Author: Aaswad Mohan

Business Consultant | Coach | Speaker | Author
5 Simple tips to achieve extreme health

5 Simple tips to achieve extreme health

1. Visualization:-

Start visualizing yourself as the healthiest person in the world. They say, everything is created twice i.e.first in the mind and then next in reality. This principle holds true with health as well.
So, vividly see the picture of yourself as completely fit and normal human being enjoying everything like others. Think about it, dream it, feel it, become confident about it and you will achieve it.
Visualize every night before going to bed & every morning as you wake up, you will start noticing that you are becoming healthier day by day.

2. Expression : –

This is very important. Most of us don’t allow the emotions to come out. However, ideally whatever we feel ex. Anger, jealousy, hatred even happiness should be expressed. Don’t store the emotions in your stomach otherwise. They will burst like a balloon one day.
It is generally said that people who cry often are weak. However, it is not the case. In fact, people who complain regularly are the strongest people in the world. So, crying out the stressful emotions will heal your body.
Follow this. ‘Think seriously and live lightly’. Well, this is a slogan of the ‘Indian Army’, and generally, we do exactly the opposite i.e.we think lightly and live seriously.
These expressions will regularize your breathing & help you to breathe freely with ease.

3. Lifestyle:-

According to a survey, an average Indian eats junk food 7 times a month. If we can reduce it to 2 times per month, it will not harm the stomach. Moreover, the fun element in eating out will be maintained. I personally love to try different veg dishes at various restaurants hence I will not even ask you to completely stop eating out. And eating out in the company of friends is good for overall emotional well being.
Then the extremely important part, no matter what is your choice of food, one must chew what he or she eats for at least 32 times. By the way, golfer Tiger Woods follow this technique. I learnt this simple tip from Mr Sandeep Maheshwari. I was suffering from acidity & other digestion related issues. As I started chewing my food 32 times, from very next day I was free from acidity completely and my digestion improved. And now, as I practice it daily my skin tone is enhanced, I became fairer, energetic and started to feel light from inside. This is the best beauty tip for girls which doesn’t cost money. Also, don’t forget to drink plenty of water every day.

Quick tips:

Eat Amla (Indian gooseberry) or other citrus fruits (lime-water is the best) and ‘Chyawanprash’ (a jam-like cooked mixture of sugar, honey, Triphala, ghee, sesame oil, berries and other herbs and spices. It is prepared as per the instructions suggested in Ayurvedic texts.) daily,to boost your immune system. This will help you to stay away from viral infections and illness due to season changes etc.
Stop bad habits like smoking, drinking, aerated drinks etc.
Reduce the TV time: If you are watching TV for two hours a day, I would suggest you reduce it to one hour. Carefully choose the programs that you watch. Don’t watch violence, too much family drama etc. Don’t allow the emotional atyachar created by media to affect you. Don’t watch the news for hours. It will help you feel light & empty. Remember, we must empty our mind while going to bed.

4. Relaxation:

We need to feel relaxed all the time. Ability to feel rested is lost due to constant engagements & busy lifestyle. But one should rest before he/she gets tired. This is the secret to longevity. Courtesy: Dale Carnegie’s book ‘How to stop worrying & start living’.
Secondly, learning the relaxation techniques like ‘SHAVASANA’ (A practice in Yoga) will help to rest every part of the body.
Taking small breaks while you work and taking a ‘POWER NAP’ can make you feel rested while at work.

5. Exercise:

Doing light exercising at home & making it a daily habit can turn the things around. Exercise coupled with Yoga can turn out to be a good combination and will help you to stay the enthusiastic whole day.
Practice deep breathing, and it will fill your body with more oxygen & thereby energize you.
Indulge yourself in sports you love. Participate & feel the thrill with full spirit of the game. You will start enjoying life.

Recreation is also a very important part of life. One can start hobbies like singing, dancing, painting, photography etc.

Well, few people may say that we can’t sing or dance. I would like to assure all of you that we can sing, dance and paint the way we want and take it to any level up. If you do it consistently without bothering what others will say, it will improve eventually.

Write something at the end of the day, play with your kids, pose crazy for photographs, click something with your cell phones. All these activities will make your life more interesting and you will hardly have time to worry about ill health.

Hope this article will serve you throughout your life. Don’t forget to put your comments below. You can connect with me via Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter.

