things better for humanity. Aspirants should have a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) degree or a postgraduate degree (ME) or at least a diploma in mechanical engineering.

The basic requirement for studying in the bachelor level is ISc, IE or 10+2 or equivalent with physics, chemistry and mathematics. After the bachelor’s, one can go for a post graduate degree too.

“We select the students completely based on the entrance test and also offer scholarships,” said Harish Chandra Manandhar, senior instructor at the Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University.

It costs Rs. 3,080 per semester for students obtaining a scholarship for the four-year bachelor’s course (eight semesters) and Rs. 35,000 per semester for normal students. The Institute of Engineering also offers specialised master’s level of two years in renewable solar energy.

Similarly, if one wishes to study mechanical engineering at Kathmandu University, School of Engineering, the fee is around Rs. 370,000 to Rs. 400,000 for the four-year course.

“If students wish to be in the top managerial post of any mechanical engineering related company or industry, it would be better to also pursue an MBA after completion of the bachelor’s level in mechanical engineering,” said senior divisional engineer Adhikari of the Department of Road.

Besides, mechanical engineers need to have excellent mechanical engineering skills, as well as technical drawing and computer skills for designing machines and equipment. It requires IT, design and analytical skills together with an ability to conceptualise structures.

They must have numeric skills as maths is an important tool, an inquisitive and logical mind to make connections between ideas and handle abstract concepts, creative and innovative ideas to find solutions to problems which may need a new perspective and good practical skills to apply maths and science to real problems, said professional mechanical engineers.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in March 2010

21. Carving niche in hospitality sector

The formal launching of Nepal Tourism Year-2011 (NTY-2011) has not only given a new hope to Nepali tourism industry but also has opened doors for thousands of aspiring people who wishing to pursue their career in hospitality and tourism sector.

The country is aiming to attract one million tourists during the promotional year and promote tourism in international arenas. Every year thousands of tourists from around the world visit Nepal to enjoy country’s culture, tradition and natural bio-diversity among others.

Nepal stands at the sixth position among the world’s top ten tourist destinations. And this clearly indicates that tourism sector while can be the best tool for economic development it can open new vistas for employment opportunities.

“If one tourist visits Nepal, he creates employment opportunity for nine Nepalis,” said Prasiddha Bahadur Pandey, president of Hotel Association Nepal (HAN). “Now, you yourself can estimate how much career opportunities are there in tourism and hospitality sector.”

According to hotel entrepreneurs, more than a half million tourists visited Nepal during the last fiscal year and it is considered that around 4.5 million people in country have benefited for direct or indirect employment in tourism industry, of which around 800,000 people have been employed by hotel industry.

“The employment opportunity in hotel industry will increase significantly in the days to come,” said Pandey. “And similar will happen in other sectors like trekking, travel agency, handicraft sector, agriculture, as hotels use local products rather than imported ones.”

There are some 1,000-plus hotels across the country and the number is expected to increase gradually with the formal launch of NTY 2011 offering a number of job opportunities in various departments of hotel.

“I think there is no other field than hotel sector that create such a huge number of career opportunities,” said Dipesh K.C., Food and Beverage Manager, the Everest Hotel. “There is good future in hotel industry and demand for trained and qualified personnel for the front office, food and beverage and house keeping departments has also increased impressively.”

To pursue career in hotel industry, school level certificate or 10+2 with training on specialised profession is a must. But all the star hotels give first priority to the candidates having a degree of Bachelor of Hotel Management (BHM). It costs from Rs. 300,000 to Rs. 500,000 for BHM course depending upon the college and university and minimum qualification required for it is 10+2.

According to hoteliers, apart from trainings and formal education the aspirants should be fluent in English language, must be adept at operating computer and possess a pleasant personality with good communication skill.

Normally, a hotel consists of departments such as operations, front office, house keeping, food and beverages, accounting, engineering/ maintenance, sales and marketing and security. Each department has a number of positions that one can opt for career.

BHM graduates have lucrative options.

Front Office

This department is the centre of all activities as it deals with guests as they check in. It handles important works like receiving the guests, making room reservations, handling correspondence and preparing bills and keeping accounts of the services.

“The department offers interesting an challenging opportunity as the front office staff have to deal with different types of people everyday,” said Kiran Lama, assistant front office manager of the Hotel de’ l Annapurna. “Aspirants having BHM can start their career as a Front Office Assistant drawing about Rs. 10,000 – Rs.15,000 per month depending upon the hotel.” They can also get promoted to superior levels like Duty Manager and Front Office Manager who earn Rs. 50,000 in average.

House Keeping

Keeping the hotel, the rooms, the bars and the restaurants clean, tidy and presentable is an important aspect in hotels. Those handling this department are housekeeping manager, executive house keeper, floor supervisor, room attendants, linen supervisors, maids etc. They are paid Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 40,000 depending upon post and hotels.

Food and Beverages

This department is the hub of the hotel industry and is responsible for all the food that is prepared and served to the guests. The main functions performed by the department are — presentation, preparation and service of food and beverages involving kitchen, bar, coffee shop, banquet and baker.

“People wishing to enter this department must be highly skilled and aware about health and hygiene,” said K.C. food and beverage manger of Hotel de’l Annapurna. “At least 10+2 with training in food and beverage or BHM is compulsory.”  

The entry level post for the department is food and food and beverage steward. The monthly salary of the post ranges from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000.

Sales & Marketing

The department keeps in touch with travel agents, banks, corporate house, NGOs, INGOs, media houses, tour operators as well as other potential clients in order to sell hotel facilities. Advertising and public relations are also normally handled by this department.

“The department is the best destination for young and enthusiastic,” said Bharat Joshi, sales and marketing manager of Yak and Yeti Hotel. “Main theme of the profession is achieving business, satisfying client and receiving payment.”

Candidates having BHM degree can make entry with the position of either sales executive or marketing executive. The executives bring room business, banquet, parties, fair, event, fashion shows. Their starting average salary ranges from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000. After getting experience they can even try for jobs in superior position in fields like banking and airlines too.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in February 2010

22. Jewellery designing offers a glittering career

From time immemorial to the present day, jewellery has always been recognised as a symbol of beauty, wealth and power. Traditionally, jewellery products have been made by silversmiths and goldsmiths with expertise gained from their ancestors. They have been concentrating more on manufacturing and less on the designing aspect. Jewellery designing as a career has been limited to people with a family background in jewellery, and aspiring artisans could learn the art only by becoming an apprentice to them. The times, however, have changed with an explosion in the fashion and accessories arena.

