“Your Career Advisor” is responding this week to:

• What is the difference between General Manager and Managing Director ?

• “Where can I learn about jewelry design ?”

• “How can I benefit from my pharmaceutical education and IT skills ?”

• “I am late to get my first job, what to do ?”

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 is the difference between General Manager and Managing Director ?

I would greatly appreciate if you could highlight for me the differences between the two positions: General Manager & Managing Director.
 

1. Can you have both titles in the same organization? If so, who would be higher in rank?
2. Are there industries/companies that would use one title, but not the other?

3. What about advertising agencies, which title are they likely to use and why?

Y. H. (undisclosed)

Replying:

Dear Mr. H.

The two position titles are different, yet in small organizations some people would use them interchangeably. Formally, the Managing Director exists in companies that have a board of directors and adopt the Anglo Saxon system of Chairman and Managing Director (even though one person may in some cases fill both positions). The Managing Director is the most senior full time executive of the company, implementing the Board’s decisions. The American system and the French system do not have managing directors. In France for instance they have the PDG (President – Directeur General), combining Chairman and Managing Director.

Having said that, it is obvious that a Managing Director is more senior than a General Manager.

Just to be comprehensive, some financial institutions in the US (such as Morgan Stanley), use the title Managing Director , however in a different context than the one we outlined above. These are exceptions.

The title of General Manager, is just a title reflecting a certain seniority (where managers and senior managers would be reporting to him/her), there may be many General Managers in a certain company… it does not necessarily exist in all companies, you may find certain organizations using Vice President, Director or Division Head instead. In others that use General Manager, you may find some also having ‘Senior General Manager’ titles. So, in brief it is just another organizational title.

We cannot really say titles are influenced by an industry… rather more by the legal status of a firm, a partnership for instance (applicable to many law, consulting, audit and advertising firms) may opt to use the titles of Partner, Principal and Senior Manager instead. In international organizations such as the United Nations and its various agencies, you will find they use more Executive Director and Director. So, there are no rules here.

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q2: Where can I learn about jewelry design ?

I graduated from the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences 1991, and my high school certificate was from a French School. I am also a wife with 2 children.

I held many jobs like secretary and a credit analyst in a Multinational Oil and Gas company, and now I am an account manager in a Managing consultancy and training company, but the problem is that now I feel that my character and personality don't match with a daily routine work. I 'd much prefer to work when I want to work and prefer to work like a designer as I really love to draw some designs of jewelry and I have to mention that I have a good taste in every thing concerning art, but don't know what to do to ameliorate my talent. I tried to find a school for designing in Egypt but it wasn't successful and now I feel that I don't want to continue in my current job and I want to move to work anything I love. I have to tell you, that I have excellent communication skills and all people told me that I have to go with an art career.

Can you please help to know what to do now?

M. N. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Ms. N.

You have had a diversified career so far. Usually we hear similar complaints as yours from someone who was ‘stuck’ in the same job for long, and that he / she does not like (such as a secretary, an accountant etc…). In your case, where you were in different roles, ranging from secretarial to account management, it is obvious that what you really dislike is a regular corporate job, regardless of what it is. You want to be on your own and managing your own time.

It is not unheard of, specially when it comes from mothers with young children. Some people elect to assume teaching / instructor positions in language institutes (if they have the right skills and interest), others work as translators or copywriters etc… Some others, with strong business or banking backgrounds would be free lance marketing consultants or financial consultants, working their own days and hours.

The above examples, would probably not apply to you, but the good news is that you seem to know what you are interested in, design and more specifically jewelry design. Now the problem is that most of the education and life long learning organizations in our part of the world, do not really offer such courses on a regular basis. We know of a number of ladies, who have developed such skills by practice and trial and error, whether it is jewelry or glass painting or other artistic hobbies that turn into a business, even if on a small scale.

If you really feel strongly about learning more in the field of jewelry design, you may wish to consider distance learning, this allows you access to courses offered abroad, mainly in the US. For a sample of such courses, please click here.

We hope the above was of some help to you.

Good Luck

Q3: How can I benefit from my pharmaceutical education and IT skills ?

I am a graduate from Tanta University’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Clinical Sciences. I graduates with a rank of “very good with honor” in 2001.

I am also a certified programmer with c+ and xml, I am an MCAD (Microsoft Certified Application Developer), how can I best utilize both qualifications ?

A. A. (Gharbeya)

Replying:

Dear Mr. A.

You were very brief in your message, for instance you did not explain what took you to study Pharmacy in the first place?, do you like to work in this field ? and why the interest in IT ?

Anyway, you seem to have done well on the technology front with the courses your attended and the Microsoft certification. Most likely, it is where you should be continuing with regards to work.

There is no easy answer to your question about ‘utilizing both qualifications’ unless it is to work in application development for a pharmaceutical company or at least a health care entity (hospital etc.). Alternatively, it could be for a Software firm or an IT consulting firm that has products that are specific to the pharmaceutical or health care industries.

We are sorry, we could not be of more help.

Good Luck

Q4: I am late to get my first job, what to do ?

I graduated from a Faculty of Commerce in 2000, and I took courses in English at the American University in Cairo. I also enrolled in the CIW (certified internet web master) program sponsored by the Ministry of Communication and delivered by IBM, however I was not able to work all these years for personal reasons, and now I want to work but I feel that I'm so late and honestly I forgot most of what I studied and I feel that working in IT needs always studying and updating and I couldn't do this.

I'm thinking now of refresh my computer skills like “office” by a short course but what indeed is your advice regarding me thinking now to enroll in a course in Human Resources ? What I'm afraid of is that working in HR always needs experience so is this course enough to fiend a job in HR or I must have experience and am I really late as I feel ?

A. E. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Ms. E.

We will not deny that yes, you are late getting your first job. This will not make things easy. We would also not recommend that you consider a technical job in the IT field as an option, for now at least. You university education was business oriented, and the CIW course may not be enough after such a time, when it was not immediately followed by a relevant job.

It is a wise decision, to at least ensure you have good PC skills (Microsoft Office and the likes).

Now regarding the field of Human Resources (HR), you did not explain why your particular interest in that area. In any case, you should note that in HR or in any other field, people do not always start with an experience. Otherwise no one can join. There are always entry level positions, where the person is expected to learn and grow with time. Obviously, enrolling in a good HR course will help provide you with the key concepts and more importantly, will demonstrate to a potential employer that you are really interested and serious about HR.

Frankly, we believe your key priority right now, is to find a job, any job, just get into the world of employment. At a later stage, you will find that you have a practical knowledge about the various types of jobs and you will be able to make a more educated choice. You cannot afford to be selective at the current stage.

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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