“Your Career Advisor” is responding this week to:

• "How would maternity leave affect my career?"
• "I am a lawyer, what career track to pursue?"
• "Employers seem to object to my educational background, what should I do?"
• "Is a  Supply Manager's role different from Purchasing?"

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: How would maternity leave affect my career?
I graduated from Ain Shams University's Faculty of Engineering in 2000 with a BSc. In Architecture. I worked for a year as an Architect (in the technical office of a firm), then I left work last July (2001).

I am currently waiting for the delivery of my first baby, so I will probably not work for at least one more year. That will make about 2 years away from employment. Will that affect my chances of getting a good job when I am ready again? Is there something I can do meanwhile that would leave enough time for the care of my baby?

D. D. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Ms. D.

Delivering and raising a child is a gift from God, as important as career achievement within a certain age bracket. It is a very understandable reason for being away from work. The issue in your case, is that you left work at a very early stage, thus the longer than usual period. However, what is done is done ! The good news when you will be approaching a new employer in a year's time is that you can say "I am over with the baby delivery; now I am back to work". Employer would rather have this, than have you leave them in a few month for maternity leave. You have to be very clear on not planning to have a second child before a number of years (because it is healthy to have an age difference etc… etc…); otherwise they may say: "Ah, now she will be pregnant again, to get the baby thing out of her way".

When you are ready again to go back to work, your chances will be in a way impacted by the fact that you have been away for two years, and that these two years were not preceded by a relatively long experience. Therefore, you should be targeting entry level positions, similar to a new graduate. Your challenge would be during your time away from full time employment, to demonstrate (and actually be involved in) some professional or skill development activities. In addition to reading of course, you may become proficient on software applications or graphics packages related to your line of work. These would require flexible time at your convenience, from home. You may also consider some free lance design work (if feasible) from home, just enough to stay in touch and to show a commitment to your career on your CV. Graphics design in particular is very suitable for flexible working hours from home; therefore it could accommodate you as a free lancer with a limited work load.

In light of the above, if you have a strong "will" and could manage to study at home between child feeding, bathing and play sessions, it may be a good opportunity for you to enroll in a distance education course. An example of such courses would be : "Art of Architecture" offered by Syracuse University in New York. Or the courses offered by the University of Sydney's (Australia) Faculty of Architecture, check it here. Design courses are also offered by the Art Institute Online; check it here.

Additionally, the American Institute Of Architects has an eClassoom providing online courses, check it out. WebMaster link to http://eclassroom.aia.org/list-leadership.cfm

And finally, while on that topic, you may be interested in last week's issue of Time Magazine:

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

Q2: I am a lawyer, what career track to pursue?
I am an Egyptian lawyer, with 8 years of experience. I graduated from the Faculty of Law of one of Egypt's universities and have attended further studies in France. I have an excellent command of both written and spoken English and French (native fluent level), in addition to Arabic of course, and a good command of Spanish.

My destiny, combined with my planning strategy, led me to practice my profession in the field of international transactions and contracts. I started working in private law firms and later moved to a legal position with a large corporation.

I am not satisfied with my current income. My problem is that I don't know how much I am worth and what career I should pursue ?

I am also a member in several International High IQ societies, should I include this in my job applications?

W. S. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Mr. S.

The legal profession is one of the most under rated / under estimated in the Arab region (including Egypt). Some old beliefs (we believe are very wrong) drive parents to push their children to what they consider "top professions" which mean (in their minds) medicine and engineering. In other cases were power, status and job stability are thought, joining the Police Academy or the military becomes an obsession. This tendency has lead the universities (and here we refer to Egypt) to set high admission criteria (solely based on high school grades) for certain faculties and have one of the lowest admission scores for legal studies ! By contrast, in North America, Law Schools are one of the most difficult to enroll in. A similar situation - but not as dramatic - apply to business studies (which for some reason the Egyptian educational system insists on referring to as : Commerce). Nations rely more on good managers and legal professionals to develop, than doctors, pharmacists or civil engineers… however our priorities do not seem to be set correctly.

Our apologies for the long introduction, we were just setting the tone to conclude that a legal career should be very promising, specially for someone like yourself who seem intellectually motivated and who master several languages. The skill supply of legal professionals who are avid learners, speak foreign languages, are comfortable with information technology and have an appreciation for the business and corporate worlds is very limited. Since most of the high school graduates who end up in a Faculty of Law were forced to, combine this with relatively modest high school academic achievement, you will not have that many bright lawyers around.

In other words, you are very well positioned as a multilingual corporate lawyer, with experience in contracts, international transactions etc…
Since you did not provide us with your current income / compensation, we are unable to comment on its suitability in relation to what you do, and the profession in general.