“Many avenues have opened for those wishing to pursue a career in jewellery and many people involved in the ancestral occupation have also moved to other professions like informational technology or gone abroad to work,” said Pushkar Man Shakya, immediate past president of the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal. “Since the trend of leaving the hereditary trade is increasing, there is more room for newcomers in the field. Moreover, demand for custom and contemporary jewellery has also increased significantly in the local and international markets.”

Shakya added that there was tremendous scope to work as jewellery designers and boost the market of Nepali jewellery around the world. But the country is lagging far behind other countries in the designing aspect of jewellery. India, Thailand, China, Indonesia and Pakistan are some of the major competitors of Nepal in the jewellery international market.

“People around the world know the importance of Nepali handmade jewellery, but we have not been able to tap that market by producing competitive products,” Shakya said. “If one is able to research and develop jewellery as per the needs of the market and fashion, there is unlimited scope in this field.”

According to professional jewellery designers and manufacturers, jewellery designing is a form of creative art. It requires knowledge about precious metals, gems, the whole process of sketching and designing, testing the quality of precious metals and gems, cutting and polishing, carving or embossing them as per the design and making beautiful patterns with skill. Designing, manufacturing and marketing are the major tasks performed by designers.

The expanding gems and jewellery industry in the country and increasing demand for Nepali jewellery products in the international market have transformed this traditional form of art into a commercial field making jewellery designing a career option that offers limitless career opportunities to those who have a creative bent of mind.

“The market is increasing and big manufacturers have also started to recruit designers or buy their innovative designs,” said Juni Ratna Bajracharya, a designer and manufacturer of Nepalese de Collection. “If you have talent, you can simply work at home, work as a freelancer or you can directly deal with international clients and prepared jewellery.”

He added that hopefuls having commitment, a research and development concept and knowledge of world jewellery trends and capacity to modify jewellery as per the changing trend could certainly become good jewellery designers.

Normally, jewellery designers design jewellery, cut stones for the specific need of the product, engrave and polish. They are the professionals who plan the style and pattern of personal ornaments. They need specific knowledge, skill and technique to use specialised hand tools and equipment to design and manufacture new pieces of jewellery.

“It is not like you are skilled and you must work under any manufacturer,” said Bal Krishna Asharpati, managing director of B & B Gold and Silver Craft, who is also a jewellery designer. “You can set up a workshop at your home spending some Rs. 100,000 or start a business by investing Rs. 1 million to Rs. 2 million.”

As for the monthly income, according to professionals, jewellery designers are paid as per their experience and skill. In the initial stage, a fresh jewellery designer can expect a salary of Rs. 8,000-15,000 per month. Professionals with experience earn an average of Rs. 50,000-60,000 per month.

“Sometimes, the monthly earning crosses Rs. 300,000 but it depends on how much you work and how your products do in the market,” said Bajracharya.

According to handicraft entrepreneurs, the jewellery business in the country has tremendous employment potential especially in big manufacturing companies, which export jewellery products to over 50 countries worldwide. Among them, the US, Japan, the UK, Switzerland, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France and Canada are some of the top buyers of Nepal’s jewellery products.

As making jewellery requires a wide variety of skills involving training and creativity of the aspirant, they should obtain training from a recognised school, institute or university. Unfortunately, there is not any formal schooling progamme in the country despite having such an immense potential to boost the jewellery industry.

Even though there is no formal school, if one is interested, one can go to either the Handicraft Design or Development Centre (HANDECEN) located at Pulchok, Lalitpur or the Nepal Traditional Handicraft Training Centre for basic training In jewellery designing. It costs around Rs. 5,000 for the basic training of three months at the HANDECEN and Rs. 9,000 for six months’ basic training at the Nepal Handicraft Training Centre.

“Most designers in Nepal started their career by learning by doing,” said Pushkar Man Shakya. “I think the basic course can be enough to start out and they can sharpen their skills by experience.”

If the aspirant is interested in obtaining an international degree, he or she can pursue training in India or other countries for a formal education in this field.

“As handicraft and jewellery designing is so important to us, we are mulling setting up a polytechnic institute or a formal education programme for producing qualified designers in the country,” added Shakya. “But we can not do anything without the support from the government.”

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in February 2010

23. Every picture tells a story

How to become a photojournalist

It is said that since the life of a photographer is never boring, photography has become one of the world’s much loved hobbies and professions. Be they your friends or relatives, many people are fond of clicking pictures during any occasion.

But if one is really into pursuing a career in photography, only clicking pictures randomly doesn’t add a plus point. Creativity, a sense of art, light, angle, composition and other skills are required to become a good photographer. And those who click better pictures have many doorways to pursue careers in various fields such as the mass media, advertising, fashion, sports, wildlife, nature and others.

Propped up by rapid developments in the media industry and information and communication technology, there is a good career scope to work as a photojournalist. Electronic and technological photographic advancements have begun to allow photojournalists to take pictures in digital format and sell them online. The technological development has also made it easy for photojournalists to manipulate and edit digital images and send them easily through email from any location around the world.

“The scope is vast because of online journalism that takes your photo to every corner of the world through the internet and increasing investment in local media as well,” said Gopal Chitrakar, a senior photojournalist who is also the chief photo correspondent of Reuters Nepal Bureau. “Back in time when we started photojournalism, there was very limited medium to publish our photos and the competition was also low, now the competition is high and market is also big.”

According to professional photojournalists, photojournalism is a form of journalism that conveys the news to a wider mass with through images in publications, broadcasting or online news incorporating timeliness, objectivity and narrative aspects. And the photojournalist is a reporter with a creative and artistic mind behind the camera. He or she captures images visualising the story or event by manipulating lighting procedures, lenses, or subject environments to achieve the desired aspect.

They said that there were estimated 150 to 200 photojournalists in Nepal working for various media houses from the districts to the central level and demand would increase more with the opening of new media houses and increased interest over online journalism across the world.

Generally, news photographers or photojournalists take pictures of people and community events for media coverage. This includes pictures of sports, politics, notable people, entertainment, fashion and so on.

“The most attractive part of being a photojournalist is that you are free to click photos of any photography fields such as sports, fashion, current events and various other as assigned,” said Narendra Shrestha, assistant photo editor of Kantipur Publications. “If you were working as a specialised photographer, you don’t get this opportunity.”

He said that as the field had become competitive too one who is really into pursuing career in photojournalism field should be creative, artistic and able to tell the story with quality photos.

Similarly, according to professionals, good communication skills, up to date knowledge of changing technologies, photo related software, web design, multimedia and ability to translate ideas into images are also important.

