“Your Career Advisor” is responding this week to:

• Should I become a developer or a trainer? (e)
• What can a bored banker do next? (e)
• Could you help me prepare for my test? (d)
• What is franchising? (h)
• As a business undergraduate, what is next for me to learn? (d)
• What should we pay our Financial Controller? (c)

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: Should I become a developer or a trainer?

I am 20 years old and studying Information Systems in my fist year in university. I have been working with Microsoft technologies (for fun only) since I was 17. A year ago, I began working as an IT professional. I have the following certifications: MCSD.NET, MCDBA, MCSA, MCSE.

I am more oriented towards programming, and I can say that I am more of a database developer than a networking person. I have been working with : VB.NET, C+, SQL Server 2000, ASP.NET, XML Web services and Windows 2000 server.

Could you please tell me if I have a chance to work in Egypt with a good salary as a programmer ? And, do you think that working as Microsoft Trainer is better than Developer ?

M. L. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Mr. L.

What an impressive collection of Microsoft certifications you have ! J It is rarely found with a young professional of your age.

Could someone like you find a chance to work in Egypt for a decent salary ? Of course, we are surprise you are asking. Just check the vacancies skill-link.com fills every month. With your experience, certifications and more importantly your keen interest in IT, we have no doubt you will be in demand. Your salary should rapidly increase as your experience develops... not only in the tools (Microsoft or other) but also in project management, quality and in one or more industries (eg. banking, shipping, financial systems etc..).

Your second questions was about being a Microsoft Trainer or a Developer. Well, first of all you should do what you really like. However, we must tell you that career advancement, growing responsibilities and higher income are most likely to make the "developer" route more attractive for you. In other words, let us consider you do really well in either of those career tracks. In ten years, the "trainer" track may lead you to become a Training Center Manager or Training Manager at a large IT company. The "developer" career track could lead you to become one of the following: an IT Manager of a large organization, a Development Manager in a good software or web development company, a Senior Consultant in an IT consulting firm or systems integration company.

On another note, we advise you to stop referring to yourself or what you do as "programmer" and "programming". This is an old term from the days of Cobol and Fortran… now almost obsolete. We refer to that role and skill set now as "application developer" or "software developer"….

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q2: What can a bored banker do next?

I really like the advice you give, that is why I am mailing you today .

I graduated from Cairo University's Faculty of Economics & Political Sciences, majoring in economics. I have been working in a bank in credit for 3 years now. I am basically doing almost the same things every day..BORIIIIIIIIIING. I am bored with my job & I am looking for a more interesting job. I thought of marketing but it seems difficult to enter the field.

I need to feel that I am doing something special to the society and to my self ...I am considering quitting and enrolling in a full time masters program in economics or just start a chartered diploma in marketing to enable me to change my career.

Your advice will be of great value to me.

S. G. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Ms. G.

Thank you for your nice compliment J

Different people have different feelings and interest. Some find banking very exciting others wouldn't even touch it as a place to spend their working lives. Within banking, most professionals consider "credit" to be "THE" place to work in , as opposed to say operations or customer service. In the end, what matters are your own feelings and preferences.

You have tried banking, you definitely learnt a few useful things being in credit, now you have the right to move forward. The question is: to do what ?

Marketing is definitely one of many options. Unlike what you say, we believe getting a credit job is much more difficult to working in marketing. Just because of the law of supply and demand. There are much more marketing jobs available.

Whatever you do, do not quit before identifying your next job. Otherwise, you will be at a relatively weaker position and you may suffer from demoralization.

You did not exactly tell us what you find boring in working in banking credit, and why you think Marketing is interesting to you, why not sales for instance ?. Without knowing that for sure, our advice may not be on target. Obviously, if marketing attracts you, a logical first move would be to a marketing role in a financial services entity. At least the relevance of your experience and exposure will count, this could be in a bank, an consumer finance company (eg. Contact for car finance, Premium Cards, VISA International), in insurance (Allianz, CIL, AIG etc..) or in an investment services company (eg. EFG Hermes). Of course the latter is in a sector that has been hard hit by Egypt's economic downturn, so we wouldn't advice too much the investment / capital market industry for the time being.

Marketing could also be in a market research firm such as AC Nielsen, Synovate or NFO. The three of them operate in Egypt and both Synovate and NFO are skill-link.com clients. As for marketing in a fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company or a telecom business, well, the move will be much more challenging… but not impossible.

You have the analytical and banking experience to offer, and it may help to show more interest in marketing. Definitely obtaining a marketing certification would help justifying to others why you are interested and want to make the move. We find no strong case for you to enroll in an expensive and time consuming masters degree or MBA. Should you wish to pursue a post graduate degree in "economics" then you will be confirming you are really committed to a career in research and analysis… is this what you really want to do ?

If you want a real change, a sense of doing good and leveraging some of your studies, did you consider working with refugees ? skill-link.com announced a vacancy last week for the UNHCR ! Check it here.

Good Luck

Q3: Could you help me prepare for my test?

I work in public relations and communication in an organization that is dedicated to the development and skill upgrade of Egypt's private sector, funded by international donor organizations and aid programs.

Since we are supposed to deal with a variety of economic, financial and business issues, management has decided to require us to sit for a test to assess how well we know the various terms (terminology) in these fields. Could you please advise me as to where I can have easy and quick access to such information ? I know there are books I could obtain from abroad… but I cannot wait, since the test is a few days away.

All the help you can provide to assist me in better preparing for my test will be greatly appreciated.

K. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Mr. K.

