“Your Career Advisor” is responding this week to:

• "I am working on my CCNA, but do not want a technical job; where to go?"
• "What is the difference between corporate banking and credit?"
• "What are my chances to be employed by Microsoft?"
• "After being veiled, I left my work at a hotel, where to go?"
• "What does an American need to do, to get a work permit in Egypt?"

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: I am working on my CCNA, but do not want a technical job; where to go ?
I am a recent graduate of Ain Shams University's Faculty of Engineering (Civil); currently enrolled in a CCNA (CISCO) certification program. However, I am not interested to work in the technical field.

Could you please advise me on how to use this certification to work in the field of network marketing or sales ? and please provide me by the name of companies working in the networks business in Egypt.

M. Y. A. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Mr. Y.

You are still on the first step of your professional career, therefore you are not "stuck" in any particular role or function. Having a CISCO certification is useful, at least it demonstrates you learnt something useful with regards to networking in general and CISCO products in particular.

Now that you know that you are not interested in a technical support or network design type of jobs; you should be exploring other areas. It should not necessarily be networking related at all. You should not be obliged to restrict yourself in that area just because you attended a CISCO course for a few months. Otherwise, you might as well be restricting yourself to searching for a civil engineering job, since you have been studying it for several year.

Assuming you are really interested in networking, away from very technical roles, it makes sense to be looking for a business developing role (sales or marketing). Of course you will be seeking an entry level position, since you are yet to build hands on experience in that area. Now, where should you be looking ? the options are numerous, it is beyond the scope of "Your Career Advisor" to provide a comprehensive list of all companies and businesses selling or distributing networking equipment and solutions. You may want to start by CISCO itself, and inquire about their list of distributors and value added resellers, then try business directories / online portals for those businesses dealing in the networks field (including all internet service providers).

We hope the above was of some use to you.
Good Luck

Q2: What is the difference between corporate banking and credit ?
I was recently hired by a well known commercial bank in Kuwait. In the bank I am working in has a Corporate Banking department and a Credit Department' other banks have Credit & Marketing departments or use different names. What is the difference between Corporate Banking and Credit ? and what is each department responsible for ?

G. J. (Kuwait)

Replying:

Dear Mr. J.

Interesting question, traditionally banks used to refer to the function addressing corporate clients (ie non retail clients) as Credit or Credit & Marketing, under the assumption that most of the needs of corporate clients would be credit related services. However as banks developed it became obvious corporate banking needs are more than just credit. It was also concluded that there should be an independent function within banks (ie. that is not involved in selling services to clients) to assess and monitor the credit (risk) aspects.

The following are the main activities / tasks of each function:

A. Credit (of Credit Control):

· Develop bank credit policies and procedures and risk classification guidelines.
· Provide technical guidance to business units at Head Office or branches entrusted with credit related functions.
· Ensure the credit function is properly performed bank wide.
· Review credit proposals presented to the Credit Committee(s) are in accordance to Bank policies and are adequately supported by the relevant information for decision making.
· Comment on credit proposals in light of own analysis and in light of the bank's overall credit exposure (eg. concentration in a particular sector, pledging of particular assets: security, real estate...).
· Review credit lines and ensure they are classified according to the approved guidelines.
· Review credit lines overages and ensure proper action is taken.
· Determine the necessary bad debt provisions.
· Maintain approved credit limits on the bank's systems.
· Produce and distribute periodical reports and analysis on bank credit portfolio.
· Identify skill development needs for bank staff involved with credit functions (proposal preparation, inquiries etc...)
· Review comments on branches' credit processing in Internal Audit / Inspection Reports and follow up to ensure all issues are acted upon.
· Closely monitor problem loans handling and recovery activities with the designated officers in the relevant business development (eg. Corporate Banking) units.

B. Corporate Banking:
Responsible for the planning, development and management of relationships with Corporate customers in addition to the directing of bank wide efforts to sell services and products to those customers.

Key responsibilities:

· Conduct Market / Industry /Sector research and analysis.
· Determine bank position towards various Industries/Sectors/Regions in addition to evaluation criteria of target corporate customers (industry, size, structure, needs..).
· Develop business plans for the Corporate Banking service line.
· Design, develop, launch and support new products/services for corporate customers (this effort may involve other functions, eg. Treasury, Retail, Systems etc...).
· Support branches in attracting customers and serving them (eg. in preparing credit proposals, structuring transaction finance deals etc...).
· Monitor portfolio profitability and performance.
· Set product / service prices according to expected profitability and risk factors.
· Present Corporate Credit Proposals to the relevant Credit Committee(s).
· Define bank wide Corporate Banking policies, procedures and reporting requirements. Additionally should initiate / approve systems' changes affecting their area or customers.
· Identify skill development needs for bank staff directly involved with Corporate Banking services at both Head Office and the branches.

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q3: What are my chances to be employed by Microsoft ?
I need your advice. I am a freshman student at the American University in Cairo (AUC), majoring in computer science and planning to get a minor in business administration.