“It used to be a dream of Nepali photographers to have their photos published in various international level publications,” said Min Ratna Bajracharya, president of the National Forum of Photo Journalists. “Now, our market has increased and glossy magazines like ECS and VOW in the local media have also showed how far we have reached in quality as well.” 

According to Bajracharya, the scope of a career in photojournalism is boundless due to digital innovation and development in information technology. And if one has a good photo, he or she can also sell the photos online at the international level and earn name and fame at the same time.

In terms of financial returns from this profession, Nepali photojournalists’ monthly earning ranges from Rs. 10,000 to above Rs. 150,000 depending on experience, publication house and clients if one is working as a freelancer. Most of the photojournalists are either freelance self-employed or salaried wage earners in media houses.

“Normally, fresh photojournalists are paid Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000,” said Chitrakar. “And the monthly earning also goes beyond Rs. 150,000 if you are associated with foreign development agencies.”

As in every other field, one has to be capable of taking responsibilities and giving quality result to the organisation where he or she works. So, photojournalists need to have a strong imagination and technical skills in photography because only well qualified individuals having formal training or degree in photography or journalism can make it to any media organisation.

There are many media colleges in the country that teach photojournalism as part of journalism where interested students can specialise. Those who cannot make it to college have the option of attending basic or advanced diploma in photography to pursue a career in photojournalism.

“There are colleges that teach photojournalism as part of the media course in 10+2 and it is also taught in the bachelor level as well,” said Shrestha of Kantipur Publications. “And if you are planning to undergo training, the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists, Nepal Photo Agency apart from other commercial institutes also impart training from time to time.”

According to professional photojournalists, a good photographer takes good photos keeping in mind the picture composition, light, angle, techniques, processes, and function of the equipment; but to be a good photojournalist, a journalism background is also very essential.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in February 2010

24. TV or not TV, that is the question

Tips for becoming a television cameraperson

Like in other parts of the world, television has become of the most popular sources of information and entertainment in Nepal. Especially after the restoration of democracy in 1992 which opened the way for private investment, television has expanded tremendously.

With the rising number of television stations, production houses and advertising agencies besides increasing production of audio-visual content for the web, becoming a TV cameraperson has also become one of the more exciting, promising and lucrative careers in recent years.

“When I started out as a cameraman, there were no organisations to work for,” said Baikuntha Maskey, a senior television journalist who is a Reuters correspondent in Nepal. “But now, there are plenty of places to work, be it in TV stations or production houses.”

Many people believe that knowing how to hold a camera is the only qualification needed to become a cameraman. The truth is that most employers prefer to hire trained individuals who have completed some type of formal training.

From every piece of news to the most informative documentaries, a cameraperson working behind the scenes captures important visuals of whatever happens around the world and brings them to our homes.

A cameraperson, also known as cameraman, camera operator or videographer, is an expert technician and is one of the many personnel who shoots news reports, documentaries, music videos, television commercials or movies. A cameraperson uses skills to manipulate factors like angle, lighting, picture composition and psychographic effect in the career field.

“There is good demand and competition as well,” said Maskey, who has been working in this field for the last 40 years. “So the interested candidate should have at least vocational training in operating a camera or educational background in television journalism.”

Jiba Nath Subedi, chief cameraperson at ABC Television, said that since the profession was a technical one, one should be keen on knowing the technology and being able to put continuous effort in what one does.

“The career scope has expanded massively, but everything depends on your passion and work result,” said Subedi, who leads a team of 22 camerapersons in the station.

According to professional camerapersons, becoming a good cameraperson involves knowing the lingo and practicing with video equipment until one gets familiar with all the parts and features that a camera provides. Besides, good public relations and exposure are also very important aspects.

“Public relations and contacts are very essential if you want to become a successful cameraperson,” said Bidur Pandey, a senior cameraperson at Kantipur Television. “In the early stage, you can start shooting wedding ceremonies and birthdays after taking basic training in camera operation.”

Pandey, who started off shooting wedding ceremonies about 15 years back, said that there were many small production houses that cover various occasions happening in society, and by working for them one could earn a handsome income and build good experience at the same time. 

“As your skills increase, your public relations also increase,” said Pandey. “And then you will begin to establish a reputation.”

Preparation for a career as a cameraperson may also involve visual communication or public relations coursework, video editing and photography too if one wants to be a good cameraperson in the competitive television journalism field. And demand for camerapersons is expected to increase as the trend of online broadcasting is also rising with advances in information technology and the internet maturing as an advertising medium.

Camerapersons are independently employed or find work in television stations, production houses and advertisement agencies. The monthly income of a full-time cameraperson ranges from Rs. 6,000 to more than Rs. 50,000.

“Except the monthly salary, if one is well experienced, one can earn additional income by working as a freelancer,” said Subedi. “Or one can set up one’s own production house.”

It costs Rs. 300,000 to Rs. 500,000 for the camera, editing set and other equipment to set up a simple production house, said professional camerapersons.

“Once you set up a production house, you can start shooting weddings, music videos, documentaries and even television serials after building good contacts,” said Pandey.

Though there is no particular qualification required for this profession, at least a 10+2 graduate having journalism background will be very much helpful for aspiring camerapersons. “The technology is changing frequently, so the potential candidates should also be capable of keeping themselves updated,” said Pandey.   

Professionals said that even though there are no specific quality institutes that provide professional training, there are a few schools that provide basic know-how about this profession.

FIVE TIPS FOR BECOMING A CAMERAPERSON

1. Start your education by learning the fundamentals of the craft. A good film/video school can put you ahead of the competition. Video and computer graphics courses at an institute can be helpful. If you go to college, major in film and television production.

2. Look for hands-on opportunities to get some experience. Make videos for family and friends of special occasions. Weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and graduations are excellent chances to practice your skills.

3. Use your natural abilities and do what you enjoy with the camera. If you’ve always enjoyed taking still pictures, learn all you can about photography and the best camera brands. If you enjoy taking home videos, leverage that interest and increase the skills.

4. Keep track of every bit of experience that you get while you are on the road to becoming a cameraperson. The more work you have to put on your resume, the better. Every video that you make for free and every part-time paid work experience looks good on a resume.

5. Look for part-time jobs that have anything to do with cameras, lighting or

editing. Local TV stations can be a possibility for work as an intern. Even assisting as a cameraperson’s assistant can put you in contact with people who can help you.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in February 2010

25. Back to the drawing board

Architects are in demand as home builders rediscover the importance of good design

Binod Thapa Magar, who is from Sindhuli, got his house in Kathmandu designed by an architect keeping in mind that a house drawn by a professional would guarantee safety and produce the desired output. He is building a house at Bhainsepati, Patan and shifting there soon.