It is a bit strange that the test is not held as part of the recruitment process. However, your managers are right, you should be aware of the fields you are dealing with ! Specially that you are in public relations and communications.

We have provided you with some links, to online reference sites, that are free and relevant to what you are looking for:

AmosWeb GLOSS*arama; offers a good online economic glossary. Click here.

Business Education site "BizEd" also has useful information for you. Click here.

The US Small Business Administration, has a web site with some relevant terms and definitions. Click here.

An last but not least, the New York Stock Exchange, the largest in the world has a glossary section on its web site, which you may wish to refer to. Click here.

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q4: What is franchising?

I am hearing and reading more and more the term "franchising" in business; could you tell me what it is exactly ?

A. Y. (Jordan)

Replying:

Dear Mr. Y.

Franchising is leveraging the success (brand recognition, systems and experience) of a business while maintaining your own entrepreneurial independence. Let us further explain that.

A company perfects a superior product or service and makes a success in that field. Then, for a fee or other concession, the successful company becomes a franchiser, showing others how to succeed in the same way. Result? The "franchiser"s own business expands far faster than otherwise possible since it does not need to invest heavily in premises, equipment, staff etc… The new "franchisee" gets an opportunity not otherwise available by starting on day one with a proven product / service, brand recognition and tested operations methods. On the other hand the franchisee (could be an individual or another company) enjoys personal financial independence. You, as a franchisee become management and the boss who will hire or fire. Thus the franchisee need not worry about losing his/her job because of company politics, new ownership, age or personality clash.

Let us take one of the best know examples in franchising: McDonald's, the global fast food giant. While the company owns some of its fast food outlets. A large percentage of these are owned and operated by franchisees. These franchisees could be individuals owning one or more outlets; or companies that own the outlets in a certain city, region or country. In both cases, the franchisee has to abide by the McDonald's quality standards, recipes, premises image, packaging guidelines, pricing, menus etc… Hence, when you walk into any McDonald's you feel they are identical. The franchisee in return for a fee (or a percentage of sales) enjoys the brand recognition, the customer flow and not having to invest in research, testing working methods or ingredients. While this example relates to fast food, it also exists in motels, photo development shops, photocopying centers, ready made garments, ice cream shops, training centers, toy stores etc…

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q5: As a business undergraduate, what is next for me to learn?

As a university student studying "business", with working computer knowledge -MS Office, Internet surfing, etc; I would like to know what's the next thing I'm supposed to learn ? There are many IT courses of programs that I don't know what they do, C++ and Visual Basic for instance. So supposedly if my next step is to learn database, what programs am I to learn ?

S. G. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Miss G.

Being competent with the personal computer (PC), MS Office (word, excel, power point etc..) and internet surfing are basic skills any professional "must" have now a days. Ten years ago, a selected few knew them well (the internet appeared in Egypt in the mid nineties), however now a days, high school students are becoming familiar with them.

There are lots of things you could learn… why is your question necessarily related to IT ? Unless of course you would like to pursue a career in information technology. Otherwise, being fluent in two foreign languages, becoming good in written communications (eg. obtaining a certificate in business English or business French ) are of a higher priority for someone at your stage of life. Additionally, building your general knowledge through reading (books, business newspapers & magazines, regularly visiting useful internet portals), attending serious lectures and watching useful TV programs discussing economic, political and social issues and problems are also very important in turning you into a mature individual.

Having said the above, if you are really interested to add acquire some information technology skills, you may start with something that is both not complex and in a way fund. This could include course in web development where you could develop sites for your family, college, club or an association you are a member of. This will require you to learn HTML, Java and some graphics design. If you master these skills, you could even free lance for small businesses by helping them maintain their web sites or develop banners. Similarly, learning Visual Basic and Access will allow you to develop small scale application systems (eg. a library management system, a club membership system, a shop's inventory system etc…) and introduce you to all the key concepts of software development logic and database. The good thing about Visual Basic and Access is that they are not as complex - or expensive - to learn and acquire their software, compare to say Oracle. Also, C and C+ are more difficult and you will not really use them until you are working in a more elaborate IT environment on complex solutions and large scale systems.

As you progress in the IT field, and still are interested to acquire more advanced knowledge you may start learning networking, operating systems (such as UNIX) and more advanced development tools. But do not start with these now.

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q6: What should we pay our Financial Controller?

I am a senior executive in a large Egyptian private sector cement company - name withheld. Our annual sales are in the hundreds of millions per annum.

As we are currently in the process of reviewing our salaries and compensation, I seek your advice as to what could be the average salary for the Financial Controller in our company.

S. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Mr. S.

Average salaries, while indicative have to be handled cautiously, since figures vary for a particular job, from one industry segment to the other and according to the type of company (multinational, joint venture, private sector, etc…) size and where it is in its life cycle (newly established, growing, mature etc…).

Additionally, the salary determined for a particular position, usually reflects priorities and focus of the position, that differs for the same job from one entity to the other.

One should also remember that salaries are not be considered on their own, they are part of a total compensation that may include:

• benefits such as medical insurance, transportation, mobile phone allowances, end of service fund contribution etc…;
• Incentives, in the form of bonuses, profit sharing etc…

Having said that, the guideline we present below is derived from a sample of comparable positions in "large" "manufacturing or industrial" companies. We have provided an average monthly salary (of the sample) and a median (mid point between high and low salaries).

Therefore for the position of Financial Controller, sometimes also named Head of Accounting (reporting to a Chief Financial Officer of Finance Director, ie. not the most senior finance & accounting person in the company), the average monthly salary was found to be: LE 15,000 while the median was: LE 19,000.

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

Top