Career I Retail Management

IntroductionStep-by-StepStart EarlyIs it the Right Career for Me?What would it Cost Me?Funding/ScholarshipJob ProspectPay PacketDemand and SupplyMarket WatchInternational FocusPositives/NegativesDifferent Roles, Different NamesTop CompaniesTips for Getting Hired

 

Introduction

Retail management pertains to the task of managing supermarkets and hypermarkets in strict business terms. In India, the retail industry has seen a great upsurge in the past decade. From adopting new marketing strategies to diversifying into businesses, companies have tried all gimmicks to impress the customer. This is one industry that works clearly on the paradigm, “Customer is King”. The next time you enter a Reliance Fresh supermarket or a Big Bazaar to buy a commodity of your choice, try and analyze the various discount prices being offered. The systems these days are super fast and dynamic and totally computerized. Unlike in the past where you had a grocery or a kirana shop selling you products and commodities at higher prices, now almost everything comes for a discount! It is the sale season for no proper reason! Right from factory outlets to supermarkets, some brand or the other would offer you discounts to beat and win the competition.

Accordingly, retail management is a subject that requires you to be fully aware of brands, marketing strategies, and retail philosophies behind winning the customer.

Step-by-Step

You will basically need to clear the CAT (Common Aptitude Test) for getting into prestigious colleges such as the IIMs or clear GMAT (General Management Aptitude Test) to get admitted to foreign universities for pursuing MBA.

Some of the best institutes offering courses in retail management are: MDI Gurgaon and NMIMS University, Mumbai. You would have to appear for entrance exams to get admitted to these colleges.

As a student, pursuing a course in retail management would equip you with knowledge in the following areas overall:

1.  Introduction to Retail Management and Concepts
2.  Retailing trends
3.  Retail Market Segmentation
4.  Retail Pricing and merchandising
5.  Relationship Marketing in Retailing
6.  Role of Information Technology in Retailing

All other topics are a subset of either of these or are related subtopics.

Start Early

Retail management is an unconventional subject to say the least. It is a choice you must make if only you have the acumen to understand the retail industry and an inclination towards advertising as well. No doubt then, it will be a highly rewarding career.

Is it the Right Career for Me?

As stated above, retail management is the right or rather the best career for those who feel an interest towards commodities, sales markets, market segments, diversification of businesses, advertising and campaigning, and marketing research. The profession offers wide scope for exploring new companies that get introduced into the market and offer various products. You can start as an assistant retail manager and manage as store. You have to be dynamic and a team leader to succeed in the field.

What would it Cost Me?

A course in retail management would cost you somewhere between 1 lac and 3 lacs annually depending on the college or institute you choose. If you are pursue the course from a Tier-1 B-school such as the IIMs, then you would be charged optimally in the range specified above. On the other hand, if you are pursuing the course from an international university that offers you chances to travel abroad, the fee would be higher.

Funding/Scholarship

The best option for getting education loans is from State Bank of India, which offers up to a maximum loan of 7.5 lacs. Other banks offer education loans too but you must check on the pay back interests being charged.

Several colleges offer scholarships to brilliant students. However, this is rare in India. Though colleges abroad offer full funding for students who score very well in GMAT exams or CAT exams, yet you must be prepared for meeting additional expenses such as boarding and lodging. The GMAT and CAT scores are taken into account for funding in universities abroad.

Job Prospect

The job options in the retail field are quite interesting for a college graduate. You may start working as a sales executive or  be directly employed as a sales manager or a marketing manager and even start a retail business of your own by becoming a franchisee of another big player in the retail business!

Pay Packet

The pay packet for a sales executive or a floor manager averages anywhere between Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 25,000 depending on the magnitude of business you handle. Your responsibilities would primarily include managing people on the floor and assisting them with purchases.

At a corporate level, you may work as business development officer as well.

Demand and Supply

The demand for floor personnel and retail managers is always high. This is primarily because the supermarkets and hypermarkets business is ever expanding. Sometimes, start up retail chains select freshers from colleges or hire students for part-time jobs in order to handle customers who visit the market.

The educational requirement sometime is limited to just a twelfth standard with pass marks! However, for students who have completed MBA in Retail management, the demand is more on the side of business research, market research, and pricing and strategising perspective. The supply is optimal in India but there is always a huge demand for retail professionals.

Market Watch

Companies such as Reliance, Big Bazaar, Vishal Mega Mart, and the newly started Star Bazaar make millions of rupees per day owing to the sheer volume of products and commodities they sell. Besides these companies, apparel leaders such as Westside and Pantaloons, shoemakers such as Regal, Metro and Bata use different strategies to market their products and come up with creative methods to sell their brands.