Magar is among the people who have rediscovered the importance of architecture while building a house. Be it a simple house like the one he is building or a huge commercial complex like the United World Trade Centre at Tripureshwor, many people have now realised the art and science of architecture while constructing a building whether for living or business. Increased awareness, a rapidly changing lifestyle, enhanced income and development in the realty sector has enhanced demand for professionally trained architects in the construction industry.

“There was a time about 10 years back when architects neither had work nor any recognition in Nepali society,” said Poshan Thapa, a senior architect and director at Designers’ Pavilion. “People then did not know what an architect did, but now there isn’t a single architect who doesn’t have work as people have started to hire architects for designing and building their houses as per their financial capacity.”

“The career scope in architecture is increasing significantly because of growing awareness about the importance of architecture,” said Bishnu Panthi, vice president of the Society of Nepalese Architects. “Moreover, the profession also awards name and fame apart from money to the designers as their creations last for a long time.”

Panthi is the mastermind behind the United World Trade Centre which is considered to be the biggest commercial complex in the country. Now he is busy working on the Trade Tower of Nepal project which is being constructed at Thapathali, Kathmandu with an investment of around Rs. 550 million.

All this has led to the creation of avenues for those interested in making a career in architecture. Architects are professionals who are involved during all the phases of a building’s construction. They are responsible for planning, designing and supervising the construction of houses, office buildings, hospitals, flyovers or skyscrapers.

According to professional architects, to be a successful architect one needs special qualifications like designing talent, business aptitude, social awareness and legal knowledge. They must have excellent communication and drawing skills, keen observation, vivid imagination, creativity, ideas, knowledge of photography and the ability to visualise. Similarly, other qualities include leadership, managerial qualities, resourcefulness and ability to work as a team. Computer literacy is also required for writing specifications, two- and three-dimensional drafting and financial management. Knowledge of architecture-related software like AutoCAD and 3D Studio Max is also very essential.

Min Man Shrestha, general secretary of the Nepal Land and Housing Developers Association, said that only five years ago many architects used to be unemployed. “But now demand has increased in such a way that you can’t get time for work with a good architect for the next six months,” he added. The emergence of apartments, independent housing, super markets and commercial complexes in recent years had soaked up a huge number of architects in the sector, he said.

A qualified architect can work for government agencies like the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, municipalities and city development authorities. They are also employed in consultancy and private architectural firms, teaching institutions and real estate development firms.

“Mostly, freelancing is one of the attractive parts of the profession as it provides you higher returns than when working as an employee in a company,” said Rajjan Man Chitrakar, assistant professor at Nepal Engineering College and an architect.

According to professionals, the monthly income of an architect ranges from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 50,000 if working as a freelancer. Incomes can go up to Rs. 25,000 maximum if working as an employee in a consultancy firm. However, established architects can make between Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 150,000 monthly.

“Fresh architects can expect to earn a minimum of Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 12,000 per month at consultancy firms,” said Director Thapa of Designers’ Pavilion. “Experienced architects make a minimum of Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 50,000 with no upper limit.”

Sometimes, clients only ask for the design. In such cases, senior architects charge 1-2 percent of the total budget as their fee. For planning and supervising also, they charge up to 6 percent if they have a good name in the market.  

There are cases where an architect has earned Rs. 800,000 for designing a single bungalow. But it depends on experience and expertise. As there is stiff competition, a fresher may do such a design for around Rs. 8,000, said an architect.

“The government has set 3 percent of the total budget as fee for construction management, but it is very little,” said Panthi. Normally, earnings depend on the volume of work, the project or consultants and the experience of the architect.

With some years of experience in the field, architects can set up their own business firm and start offering consultancy service. It costs a minimum of Rs. 200,000 to set up a simple firm.

According to Assistant Professor Chitrakar, the intake in colleges for Bachelor in Architecture (B. Arch) has increased in recent years with the career scope in the country widening. Out of the five colleges in Nepal, four had a full intake this year with the admission of 48 students in each batch. “We have an annual production of 150 architects, and now it will increase to at least 240 a year within a couple of years,” said Chitrakar.

According to architects, there are an estimated 600 architects in the country and half of them have already left the country for further studies and employment. “They complete the bachelor’s level here and go abroad to continue their studies or even work,” said Chitrakar.

There are two options for pursuing studies in architecture. One is doing B. Arch after completing the 10+2 (science) or I Sc. This course is taught for five years with 10 semesters and students have to work as an intern for one whole semester. It costs Rs. 200,000 to Rs. 400,000. Similarly, another way to enter the field is to do a three-year Diploma in Architecture, which is offered by Thapathali Engineering Campus. The course is designed for intermediate level architecture students who can move on to B. Arch. This course requires at least a School Leaving Certificate.    

Colleges that offer B. Arch in Nepal are Nepal Engineering College (Changu Narayan), Institute of Engineering (Pulchok), Kathmandu Engineering College, (Kamal Pokhari), Khwopa Engineering College (Bhaktapur) and Acme Engineering College (Sitapaila). The Nepal Engineering Council issues licenses to architects after they complete B. Arch.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in February 2010

26. If you can sell, you’re hired

Marketing has always been a very crucial aspect of business as it contributes to the success of any company by enhancing sales and promoting the product or service offered to its customers. Marketing executives are at the business frontline who keep the companies in business by winning the hearts of the customers.

With the expansion of business in the country, rise in consumer spending, rise in the import of various products and increased brand awareness, the career of a marketing executive has become one of the attractive job options for individuals who like entering the marketing field of the business world.

In the modern competitive market, new services and products are being launched everyday. These products need marketing to reach the targeted customers through marketing executives whose main goal is to make the product or service widely known and recognised in the market.

“Earlier, the market was small and competition was also low; but now the supply side has significantly increased creating a good scope for newcomers in the marketing field,” said Rabindra Man Shrestha, managing director of Continental Trading Enterprises. He started his career as a sales person at Surya Nepal 24 years ago. “As consumption is always increasing, there is demand for marketing executives who play a vital role in business to take any product to the consumer level.”

Business professionals say that the scope is high mainly because of the increasing number of brands and awareness among the people about using branded products. “There is stiff competition, and each company is coming up with new brands for which they need qualified and skilful marketing executives to establish their brand,” said Nikhil Bansal, director (marketing) of Hi-Tech Engineering.

