ECO EDGE

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 Author : LAKSHMI KRUPA

A GROWING INTEREST IN THE FIELD OF ECONOMICS IS OPENING UP A PLETHORA OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACADEMICIANS AND PROFESSIONALS ALIKE. LAKSHMI KRUPA EXPLORES    The global economic meltdown has yet again established the importance of economics in our day-to-day lives. Today it is no longer considered as an elitist social science that is meant for intellectuals and scientists who work with multiple government agencies but as an essential and all pervasive academic discipline that caters to all.    Comparative    advantage    So what does the field of economics entail? “At its broadest, economics is a way of understanding how humans interact and how individual decisions produce collective outcomes,” says Manu Bhaskaran, a Singapore-based Indian economist who is a Partner of the Centennial Group. Bhaskaran, who has over 20 years experience analysing political and economic trends in Asia, was also working for the Singapore government in the area of regional security. “These tools are useful for anyone entering the job market. The more specific subjects in economics like micro-credit or industrial economics also have value in teaching more specialised tools,” he adds.    Current account    Dr B L Pandit, Head of the    Department, Delhi School of Economics, says that there is a dire need for several institutions across India to update their syllabi and offer economics courses of higher standards. “With the revised pay commission salaries, we must now be able to attract good teaching talent,” he avers. Dr U Subrahmanyam, Director, Indian Institute of Economics, Hyderabad says, “India, as a country has made a mark in the field of economics at the international level.” He maintains that every year, the Asian Development Bank, Bank of Malaysia and many other international and multilateral organisations seek young and bright economic graduates from our country to fill important positions!    Planning curve    Economics graduates have an    array of options open following the completion of their courses. An increasingly popular field is that of social entrepreneurship and the business of NGOs. Talking about the aptitude one needs to pursue a course in economics, Subrahmanyam says, “A student needs to have an inclination towards financial matters and must take interest in the economic situation of the world we live in, in order to excel in the field.”    As with most other disciplines, a masters or doctoral degree can help bolster a career in economics, in both, the fields of academia and the corporate sector. While a bachelor’s degree helps form a foundation, it is a specialisation at the masters’ level that will help in terms of job prospects. A graduate in economics can aspire to join at an entry-level position in banks, MNCs and research firms and can expect pay packages up to Rs 12,000 per month. Experts also opine that salaries for fresh graduates are largely dependent as much on the young graduate's potential as on the institute he/she graduates from. "A strong candidate can easily average a minimum of Rs 25- 40,000 per month initially during the first two years and then later based on his expertise go upto Rs 1-2 lakhs per month easily," avers Kalavathi Amarachelvam, Career Counselor, and Head- Career Division, Bodhi Organisational and People Development Consultants Pvt Ltd.    Job wise    "The core job of an    economist is to research and analyse the trends in different sections of society and industry. For example, the corporate sector employs economists to analyse and predict customer demand so that they can plan their production accordingly. Economists can also can act as advisors to corporate heads on future areas of development in the economy and accordingly plan their business expansions and acquisitions," Amarachelvam informs. Economists generally specialise in specific areas like finance, insurance, agriculture, econometrics, rural development, health, business development, human resource, industrial law, international economics, etc. In government and social work organisations while they are recruited as economists directly, in the corporate world they have different job titles such as Data Analyst, Financial Analyst, Research Analyst, Business Analyst, etc. While the economist at a government and social development organisation works towards finding ways of creating social wealth and collective development through empirical and case-study based research, economists working for private firms study the markets, competition and consumer-behaviour and work towards bolstering the business practices and investments of the individual firm. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts examinations every year for recruitment into the Indian Economic Service (IES), for which any Indian postgraduate degree holder in Economics/ Applied Economics/ Business Economics/ Econometrics from a recognised university can apply. IES is a part of the Indian Civil Services and officers of this service use their expertise to analyse economic trends of the country, direct the country’s policies and help in the implementation of the various policies and schemes.    While the IES helps secure a job within the prestigious administrative segment of the government, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) the regulatory body that overlooks the monetary stability of the country conducts separate exams for recruitment to its various services including Grade A and B officers. English, economic and social issues, finance and management are some of the areas in which one needs to focus on while preparing for the RBI’s exams. The Universities Grants Council (UGC) conducts NET and JRF examinations, after clearing which one is eligible for teaching at universities and applying for PhD programmes with scholarships respectively. Teaching is another area that offers immense job satisfaction. Catch’em young The Asian Development Bank and World Bank, recruits young economics graduates from many countries, including India, for their Young Professionals Programme (YPP). The YPP is a starting point to a career in the development sector. A good academic record, besides other factors such as ‘potential for leadership’ are mandatory for this programme, for which young graduates and professionals from across the globe apply, each year. Applications are invited online on the respective organisation’s website. INSTITUTE INDEX Delhi School of Economics, Delhi Madras School of Economics, Chennai Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur Institute for Social & Economic Change, Bangalore (indicative listing)

Source : Times of India