You must Sign In to post a response.
  • Guide me as I am working in a firm and now is it possible for me to clear my incomplete education


    Wondering how to clear pending arrear subjects of diploma after a long break and along with job? Searching for detailed guidance to complete the diploma and get a good job? On this Ask Expert page find suggestions for all your queries.

    I am working in a MNC from last 11 years and have a good experience of my job. I am married and have a child.
    My question is: I am confused at this stage in my life about my educational background which is not giving me to move forward in my life. Can you guide me? Our family was not so financially good. I have completed my high school education with work and then took admission in Mechanical diploma. I completed my 1st year but got 2 KTs. I went in 2nd year, completed that year but had to leave college since my family was undergoing big financial crises. My father was doing temporary job and it was difficult situation for us. I had to leave college as I was having all together 3 KTs. I focused to clear the loan on my family. I worked for 5 years in courier service and 3 years in hotel. I was unhappy as I was not available to complete my education. In September 2007 I was on duty in hotel where my HOD saw me in CCTV camera. He called me and came to know all my problems. He then told me get admission for last year with KTs and clear it in winter exams. I tried but cleared 2nd years 2 KTs and only 1st year's was pending. I was not granted to give last year exam. I lost all my hopes and then my sir told me to join the campus selection.
    I was selected because of my sir and till date I am working with same company. I was in Haryana on fieldwork. I tried for 2 times to take leave but could not complete as it was difficult to manage leave in training years. So it was left back as I was knowing it but I was packed as my parents arranged my marriage in next year as I was working. was knowing my background but for parents I did not exposed my qualification as they never asked about it I took the responsibility of my family I completed my 2 years training in company.
    And got good performances in few years now I m a Assistant Senior Manager but I know I cannot leave this company because of my education.
    So please guide me .
  • Answers

    8 Answers found.
  • I would suggest you take some time off and enquire in your college whether you are still eligible to give exams and complete your mechanical diploma. If yes, you start preparing for your subject and clear your exams and complete your diploma. You have to hardly take a day or two off for appearing for your exam. Your company is not going to say no for that looking at your performance and your Assistant Senior Manager post.

    You have passed your 10th standard exam. Now, you can enrol in any courses. I suggest that you keep working with the MNC that you are already working and pursue further education through distance education. There are lots of reputed distance learning universities that provide quality education. You don't have to leave your job. You can study in your spare time and appear for exams. Some of the reputable distance learning universities in India are-
    - IGNOU- Indira Gandhi National Open University,
    - SMU DDE- Sikkim Manipal University,
    - IMT Distance and Open Learning Institute,
    - Annamalai University,
    - Osmania University

    You can enrol in various courses which interests you. You can go for certification courses of duration from 6 months to 2 years. You can go for diploma courses which usually are of 1 or 2 years. You can enrol yourself in any graduation course of 3-4 years. You have plenty of options to choose from. Choose the course which interests you.

  • You are presently working in an MNC as an Assistant Senior Manager. Generally, as far as I know, MNCs will pay a good salary and that too you are in a managerial position. So what I feel is even though you complete your diploma now, with that qualification getting into another MNC is very difficult. Many MNCs will consider the experience you put in only after qualifying. Other companies may give you a job with your expereince in MNC but salary will be a constraint there. So you should be very careful while changing the job.

    You studied your diploma almost 13 years back and there are many changes from then. You may not be allowed to complete those failed subjects now. What I suggest is there are some night colleges where you can do your diploma on a part-time basis. It will be 3 years and if you concentrate well you can finish it off and you will become qualified.

    Another option is with your high school qualification you can go for some certification courses on a part-time basis which will enhance your skills. As you are a mechanical man you can do CAD and CAM which will have good potential for getting good jobs. That will open up a new area for you.

    You can also think of doing a degree course in open university mode while working. Similarly, many universities are offering a correspondence course in many job-oriented certification and diploma courses. You can see the available courses through the internet and decide.

    drrao
    always confident

  • It does seem that your career has taken off; but not your educational qualification. From whatever you have mentioned, you had not completed the Diploma in Mechanical Engineering; but due to the quality of your value-added experience you have already landed in a job with an MNC. However, you have not mentioned the nature of your job and the other responsibilities.

    Here are the options now left to you.

    1. It is clear that you have a child. You have not provided any details of your wife and her background. Yet, there are very tough days when you can earn so much and yet be left with little due to the very high cost of living. Hence, it is advisable for you to find out opportunities where her innate potential can help you tide over family related problems.

    2. That said, since you are already with an MNC, it is pretty obvious that you have secured such a good managerial position only on the basis of your experience. Hence, stay where you are. Since Haryana is one place where facilities for higher education are quite good, please do check if you can enrol for a week-end Diploma in Management, given the fact that you are already a manager; if you are not able to find such a slot, discuss threadbare not only with your mentor but with other bosses, on a possible career plan and then find out where you can qualify yourself to complete courses that will add value to your job.

    3. For instance, if you have had experience in marketing and sales and see yourself as a good candidate for further excellence in it, do a B.com degree through distance education from IGNOU and then follow it up with a MBA degree.

    4. Do not worry that such a process will take time. It will. But in the meanwhile, you have solid experience and you should capitalize on it; MNCs are not typical Indian Lalaji companies; they will recognize you if you have talent and get them results. So, you can take time. There are glorious examples too; for instance, the Indian CEO of PepsiCo in India was one Mr. Sinha who was just a graduate then; he had several IIMA products working under him.