In recent years, banks and other financial institutions, real estate companies, automobile manufacturing companies, colleges and schools are in the top position to demand more marketing executives.

“We have not been able to find good marketing executives as banks, financial institutions and multinational companies have already soaked up qualified and skilful executives,” said Sachin Aryal, deputy general manager of KIA Marketing and Service, KIA Unit. “Our business sector needs many energetic and young marketing executives because most of our fresh graduates are only graduates with certificates and not with knowledge and skill.”

“There is a huge flow of various types of products in the market,” said Dilli Ram Bhandari, marketing executive of ESTS. “And they cannot go to the consumers without proper marketing.” Bhandari has been working for the marketing and promotion of invertors and UPS.

According to business professionals, marketing executives or marketing officers are the representatives who work for promotion, advertisement, design, public relation and sales enhancement of any product or service of any company. It is the process of introducing and promoting the product or service in the market and encourages sales from the buying public. They manage close relationships with the clients to ensure that they have a full understanding of the brand and its future direction.

“The job responsibilities of marketing executives may vary depending on the size of the company and whether the focus is on selling a product or service,” said Shrestha.

According to business professionals, the job of a marketing executive also includes the responsibility of developing marketing campaigns that promote a product, service or idea. The role also includes planning, organising events, making presentations, product development, distribution, sponsorship and research as well depending on the company and its work.

“The work is often challenging,” said Shrestha. “It is easy to produce a product, but marketing it is very challenging and exciting as well if you have good knowledge of sales and marketing.”

He said that besides a formal qualification, a good marketing executive should possess the qualities of good communication skills, risk taking, innovation, dedication and should be able to perform well in team work.

“Knowledge of finance and the production process is a plus point as it helps to describe how the product is produced and why the product deserves the tagged price,” said Shrestha.

Business professionals say that at least a graduate in commerce is essential to pursue a career in marketing. “Bachelor of Business Studies, Bachelor of Business Administration or Master’s in Business Administration help marketing executive aspirants much as established companies and multinational companies hire them under this qualification.”

However, Bhandari said that if one has good communication skills, customer dealing practice, good confidence and patient, any graduate from any stream can work as a marketing executive.

Moreover, the career of marketing executive is not limited. If he or she performs well, he or she can be promoted to various superior posts in the marketing field like product manager, brand manager, marketing manager and even top level positions like managing director.

The income from the profession is also good as one can bag a minimum of Rs. 10,000 excepting incentive and bonus. “Fresh marketing executives can get a salary in the range of Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 25,000 depending on the company,” said Shrestha. “While the monthly income of a top level marketing professional goes up to Rs. 300,000.”

He added that the main attraction of the income was incentive. “I have seen cases where top level marketing personnel have earned Rs. 10 million including incentives, bonuses and other perks in a month,” said Shrestha.     

Due to the wide range of organisations that employ marketing teams, the industry is a very diverse one affected by the open economy and information technology invasion and the potential for progress is relatively good for those who can demonstrate creative ideas and a determination to succeed in a fast-paced working environment in a competitive market.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in January 2010

27. Want to be a medical rep?

Medicines cure diseases, and thanks to advances in medical research and knowledge about human illnesses, an ever growing number of medicinal drugs are appearing on the market. The drugs are manufactured and marketed by pharmaceutical companies under different brand names. And it’s the job of a medical representative (MR) to bring these drugs in the market by spreading knowledge about them to doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, pharmacies and even consumers.

In recent years, the Nepali pharmaceutical industry has become one of the fast growing sectors manufacturing new brands of drugs and creating numerous career opportunities for aspiring candidates in the field. Of the various career options in the industry, the profession of an MR has become a promising one. Professional MRs say that both demand and charm have been rising in recent years with the increase in the pharmaceutical industry.

“Investment in the pharma sector has been increasing every year which has created many employment opportunities for newcomers,” said Mahesh Gorkhali, vice president of the Association of Pharmaceutical Producers of Nepal. He said that apart from domestic industries there was also a huge presence of various manufacturing companies from India and Bangladesh, other multinationals and franchisees in Nepal.

There is an estimated investment of Rs. 6 billion in the pharma sector in Nepal, and every year new companies are entering the market where there are already around 8,000 types of products related to various national and international brands. There is a presence of around 300 pharma companies in Nepal including multinational companies, Indian companies, Bangladeshi producers, franchise companies and domestic drug producers. Of the total, 44 are domestic pharma industries.

Among the domestic companies, 18 have been awarded with the World Health Organisation-Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification. And the rest have been recognized with the National GMP certification.

“As the market has also become competitive with the availability of various brands, there is always good demand for qualified MRs,” said Gorkhali. But he said that aspiring candidates must be a graduate of science, pharmacy or microbiology as good companies don’t compromise with their ethics.

MRs who are considered as face value or ambassador of the manufacturing companies are employed by Nepali pharmaceutical companies or by other international companies marketing their products in Nepal as their sales, promotion or marketing agents. A MR’s primary duty is to keep medical practitioners or doctors informed about the new drugs developed by his or her company and to convince the doctors about the effectiveness of the products making him or her prescribe the very drug to patients.

“The ultimate goal of an MR is to persuade doctors to prescribe his or her company’s products,” said Umesh Rauniyar, product manager of Nepal Pharmaceuticals Laboratory, who started his career as an MR. He said that MRs played an instrumental role in the marketing of drugs, boosting sales and expanding the reach in the market.

According to MRs, a medical representative can make a very promising career in pharmaceutical marketing on the basis of his or her sales performance and ability to manage customers. Normally, sales performance is assessed on the basis of an MR’s ability to achieve targets fixed by the industry. If he or she is able to perform well, there is also a chance of being promoted to a superior position such as field manager, area manager, product manager and marketing manager.

They said that any MR having a flair for marketing and who can show extraordinary results can rise to the highest position of general manager of the industry.

The typical work activities of an MR include contacting potential customers, identifying their needs, persuading doctors and other clients to buy products or services assuring them that the products can best satisfy the needs, handling of retail and stocks, competitive analysis, market research, payment collection after sales and providing after sales service among various other duties.

According to MRs, the responsibilities and income of MRs may vary depending on the company’s norm and status. On an average, a fresh MR can earn in the range of Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000 and senior experienced ones earn over Rs. 80,000 excluding various allowances, incentives and bonuses.

“There are MRs who receive incentives of Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 30,000 per month besides their salary,” said Rauniyar. Normally, incentives are awarded by the companies after meeting the sales target of their products.