Tips for great life

Tips for great life

# Life is simple. Do what you love today, don’t wait for tomorrow. If you find any given task difficult here are the steps to make it simple- Divide the big task in small parts.

Do what you can by yourself.
Delegate or take help from others for what you cannot do.
Review the progress time to time.
Finish what you started.
Simple isn’t it?

# Ultimate purpose of life is to live fully, happily. List down 20 things that make you happy. If you notice, most of these things are not big things. Small things make us happy the big way. Ex. Going for evening walk, reading, posing crazy for photographs, meeting old buddies etc. Start doing the things that you listed for yourself and your life will have a new meaning & happiness. Once you feel happy, you will realize that you automatically started making people around you happy.

# Buy more assets than liabilities. Warren Buffet said, “If you buy the things you don’t need, soon you will have to start selling the things that you need”. So keeping above in mind, if you buy more assets than liabilities, you will be financially sound throughout your life no matter how much money you make

# Health is a big treasure. Well, yes it is ! Number one priority for everybody should be health. If you are not fit to enjoy your money and goodness around then it is of no use right? It’s good if you don’t have any disease or ailment. However, most people don’t realize that they should continuously strive to become more energetic, enthusiastic and fit even when they are not ill or diseased. So start sparing time for exercise, meditation and make it a relaxing experience. Secondly, eating good, light & healthy food is as important as breath to life.

# Make good friends. It is said that you will become what you surround yourself with. So it’s important to make good friends. Most successful people are those who surround themselves to friends who inspire them and good books which elevate them to do the things. Well not a bad choice at all!

Success road map

Success road map

Are you wondering what this article is all about? Well, this title is taken from Life coaching sessions & guest lectures that I conducted at various Colleges in the city. Before we begin I should ask this question to everyone, What does success mean to you? I am sure all of us have different answers. Isn’t it? What is a success for one person need not to be a success for others? So let us try to understand success. Whichever path you choose, Broadly there are two dimensions of success
1.Domain knowledge.
2.Soft skills.
In a recently conducted survey at Stanford University, more than ten thousand highly successful graduates were interviewed. They had been asked to answer a simple question “How much percentage of your success do you attribute to a) Domain knowledge b) Soft skills? “Results of the survey revealed that 87.5% highly successful Stanford graduates attribute their success to Soft Skills whereas only 12.5% people attributed it to Domain knowledge. Surprisingly the time and money that we invest in learning these two skills is exactly the opposite. We spend 90% of our time and money on getting Domain knowledge whereas merely 10% of time and money on developing soft skills. Needless to say, in this article, we will be focusing on soft skills. Following are the most important skills that one needs to pay attention to while climbing the success ladder.

Communication Skills:-

Undoubtedly Communication is the most important life skill one has to master. Again communication is divided into two parts-
1.Effective speaking.
2.Effective listening.
Most of us focus on effective speaking but how many really focus on the second part i.e. Effective listening? Do people often say that there is nothing much to learn in becoming a good listener? But many times we experience that knowingly or unknowingly we interrupt others while they are trying to convey something. This is a result of our reaction to the speaker’s earlier words. Being a good listener requires patience and better emotions handling. So how to balance between effective speaking and listening?. The key here really is in speaking less than what you listen. If we listen more, a lot of time and energy of our life is saved as we learn faster that way.

Decision Making:-

Mostly we observe that we take ourselves granted as a good decision maker. But the reality is different. Let me share a very common scenario with you. Students graduate from colleges and move to the metro cities to get a good job. After working there for one or two years, they realize that it is difficult for them to take care of their ailing mother, who stays in the hometown along with managing their job. Options left with them are either to come back and find job in the hometown or take their mother along with them in the metro city. So what I want to point out here is that Why to leave home if a person has to take care of family also. Instead, one can find a job in the hometown itself, maybe less paying one initially. Why does this typical scenario occur with almost everyone these days? This is because we blindly follow what our seniors or peers did rather than knowing what is important for us. So now are we really good decision makers ? just need to give a thought. Effective decision making can be developed by proper planning and experience.

Interpersonal Relations:-

This is one of the most important yet most neglected aspects in our day to day life. The base of any relationship is building ‘Trust’.Trust can be developed only if we allow others to express their feelings & at the same time should respect them. But it is seen that most of the times we take relationships for granted and this is where the problem lies. One should continuously strive to maintain a relationship with others. Few activities will be helpful to stay in touch with people like inviting your friends, colleagues for a birthday party or going for a trekking camp together etc. There is a complete list of skills that are needed to be developed in order to lead a great life. However, we are dealing with a few and most important aspects of these skills here. So let us explore a few more skills.