In this context, the summer, spring, winter sales and discounts hold much importance. The rise and fall of stocks and shares of these brands entirely depends on the monthly and annual sales.

International Focus

The concept of supermarkets and hypermarkets has been borrowed by India from abroad from brand names such as Wal Mart. A company like Wal Mart uses advanced supply chain strategies to market and sell its products.

Much to the satisfaction of Indians, brands such as Ray-Ban, Bose, Gucci and Mango that sell fashion products have also entered the Indian market long time ago to provide a high end   Indian customer with quality products.

In this context, the job opportunities for students of retail management are quite encouraging.

Positives/Negatives

+ives:

•  There are several foreign retail chains from countries like Germany, the US and the UK which are opening up stores in India every year. As a result, these   have generated many opportunities for job seekers.
•  The retail systems in general are very colourful and exciting. Individuals pursuing a job in this industry get wide exposure and an opportunity to interact with different kinds of people.

-ives: 

•  Some retail outlets hire individuals who are simply graduates and do not ask for an MBA degree or any specific qualification in retail management. Sometimes, this may lead to inconsistencies in people’s careers.
•  Certain brands that don’t do well in the market sometimes downsize their business and layoff employees. This is a risk factor often associated with the retail business.

Different Roles, Different Names

The employees hired by retail companies are usually known as floor managers, floor executives, lobby managers et al. At a corporate level, they would be called sales managers or marketing managers.

Nonetheless, the growth and expansion of the retail industry has seen the upsurge of plenty of malls, supermarkets, movie theatres, and hypermarkets for the general public. Though the products they see are different, the basic functionality remains the same, of capturing customers’ hearts.

Top Companies

These are the top 10 retail companies in India: Shopper’s Stop, Westside, Pantaloons, Lifestyle, RPG Retail, Crossword, Wills Lifestyle, Globus, Piramals and Ebony Retail Holdings

Tips for Getting Hired

To get hired with a retail company, follow the steps mentioned below:

1.  Prepare a resume that highlights your passion for interacting with customers and excellent communication skills.
2.  Include details of any awards or recognition bestowed upon you in school or college.
3.  Apply with top 5 to 7 companies to select the best job position.

POWER SYSTEM ENGINEERING

Power System Engineering

Power Engineering deals with the generation, transmission, distribution and utilization of electricity as well as the design of a range of related devices. These include transformers, electric generators, electric motors and power electronics.

The power grid is an electrical network that connects a variety of electric generators to the users of electric power. Users purchase electricity from the grid so that they do not need to generate their own. Power engineers may work on the design and maintenance of the power grid as well as the power systems that connect to it. Such systems are called on-grid power systems and may supply the grid with additional power, draw power from the grid or do both. The grid is designed and managed using software that performs simulations of power flows.

Power engineers may also work on systems that do not connect to the grid. These systems are called off-grid power systems and may be used in preference to on-grid systems for a variety of reasons. For example, in remote locations it may be cheaper for a mine to generate its own power rather than pay for connection to the grid and in most mobile applications connection to the grid is simply not practical.

Today, most grids adopt three-phase electric power with alternating current. This choice can be partly attributed to the ease with which this type of power can be generated, transformed and used. Often (especially in the USA), the power is split before it reaches residential customers whose low-power appliances rely upon single-phase electric power. However, many larger industries and organizations still prefer to receive the three-phase power directly because it can be used to drive highly efficient electric motors such as three-phase induction motors.

Transformers play an important role in power transmission because they allow power to be converted to and from higher voltages. This is important because higher voltages suffer less power loss during transmission. This is because higher voltages allow for lower current to deliver the same amount of power, as power is the product of the two. Thus, as the voltage steps up, the current steps down. It is the current flowing through the components that result in both the losses and the subsequent heating. These losses, appearing in the form of heat, are equal to the current squared times the electrical resistance through which the current flows, so as the voltage goes up the losses are dramatically reduced.

For these reasons, electrical substations exist throughout power grids to convert power to higher voltages before transmission and to lower voltages suitable for appliances after transmission.

Components

Power engineering is a network of interconnected components which convert different forms of energy to electrical energy. Modern power engineering consists of four main subsystems: the generation subsystem, the transmission subsystem, the distribution subsystem and the utilization subsystem. In the generation subsystem, the power plant produces the electricity. The transmission subsystem transmits the electricity to the load centers. The distribution subsystem continues to transmit the power to the customers. The utilization system is concerned with the different uses of electrical energy like illumination, refrigeration, traction, electric drives, etc. Utilization is a very recent concept in Power engineering.

