International Accreditation for communication and marketing professionals

PodUniversal Edition 153

In the globalised competitive  era, the individuals and the companies have now started bench marking their knowledge, proficiency and quality to globally accepted standards.  Companies world over subject themselves to ISO or BS Standards, which are globally recognised. Unless the companies get ISO certification, they may not be able to participate in the tenders internally and globally.

In the same way, IT professionals have now started benching their individual talents through Microsoft Certification and ISACA certification.  These certifications enable the IT professionals to compete globally and succeed professionally.

In the same way, communication and marketing professionals also need to get themselves certified to the global standards, if they want to succeed in their career in future.  I have been impressing upon the need for such global accreditation for the past eight  years.  None of the professional bodies in India are able to come up with any globally accepted certification or accreditation process. We need to prepare our younger generation communication and marketing professionals to compete at global levels.  

Just like we have accepted globally recognised certification process in other areas, the communication and marketing industry also can adopt the globally recognised and accepted certification process to develop their career in future.

US, UK, Australia, South Africa, Singapore and few other countries have already started accrediting their communicaiton and marketing professionals.  The employers give priority only to such accredited professionals in the internal promotions.  Professionals can get accredited in their chosen field, only after few years of experience.

APR Accreditation by Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and FCIPR Accreditation by Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), London are highly popular in US and Europe.

International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is one of the respected International bodies operating in more than 100 countries.  They offer ABC Accreditation (Accredited Business Communicator). All the professionals who are connected with Business Communicaiton field like Public Relations, Corporate Communication, Marketing Communication, Journalism, etc are eligible for Accreditation process. Only working professionals can apply for Accreditation.

Accreditation process involves 3 stages.  (1) Application, (2) Submission of two Portfolios (work samples), based on the applicant's own experience and (3) written and oral examination.  Senior Accredited professionals will mentor and guide the candidates.

Recently, I recorded an interview with Mr Bish Mukherjee, President of IABC's India South Chapter.  Mr Bish was earlier the Accreditation Director for Asian countries and now the Asian coordinator for the prestigious Quill Awards of IABC.  He has mentored many professionals.

I have also recorded an interview with  Dr Rajiv Kumar. He is one of the top management officials in the Tata Group handling Corporate Communication.  He is presently the Director in the Accreditation Committee of IABC.  He supervises the Accreditation process of Asia Pacific, Europe, South America and Africa.

Please watch this interesting and informative podcast (12 minutes). If anybody wants to get more information and guidance, they can send mail to Mr Bish Mukherjee at bmiabc@hotmail.com.

This podcast can also be watched in YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHYSgH0jZEk

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Job opportunities in healthcare 'Revenue cycle management' - Ajuba CEO exclusive

US entrepreneurs nowadays have started preferring India for setting up their business units.  Though many countries are in the race, India is the most preferred country for them, because of 'english speaking' workforce, commitment, stability of democracy and judiciary, etc. 

Mr Tony Mira, CEO, Ajuba Group

Last week, I had the opportunity of meeting Mr Tony Mira, President and CEO of MiraMed, a Michigan (USA) based company.  MiraMed owns Ajuba International in USA and Ajuba Solutions in India.  Ajuba group is a 'healthcare revenue cycle management' company.  They service 25 US based leading companies in healthcare. He was on a short visit to India. 

Revenue cycle management involves medical coding, medical billing. transaction processing, and Account Receivable (AR) follow up, etc.  Due to strict regulations in US, this job involves more level of complexities.  

According to Mr Tony Mira, around 1800 employees are working in Chennai. India is a good destination for US companies for setting up 'Revenue cycle management' outsourcing centres for healthcare.  More such business opportunities are available from all over the world, besides US, Ajuba plans to increase their workforce to 4000 by 2014.Ajuba is also rated as one of the top 25 ' Great places' to work in India. 

In an exclusive interview with me for PodUniversal, Mr Tony Mira said that there is a great career prospects  for Indian youth in this field.  The potential candidates should hold minimum of a gradulation with good spoken and written skills in English.  They should also possess good analytical skils, as the job involves complex transactions.  Since Revenye Cycle Management job involves some improved skills, the compensation is also higher than the other outsourcing companies.  In addition, the candidates get the opportunity for certification and training and developing domain expertise. 