Time Management:-

Our time on this earth is limited so we have to manage everything in the limited span of time. We have to arrange the activities that we want to do in such a way that enough time will be allocated for important tasks. This is easier said than done kind of stuff. Stephen R. Covey in his book wrote about four generations of time management. He divided activities that we perform in four quadrants which involves work which is
I Urgent and important.
II Non Urgent but Important.
III Not important and urgent.
IV Not important and not urgent.
So it is very important for us to categorize the activities in following quadrants and give due importance to tasks which are important. Quadrant II has dedicated Non-urgent but important activities, which usually deal with planning for future goals, relationship building. So focusing on the right things at right time will always save time. Remember A stitch in time saves nine!

Leadership:-

Recently one of my friends told me the best definition of a leader. He said, “A leader is one who listens to his team”.I found it perfect. Also, I found a story while surfing on the internet which can fit in here and will be helpful for developing leadership qualities. Story goes like this- There were about 70 scientists working on a very hectic project. All of them were really frustrated due to the pressure of work and the demands of their boss but everyone was loyal to him and did not think of quitting the job. One day, one scientist came to his boss and told him?—?Sir, I have promised to my children that I will take them to the exhibition going on in our township. So I want to leave the office at 5:30 pm. His boss replied, “OK,you’re permitted to leave the office early today”.The Scientist started working. He continued his work after lunch. As usual, he got involved to such an extent that he looked at his watch when he felt he was close to completion. The time was 8.30 PM. Suddenly he remembered of the promise he had given to his children. He looked for his boss, he was not there. Having told him in the morning itself, he closed everything and left for home. Deep within himself, he was feeling guilty for having disappointed his children. He reached home. Children were not there. His wife alone was sitting in the hall and reading magazines. The situation was explosive, any talk would boomerang on him. His wife asked him “Would you like to have coffee or shall I straight away serve dinner if you are hungry. The man replied, “If you would like to have coffee, I too will have but what about Children ??”. The wife replied “You don’t know??,your manager came here at 5.15 PM and has taken the children to the exhibition “.What had really happened was that the boss who granted him permission was observing him working seriously at 5.00 PM. He thought to himself, this person will not leave the work, but if he has promised his children they should enjoy the visit to the exhibition. So he took the lead in taking them to the exhibition The boss does not have to do it every time. But once it is done, loyalty is established. That is why all the scientists at Thumba (Place in Kerala, India. where Rocket Launching station is located) continued to work under their boss even though the stress was tremendous. By the way, can you guess who the boss was? He was none other than Dr APJ Abdul Kalam- Former President of India, The Missile man.

Creativity:-

While demonstrating creativity, I asked the students to take out all the coins that they had and design a logo to represent their group with the help of coins. To my surprise, almost all the students designed beautiful logos and explained the meaning that each logo conveyed. So I concluded that everyone is gifted with creative instinct, the thing we miss out is, it remains unexplored. Creativity is an approach that we can follow while dealing with day to day situations and try to make most out of it.

Problem Solving Ability: —

Most of the times we naturally run away from the problem until it worsens and we are left with no option but to solve it. This makes life difficult to live. It is always better to identify the major problems of our life and try to solve them every day. You will move one step closer to the solution of the problem each day if you proceed like this. Solving other people’s problem is a noble activity. This happens with us most of the times, when we see problems faced by other people, our problems most of the times when we see problems faced by other people, our problems appear less painful. So this habit of solving problems if inculcated in mind then it will help you to touch the sky. To sum up, I would like to say if you have all the above qualities and you are self-motivated to take on the world then no one can stop you. So -Define what Success is?

Identify steps to reach success
Take small steps every day to touch the glory.
All the best!

MBA – Choosing the right Specialization…

MBA – Choosing the right Specialization…

Almost all MBA students from Indian universities have this question in their minds as they begin with the 2nd semester. Well, this article will be useful for all such students who often get confused and keep juggling between the specializations.
The choice of Specialization is based on many factors like job opportunities, location, personality traits, specialized skills sets etc. Most of the B-schools offer basic specializations like Finance, Marketing, Human Resource, Information Technology, Operations Mangement. Other specializations available for students are Telecom Management, Hospitality/Healthcare management, Systems Management, Retail Management, International Business, Entrepreneurship etc.
In this article, we will focus on major basic specializations – what are the factors governing these specializations, what are the job functions of such specializations and skills required. Before choosing any specialization all MBA students should give a deep thought over job opportunities and future growth. Most importantly one must analyze his strengths, weaknesses, skill sets and interests and then select the appropriate specialization.

