What determines specialization ???

[uRmad]

hi all..... guys...need ur suggestions on this one....the folks at icfai sent me an appln for CFA...tats chartered financial analyst...... now i am not exactly sure thats the direction i'd like to take in my career...... i basically am planning to take up marketing at my pgdba course there..... ( along with IT, possibly) ..... and even those folks also suggested that the course is best suited for those that'd like to specialise in finance.... i'd like to know the extent of relevance of such a course given the stream that i'd like to go into..... how important is a sound grounding in finance required in the long-term perspective... also considering the fact that i am an engineer with no knowledge of the finance stream..i don't have much doubts abt the quality of their course...as icfai has been known for a long time to come up with real good courses such as this...... hope to hear from u guys....

Cheers

ps: manu, anirban, rasik... what r ya guys planning???

[manduks]

HI Subbu,
No doubt, the CFA is a good course. Even though the financial analysts have taken a beating in the valuation of stocks etc, it was only bad luck. (Recent example : Infosys losing plenty of its shine even though analysts were positive before they released the results) The question here is what is it that you want to do and what kind of company do you want to work with? With a degree in marketing and IT, you would most probably work for some software company, or a telecom company or an Internet Service Provider(ISP). The advantage is that you learn about new technology all the time. I know, i worked for an ISP for nearly 2 years.
Or do you want to be a finance consultant? A combination of PGDBA Finance and CFA would land you a decent job with banks, asset management companies, finance departments of major companies etc. Mergers and Aquisitions are gonna be a big thing in the coming years considering that there will be a shakeout and the smaller companies would be taken up by the other big ones. Your being an engineer is not a handicap, but probably an advantage, since you are used to numbers and processes and can think in a disciplined manner.
As for me, I am keeping my options open currently. Having been in sales and marketing for 2 years, i am sick of it now. I shall be speaking to a few friends in the coming week, before deciding on the future course of action.

Hope i didnt confuse you further. By the way, i think the best option would be to catch hold of a senior or a prof at ICFAI or better, a person working in the financial world. and ask them. That will be a better course of action.
Manu

[uRmad]

hey....thanks a lot for that manu....i knew i cud always rely on u to provide me the answers . yea...talking to a prof would very much help i guess....but the last date for sending in that form ain't too far away right.... (25th may)...so what dya plan to do?? regarding specializations....do read on and lemme know what ya folks think....

ur post was quite clear pal....but now. i've succeeded in confusing myself thoroughly....so what determines the specialization that u take..... does it have to depend solely on the kinda companies that we intend to look at , at the end of the course...or is there more to it...and more importantly.... i don't think that a specialization in field X or field Y will or should curtail us in the long run in only that industry vertical..... so in effect, is it just the basic management principles that are grounded in us during the course that are called to action once we are at a workplace.....and to what extent do those electives help us in that...my understanding is that taking electives in a specialized stream helps us to the extent that we wont be all at sea when we take up a position in a company in that stream......something similar to taking an elective in IT or vlsi in the final year engg for someone that is looking at those kinda companies during placement......or is there more to it??? correct me if i am wrong on these folks..... my option of marketing n it were dictated by my immediate interests.....whether i choose to remain in those fields only a few years down the line is ...well... a decision that i'd much rather take then.... so guys.....is the choice of electives a long-term commitment that i am asked to make.....then i'd probably have to give it a long hard look..... guys....hope i've put my confusion in proper words ( a tough ask indeed ).....

Cheers

ps: am changing the thread title to make more sense with the current line of discussion....

[bingo]

Hey subbu
buddy......since uve considered marketing as ur choice of specialization, let us look at how doing a course in finance would help u in marketing career. Your options would be broader based as you would have an entry into financial sectors too. Even banks and other financial institutions have to market their products and they would prefer somebody with a decent knowledge of banking or financial sector to market their products. Secondly, whichever firm u work, there is always a tussle between the marketing guyz and the finance guyz - the marketing guy has his mind set on increasing sales no matter what method he employs or what kinda advtising expenditure or sales promotion exp he has to undertake - the fin guyz on the other hand always look at maintaining the financial status of the company.....and would not be ready to meet all the demands of the mktg guyz.
Now with somebody who has a dual specialization- say mktg and finance, he has a fair idea of both sides of the coin and would be in a better position to strike a compromising deal which would be aimed at the overall wellbeing of the company.
Marketing HR Finance and Systems r indespensible in any field of work in the current context and hence ....... i dont see any harm in a marketing guy or a fin guy couplin his basic degree with another or others.
Hope this clears a bit of ur doubts or has it started new ones
bingo