I have excellent computer skills in programming and networking. I also passed all the core exams of the MCSE certificate and look forward to get a MCSD after completing my college studies.

I would like to know what are my chances to be employed by Microsoft and what are the prerequisites (e.g. having a working experience or an MBA etc..) ?

H. H. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Mr. H.

It is good for a professional to plan early on in his/her career J

Microsoft is the largest software company in the world, in a recent "The Best Companies To Work For" survey conducted by Fortune Magazine, Microsoft Corporation was ranked 28th in 2001 (it was 37th in 2000). The company currently employs about 50,000 employees around the world (approximately two thirds are in the United Sates). However, wanting to join Microsoft is not enough; you also have to consider what sort of function / role (job) you would like to have ? Technical Support, Application Development, Sales, Marketing etc… this is a question as important as which company you would like to work for.

Attending a good university, studying computer sciences and business administration in addition to starting on the certification path are all very good ingredients for your CV when you graduate. You should consider adding to it summer internships. Try your best to work during your summer vacations, it will provide you with some hands on experience and a good perspective of corporate life. Being involved in extra curricular activities (eg. student union, writing in the university newspaper, joining social groups etc…) would also help portray you as an active person. These are all useful recommendations for a new graduate preparing for his first career move; applicable to Microsoft or other employers.

With regards to your question concerning your chances with Microsoft, no one can tell ! It depends on you of course (based on the above); and how well you handle your interview should you get a chance to do so. The most qualified person in the world (degrees, certifications, experience) will not get hired by any reputable company and if he/she does not 'sell' him/herself well during the interview. The chances of joining Microsoft also heavily depend on the company itself: its staffing needs, growth prospects, what sort of skills are required at the time (also are the requirements for entry level or experienced professionals ? and in which functions: sales ? technical support ? etc…).

In all cases, for an entry level position, they do not require more that what you are already doing. Their people are smart, presentable, professional, reasonably aggressive and fluent in English; they will no doubt be continuing to hire people that meet those personal criteria.

Finally; since you asked specifically about Microsoft; we thought of getting their views; below please find the feedback from Ms. Somaya El Sherbini from Microsoft:

"Microsoft is exceptionally interested in people with very strong focus on it's technologies, however, we strongly believe that education really starts with actual field work. We also believe that strong infrastructure specialists, specific technology specialists and developers need proper exposure to competitive Microsoft products to get a nice combination of what technology really has to offer."

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q4: After being veiled, I left my work at a hotel, where to go ?
I am a mid career girl, with a B.A. from Cairo University's Faculty of Arts. I am also currently enrolled in a university program for English translation. I speak Italian and have excellent PC skills.

I have a question and hope I can help me out? I worked for two years in a big hotel in Cairo, I am used to working in special atmosphere (environment) and earning a good salary. I left the hotel because I became veiled (wore the hijab). I now feel lost; because I don not know what salary to ask for. Also, a lot of the companies I visit are small in little apartments and I am used to work in a different environment. So what would you advise me to do ? and where shall I search for a multinational company ? Unfortunately there are not that many that could be found in Cairo.

Y. S. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Miss. S.

Having to leave the hotel industry, happens to professionals for a number of reasons, including sometimes the decline in tourists arrivals (like the case after September 11th or after the Luxor attacks in 1997). So it is not the end of the world. There are numerous multinational companies operating in Egypt (in Greater Cairo, more specifically) in addition to a number of reputable and interesting local private sector companies in a variety of industries. So the challenge is to identify your target ones and approach them.

Of course there are thousands of those you just described, where the environment is less than you would accept, but as you said, there is a wide range to choose from. Your search should not be restricted to companies/businesses, it should also extend to organizations, non for profit foundations and other associations as well. Good sources for your search would be (in addition to skill-link.com of course) the directories of the American Chamber of Commerce, the British Egyptian Businessmen Association, the French one (Café) and the German Arab Chamber of Commerce (all located in Cairo).

With regards to the veil (hijab) some companies tend not to hire veiled females; on the other hand, some other companies are more inclined towards hiring female professionals that are veiled (eg. Olympic Group, Bahgat Group etc…).

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q5: What does an American citizen need to do, to get a work permit in Egypt ?
I am an American citizen living in Cairo. I was born in Cairo and am married to an Egyptian. What do I need to get a work permit ?

B. S. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Mr. S.

Interesting; usually the question is the other way around…. Egyptian citizens interested in a work permit in the USA J

Work permits for non Egyptians are employer driven; ie. a company must apply on your behalf to the Ministry; after justifying to the authorities why the job vacancy in question requires a non Egyptian. In addition to presenting an 'acceptable' justification, the company should also not exceed a certain quota of non Egyptians. So in a way it is not like Europe/USA where you get a residency and use it to work anywhere you like.

We hope the above was of some use.

Good Luck

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

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