There is also the possibility of owning the distributorship of any brand of products after gaining experience, widening the network and attaining goodwill in the pharma sector. “If you have good knowledge in marketing you can work as a distributor by making your own investment,” said Ajay Gautam, regional marketing manager, Medivet Pharmaceuticals, one of the leading veterinary product manufacturers.

 

To become a qualified MR, one should be well trained in specialised subjects after selection by the recruiting company. After the selection, MRs are given special skill development training in which they gain theoretical knowledge on anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, salesmanship and product knowledge followed by field training in which MRs will be familiarised with selling techniques. Following the training, an MR has to work for a probation period of about nine months.

Pharma companies recruit candidates as MR having at least a Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Pharmacy or graduate in microbiology degree. “Some companies also recruit candidates having qualification below bachelor level,” said an MR. “But reputed companies hire only as per the guidelines set by the World Health Organisation.” As per the guideline, an MR should be at least a graduate in science or pharmacy.

As per the Nepal Medical and Sales Representative Association, there are around 6,000 MRs in Nepal. Of which 60 percent are graduates from a science background, 30 percent from Master in science and 10 percent from other streams. And of the total, 35-40 percent are females.

Apart from qualification and training, an aspiring candidate should be passionate about sales, self-motivated, excellent in communication and interpersonal skills and fond of visiting new places and meeting new people.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in January 2010

28. Are you cut out to be a video editor?

The media and entertainment industry is booming every year with the opening of new television stations, media houses, advertisement agencies, film production studios, multimedia companies and web design companies. Alongside, the industry has also generated new employment opportunities. And one of the attractive careers that the industry offers in the digital dominated media industry is video editing.

Digital video editing has been replacing traditional video editing at a rapid rate because the new digital technology saves time and money. As the technology develops, so does the demand for qualified individuals in the related field. The increased use of this technology in Nepal has also created plenty of opportunities for a career in digital video editing.

“Both demand and attraction of digital video editing has increased significantly in recent years mainly because of the increasing number of television stations and flexibility of working hours,” said Bijen Ranjit, a senior video editor of Kantipur Television. “This profession allows you to work full time or part time too.”

Professional video editors said that digital video editing, which is also known as non-linear video editing, can be an interesting option for a career for those who are creative and like to work even during odd hours in the same chair. They said that a good video editor carefully watches the video to make sure that the images, sound, special effects, credit tiles, subtitles, background music and all other aspects of the work fit together logically and accurately.

Normally, the editing is a process of modifying or re-arranging segments of video from one or more video tapes to create the final piece of video, which can be a news report, movie, documentary video, music video or commercial.

“Self-motivation, strong commitment, dedication to work and creativity are the main factors necessary to be a successful video editor,” said Ranjit.

A freelance video editor said that a keen eye for detail, a critical mind, imagination, technical skills and the ability to listen to others as part of a team are essential. A candidate should also have a general knowledge of cameras and digital camera technology besides being able to update as advanced technologies emerge.

Digital video editing involves the use of computer technology for onscreen editing. In this editing process, audio and video data are captured to the hard drive and then edited on computer using software such as Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Ulead, Movie Maker, Pinnacle and others.

“The complete process of making art aesthetic in visual media is associated with the technique of editing and it lies in the hands of video editors who are also considered as the second person after the director or producer,” said Sudeep Shrestha, video editor of Music Nepal.

Generally, the major responsibility of a digital video editor includes editing of visuals, soundtracks, video and film to broadcast in visual media industries.

According to senior editors, demand for video editors will increase more in the near future as the attraction toward using online movie clips and streaming videos on websites is on an upward trend.

“As the field is lucrative, candidates wanting to enter the filed should be ready to face stiff competition and possess good skills related to the field,” said Shrestha.

Professionals say that if a video editor has good skills, he or she can also work on a freelance basis or for short-term contracts for television stations, post-production studios and advertisement agencies.

According to Ranjit, a fresh video editor in the media industry can earn up to Rs. 10,000 per month depending on the company and his or work skills. Experienced professional video editors in Nepal earn in the range of Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 150,000 monthly.

“Even after working full time in any company, you can work as a part-timer and charge on an hourly basis,” said a freelance video editor. “We charge Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,000 per hour, but it depends on our project and clients.”

Besides working for others, if you possess the skill and can invest around Rs. 800,000, you can set up your own editing studio and start working. “For this you need to build good public relations and be able to sell your product or receive work demand by building good relations in the media industry,” said the freelancer.

As the field needs no specific qualification, video editing is open for all having good knowledge of audio video medium of expression and creativity to present various clips in a single sequence in a meaningful way. But if one wishes to work in media companies, at least +2 or equivalent degree will be compulsory.

To pursue a career in digital video editing, one must have at least basic training in computer systems and programmes used in digital video editing. The course in video editing will help interested candidates to understand and learn the overall concept of visual editing and its importance in media or entertainment technology.

Basic or advanced training can be obtained from any of the training centres available in the country and the training charge ranges from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 25,000 depending on the course and training centre. But one has to be sure whether the centre has all the equipment needed such as software, capture card and cameras, among others.

Apart from this, many colleges in also teach digital video editing as a course module in Bachelor of Mass Communication and Journalism and in other diploma course related to media study. 

According to professionals, normally, theoretical instruction, practical exercises and post-production work of television programmes are taught to impart knowledge and skills of video editing. Similarly, other software and applications such as Photoshop, After Effect, Sound Forge and Flash should also be included in the course as the use of graphic and animation is also increasing in video editing.

“The use of graphics is increasing in advertisement and music video,” said Ranjit. “It will be major plus point if you have knowledge of graphics.”

Digital video editors use various software from very basic applications such as Windows Movie Maker to professional packages such as Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, ULead MediaStudio, Avid’s Media Composer, Xpress Proetc. Most of the good editing software is expensive and often requires a high-priced computer to run effectively.

Editing software controls the capturing or recording in hard disk of the footage, provides a way to edit the footage, and allows the finished product to be output to a recording device.

After the training or experience, one can use job seeking methods such as sending skills-based CVs to television stations, media houses, advertisement agencies and post-production houses. Interested candidate must also make and maintain a good working relationship with the people in media and entertainment industry.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in January 2010

29. The importance of being an insurance agent

Insurance agents, who are also known as insurance sales agents, have become hot cakes in the recent years with the ever increasing number of insurance companies and public awareness about the importance of insurance.

While being an insurance agent may not be one of the most glamorous jobs around within the insurance industry, it is certainly a profile much- needed in the insurance sector in its developing phase.