Interested suitable candidates may also send their CV to them at careers@ajubanet.net. 

Please watch the interview with Mr Tony Mira (5 m 38s)

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Young Professionals should get connected to the Industy

PodUniversal Edition 76

Public Relations (PR) industry has started growing in the past one decade enormously. Many educational institutions have started separate courses on PR to prepare the students for this industry. Many educated youngsters join this industry with fat salary. PR is no longer 'Media centric'. The clients expect to get 360 degree brand image, to face the global competition.

The curriculum in the educational institutions do not match with industry needs. The youngsters who come out with book knowledge, need to get integrated with the industry. This could be possible only through continuous updating and learning process.

Do the young professionals take initiative in updating their knowledge and skills? Do the young professionals have a right attitude to connect to the industry? Even when the opportunity is provided, how do they utilise this to their advantage? To what extent senior professionals in the industry take interest in grooming the seniors? Is the learning aligned to the right practices? Do the professionals share the case studies with fellow professionals?

With these questions, we contacted Mr Vikram Kharvi, a Mumbai based young journalist turned PR professional over phone for an exclusive interview. Mr Vikram Kharvi is moderating a discussion group on PR for the past one year and also publishes a PR newsletter from this month. He is one of the few young professionals, who take lot of interest in developing the profession.

Please listen to his free and frank views, by clicking 'play' button in the flash player. (The audio streaming will be smooth in broadband connections. If the streaming is not smooth, please right click this link and save the link/target to your desktop in mp3 format and listen)



This audio podcast may also be listened from the following links
Podbazaar
Odeo

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Rajalakshmi Engineering College aims to become University - A Feature

PodUniversal Edition 73

Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Tandalam (Near Chennai) started in 1997 with 180 students in 3 Branches of Engineering, has now grown to nearly 4000 students in 9 Under Graduate and 8 Post Graduate programmes. They are now affiliated to Anna University, Chennai. Anna University has approved research facilities in three departments.

Besides accreditation by NBA and NAAC, they have also been accredited by Industry majors like TCS and CTS. With the encouragement of their success within 12 years, they would like to become an University in three or four years to compete at global level.

Visual Podcast

In an exclusive podcast, PodUniversal features them. Please listen to the podcast by clicking 'play' button in the flash player. (Streaming will be smooth in broadband connections. If you find any difficulty in streaming, you can right click this link and download wmv format by saving to your desktop. You can play through windows media player).



This podcast may also be listened in the following link
http://blip.tv/file/2010368/

Audio podcast

Please click 'play' button to listen to the podcast. (If the streaming is not smooth, please right click this link and save to your desktop, to download mp3 format of this podcast)


This podcast may also be listened in the following link
http://www.podbazaar.com/permalink/144115188075857396

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How to select University courses - Tips to parents and students

PodUniversal - Edition 38

Now this an admission season. The parents of the students who have completed 12th standard are in a confused mood. There is a notion amongst the parents and students that only Engineering Courses in Information Technology are best suited for future prospects. Arts and Science courses are not preferred. Is the hype of IT Engineering courses a 'myth' or 'reality'?

On 22nd June, 2008, we telephonically interviewed Prof. R Radhakrishnan, Vice Chancellor of Anna University, Coimbatore to clarify on these points and to guide the parents and students. Anna University is one of the leading technical Universities in India with more than 100 affiliated engineering colleges. This podcast interview will be useful for the students who are seeking admission in University courses and also pursing various education in different colleges in India.

Prof. Radhakrishnan suggests that a minimum basic degree with computer skills are sufficient to get placement and to develop future.prospects. He even goes to suggest that students with 10th standard qualification can also learn the skills that are needed by the industry and can go for jobs. Then they can earn more qualifications through distance education. He also says that students should improve the English language communication skills.

Prof. Radhakrishnan suggests that after completing the Schooling, the students should (1) self evaluate themselves and find out their interest with the help of their parents and teachers and (2) identify the field of education, based on the interest.

Please listen to his interview by clicking to play (17 minutes) - Gist is given below for convenience.


The interview may also be listened from the following link
http://www.podbazaar.com/permalink/144115188075857185

If you want to download the interview in mp3 format, right click this link and save to desktop (16mb)

Gist of the interview by Prof. R Radhakrishnan

1. Hype for in IT related engineering courses has been created more by the industry. People relate the IT and ITES related jobs only to the engineering subjects. Hence, people want to admit their children in engineering education.