Financial Management:-

The duties of financial managers vary with their specific titles, which include Controller, treasurer or finance officer, credit manager, cash manager and risk & insurance manager.

Job Functions of a Finance Manager:-

Develop and analyze information to assess the current and future financial status of firms.
Evaluate data pertaining to costs in order to plan budgets.
Evaluate financial reporting systems, accounting and collection procedures, investment activities, make recommendations for changes to procedures, operating systems, budgets and other financial control functions.
Network within communities to find and attract new business.
Prepare financial and regulatory reports & communicate with stockholders and other investors to provide information, and to raise capital.

Analyze and classify risks and investments to determine their potential impacts on companies. Regulatory reports required by laws, regulations, and boards of directors.

Skill sets required to be a good Finance Manager:-

Candidates for financial management positions need many different skills. Interpersonal skills are important because these jobs involve managing people and working as part of a team to solve problems. Financial managers must have excellent communication skills to explain complex financial data. Because financial managers work extensively with various departments in their firm, a broad understanding of business is essential.
Financial managers should be creative thinkers and problem-solvers, applying their analytical skills to business. Financial managers must have knowledge of international finance because financial operations are increasingly being affected by the global economy. In addition, good knowledge of regulatory compliance procedures is essential.

Marketing Management:

Marketing can be a lucrative career if one has what it takes to be a winner. Marketing jobs may be broadly classified into domains like Sales, Pre-Sales and Market Research. However, the ultimate goal of all the marketing activities is to improve the sales. Marketing without sales is of hardly any use.

Job Functions of Marketing Management:-

Manage and coordinate all marketing, advertising and promotional staff and activities
Conduct market research to determine market requirements for existing and future products
Analysis of customer research, current market conditions and competitor information
Develop and implement marketing plans and projects for new and existing products
Manage the productivity of the marketing plans and projects
Monitor, review and report on all marketing activity and results
Determine and manage the marketing budget
Deliver marketing activity within agreed budget
Develop pricing strategy
Liaison with media and advertising
Skillsets required to be a good Marketing manager:-
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Organization and planning
Problem analysis and problem-solving
Team-leadership
Formal presentation skills
Persuasiveness
Adaptability
Innovation
Judgment
Decision-making
Stress tolerance
Collaboration
Burning Desire to succeed.
Goal Oriented Approch.

Human Resource Management:-

The designations acquired by the Human resource professional based on Qualification and Experience are HR Generalist, HR Executive and HR Manager. However tasks performed by all Human Resource professionals are more or less the same.

Roles & Responsibilities of Human Resource Manager:-

Recruiting
Hiring
Training
Organization Development
Communication
Performance Management
Coaching
Policy Recommendation
Salary and Benefits
Team Building
Employee Relations
Leadership
Skills required to be a Human Resource Manager
The HR skills will involve
People Handling Skills
Interview Skills
Stress Management
Communication Skills
Negotiation Skills
Team Work Skills
Computer Proficiency & Presentation Skills
Performance appraisal
Salary & Tax related knowledge
Budgeting Skills
Planning
Good e-mail writing
Liaisoning
Job postings on web-portals

Information & Technology Management:-

Information & Technology Industry emerged as the Highest Employment generator in the year 2010 in India. So there is huge scope for Professionals opting for IT as specialization.IT manager can work broadly in following domains namely as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Functional Consultants, as Business Analysts, Project Manager or as System Analysts.

Duties performed by an IT Manager:-

Roles and responsibilities of an IT manager may vary with Product, work Pattern and HR policies of the company. But broadly an IT manager is responsible to carry out following specific tasks.
Managing the complete Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
Involving Various stages like feasibility, Analysis, gathering requirement from client, Design, Development , Testing, Implementation and Maintenance.
Generating new business by carrying out Market research, lead generation etc.
Reporting to Top Management.
Analysis and Documentation of various phases of Product development, User manuals, Tooltips, Training material for internal purposes.
Co-ordinating with other departments like Finance, HR and Pre-sales etc.

