“Your Career Advisor” is responding this week to:

• What would my salary be in Alex and in Cairo? (c)
• What are the average salaries for sales representatives? (c)
• As an ex Police Officer, how to best apply for a banking position? (b)
• Where to find information on feasibility studies? (h)

All reasonable questions related to careers, skill development or employment related issues – sent to advisor@skill-link.com - would be addressed in this section every week.

Q1: What would my salary be in Alex and in Cairo?

I am a systems engineer; holding a Bachelor's degree in communication & electronics engineering from Alexandria University (2001), with a grade of Good. I am also a Microsoft MCSE and CISCO CCNA certified; currently working in the networking field in the Control and IT department of a stevedoring company in Alexandria.

My job duties are diversified, the following are some highlights:

• Managing Windows servers and performing system administration tasks.
• Implementing disaster recovery procedures; periodical SQL database backup.
• Deploying all 3rd party applications.
• Configuring TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, IIS and managing Active Directory.
• Providing users with technical support, LAN & Internet connectivity.
• Designing corporate official web site using FrontPage, and Intranet setup.
• Network design and installations of IT and telecom equipment and structured cabling.
• PC hardware and other electronic devices component-level and board-level repair .
• Assisting manager in developing IT infrastructure, and supervision over technicians.
• PBX telephony and bulk/truck scales software and hardware engineering.

Could you please advise on the average salary for similar positions with similar years of experience in an IT department ? And are the salaries higher in Cairo for this same kind job? Please clarify the averages for different sizes of companies.

O. (Alexandria)

Replying:

Dear Mr. O.

You definitely have an impressive CV for an IT professional with a little over one and a half years of full time experience. Both the breadth and diversity of your role, and your certifications are professionally interesting and attractive. You are lucky to have been involved in doing so many things in such a short time span, as you stated. Your interest in your skill development is also commendable.

Now, your question requires providing you with a detailed salary survey on junior IT professionals in Egypt. We periodically provide such information on skill-link.com's Interest Zone. However, let us provide you with the following useful information:

• Salaries in Alexandria are lower than in Cairo. This is for a number of reasons, some have to do with the relatively lower cost of living in Alex, the other is due to the fact that more job opportunities are available in Cairo and in larger organizations. Even within Alex as in Cairo, salaries vary, as we often state, due to the type of company, the role, the work conditions, the benefits etc..
• Someone with your experience, education / training, could be targeting an LE 2,500 gross monthly salary in the Greater Cairo area. This will more most likely in an entity that heavily relies on information technology in its operations (eg. an internet service provider, a telecom company, a large bank or a well structure manufacturing company). In Alexandria, most likely you will be aiming at more or less 70% to 80% of the previously mentioned figure (there are exceptions of course).

By the way, you described yourself as working in the networking field, going through your job responsibilities, you are definitely doing more than that. Maybe the main theme is networking, but development and broad technical support are also obviously there.

Should you get more operating systems experience other than Microsoft (specially UNIX) and database exposure (Oracle ?); supplemented with an Oracle Certification, you could not be better qualified for a technical support manager role or an IT Manager of a small to medium sized company.

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q2: What are the average salaries for sales representatives?

I am the Managing Director of a medium sized service company, dealing mainly with businesses and occasionally with individuals. Could you tell me what are the average salaries in Egypt for sales representatives ?

S. K. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Mr. K.

The job of "Sales Representative" is used to describe those whose main duties are to contact existing and potential clients in order to sell their employer's services or products. While they may carry different titles (sales executive, relationship officer, account executive, or even the misleading title of marketing executive) they all refer to those who do not have supervisory or management responsibilities of more junior staff members. In some companies, these individuals carry a "fancier" title on their business cards to help them get through more easily to potential clients, these titles could be : Assistant Manager or Consultant, but they basically all refer to our previous definition.

In the category of "Sales Representatives" job, it was found that the position usually carries a significant variable within the compensation. Whether an outright sales % bonus or a cash remuneration when targets are achieved (eg. three months salary if annual target is met). This has proven to be a useful tool for organizations to motivate their sales staff to work hard and close deals.

On average, this variable ranges from 30% to 60% of the total compensation for a reasonable performer (the % is meant to indicate the variable incentive from the overall compensation: fixed salary + variables). In some cases it reaches 80%.

The highest variable percentage was noticed amongst those employed in sales positions within the insurance, retail banking products and media publications advertising.

With regards to the salaries (fixed), the figures below present are our findings for Egypt assuming individuals who graduated from university, have at least basic English and basic PC skills. Salaries expressed in monthly "Gross Salary" terms, ie. before income tax and social security contribution deductions from the employee in question.