[kunduanirban]

Hi,

I was also confused about what specialisation to take up. So just visited IBS Kolkata yesterday for advice. The basic funda that I got from there is that the demand is mostly for marketing professionals now. Even a person who is a MBA in finance has to do selling of financial instruments in the first year of his job, so it is very important for everybody to know something about marketing and selling.
So Subbu, the answer to your query lies there. You are perfectly on the right track by taking up marketing.

Now as to whether to take up CFA or not , I think you should go for CFA only if you decide on the finance specialisation. CFA is big time trouble, as it is quite tough, and you have to study hard for it, since you are from a non commerce background. It also will mean that you have to take up quarterly exams, which , according to some students of IBS that I spoke to, is quite cumbersome, and will require you to do a specialisation in time management too

Personally I know one lady who has passed from IBS Kolkata this year, who has done marketing and gotten placed at ICICI Bank at Rs 3,60,000 p.a in April. She never did CFA, and had no problems in getting placed.So you can get good placements if you have no finance background at all.

I , being from the finance background, have decided on a dual in finance and marketing, along with CFA .

BTW, did any of you receive the stipendary assignment program enrolment form ? Anyone enrolling for it ?

Cheers,

Anirban

[manduks]

Originally Posted by kunduanirban

BTW, did any of you receive the stipendary assignment program enrolment form ? Anyone enrolling for it ?

Nope, i am not going for the stipendary assignment. My cousin told me that the best thing to do after the first term, since you could get 2 days off from 2nd term onwards, is to take up temporary assignments with the companies in your respective cities. These involve leg-work, some pocket money, a foot hold into some good company, an opportunity to network etc.

You would know about it once you enter the college.

Manu

[uRmad]

hi anirban......nice to cya back m8.....hope ur papers went thro' great.. .....

regarding the stream to be taken, i feel it is probably best that i take a decision after due consultation with the faculty there....and also after i get clear in my mind, as to what each different stream exactly is.....

yep....i was also told cfa is quite an ask..... shall be looking into it later in the course probably..... as u said, basing my decision on the choice of stream......

from what i gather, the placements at hyd this year for pgdba have gone on very well.....and regarding that stipendary program,from my interactions with those online counsellors, i was given to understand that it is completely a marketing activity with set targets n the like.... requiring you to be mobile...i am not too sure i could spare
the sort of time that might be required there...actually i was hoping that there might be some sort of an on-campus activity that i could involve myself in....something on the lines of comp. related activity ...not really sure now that something of that sort exists....gotta check.....

Cheers

[uRmad]

hey....missed out on bingo's post earlier.....dial-up woes ......

yep...u got a point there bingo when u say that that someone with an understanding of multiple fields would probably do well in terms of the bigger picture.....yea..... guess marketing combined with finance should be a good combo...... but like i've mentioned in the previous post, the final decision will have to wait a bit more i guess....thanks for the info pal....

Originally Posted by bingo

Hope this clears a bit of ur doubts or has it started new ones

yep...u've put things into some perspective regarding the conflict between the finance and marketing folks....... regarding starting new ones.... ...well...my head is presently a breeding ground for all kinda qns..... thankfully u've added no more qns to it ......

Cheers

[kunduanirban]

hi anirban......nice to cya back m8.....hope ur papers went thro' great.. .....

Yep, same here. Nice to be out of the exam track and back to the forum. The papers went okay. Can hope for a pass

[kunduanirban]

Okay guys, one piece of news here. I spoke to the IBS alumni about whom I had mentioned in the last post. She has confirmed what Manu has written about the SAP thing at ICFAI. In fact she went a step further and asked me not to join it at all, as you have to work real hard for selling their programs and books.And you remain unswerable to them if you donot sell the books, even during exam time.

Thats a major hassle guys. Join at your own risk