According to professional insurance agents, good insurance agents are as much in demand as doctors and engineers. People need education, medical treatment, and, at some point, they also need some kind of insurance as it protects against risk

Insurance agents are authorised representatives of an insurance company, both life or non-life or general. The agents help individuals and businesses choose insurance policies based on their needs, wants and income.

Captive agents work exclusively for an insurance company, and only sell that company’s products. Independent insurance agents represent several companies and sell the policies as per the scheme offered. Types of insurance include fire, vehicles and casualty, life, health, disability, long term care, marine insurance, contractors all risk insurance, insurance related to real estate, hydro and many other kinds.

“The size of the insurance market and awareness among the people is increasing, indicating that the sector can be a lucrative field to work as an insurance agent,” said Fatta Bahadur K.C., chairman of the Insurance Board.

According to him, if anybody wants to be an agent he or she must need to understand the details of a number of different types of policies and help advise clients on them. A good insurance agent should always know the ethical values and should be able to clearly explain the information related to the policies and should also tell pros and cons of the policy being sold.

“The insurance awareness is in its developing phase, so it’s the job of the agents to make the general public aware and help increase the business grow,” said K.C, who heads the country’s insurance regulatory authority.

Professional agents said that candidates wanting to choose full or part-time job to work as an insurance agent should hold good skill of convincing power. According to them,  analytical capacity would add some  plus points as the sector has become competitive.

According to Kapil Dev Oli, president of Insurance Agents’ Association Union, there are an estimated 55,000 agents working in the field. Of them 70 percent is working for life insurance and the remaining in non-life insurance sector.

“About 10 to 15 percent of the total is full-time insurance agents and a larger number of agents engage in the business sidelines,” said Oli.

Agents said that in order to do well in the field, it was important to have sales skills, good knowledge of the products and excellent interpersonal skills. “Your income depends on your skills, number of clients and premium volume,” said Keshav Raj Sharma, senior business manager of Asian Life Insurance Company. He is also one of the senior life insurance agents in the company.

They said that the job could be a bit hard in the initial phase as the agents need to win hearts of the clients. “One needs to put honest and continuous effort to be a successful agent and the income will also depend on the performance and clients,” said Puja Maharjan, a life insurance agent of the Asian Life Insurance Company.

Chairman K.C. said that there were over 100 successful agents in Nepal whose earnings range from Rs. 250,000 to 500,000 per months depending upon their clients and the premium.

“Professional agents earn an average of Rs. 50,000 per months,” said Oli.  

Insurance Companies hire insurance agents who are at least graduates of School Leaving Certificate and have obtained training on insurance agency. Besides this, ability to work hard, dedication, good skill in building new public relationship and knowledge of multiple languages add extra  points to one’s career prospects. Similarly, a strong knowledge of relevant technical and legal terms will have the best chance of getting hired in any insurance company.

According to the Insurance Board, it costs Rs. 1,000 for one week training for life and non-life insurance and the minimum education required to obtain the course is School Leaving Certificate. Similarly, other insurance companies do also provide courses as per the need of insurance agents in various parts of the country but the candidates who receive training from such companies will not be able to work in other insurance companies beside the training organisers.

Oli advised the interested candidates to undergo training offered by authorised company or the Insurance Board as the trend of offering training from other institutions or people were also on rise polluting the insurance market.

After the completion of the training the aspiring candidates have to obtain the license from the Insurance Board and can start hunting jobs in 25 insurance companies in the country. “There are 13 more insurance companies in the pipeline,” said K.C.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in January 2010

30. Microbiologists uplift quality of everyday life

Bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae and protozoa are organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye, but they immensely affect the quality of human life. Microbiologists study these microbes to manipulate them to make our lives better and diagnose and control their negative effect on humans, animals, plants, food and water. Microbiology has always remained one of the interesting parts of science and technology around the world for individuals interested in research on microbes and pursuing a career.

Bhanu Pokhrel, a student of MSc in Microbiology at National College, is a microbiology enthusiast. He said that he went for microbiology as it had emerged as a multi-dimensional field for his future career.

"Once we have finished our studies, we will be eligible to work as a microbiologist in hospitals, industry, public health and agriculture among various other fields," said Pokhrel. "Moreover, the field is interesting as it deals with research on various micro-organisms and theirs impact on life and earth."

According to microbiologists, microbiology is a broad field that includes the study of microscopic organisms as well as viruses that are found in plants, animals, fungi and bacteria. Some microbiologists specialise in one type of micro-organism. For example, bacteriologists concentrate on bacteria and virologists study viruses. However, in the Nepali context, the trend of specialization is yet to fully develop.

Microbes are also essential for production of many foods in industry and medicines to cure diseases. They have always affected our health, food and environment, and will always play an important role in climate change, renewable energy resources, healthier lifestyles and controlling diseases.

"Microbiologists are biological scientists who study organisms, isolate and make cultures of micro-organisms, identify their characteristics, and observe their reactions to chemicals and other kinds of stimuli for the welfare of human beings," said Nawaraj Pokhrel, a microbiologist who has been a microbiology teacher for the last 10 years. "This is a new field for science graduates. From teaching to hospitals, from public health to industry, there will be greater demand for microbiologists in the coming days."

The monthly salary of a microbiologist ranges from Rs. 15,000 to more than Rs. 50,000. Medical, food, industrial, agriculture, veterinary and public health microbiologists are some of the famous areas of microbiology in Nepal.

"About 70 percent of the microbiologists produced by Nepali academic institutions have left the county for further studies," said Pradip Kumar Shah, president of the Nepalese Society for Microbiology. "This also shows the charm of the field."

He added that demand from the industrial sector would increase rapidly once the nation speeded up the process of industrialization. "Food, water, pharmaceuticals and any industry related with FMCG will need a huge number of microbiologists," he added.

Many microbiologists work for universities where they teach and do research. Others work at hospitals, nursing homes, labs, private industry, public heath sector, NGOs, INGOs and the agriculture sector. Although their jobs have different aspects and responsibilities depending on the specialisation, most microbiologists do some research or laboratory work. Microbiologists use special scientific equipment to study micro-organisms including light microscopes, electron microscopes, centrifuges, glass tubes, slides and computers.

The responsibility of microbiologists includes basic research to increase knowledge about the life processes common to microbes helping to answer basic questions such as those pertaining to the use of food and oxygen in cells.

In the specialised field of microbiology, medical microbiologists study the role played by micro-organisms in causing diseases in humans and animals. Medical microbiologists research and investigate organisms inflicting illnesses and find ways to cure and prevent their occurrence.