Generation

Generation of electrical power is a process whereby energy is transformed into an electrical form. There are several different transformation processes, among which are chemical, photo-voltaic, and electromechanical. Electromechanical energy conversion is used in converting energy from coal, petroleum, natural gas, uranium, or water flow into electrical energy. Of these, all except the wind energy conversion process take advantage of the synchronous AC generator coupled to a steam, gas or hydro turbine such that the turbine converts steam, gas, or water flow into rotational energy, and the synchronous generator then converts the rotational energy of the turbine into electrical energy. It is the turbine-generator conversion process that is by far most economical and consequently most common in the industry today.

The AC synchronous machine is the most common technology for generating electrical energy. It is called synchronous because the composite magnetic field produced by the three stator windings rotate at the same speed as the magnetic field produced by the field winding on the rotor. A simplified circuit model is used to analyze steady-stateoperating conditions for a synchronous machine. The phasor diagram is an effective tool for visualizing the relationships between internal voltage, armature current, and terminal voltage. The excitation control system is used on synchronous machines to regulate terminal voltage, and the turbine-governor system is used to regulate the speed of the machine. However, in highly interconnected systems, such as the "Western system", the "Texas system" and the "Eastern system", one machine will usually be assigned as the so-called "swing machine", and which generation may be increased or decreased to compensate for small changes in load, thereby maintaining the system frequency at precisely 60 Hz. Should the load dramatically change, as which happens with a system separation, then a combination of "spinning reserve" and the "swing machine" may be used by the system's load dispatcher.

The operating costs of generating electrical energy is determined by the fuel cost and the efficiency of the power station. The efficiency depends on generation level and can be obtained from the heat rate curve. We may also obtain the incremental cost curve from the heat rate curve. Economic dispatch is the process of allocating the required load demand between the available generation units such that the cost of operation is minimized. Emission dispatch is the process of allocating the required load demand between the available generation units such that air pollution occurring from operation is minimized. In large systems, particularly in the West, a combination of economic and emission dispatch may be used.

Transmission

The electricity is transported to load locations from a power station to a transmission subsystem. Therefore we may think of the transmission system as providing the medium of transportation for electric energy. The transmission system may be subdivided into the bulk transmission system and the sub-transmission system. The functions of the bulk transmission are to interconnect generators, to interconnect various areas of the network, and to transfer electrical energy from the generators to the major load centers. This portion of the system is called "bulk" because it delivers energy only to so-called bulk loads such as the distribution system of a town, city, or large industrial plant. The function of the sub-transmission system is to interconnect the bulk power system with the distribution system.

Transmission circuits may be built either underground or overhead. Underground cables are used predominantly in urban areas where acquisition of overhead rights of way are costly or not possible. They are also used for transmission under rivers, lakes and bays. Overhead transmission is used otherwise because, for a given voltage level, overhead conductors are much less expensive than underground cables.

The transmission system is a highly integrated system. It is referred to as the substation equipment and transmission lines. The substation equipment contain the transformers,relays, and circuit breakers. Transformers are important static devices which transfer electrical energy from one circuit to another in the transmission subsystem. Transformers are used to step up the voltage on the transmission line to reduce the power loss which is dissipated on the way.^[24] A relay is functionally a level-detector; they perform a switching action when the input voltage (or current) meets or exceeds a specific and adjustable value. A circuit breaker is an automatically operated electrical switch designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by overload or short circuit. A change in the status of any one component can significantly affect the operation of the entire system. Without adequate contact protection, the occurrence of undesired electric arcing causes significant degradation of the contacts, which suffer serious damage.^[25] There are three possible causes for power flow limitations to a transmission line. These causes are thermal overload, voltage instability, and rotor angle instability. Thermal overload is caused by excessive current flow in a circuit causing overheating. Voltage instability is said to occur when the power required to maintain voltages at or above acceptable levels exceeds the available power. Rotor angle instability is a dynamic problem that may occur following faults, such as short circuit, in the transmission system. It may also occur tens of seconds after a fault due to poorly damped or undamped oscillatory response of the rotor motion. As long as the equal area criteria is maintained, the interconnected system will remain stable. Should the equal area criteria be violated, it becomes necessary to separate the unstable component from the remainder of the system.

Distribution

The distribution system transports the power from the transmission system/substation to the customer. Distribution feeders can be radial or networked in an open loop configuration with a single or multiple alternate sources. Rural systems tend to be of the former and urban systems the latter. The equipment associated with the distribution system usually begins downstream of the distribution feeder circuit breaker. The transformer and circuit breaker are usually under the jurisdiction of a "substations department". The distribution feeders consist of combinations of overhead and underground conductor, 3 phase and single phase switches with load break and non-loadbreak ability, relayed protective devices, fuses, transformers (to utilization voltage), surge arresters, voltage regulators and capacitors.