Skillsets required for IT manager are:-

Excellent Communication Skills both verbal and written.
Good Documentation skills.
Good people as well as presentation skills.
Domain Knowledge
IT skills like managing various ERP packages, software products, handling search engines.
Business skills.
Market Research and Liaisoning.

Operations Management:-
Jobs performed by an operations Manager:-

All operations manager responsibilities are to be reported to the vice president or director of operations. An operations manager has to be aware of all the business processes being present in the company and review their performance at regular intervals. He has to discuss with the top management and suggest effective procedures for improving the processes. His main aim is to get quality production done in minimum expenditure, be it in any sector.

If he is working in the manufacturing sector, he has to manage inventory and logistics operations. He has to plan related policies and make sure they are implemented with regards to operations. An operations manager may also have to oversee aspects related to financial management and systems. He has to hold periodical meetings with members of the executive management for planning financial and operational concepts.

He has to review all the income and expenditure of the company and determine what else is required for the company to excel in its operations. At public and press meetings, an operations manager is required to act as a presenter for the goals and plans of the company. He has to face and try to resolve many different issues regarding quality of services, shipment delays, customer satisfaction and retaining, and other problems.

Some of the operations manager duties and responsibilities are associated with risk management, which is why this professional has to be good at decision making and problem-solving. This corporate job includes many other tasks in operations management. Now let us get to know about the operations manager salary range.

Entrepreneurship:-

An Entrepreneur is one who owns an enterprise, in a way he is a Manager. Entrepreneurship is beyond chalk and the talk. An Entrepreneur who owns small or medium enterprise (SME) is self-driven and contributes to the economic development of the society at large.He/she is responsible for managing all the activities & operations taking place in his firm.
Entrepreneurship is vast subject it cannot be discussed in a paragraph like this and skill required vary from business to business so broadly following are must skill to be a good entrepreneur.

Skill Needed to become a Successful Entrepreneur

Problem Solving Attitude.
Sales and marketing skills
Financial know-how.
Self-motivation skills.
Time management skills.
Administration skills.
This will clear all the doubts of most of the MBA aspirants however it is always advisable to work for at least 2-3 years before admitting yourself to premier B-school. This will help in getting a good understanding of the job market and areas of interests. Apart from this, there are tests like Aptitude test, Psychometric Tests, Brain Mapping etc. available. These tests followed by counselling sessions will help to perform a SWOT analysis(i.e. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats). Have great Career ahead All the Best!

Opportunities & Growth in IT sector

Opportunities & Growth in IT sector

According to the latest survey, Information & Technology (IT) sector is one of the highest employment generating sectors in India. Companies usually absorb talent from diverse disciplines. This article mainly focusses on what opportunities technical graduates can get in this booming sector. To get into the technical work profile, what are the tools & technologies available? What serves as a gateway for the students to the world of IT? answers to all such questions are incorporated in this article, so go ahead and knock the door.

When I say, technical graduates, it is usually referred to Engineers, MCAs, BCAs, M.Sc. (IT & Electronics ) & B.Sc. ( IT & Electronics) Along with MCM degree holders.As these degrees are generally preferred by most of the corporates. Technologies discussed in this article are widely accepted and used by most of the multinational corporations. The technologies are

ORACLE-

Search results of naukri.com alone show currently 2515 jobs are available for ORACLE DATABASE ADMINISTRATORs.This is one of the most widely used technologies in database computing and used by 80% of the corporates in the world. So naturally, growth in this technology is ever growing in India and abroad. Practically any graduate can pursue this course, but as I said earlier companies prefer only technical graduates listed above. Only those candidates should go for this who have got their degrees in the above-mentioned streams or are pursuing the same. People who have great analytical skills attain success & have a flourishing career.

LINUX –

Linux is a leading server operating system and runs the ten fastest supercomputers in the world. This shows it’s a very Comprehensive Enterprise server level operating systems used by most of the companies and ‘Data Centers’ in the world. The demand for this technology is also very high and people opting for “LINUX SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR” as a career are growing. Candidates with good knowledge of software installations & configurations on windows systems normally pick up Linux very easily. Strong knowledge of Hardware & Networking basics are the prerequisites to go for this career option.

JAVA-

Unlike ORACLE & LINUX, JAVA is a programming language. This programming language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities. So to gain expertise in JAVA one need to have a strong foundation with basic programming languages like C & C++. There is tremendous scope for JAVA professionals in the industry as demand for complex, fast & efficient applications is increasing day by day. All such web-based applications are built using JAVA.