Nepal is still an agriculture-driven economy, and microbiologists can play an important role in improving farm production, output and quality of crops. Agricultural microbiologists study plant diseases, the role of micro-organisms in soil fertility and spoilage of farm products and fertilizer.

Similarly, food and industrial microbiologists work with industries producing products such as alcoholic beverages, amino acids, citric acids, Vitamin C and antibiotics with the help of micro-organisms. They also work for industries that produce fast moving consumers goods. Microbiologists work in a range of companies from big pharmaceutical, biochemical, biotechnology and food businesses to smaller firms that develop biopharmaceuticals or specialist products in the international context.

Microbiologists are also employed by governmental agencies, NGOs and INGOs working for public welfare especially relating to the health sector. They work to combat problems such as epidemics, food poisoning and air and water pollution.

"This is the vast field for research," said Prof. Dr. Bharat Mani Pokhrel, who is the first PhD in microbiology in Nepal. "And demand for expert microbiologists is always high. You just need to show what you have."

Microbiologists can also find jobs in many places like research and development laboratories in government and private hospitals, research organisations and pharmaceutical, food, beverage and chemical industries.

One generally needs an MSc in Microbiology to become a microbiologist in Nepal. Interested students have to major in microbiology at the BSc level. Candidates having a bachelor's degree can find jobs in microbiology as technicians to microbiologists.

It costs around Rs. 50,000 to obtain an MSc in microbiology from a government college. In private colleges, the fees for the course are around Rs. 150,000. The course generally takes three years to complete even though the approved course module is of two years.

The Central Department of Microbiology, Tribhuvan University, St. Xavier's College, National College, Kathmandu College of Science and Technology, Kantipur College of Medical Science and Golden Gate International College offer MSc in microbiology. Similarly, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital has started the medical microbiology course. Tri-Chandra College is planning to offer MSc in microbiology from this year amid growing interest of students in the field.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in July 2010

31. Stars of the small screen

Video jockeying or television presentation has become an exciting career option with the Nepali music industry going commercial and music videos becoming an essential part of television channels to reach a huge mass of music crazy young people.

In the early 1980's, Nepal had no television channels for information and entertainment.  There were only few foreign channels like Doordharshan from India and programmes like Chitrahar used to be the main source of entertainment. Only few people considered as rich in society owned television sets. But now times have changed drastically, as there are an estimated 2 million households owning televisions with entertainment programmes on high demand.

Bhusan Dahal, chief executive producer of Kantipur Television said that though video jockeying was only a small part of television presentation, it could be the best option to pursue a career. "The investment in television channel is increasing and so is the viewership," said Dahal. "But if you are really into video jockeying, you should be competent enough to show your skills in the best way as Nepali channels are now being viewed internationally too."

Generally, a video jockey, who is also known as a VJ, entertains television viewers though witty anchoring and presentation. The assigned programme may be a musical phone-in programme, a talk show, on the road show or even a reality show where VJ's interact with the general public, celebrities or artists and other social figures depending up on the theme of the particular show.

"The growing popularity of dohori songs in recent years and production of various music videos have clearly shown that there is good scope to work as VJ in television channels," said Anupa Shrestha, executive producer of Image Channel.

VJs normally entertain viewers by conveying messages, showing videos and interacting with them in an attractive manner on a particular subject.

According to Suraj Singh Thakur, VJ/producer of the popular musical show Call Kantipur on Kantipur Television, a good video jockey should have a sense of humour, passion, knowledge of the theme of the show and be confident in front of the camera to make the show lively.

He said that the profession is not only about performing in front of the camera, but also actively taking part in behind the scene pre-production work. The work includes choosing the theme of the programme, deciding the music videos to be played and even preparing the script.

Moreover, since competition is increasing among the television channels, programmes are on the trend of incorporating many diverse shows every now and then to attract the public, especially the youth. So the VJ's work area may vary depending upon the channel and theme of the show.

"As my programme is related to dohori, I must be knowledgeable about its history and the latest trends in music, the new albums, artist or celebrities and their songs," said Anusha Poudel, a VJ/producer with Image Channel who hosts popular lok dohori programme Ukali Orali and Lok Bhaka Top Ten. She said that with the changing trends VJ's also needs to be well informed generally in all topics. "Sometimes viewers talk about politics in the live programme, we have to be able to carry on with the programme with a logical discussion," she added.

In that sense, VJs take upon a more journalistic role. They should be informed about a bit of everything from films to politics or whatever theme the show demands. They must be able to answer any queries about music and must fulfil their roles as experts. Normally, VJ's interact with the viewers through telephone, e-mail or fax.

Actually, there is no specific educational background or formal training required to be a VJ, except some personal attributes. However a background in mass communication, visual communication or the performing arts comes in handy. Similarly, training on VJ, Radio Jockey or Master of Ceremony and public speaking add plus point to be selected for any show as the competition is also stiff.

"Good training makes a huge difference," said Shrestha. "So it's better to be trained before entering in the field."

According to senior television programme producers, an interest and love for music is an essential aspect. Along with that, excellent body language and dress sense, a pleasant voice, good command over the required language depending on the medium, presence of mind, sense of humour, knowledge of additional language and a good knowledge of music is also important factors to

be a VJ. A video jockey needs to talk a lot. Some amount of voice training would definitely help as VJs need a voice that's clear, pleasant and strong to attract the viewers. VJ should be able to take split second decisions, answer promptly, be energetic to make the show interesting. VJs may also need to work during odd hours and travel extensively depending on the demand of the show. One many be employed on a contract basis per show or on a full time basis.

The monthly income of a VJ depends up on the popularity of the show and the terms and conditions set by the channel.

"If the VJ is really able to connect with viewers and make them stick to a particular show, he or she will easily be paid as demanded," said Dahal. "Though, the beginners can earn Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 10,000 per month, experienced VJ's are paid in the range of Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000 depending up on the show and the company."

Apart from this, they can also earn by lending their voice to other television programmes, and working as master of ceremony. "If you are active, you can do other work and earn above Rs. 5,000 easily every month," added Dahal.

"The more popular one gets through video jockeying on TV the more choices one may have to diversify into marketing and public relation areas or fields such as banking, real estate and other behind the scene works of television media," said Thakuri.

Though the career of VJ is short lived compared to other careers, if one is really good he or she can continue entering into the television presentation field like Larry King and David Frost, according to Dahal.

Published in Career Post (The Kathmandu Post) in March 2010