More recently, Smart Grid initiatives are being deployed so that 1. Distribution feeder faults are automatically isolated and power restored to unfaulted circuits by automatic hardware/software/communications packages. 2. Capacitors are automatically switched on or off to dynamically control VAR flow and for CVR (Conservation Voltage Reduction)

Utilization

Utilization is the “end result” of the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power. The energy carried by the transmission and distribution system is turned into useful work, light, heat, or a combination of these items at the utilization point. Understanding and characterizing the utilization of electric power is critical for proper planning and operation of power systems. Improper characterization of utilization can result of over or under building of power system facilities and stressing of system equipment beyond design capabilities. The term load refers to a device or collection of devices that draw energy from the power system. Individual loads (devices) range from small light bulbs to large induction motors to arc furnaces. The term load is often somewhat arbitrarily applied, at times being used to describe a specific device, and other times referring to an entire facility and even being used to describe the lumped power requirements of power system components and connected utilization devices downstream of a specific point in large scale system studies.

A major application of electric energy is in its conversion to mechanical energy. Electromagnetic, or “EM” devices designed for this purpose are commonly called “motors.” Actually the machine is the central component of an integrated system consisting of the source, controller, motor, and load. For specialized applications, the system may be, and frequently is, designed as an integrated whole. Many household appliances (e.g., a vacuum cleaner) have in one unit, the controller, the motor, and the load. However, there remain a large number of important stand-alone applications that require the selection of a proper motor and associated control, for a particular load. It is this general issue that is the subject of this section. The reader is cautioned that there is no “magic bullet” to deal with all motor-load applications. Like many engineering problems, there is an artistic, as well as a scientific dimension to its solution. Likewise, each individual application has its own peculiar characteristics, and requires significant experience to manage. Nevertheless, a systematic formulation of the issues can be useful to a beginner in this area of design, and even for experienced engineers faced with a new or unusual application.

Career Propects:-

There are oppurtunities in sectors like: Electrical Engineers Defence Sector, Heavy Electricals,Automobile Industry, Medical Sector,Consumer Electronics,Space Technology,Power Sector You can check government and private jobs by regularly visiting http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/

Petroleum Engineering

Petroleum Engineering

Petroleum engineering is a field of engineering concerned with the activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas. Exploration and Production are deemed to fall within the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry. Exploration, by earth scientists, and petroleum engineering are the oil and gas industry's two main subsurface disciplines, which focus on maximizing economic recovery of hydrocarbons from subsurface reservoirs. Petroleum geology and geophysics focus on provision of a static description of the hydrocarbon reservoir rock, while petroleum engineering focuses on estimation of the recoverable volume of this resource using a detailed understanding of the physical behavior of oil, water and gas within porous rock at very high pressure.

The combined efforts of geologists and petroleum engineers throughout the life of a hydrocarbon accumulation determine the way in which a reservoir is developed and depleted, and usually they have the highest impact on field economics. Petroleum engineering requires a good knowledge of many other related disciplines, such as geophysics, petroleum geology, formation evaluation (well logging), drilling, economics, reservoir simulation, reservoir engineering, well engineering, artificial lift systems, completions and oil and gas facilities engineering.

The petroleum Engineering is divided into two parts.
Upstream Sector

The upstream sector consists of activities like exploration, production and exploitation of oil and natural gases. After gaining a qualification in petroleum engineering, the engineers work in the exploration and production activities of petroleum and other related products. Using the latest drilling technology and geophysics for the exploration of oil reservoirs, they exploit the same for maximum output.

Downstream Sector

The downstream sector consist activities such as the refining, marketing and distributing of petroleum products. Production is not the only work carried out in a petroleum company and the job of petroleum engineer does not get over as the oil is produced, rather, it starts at this stage. Refining process is crucial for an oil product as then only it can be used. Marketing and distributing department may require a petroleum engineer to have some management degree.

Who all can do?

As the world is highly dependent upon petroleum as a source of energy, a career in the field is bound to be attractive and challenging. An aspirant can do a BTech in petroleum engineering after completing 10+2 in the science stream.

Similarly, post graduate program in the field can be done after the completion of BE/BTech degree in the relevant subject. If you are an MSc in Chemistry then that also makes you eligible to do post graduation in petroleum engineering. Research can be done in the fields of petroleum refining and petrochemicals, petroleum exploration and production and mechanical or petroleum science, etc.

How can do?