For someone like you, there are a number of career tracks to pursue:

• Remaining an in house lawyer, progressing to become Legal Counsel of a large business group or corporate entity.
• Moving back to a law firm, joining a reputable firm with a busy corporate law practice (usually serving a blue chip list of clients). At a later stage you will either become a partner in the firm, or elect to establish your own firm. With regards to this option (unlike the others), you will not only be concerned with being a good and competent lawyer, but you will also have to act as a business/revenue generator; in other words bring new clients and generating more work from existing ones.
• Away from private practice and corporate positions, outstanding legal professionals are also needed in a number of government organizations, such as: the Ministry of Foreign Trade (for issues related to free trading, dumping, monopolies etc…) or the Stock Exchange (to work on corporate governance, disclosure, insider trading, listings etc…). In some cases, such government jobs are not paid the typically low civil service salaries, but are "special" positions financed by grants or other sources of funding.

You are the best person to judge which of the above tracks best suits your character and personal preferences. They are also not mutually exclusive on the long run, you could switch from one to the other, without any negative impact on your career progress.

On another note, being a member in IQ societies is of course worth mentioning in your resume. We would not start with it J ; but it should be somewhere towards the end. It would also present an interesting and unusual discussion topic to start interviews… as opposed to the "awkward" starting question the interviewer usually struggles to come up with.

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q3: Employers seem to object to my educational background, what should I do?
I am a 25 year old holder of a university degree in business in addition to an MBA (with a concentration in marketing). I have so far 3 years of work experience in the fields of accounting and warehouse management.

Now I want to revert back to my academic profession as employers are objecting to my educational background. Please advise me what to do as I have to start a fresh career in marketing.

A. M. K. (Saudi Arabia)

Replying:

Dear Mr. K.

This is a strange situation, from your brief description, we cannot believe employers could object to your educational background. If there are objections, then you must search for the real reasons. Undergraduate and graduate degrees develop your thinking process, knowledge base and understanding of a certain field. In some professions/jobs, a 100% relevance is required, such as a medical career (you must have studied medicine), legal jobs (you must have studied law), civil engineering (you must have studied engineering) etc… on the other hand, and specially in business related roles, the corporate world is flexible. With both an undergraduate degree and a masters degree in business, marketing concentration or not, you must have been exposed to accounting, finance and management courses. Therefore, working in the fields you have described is normal. There are numerous professionals who hold degrees in agriculture, political sciences or engineering who ended up being extremely successful in the corporate finance or banking fields… it is all about brain power, willingness to learn and intellectual capabilities. So in other words, you are not obliged to only work in marketing, you have a very 'general' education background to make you acceptable to the widest range of corporate roles: sales, marketing, material management, logistics, procurement, human resources, administration, financial analysis, cost accounting etc…

In light of the above, you have to issues to consider simultaneously:

1. What is it you would like to do ? you cannot be interested in a career in both marketing and cost accounting in the same time J …
2. What are the available opportunities, since you must also earn a descent income while pursuing your preferred career track.

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q4: Is a Supply Manager's role different from Purchasing?
I am a business graduate who has worked for the last ten years in a variety of roles in industrial companies. I am currently employed with an Egyptian private sector steel manufacturing company that is currently going through a major reorganization. Senior management is offering me a new position to become Supply Manager. Could you tell me what are the typical responsibilities of such a position ? and is it the same as Purchasing Manager ?

M. G. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Mr. G.

As we often say, title could be misleading, in other words some companies use titles that mean (or where the job responsibilities) varying things. However, we will address the "Supply" function as it is 'commonly' understood by the corporate world.

In summary, "purchasing" is part of a large role "supply" sometimes also referred to as "material management" or "logistics". Regardless of the name, the function is concerned with overseeing, strategizing, planning, managing and controling the flow of material required for reselling or as input to industrial operations. With the objective of ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of the right material (specifications & quality) in the right quantities, to the right places in the right conditions, at the right times and for the right value.

A sample job description for the Manager in charge of that function is presented below:

• Develop procurement plans (quantity, timing etc..) in light of trading and industrial plans and to reflect strategic inventory requirements, delivery time, price direction and economic order quantities.
• Oversee the efficient management of inbound and outbound material flow and storage (raw material, and finished goods) which involves receiving, storing, and transporting materials and products in a cost effective manner (including traffic management, warehousing, shipping, materials handling, distribution planning, management of finished goods)..
• Develop and monitor the implementation of efficient and effective procurement strategies (the timely and cost effective purchase of goods and services to meet quantity, quality and price requirements to satisfy trading & industrial activities).
• Manage the relationship between the company and key material suppliers; personally handling negotiations and arrangements (in light of set policies and guidelines).
• Ensure the reliability and cost efficiency of shipment, clearance, transportation and storage arrangements / facilities..
• Oversee the proper tracking if material on inventory , ordered, shipped etc…
• Monitor / follow up developments of the international steel market and supply trends (prices, surplus demand ) and identify where the company could take advantage / avoid risks.
• Maintain vertical and horizontal (within the Organization) communication lines regarding supply market direction, prices, availability etc..

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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