Student Visa Info

Board exams are over — the golden period of school days comes to a sudden end. It’s the time to understand a term so carelessly used before — career.

It’s the toughest part of life, trying to figure out where to begin from. Unluckily, in India careers are mostly decided by parents; students rarely get a chance to decide what they want.

It’s a good idea to match your career options with your skills and favorite. Take your time and learn about the likely options and how to achieve them.

Your career actually begins with choosing a college. It is a big decision. The key is to remember that there’s no such thing as a “perfect” college. You will require to find out the list of colleges and universities that match your preferences.

And one of the biggest issues is one increasingly facing Indian students. Should you sit for a competitive exam and qualify for a renowned college in India or should you go abroad? There are loads of confusing questions associated with this problem, so let’s get started.

Discover College

Discover your interests and take the time to find the college that’s right for you. It’s always better to do a bit of research before you go to any consultant. It makes his or her life easy too. Once you have discovered the options, start deleting those names that you don’t find useful or promising. Find the college courses most interesting for you.

Make a decision the place you want to study?

Once you have discovered the universities based on your choice of course, a big task still remains. You need to decide which country you want to go and why. Is it the glory called United States or is it the United Kingdom? Or the lovely country called Australia? You need to do a SWOT analysis [Strength, Weakness, Opportunity & Threat] which will help you to decrease your list even further.

A useful look at these few things may make you feel much more relaxed:

(1) Which Courses do you want to study?

(2)Does it match with your desired career option?

(3) How are the lecturers/professors?

(4)How is the Alumni Relationship?

(5)Are there any job/placement opportunities

Financial plan

It is good to have goal. Keep in mind your budget, too. A lot of parents look for a bank loan or scholarships — I’ll come to that later — as a means to fund his/her son/daughter’s higher academic needs. Please keep this in mind: bank loans are not gifts but a responsibility to be repaid back. One needs to be practical to decide on the country and the course based on his/her financial standing.

Bank Loans

A number of nationalized banks suggest Educational loans for students aspiring to go overseas. It needs to be remembered: banks only provide a loan once they are sure of its repayment.

Scholarships

A word of wisdom — never ever depend on a scholarship for overseas Study. The reality is not every one gets it though every one wishes to get it. It depends greatly on your university and partly on your merit. . Our suggestion is: if you get it, good, but never depend on it.

Misconception

We receive at least 40-50 enquiries every day asking us to arrange for a scholarship or a bank loan. It needs to be clarified that no consultant can organize for a scholarship directly. They can assist or guide you to get one. The same is true with a bank loan.

A consulting company can refer your request for a loan to a bank but it is completely the judgment of the bank whether you are eligible for a loan or not. I have personally received enquiries like this: “Please tell me which University offers a loan for students?” I want to drive home this point straight away “No University offers loans to foreign students.” There are grants/bursaries for students of the home country.

On the pursue for UK jobs? Beware of bogus job agents

An rising number of students and jobseekers deficient to travel to the UK have fallen victim to scams by so-called recruitment agencies prompting them to complain to the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau and the British High Commission. The British High Commission during the past three months received as many as 20-30 complaints prompting them to issue a public warning this week to be wary of bogus recruitment agencies offering jobs and visas.

In one such complaint a person seeking a job had been required to pay Rs. 5,500,000 only to be taken for a ride. In another incident, a jobseeker from Homagama said after he paid the money to the staffing agent, he lost all contact with it. He had then lodged a complaint at the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau. However, later he approached another recruitment agency and eventually received a work visa. Officials at the Fraud Investigation Bureau explained that that the so-called recruitment agencies approach the public via advertisements offering advice and help on getting visas, gaining admittance to educational institutions, employment opportunities and sponsorships.

Once a possible student or jobseeker contacts the agencies they are told to pay large sums of money often ranging from Rs. 2,000,000 – Rs 5,000,000 or even some times more, officials at the Fraud Bureau said.

In some cases fraudulent documents such as bank statements and educational documents are prepared by the agents. SSP Pinidiya said that there were a considerable number of such illegitimate or unregistered agencies operating in the country and warned the people to be cautious when approaching recruitment agencies. He went on to explain that the most vulnerable group of people were the low-income earners and those who lacked proper education. “These people then find themselves in a worse economic condition than before,” he said said adding that investigations relating to these cases were being carried out.

A British High Commission spokesperson said many visas had been rejected due to forged documents being forwarded. He warned people not to hand in money or their passports to recruitment agents and to be vigilant and check that the agents are registered with the ‘Recruitment and Employment Confederation’, which could be accessed via their website www.rec.uk.com

With regard to student visas, he added that a list of state schools, further education colleges, universities and independent schools which are registered can be accessed at www.edubase.gov.uk or. Institutions can be searched by using the name, address, postcode or telephone number of the particular college. Furthermore, the public could also search ‘The Register of Education and Training Providers’, which contain information relating to registered institutions in the UK. All colleges that want to recruit overseas students (excluding those which do not recruit students from outside the EU) would appear on this list. If a particular institution is not displayed on the list, it is probably not a registered college, in which case the candidate would be refused a visa to the UK.