PHP-MySQL-

Modern businesses demand creatively designed dynamic websites. So these technologies used coherently to cater to the need of the market. As the popularity of Business, as well as personal websites growing day by day more and more people, are jumping into these technologies as the opportunity to freelance are widely available here.

PHP is a general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for server-side web development where PHP generally runs on a web server.MySQL is a relational database management system (RDBMS) that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases.MySQL is a popular choice of database for use in web applications and is a central component of the widely used LAMP web application software stack.LAMP is an acronym for “Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl/PHP/Python”.

.Net-

Programmers produce software by combining their own source code with the .NET Framework and other libraries. The .NET Framework is used by most new applications created for the Windows platform. Companies & Software developers prefer this platform because of excellent features like Interoperability, Common Language Runtime Engine, Language Independence, Base Class Library, Simplified Deployment, security, portability.

Few Tips:-

All those who are willing to jumpstart their careers are advised to get yourself trained on any of these technologies so that chances of getting good jobs are better. These days companies prefer ON THE JOB training for fresh Candidates so that they don’t have to invest money in training & development of employees. Make a proper choice before selecting Training providing institutes, make sure that you interact with faculty before you enrol for the training courseware. If the faculty is from industry, then students should choose that academy because chances to learn current trends in the industry will be more, and that will keep them updated to the latest developments. Wish a great career to all !!!

Global Certifications Myths & Facts

Global Certifications Myths & Facts

As the Information Technology sector has grown remarkably since the last decade and a half, number of Globally Certified IT professionals has increased at the same rate as the technology. Let us first know what global certifications are and what is their significance in shaping one’s career in the software industry.

What are Global Certifications?

Global certifications are awarded to the candidates who have undergone a training course on leading technologies of a particular company and successfully completed the tests undertaken after training by the same company.

As the name suggests these certifications are given by a few international companies on their technologies which are recognized globally.

Here are some of the vendor-specific –certifications available in the industry.

  • Apple Inc. sponsors the Apple certification program
  • Cisco Systems sponsors the Cisco Career Certifications program
  • Citrix Systems sponsors the Citrix Certified Administrator program
  • Hewlett-Packard sponsor the HP-CP certifications related to HP Technologies
  • Dell sponsors the Dell Certified Systems Expert program with Associate and Master levels
  • IBM sponsors certifications
  • Juniper Networks sponsors the Juniper Networks Technical Certification Program
  • LANDesk sponsors the Certified LANDesk Administrator and Certified LANDesk Engineer program
  • Microsoft Corporation sponsors the Microsoft Certified Professional program
  • My SQL (as part of Sun Microsystems now) sponsors a certification program
  • Nortel sponsors the Nortel Certifications program
  • Novel sponsors a certification program
  • Object Management Group sponsors the Certified Professional program for the Unified Modeling Language
  • Oracle Corporation sponsors the Oracle Certification Program
  • Red Hat sponsors the Red Hat Certification Program
  • SAP sponsors individual training and certifications
  • SolarWinds sponsors the SolarWinds Certified Professional Program for network management
  • Sun Microsystems sponsors the Sun Certified Professional program
  • Sybase sponsors the Certified Sybase Professional program
  • Ubuntu provides an Ubuntu Certified Professional program
  • VMware sponsors certification programs (VCP & VCDX)
  • Zend Technologies sponsors the Zend Certified Engineer program

All these certifications are awarded by the concerned companies, or the authorized testing centres spread worldwide.How one gets benefitted by these certifications?

If you pass this examination, (which will be easy if you have had proper guidance) then you will be given a certification by the concerned company that you are certified in that particular technology.

For example, a person doing a core Java course from XYZ institute in ABCD gets a certificate from that institute saying he knows core Java. Another person is doing the same core Java course and appears for the exam conducted by Sun Microsystems and gets a certificate from the company itself.
Both put it down on their CVs.It is for you to decide as to who an interviewer will give more importance to.
Also, once you join any organization you will have to undergo any of these certifications, so it will give you an added advantage if you have it already.

So those who wish to have a good career in the Technical side of the IT sector should stress on these steps. As one gets certified he gets an added advantage over the other candidates and chances of his employability becomes bright. There are further divisions of these certifications like if one person is doing ORACLE DBA version 10g and wants to go for certification for the same technology, he needs to study the material provided by ORACLE University and then register himself for the tests at any of the nearby Prometric Testing centres and has to appear for the 3 tests. After the completion of these tests, he will be certified by Oracle Corporation and entitled for the benefits which we discussed above.