    4. Coming back to where you need to complete the remaining dots, in terms of educational qualifications, would largely depend on what kind of career plan you want or think is possible in the years ahead; you don't need to quit your job. However, you also need to look around for best opportunities.

    5. For example, if your organization acquires a FMCG organization manufacturing a range of sanitary products, grab the first opportunity to shift to a slot, say, in marketing. If it means slogging it out in remote villages in sales, do it. Please note that only hard work and your talent has taken you this far; you can go places if you have focus now and the B.com and MBA degrees as well. In fact, after B.Com, you can even do the part-time MBA if you can; check if you can even do the AICTE recognized PGDGM which is recognized by the Govt of India as equivalent to the MBA. If so, do it. However, you must note if the institute has a good reputation. If you can shut to Mumbai, grab the opportunity and do the PGDBA course; there are too many colleges where you can do it and also get the diploma or even from the University of Mumbai. Please note that only branded institutes are good in Haryana. At the moment, am afraid that there is not a single good University from that Hindi-speaking State. It is not because of the Hindi language; it is because of the lack of the urban exposure.

    6. Hence, you need to not only choose the best institute for the MBA, but also ensure that you stay focussed on the career options. Never choose HR. It is a zero sum game. Stick to operations, sales and marketing. I understand your experience has largely been in operations; hence stay glued to it.

    7. All the very best. Keep a big focus on value-addition and the need to connect the dots.

  • Your journey so far has been very challenging and impressive and in spite of so many setbacks in your educational career, you have proved yourself and reached a senior level post for which many highly qualified people might be yearning today. From your details it is very evident that you are in your in fifties or soon entering it. At this age one has to consider a lot of pros and cons for changing one's career line. I just want to mention that today the job market is in a tough phase and getting a better job especially at this age will not be so easy. Still there are options for hard working and laborious people. Let us consider some options in your case for changing the career to a better state or to enrich the present job with additional gain and acquisition of some new skills and knowledge elements.

    You have to see how much spare time you can get from the present job so that you can think of doing some correspondence course in the subject of your interest or related to your present job of fieldwork in your firm. You can do some management diploma which can help you in the present job. The selection of the exact subject in the said correspondence course will of course has to be aligned with your present job and expected future responsibilities so that it can benefit you in long run. You can give a thought to this possibility.

    Another thing which comes to my mind is that after so much experience in the life have you got any inclination and desire for own work and starting your own setup in any profitable venture. Many people do it in their late age after gaining sufficient experience and get commensurate success. You will have to choose a contemporary business line as per your experience of working in courier, hotel and other industries. Give it a thought. Enterprising people do things differently from other people. If ambitions are there we have to convert them in reality.

    Even in the present company you can rise to higher positions. It is not only the education which matters but the knowledge and calibre to get things done and improve the bottom line of the company. Many shopkeepers and business people are having very low educational qualifications but their business tactics make even the MBAs to astonish and even inspire them.

    Knowledge is power.

  • I do understand the catch 22 situations of the author who wants to clear the higher education no matter he has already occupied the best position in MNC. What I feel that education arrears if any has to be cleared before joining any job and in your case getting a job in MNC was very lucky and you should not behave in such a way that the management gets perturbed over your slow phase of work as you are bound to allocate time to clear the pending papers. If I were in your position, I will not go for any higher education or clearing the papers and simply continue to excel in the present job and in fact show much performance to get further promotions.

    K Mohan
    'Idhuvum Kadandhu Pogum "
    Even this challenging situation would ease

  • You have got a nice plateform to work with the MNC and in fact, no organisation would discourage in going ahead with your passion for further studies. However, it appears that the regular institution with you were persuing your studies has denied for the further permission.
    Under such situation, there are different means which can be explored for acquisition of diploma having approval from the different quarters.
    Such Institutions are as follows -
    1) IGNOU - This institute offers education courses in almost all the faculties and are well recognised from both academic angles and for the employment purpose.
    2) Osmania University
    3) Sikkim Manipal University
    4) Utkal University
    5) Karnataka Open University
    Under such situation, you will get oppurtunities to clear the papers compartmentalise wise and earn your diploma in the phase wise manners.

  • Interesting story. Some come across situation like this and hurdle in personal life and career too. Nothing to worry. You can still continue to study where you left through correspondence and appear the exam to qualify. You can even take another suitable course from an Open University (option is available).

    I know a person who was working as Front-line staff in a reputed company who had completed HSC (12th) only. His communication skills improved a lot after. He got a job in MNC (call center) for Voice process. He then worked hard (Night shift) and after a year, he became Team Leader as well.

    He worked in a different process too as TL. Meanwhile, he also realized as non-graduate candidate thus 'not getting higher post' opportunity like Asst Manager or Manager and above posts. He immediately tried to study for Bachelor Degree and completed B.Com within a stipulated time.

    He continued to work as TL in that company even after Graduation. He got a turn of Assistant Manager post later on from yearly appraisal. He continued one more year there as an AM. The process where he worked got contract end by the overseas client. Thus, he had to either shift to a different process as AM within the organization (if vacant exist) or move to a different company with the better package. He tried in a better and reputed company with his Graduate (and confidence of education qualification). He got a good turn over there with double package in a reputed firm for a long haul.

    So, don't give up. You can.

  • There are many universities offering correspondence courses in various subjects. This is really a boon for those who unable to continue education due to various reasons and interested to pursue education further.


  • Sign In to post your comments