We have differentiated between various market segments in Egypt since salaries vary significantly; high end (multinationals and large private sector), mid market (joint ventures, average and above average well structured private sector) and low end of the market (for smaller or less sophisticated set ups).

Sales representatives with 0 to 2 years of experience:
High end of the market: LE 1,000 to LE 1,800 - with an average of LE 1,200
Mid market :                 LE 600 to LE 850 - with an average of LE 650
Low end of the market: LE 250 to LE 800 - with an average of LE 330

Sales representatives with > 2 to < 6 years of experience:
High end of the market: LE 1,200 to LE 2,500 - with an average of LE 1,800
Mid market :                 LE 750 to LE 950 - with an average of LE 850
Low end of the market: LE 400 to LE 800 - with an average of LE 450

Sales representatives with 6 to < 12 years of experience:
High end of the market: LE 2,400 to LE 7,000 - with an average of LE 5,200
Mid market :                 LE 1,000 to LE 2,500 - with an average of LE 1,800
Low end of the market: LE 750 to LE 1,200 - with an average of LE 900

The above figures represent the low average and high average in each market category (not the lowest or highest salary).

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q3: As an ex Police Officer, how to best apply for a banking position?

I am an Egyptian in my mid thirties, who joined the Police Academy and worked as a police officer for several years. I then decided to change my career and joined a public sector bank, first in the Legal Department, then moved to Credit. During this time, I also obtained a B.Sc. in Commerce.

In light of my special background and situation, and my interest to send my CV to other banks, I need your advice as to how to present it in the right way.

H. R. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Mr. R.

It is quite a career change you made !

The good news is that the difficult step is already done, your first move a few years ago into banking from a police job. Of course, what smoothed the move, is that you joined a legal position (close to your original background), nevertheless you later got involved in credit. Hence, a second move within banking is much easier now.

There are no special "issues" to bear in mind when preparing a cover letter and CV to potential banks. Of course, you should stress in both of them your banking skills and exposure…. In other words, start your CV with the "career history" section, elaborating on the bank part, then mention very briefly your "police" years. This is to be followed by the "education" section, where the "Commerce" degree should come first, followed by the Police Academy degree, mentioning between bracket that it includes the full requirements of a BA in Law from an Egyptian university.

Enrolling in a credit course would definitely make your case stronger.

For general guidelines about how to prepare your cover letter and CV/resume, please refer to the "Career Resources" section of skill-link.com's "Interest Zone"

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q4: Where to find information on feasibility studies?

I am an academic researcher , who graduated from Alexandria University's Faculty of Commerce in 2000. I was wondering if you could guide me where can I find articles on feasibility study, or it would much more helpful if I could find on line samples of feasibility studies that can guide an inexperienced team of academics.

R. A. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Ms. A.

Feasibility studies, business planning, stock research and credit assessment are all fields requiring more or less a similar skill set. While each may differ in focus and scope, they all require an analytical mind, the ability to understand a business and its cycle, market conditions and trends, in addition to the understanding of financial figures and how to develop financial models (budgets, balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements etc..).

A feasibility study in particular, may start with a market study (what is it the service or product we are producing, how to acquire it, who will buy it, how to distribute it and price it, what are the competitors and substitutes, barriers to market entry etc…). Based on the market assessment, the analyst would identify the required infrastructure (corporate, equipment, premises, technology etc…), staffing and so on…. Then all these ingredients are translated into a financial model to assess the financial viability (liquidity, profitability etc…) of the contemplated business or project. Add to this assessing the tax implications, licenses required and identifying sources of financing (capital, debt etc..).

Our long introduction was intended to demonstrate, that there are various aspects to be learnt and mastered. Starting with "strategy", "business planning" and "market research", to "financial planning" and "corporate structuring".

As per the above, one needs to read in a number of areas. Below, are some resources you may find useful:

Bplans.com offers some sample business plans, you may be interested to visit. Click here.

The US Small Business Administration is also providing some sample business plans. Click here.

The Wall Street Journal, has a dedicated web site for start up businesses, check it out by clicking here, specially the "Business Plan Tools" section.

The Internet Journal or Strategy & Planning, allows visitors to download articles. Click here.

The Center of Business Planning ( http://www.businessplans.org ) and Morebusiness.com are also worth visiting.

A business plan, without the financial elements, is provided here for free.

To get free sample financial plans on Excel, you may wish to consider Planware.org, click here.

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Note from the editor: 
Employer names and inquiry sender names were withheld for confidentiality

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