However one serious question is being asked these days, do these certifications really prove candidate’s employability? And do these certifications give job guarantee during the current IT meltdown????

Well, the answer is, these certifications definitely add value to one’s resume but do not necessarily guarantee a job. When you face the interview, you have to be like before your Certification gets desired.Certification does not plug the gaps in your career or Personality. In the end, I can say Knowledge matters the most over what we call as a piece of paper.

Career in Databases

Career in Databases

What is a Database?

A database is an integrated collection of logically related records or files consolidated into a common pool that provides data for one or more multiple users. To manage database you need to know the database management systems (DBMS). Now the question arises,

What is DBMS?

A database management system (DBMS) consists of software that organizes the storage of data. A DBMS controls the creation, maintenance, and use of the database storage structures of organizations and of their end users. It allows organizations to place control of organization-wide database development in the hands of Database Administrators (DBAs) and other specialists. In large systems, a DBMS allows users and other software to store and retrieve data in a structured way.
Most of the databases these days uses Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) i.e. data is stored in the database in the form of different tables and these tables are related to each other in the certain way hence called ‘Relational DBMS’.Here are some few databases which use RDBMS.
• ORACLE
• Sybase
• IBM DB2
• SQL Server
• My SQL
• Teradata
• InGrace etc.

To get the access to the data from any of these databases one need to learn only one Language known as Structured Query Language i.e.SQL which is standardized by American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

What is ORACLE?

Oracle Corporation is a software company specializes in developing and marketing enterprise software products — particularly database management systems. Through organic growth and a number of high-profile acquisitions, Oracle enlarged its share of the software market. By 2007 Oracle had the third-largest software revenue, after Microsoft and IBM. The products from oracle database are:

Database products

  • Oracle Database
  • Oracle Real Application Clusters
  • Data warehousing tools
  • HP Oracle Exadata
  • Database security utilities
  • Oracle Berkeley DB
  • Oracle Secure Enterprise Search (SES)
  • Oracle Enterprise Manager
  • Oracle Rdb server (OpenVMS platform)

The corporation has arguably become best-known due to association with its flagship product, the Oracle database. The company also builds tools for database development,middle-tier software, enterprise resource planning software (ERP), customer relationship management software (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) software.

Among all these databases ORACLE DATABASE is one of the most widely used and comprehensive, and its version 9i is used by 84% people in the world according to IOUG Survey on Technologies for 2006, and Beyond is sponsored by Symantec, and produced by Unisphere Media, L.L.C.Oracle has marketed so many products out of which ORACLE 9i DATABASE is one of the good products and widely used in the software industry. To manage large enterprise level databases you need to become Database Administrator (DBA) as I mentioned earlier. There are two tracks to have a career in Oracle database.

• Developer’s track
• DBA Track

In both tracks Introduction to SQL 9i fundamentals is necessary. But as we move forward track changes like
In Developer’s tack, one need to learn
• SQL 9i Fundamentals
• ORACLE 9i program with PL/SQL
• ORACLE FORMS-Build internet Applications

In DBA track one learns the following particulars of the syllabus prescribed by ORACLE University

• SQL 9i Fundamentals
• Oracle 9i- Database Fundamentals -I
• Oracle 9i- Database Fundamentals –II
• Oracle 9i Database- Performance Tuning

After completing this courseware one need to upgrade to either ORACLE 10g or ORACLE 11g as these are the latest releases by Oracle.

ORACLE Database Administrator is very Responsible Position in Large enterprises. There are Major Tasks of ORACLE DBA listed below.

To plan and create Databases
To manage Database Availability
TO manage Physical and Logical Structures
To manage storage based on Design
To manage security
Network Administration
Backup and Recovery
Database Tuning

After learning Oracle 9i, you can even work on ORACLE 11i a product of Oracle popularly known as ORACLE financials or Oracle Applications.

Who should learn?

Any graduate can learn Oracle DBA, but IT companies prefer Engineering Students, Master of Computer Application Students ( MCA), M.Sc. (IT/COMP) , BSC, BCA students over any other graduate. So those who are in the final year or pre-final year can look forward towards it as it offers a lucrative career in the IT sector.