Considering the inclination towards petroleum engineering one should start preparing for entrance exams which are conducted by various engineering colleges. As Petroleum is available in areas which are geographically isolated places, it could be challenging to work in such a place. However, it is a highly paid career and money attracts lots of students to pursue this field of study in engineering colleges.

Is it a right career for me?

Asking the question to self might answer whether you are right in selecting petroleum engineering as your career. Before opting for a career in petroleum engineering analyse yourself, your interests, long term goals, affordability with respect cost of program and many other related issues. Considering your decision you will be required to study and complete your education so that you are eligible to do a course in petroleum engineering.

Career Prospects:

Career prospects are quite attractive in petroleum sector as petroleum companies have great influence and offer attractive salaries to employees. The demand for petroleum and petroleum products is only expected to increase and the increase would lead to creation of new jobs. In fact, there is great demand of efficient petroleum engineers and almost every young graduate in petroleum engineering gets a job offer from petrol and gas companies from India and overseas.

Whereas private petroleum companies offer attractive salaries to petroleum engineers, government sector oil companies are not far behind in terms of paying attractive salaries and bonuses to employees.

Pay Package

As in every other industry, remuneration in petroleum engineering is determined according to the knowledge, skills, qualification, capabilities and experience of the candidate. Moreover, if the candidate is from top notch engineering college he may get a job which can pay salary between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 per month. People working in petroleum producing MNCs get median annual salary of around $100, 000.

Demand & Supply

The expanding demand for petroleum products would require exploitation of oil reservoirs which consequently would need trained petroleum engineers. Currently, there is big mismatch in the demand and supply of trained petroleum engineers in India. When Indian oil companies are going overseas and setting up oil producing units, jobs in petroleum sector are bound to increase. Moreover, India is new in imparting training skills in petroleum engineering to its youths. More than India, it is MNCs from overseas who hire Indian petroleum engineers for their various projects.

Different Roles:

Depending upon the qualification, skills and experience, roles and designations differ in the field. Some of the positions offered are Reservoir Engineer, Mud Logging Engineer,Technical Support Engineer, Senior Geoscientist, Drill Bits System Field Engineer, Petroleum Technologist and Drilling Engineer. Other positions are Principal Reservoir Petro Physicist, Technical Support Specialist, Tender and Quotations Analyst, Geosciences Pressure Expert, Senior Petro Physicist, Senior Exploration Geologist and Process Engineer.

Top Companies in India

  Indian Oil Corporation
• IBP Co. Limited
• Lubricants India
• Oil Gas India
• Petrosil Group
• Shiv-Vani Universal
• ONGC
• Bharat Petroleum
• Reliance Petroleum Limited
• Essar Oil Limited
• Gas Authority of India
• Hindustan Petroleum Corporation
• Aban
• Oil India Limited
• Tata Petrodyne
• Bongaigaon Refinery
• Gas Projects (India) Private Limited
• Hindustan Oil Exploration Company Limited
• India LPG
• Kochi Refineries Limited

Top Institutes

The following top institutes offer academic qualification in petroleum engineering:

·         Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad (ISM)

·         University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun (UPES)

·         Maharastra Institutes of Technology, Pune (MIT)

·         Pandit Din Dayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar (PDP)

·         Rajiv Gandhi Institutes of Petroleum Technology, Rai Bareli (RGIPT)

Students interested in pursuing courses in petroleum engineering can do the following:

• BE Petroleum Engineering
• B.Tech Applied Petroleum Engineering with specialization in Upstream

• BTech Applied Petroleum Engineering with specialization in Gas
   BTech Applied Petroleum Engineering with specialization in Refining & Petrochemical
• BTech Petrochemical Engineering
• BTech Petroleum Engineering
• BTech Petroleum Refining and Petrochemicals Engineering
• BTech Petroleum Refining Engineering
• BTech Petroleum Reservoir And Production Engineering
• ME Petroleum Engineering
• MTech Petroleum Engineering
• MTech Petroleum Exploration
• MTech Petroleum Refinery Engineering
• MTech Petroleum Refining and Petrochemical Engineering

Tips for getting hired

An international career is much attractive and young engineers willing to explore can work in global oil companies and get international exposure; however, here are few things which can help in building a successful career:
• Excellent academic record in BTech in Petroleum Engineering is a must.
• Technical exposure during various projects carried out during the course shows that the candidate can work effectively when exposed to real scenarios.
• Excellent numerical and computer skills are expected from petroleum engineers as most of the time there would be computer simulation required for further analysis.
• Skills to plan out project and execute them with team spirit are further requirements.
Sound communication skills in English language would enhance the chances of getting international exposure and higher position within the organization.