An MBA can generate all kinds of new career opportunities for you. Read about some MBA career paths and meet a number of recent MBA grads through “Day in the Life” profiles.

Marketing Careers
There are an huge amount of career opportunities and options for people with marketing MBAs. The most common are business positions such as marketing manager, brand manager, market research analyst, and new product manager. Persons with strong financial skills could seek a career in strategic or market related planning. Additional corporate positions such as sales manager, advertising manager, PR (public relations) director, and marketing communications manager are also common.

In marketing or advertising agencies, numerous opportunities exist in advertising, direct marketing, and communications specialization. Consulting firms also hire marketing MBAs as new market developers, strategists, and customer segmentation specialists.

Product management careers as well as brand management careers classically require that an applicant have an MBA, even at the entry level. However, some companies that focus intensively on sales promote these positions internally from highly successful sales legislature.

Product and Brand Managers
The product manager is completely responsible for the profitability and market growth of a product line. The product manager could be considered the CEO of a particular product. They typically coordinate and oversee a number of diverse divisions of a corporation to ensure the efficient and timely flow of a creation to market. While some product managers have international responsibilities, most product management positions focus on product and market development domestically. Product managers often will see encouragement to director or manager of a group of products or even to the position of VP of marketing.

Marketing Managers
The marketing managers responsibilities are similar to those of the product manager, but are focused on servicing and managing an ongoing relationship with existing customers. The marketing manager utilize skills in international marketing, client satisfaction and retention, market strategy, and emerging technologies. This position can be highly demanding and require intensive knowledge of market research and customer management.

Account Management Specialists
While it is not often requisite, having an MBA can be very beneficial in obtaining a position in account management roles. The account manager is responsible for a large number of the functions of a product manager, but on the advertising agency side of things.

Finance and Accounting Careers

Accounting or financial managers are the people responsible for supervision and maintaining the financial policy and history of a company. The accounting manager is paying attention more on financial reporting, while the financial manager is focused on strategy and money management. Finance has been one of the more popular choices for MBA focus or concentration.

A finance MBA can offer frequent possibilities and can be an effective tool to help with promotions in the professions discussed below. Most prospective jobs for finance MBAs fall within investment banks, corporations, and securities firms. Many finance MBA graduates also follow careers in the consulting industry.

Accounting Managers
Accounting managers working in a corporate setting perform responsibilities relating to tax reporting and management, and creating income statements inside of controller and audit groups. This career path may bring one to the positions of corporate treasurer, corporate controller, or CFO (chief finance officer). Professional accountants working for a public accounting company will perform functions similar to those performed by sovereign audit or tax consultants. An educational history or background based in accounting, either as a Masters degree or as a finance MBA, will give you some of the coursework you need to have in order to take the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) exam.

Financial Managers or Financial Analysts
Financial analysts and managers use historical (accounting) data in their decision making, however the number one role of the financial manager is to oversee the production of financial analysis and reports to help the company with decision making, business development, strategic planning, and alliance management. Through the use of these reports, the financial analyst helps to shape the companies investment and business growth. Cash management strategies developed and implemented by the financial analyst help the company to grow efficiently and allow for maximum profitability in its investments.
Financial analysts and mangers play an important part in mergers and global financing and expansion. Highly specialized knowledge in these areas is an important asset to the financial manager and his or her employer to maximize potential profit and reduce risk. Many companies utilize globally active consulting firms exclusively for these purposes.

Corporate Controllers
A controller is someone who is in charge of preparing a companies financial reports to forecast and sum-up the companies financial situation. The statements a controller would get together consist of balance sheets, income statements, earnings analyses, and expense analyses. Regulatory agencies may also require special reports from companies. Controllers arrange these reports. In addition, a controller will frequently be over the budget, auditing, and accounting departments of a company.

The MBA is a challenging study program for the following reasons:

1 There is a great deal of interesting material to soak up

2An intense study format and

3An experienced and international body of aggravated MBA students

The MBA Studies format is challenging whether you choose full time or part time. A solid training to each class session and class participation is strategically important as amazing amount of material is covered during each day. Teaching sessions are extremely interactive; the diversified work experience and creativity are highly valued during in-class discussions. Professional and active attitude are expected as well within teamwork sessions. For the same reasons the MBA Programme is hands-on and well in touch with the real business world. All these add to the value and quality of the Programme. And this is why it is important to try to grab the experience others are offering; equally crucial is to forward your work experience to others. Your time spent at an MBA School will become your competitive advantage strategically and in financial terms, sooner or later.

