Not just a Graduate: A look at popular certificate courses and career options

“When I was a student, anything less than an Honours degree after XII was looked at with scepticism,” reminisces ex-executive Nilabja Chowdhury adding that professional courses were for the academically unsure or those already in the industry. Chowdhury admits that career trends have changed. A slew of short, often more hands-on certificate/diploma programmes are supplementing the traditional degree courses in different fields. However, Kashmira Umrigar, former Principal, Atharva College Of Hotel Management And Catering Technology (ACHMCT) insists, “Diploma/certificate programmes cannot take away the relevance of exhaustive degree courses, however, there are certain specializations where a good professional course followed by industry experience, personal skill and regular refreshers courses can catapult you to success.”

Hopping on hospitality

Shedding light on the value of certification courses in Hospitality, Umrigar says, “A short course can add value to a generic management degree. But if you know exactly where you want to see yourself in the industry, even a diploma course can stand on its own”.
Which is to say, if you are convinced from the start that it is food or baking that you want to pursue, a certificate course in the same, followed by some real-time experience, can set the ball rolling. It will, naturally, limit your area of work. To that effect, Umrigar adds, “It is wiser to get a three-year general degree if you plan to work your way up the managerial ladder instead of focusing on just one skill”.
Umrigar’s observations find reflection in some of the courses offered by the Institute of Hospitality Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition (IHMCTAN), Dadar. While they do have the three-year degree course, they also offer a diploma of one-and-a-half year duration in food production, where the last six months are spent in a practical internship programme. Apart from this, there is a three-month cooking and baking course conducted twice a year in January and July. There is also a month-long course in baking, strategically timed during the May-June vacations. 

Foreign language of success

Foreign language courses have long been popular for those keen on exploring options in translation, transcription, interpretation, embassy and overseas employment and lately, high-rung administrative work at multinational organizations. Bhaskar K Devendra, owner, Cambridge Institute, Mumbai, reckons a B2 certification in Mandarin, German or Spanish (of levels A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2— A denotes elementary knowledge, B, professional proficiency, while C is the PhD equivalent) can guarantee jobs that make you richer by at least `

“On its own, a thorough language course can prepare you for that many work profiles,” stresses Devendra, who names Capgemini, Deutsche Bank, Mahindra, Reliance, Johnson and Johnson, Toshiba, Motilal Oswal and a host of pharmaceutical companies as ones that might give you the thumbs up for having a foreign language certificate under your belt.​​He adds that the demand for Mandarin is high. “A dearth of equipped professionals makes it an attractive option,” he explains. Each level at the institute demands a period of three months, with exams designed by the respective consulates at the end of each term, promising international certification. “The good thing about doing a short but definitive language course from an internationally recognized centre is that it equips you to work anywhere in the world where that language is spoken,” claims Devendra, adding that a generic graduation will make a difference when it comes to comparative evaluation of aspirants/ employees, as a particular organization may deem fit.

One may choose not to follow the oft tread path of a regular academic qualification, but that definitely does not put brakes on pursuing a successful and lucrative career. 

Next week : Game Designing  and IT courses