2. In many Universities, B.Sc courses are also offered in computer related subjects. Currently, no education is complete without computer skills.

3. There are enough job opportunities for all. Even a student with 10th standard qualification with good academic record and communication skills can acquire the skills needed by the industry. After getting into the job, he can acquire more qualifications.

4. Information Technology is integral part of all the subject.

5. Presently, we do not have proper counselling system to help the students.

6. After completing 12th Standard, students from South India, prefer to pursue in Engineering and Medicine; Students from North India prefer Arts and Science.

7. After completing the Schooling, the students should (1) self evaluate themselves and find out their interest with the help of their parents and teachers and (2) identify the field of education, based on the interest.

8. Even if they pursue Arts and Science courses, they can go for MBA. Even engineering students go for 'diversified education' and go for MBA courses. Now 'Integrated or Inter-disciplinary approach' is taking place.

7. Last year 1,00,000 engineering seats were allotted by the authorities in 300 colleges / deemed universities in Tamilnadu. Out of this 75% went to IT and IT related courses. Only 25% were allotted for other engineering courses like Civil, Mechanical courses. Out of 75,000 students, how many would get jobs? There will be a tough competition. But competition in the other 25% like civil, mechanical engineering courses are less. There are more employment opportunities for these subjects.

8. Industries want only basic degree and minimum computer knowledge. The students should choose good educational institutions.

9. Bio Technology and Nano Technology have great future in the next 10 years.

10. Industry is insisting on soft skills. They insist on 'English language communication skills'

11. We fail in arriving at the level of language communication knowledge of the students. At the end of the course only, we realise that they lack in language skills. In Anna University, Coimbatore, we have started assessing the newly joined students for their language skills and they are graded accordingly. We are going to support them for improving their language skills, to suit the International standards.

12. I advise the students not to be carried away by the trends or hype. They should choose any branch whether engineering or arts and science. Also improve the computer skills. Definitely they will get the job. They should also think as to how they would contribute to the Nation. Whichever course, they choose, they can contribute to the Nation.

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A perspective on education in United States - Few tips to aspiring students

PodUniversal Edition 14 - July 2007

During the last week of June 2007, Prime Point Foundation and Stenographers' Guild jointly organised an interaction session at Chennai for students with Prof. Sreenath Sreenivasan, Dean of Students, Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism, USA.

During this interaction session, Prof. Sreenath Sreenivasan explained the various levels of education in USA, eligibility conditions, Admission procedures, cost aspects, future prospects and common mistakes committed by the students during application stage, etc. He has also provided various useful weblinks which may be of help to the students. Extract of his discussion is reproduced in this podshow for the benefit of global students.

If you want to download the entire podcast, right click this link and save to your desktop. (5.5 mb in wmv format - you can play in windows media player)

You may also view and listen to this podcast from this window. Please click 'click to play' below the image.

Click To Play

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Do you want to become Television anchor and artist? - Few tips

How to become Television anchor and actor? This question in the minds of many aspiring persons is answered in this podcast.

Ms Prithi Raj, a well known Television anchor and artist of South India in an exclusive podcast interview with K. Srinivasan gives few tips.

Please click 'play' to listen to the streaming audio

Download mp3 file

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Team building and leadership - First step for career growth

Anyone aspiring for career growth should develop team building and leadership skills. Good leaders are always good team players.

Mr T S Raghavan, Former Chairman of Indian Bank, one of the leading banks in India in an exclusive podcast interview with K. Srinivasan, speaks about the relevance of team building and leadership styles. He also cites and quotes the instances where Sri Rama exhibits 'leadership styles' in Indian epic 'Ramayana'.

Please click 'play' to listen to streaming audio. (11m 19s)

Click to download mp3 file

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Skills and attitudes needed for success in the career

What are the skills and attitudes needed for success in the career at different levels viz. entry, middle and top level.

Mr K Pandiyarajan, Founder and Chairman, MaFoi Consultants, India's No 1 HR Consultants, in an exclusive podcast with K. Srinivasan speaks about the various skills needed for success in the career. He also shares some simple tips.

Please click 'play' to listen to streaming audio

Download mp3 file

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