For the duration of the MBA Studies you and your colleagues form bonds that will most most likely stay forever, the outcome being, on top of everything else: “speaking the same language”. This network will be fruitful throughout your working life and beyond, and often you will find your colleagues from the least expected corners of the world.

I must confess that I have only been able to fully appreciate the advantages of my MBA Studies years after my graduation; after various jobs and positions held I could fully put into practice what I had learned. I also often received help and given a helping hand to many of my MBA ex-colleagues.

Your incentive is the professional business environment, the speed with which you absorb new things, and the creativity surrounding you. If you choose the innovative school that follows the needs of the market with respect to effective business operations (for example e-commerce, telecommunications), you will learn even more and really feel at the top of the technological developments.

Anyway, what you really learn during your MBA studies is time management and prioritizing. What you should know already before coming to study an MBA, is that quality is strategically important in business life and beyond.

What is an Executive MBA programmed?

An Executive MBA programmed provide an chance for experiences professionals to obtain a master’s degree in Business Administration on a schedule that minimizes disruption of work and personal pursuits. Such programmers include a cohort class structure that offers a lockstep, planned curriculum in an executive setting. In other words, members of each class begin the programmed at the same point, move through the curriculum together, and typically complete the degree requirements for graduation as a group. Executive MBA (EMBA) students are required to complete their degrees in two years or less. During that period, they gain a wide range of new skills and sharpen their analytical abilities by combining coursework with day-to-day professional experience.

A unique aspect of an EMBA programmed is the collective professional experience of its participants, which greatly enriches the educational environment. A team approach is often used to allow for the sharing of diverse perspectives on various topics; this interaction results in a challenging, stimulating learning experience that provides for maximum return on time and resources invested. EMBA students possess several years of significant, post-baccalaureate career experience. Most students are sponsored both financially and through release time by their employing organizations, and all continue to work full-time while enrolled in the programmed. To ensure optimum benefits to participants and the sponsoring organizations, class size and class structure facilitate close interaction between faculty and participants.

Can I afford executive MBA programmed?

Obtaining an MBA degree is an investment – an investment in learning and in a person’s career and future. The high quality of faculty, facilities and support staff necessary to provide a successful EMBA programmed dictates that such programmers include an asset by the participant’s sponsoring organization. Programmed costs are modest in comparison to the benefits yielded. In the majority of cases, students are sponsored fully, or in part, by their employers. Employers understand the spirited advantage they gain from having an employee whose management skills have been brought to the highest possible level. Students who are not sponsored by their companies often qualify for loans, scholarships, and/or other financial aid.

How could an managerial MBA degree impact my career?

An MBA degree reflects a sophisticated level of knowledge and skills concerning a wide range of contemporary management topics. It also implies a well-developed understanding of strategic thinking and planning in a globally competitive world. Professionally, an MBA provides the skills needed to gain additional management responsibility. For the entrepreneur, the knowledge gained in earning an MBA can make the difference between success and failure in highly competitive environment.

What is different about an executive MBA programmed curriculum?

Courses offered in an EMBA programmed are normally the same as those taught in traditional MBA programs – accounting, finance, statistics, management, marketing and information systems. However, EMBA courses are enhanced by the extensive professional experience of the participants and are uniquely structured to teach a maximum amount of course material in an accelerated timetable. In addition, senior faculty experienced in teaching and consulting are employed as principal instructors. Once all coursework is satisfactorily completed, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree or equivalent is awarded.

Who participates in executive MBA programmers?

A diverse group of professionals enter and complete EMBA programmers. What they share is a sincere desire to grow professionally by obtaining an MBA degree, and a willingness and ability to meet program time and course requirements. A number of factors are considered in selecting candidates for an EMBA programmed. In most cases, each applicant is evaluated on his or her own professional performance, academic records, GMAT scores, professional recommendations, and a demonstrated ability to accomplish graduate-level industry coursework. Most EMBA students enter a programmed with ten or more years of professional and/or managerial experience. An undergraduate degree is generally required, although it need not be a degree in business. Evaluation of students for admission to an EMBA programmed is a very individualized process. While test scores, grade point averages and other objective criteria are all considered, a prospective student’s backdrop, work experience, career goals, desire to succeed and numerous other factors are considered in making an admission decision.

What type of time commitment is involved?

EMBA students find themselves exhilarated to be back in the classroom among their professional and intellectual peers, where they can share the challenge of learning new methods and means for managing the business of doing business. Success in professional life demands a extensive and regular time commitment, and it is no different in an EMBA programmed. Over the course of the programmed, at least 15-20 hours every week should be allotted for some combination of classroom work, computer and research efforts, and course coursework. Added to the already heavy demands of a business career, the time involved in pursuing an MBA is considerable and requires a high level of motivation and commitment. The burden is eased by the support of other students and by the assistance of the EMBA programmed staff.