Food technologists help control quality
I am keen to pursue a career in food technology and biotechnology. What are the prospects in this area? I have BTech and MTech degrees in biotecnology and food technology respectively. I am open to working in both the government and corporate sectors. Food technologists work in the food processing industry which is among the fastest growing sectors in the country today with the growing demand for packaged and fast foods. Food technologists develop new and improve existing food products and set standards for producing, packing and marketing food. They usually specialise in fields such as fruit products, wheat based products, meat and dairy products or seafood and may work in a particular area such as supervising production , quality control , or conducting research and development work to improve current products and create new ones . They may also be called on to perform administrative , marketing and management duties or concentrate on controlling food quality. Companies like Hindustan Lever, Heinz, Kellogs, Nestle and many others recruit food science graduates for these jobs.
A post - graduate candidate in food technology can also work as a lecturer or an advisor in government colleges, Inspection Boards or Quality Control Cells of government food departments. I am a fulltime banker and will be completing around 20 years in the banking sector soon. I want to retire from a regular job and enrol for some training for voice over jobs. Please suggest institutes that provide such training. There is no formal career in providing voice overs for TV and film programmes. Such assignments are normally handled by those with some prior experience as disc jockeys (DJs), or radio jockeys (RJs) or those with professional stints in the TV and film industries. There are no formal courses in voice training, except for some short-term courses in news-reading and presentation offered by wellknown DJs/ RJs and some TV and film training institutes. If you think you have a good voice and the confidence to handle voice recordings, I would suggest that you record your voice with a variety of voice modulations doing different kinds of recordings — documentaries, voice overs, ad jingles, RJing etc - on any recording device, and take it across to recording studios. Most studios will either call you for an audition, or keep the voice catalogued for use as demo, for the requirements of filmmakers, production companies or TV and radio channels. You can also directly approach TV production houses, and radio channels and leave a copy of your show reel with them. However keep in mind that most jobs in voice overs are mostly part-time/ freelance jobs and it is difficult to maintain a full-time professional career in this field. I am a graduate and currently working in one of the Big 4 accounting firms. I am confused between ACCA or MBA. I think my interests lie in both the fields so how do I choose? You need to think about what you are good at and the kind of job and work you like to do. If you are good at your current job and wish to do similar kind of work at a more advanced level, then the ACCA (Membership in the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, of UK) which is a professional qualification in the field of accountancy, auditing and taxation will enable you to pursue a rewarding career in accountancy, audit, finance, and taxation in India and abroad. An MBA in finance is a good option for those with strong analytical and reasoning ability who can handle not just the conventional auditing and accounting, but also a vast range of activities like fund raising, foreign exchange, treasury management, investment banking, money market operations, securities management and financial and strategy consulting. You also need to be prepared to work towards getting into a top-level MBA institute which given today’s competition is a difficult goal. So dependent on the kind of skills you have and the work you can visualize yourself doing, you can make your choice. The columnist is director of Career Smarts and the author of The Penguin India Book of Careers Vol 1 and 2.