Why study in US / CANADA University

Flexible Course Structure

Students have the option of choosing the appropriate pace for their studies. For instance, a number of students have been found to work as "co-op students" in order to gain industry exposure while continuing their studies. This not only gives them financial support, but also helps them stay abreast of the latest developments in industry. Universities allow students to restructure their courses by opting for electives so that they can pursue their interests.

Placements

Extensive alumni networking, academia-industry confluences, seminars and numerous other events contribute to healthy placements. Your college experience will put you in touch with a lot of people from around the world. You can expect placement either in the US/Canada/UK or anywhere else in the world, thus giving your career a global platform.

Further Studies

Whether it's an MS/MTech or a PhD or an MBA that you are looking at, your application will have the added advantage that comes with an international degree. Apart from great training which will equip you suitably for higher studies, you also gain insights into their academic system. This in turn should help you perform better in your academic pursuits.

Campus Life/Diversity

Your experience of studying abroad will add to your sense of responsibility and initiative. You will see new avenues of fulfilling your ambition. You will also find it easier to communicate, make friends and work with people from all over the world.

Thus opting for undergraduate studies abroad can be the best decision of your life! Apart from its impact on your academic training, it has tremendous value as an experience that will broaden your horizons and propel your career to great heights.

Read more »

A Career in Sales & Marketing in Canada

Sales and marketing representatives can work in almost all industries and as a result, career choices are endless. Canada's Best Careers Guide suggests, "To those who are alert, career prospects in Canada in the early 21st century are dazzling! Never before have there been so many different job and career opportunities; an enormous variety of fascinating options for you to choose from."

Reported to be Canada's leading business futurist, author Frank Feather advises that the best career prospects are found by analyzing global, national and provincial trends.

His list of growth industries includes: information and high-technology; business services including computers; personal services including financial and medical; leisure, tourism, recreation and entertainment; plastics, ceramics and new materials; robotics and all outer-space industries; hydro and solar electricity; mass/urban transit and aircraft/airports; biotech farming and aquaculture; and environmental restoration.

A sales or marketing career hitched to one of these industries has an excellent chance of success.

Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) shows that recent unemployment rates and earnings in sales and marketing occupations have been more favorable than for the economy as a whole. Except for insurance and real estate sales, these occupations were not very sensitive to overall economic conditions. Statistics showed that the separation rate in sales and marketing is low, indicating that workers tend not to lose or leave these jobs.

Business service professionals, including those in marketing, earned well above average for Canadians. Sales, marketing and advertising manager earnings were among the highest for occupations in sales and service. Insurance and real estate sales occupations earnings were also higher than average, although some sales and related occupations showed below average earnings.

Statistics showed that youth (those under 29 years of age) made up a significant portion of new hires in many sales and marketing occupations, with about half the new wholesale sales representatives being under 29. Almost 40 percent of new insurance and real estate sales representative were below 30. Business service professions showed a much lower percentage of youth in new hires -- less than 16 percent in some areas and only 25 percent for marketing researchers and economic development officers.

Indications from HRDC are that familiarity with desktop publishing and database technologies will be important for these occupations due to the development of electronic forms of sales and marketing through the Internet. "Increasing use of computer-based technologies will affect the work and skill requirements for persons employed in all of these occupations."

HRDC noted that rapid technological change means that those working in wholesale sales must stay abreast of the ever-changing product lines available on the market.

Free trade and the increasing use of information technology will likely increase opportunities in sales and marketing, while government spending restraint and restructuring in the financial sector will have the opposite effect according to HRDC.

"Marketing researchers and economic development officers with a strong understanding of other economies and of international trade and investment issues are likely to have the most success."

Read more »

A Career in Business Management in Canada

MBAs and other management program graduates are faring well in today's economy according to statistics. In the most recent survey published by Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), close to 90 percent of all MBA graduates were employed full-time, which was more than 10 percent higher than the average for all master's degree graduates combined.

University statistics for graduate employment were even more impressive for MBAs. Most Canadian universities reported an 80 to 90 percent employment rate for MBAs within 90 days of graduation. Several universities that tracked employment longer reported 100 percent employment for MBAs one year of graduation.

And satisfaction among graduates of business and specialized administration master's programs is high—over 90 percent for both. A high 85 percent of administration grads said they would choose the same program again even though more than 60 percent thought their training did not directly match their work and almost 50 percent thought they were overqualified for their jobs. But even those percentages are average or below average for graduates from all fields who feel their training didn't match or that they were overqualified.

Business graduates were spread throughout several career areas with most becoming auditors, accountants and investment professionals. Others worked in administration and regulatory occupations, retail management, legislative or policy jobs, research and consulting.

Management grad work prospects for 2001 were rated good by HRDC, noting that "the unemployment rate and earnings for these occupations are more favourable than for the economy as a whole." While the number of management program graduates is increasing, job openings seem to be increasing at the same rate. And the areas where MBAs work, particularly finance, insurance and real estate, wholesale trade and professional services industries, are expected to have above average growth compared to other fields.

Your business masters' degree will give you significantly higher earnings than others. HRDC's last published survey reported that average wages for MBAs were significantly higher than the average wage for all masters' level graduates combined.

Two years after graduation you'll probably be making 55 percent more than undergraduates from the same field—and a full 90 percent more than business graduates from community colleges.

And as an MBA that wage percentage gap will continue to increase over time. MBAs have a tendency to change jobs between their third and fifth year of work, moving between managerial and administrative positions. When you have been in the workforce for five years, you can expect to earn almost 30 percent more than the average master's graduate.

Read more »

Accounting & Finance Careers in Canada

Students planning on a career in finance or accounting often graduate from commerce or business program. Finance and accounting professionals work in auditing or accounting firms, government, banks or other financial institutions, investment companies or securities-related businesses such as stock brokerages or any corporate environment.

According to Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) work prospects in these areas are fair to good. The most recent survey published by HRDC showed lower than average unemployment rates and higher than average earnings for people in these occupations.

HRDC advises that more than 90 percent of graduates from commerce and business programs were satisfied with their work, and more than 70 percent said they would make the same educational choice again. About 30 percent of graduates felt they were overqualified for their work, which is about average for all graduates, but almost 60 percent, slightly higher than average, thought their training directly matched the work they were doing.

Statistics showed that graduates in the area of auditing, accounting and investing did not change jobs frequently.

According to Canada's Best Career Guide, the number of accounting graduates is declining, which it suggests means there will be less competition for jobs. It also suggests, however, that large auditing/accounting firms are merging, which will result in the reduction of full-time employees. This said, the author Frank Feather -- reported to be Canada's leading business futurist -- still lists accountant/ auditor in the top 30 careers for 2000-2010, noting reasonably low (2 out of 5) stress levels and relatively high income (3 out of 5).

In the areas of banking and brokerage, Canada's Best Career Guide suggests that the old standard jobs, such as bank tellers and stock brokers, are disappearing. Automated services are eliminating jobs in those areas, which are being replaced by either broader skilled employees or more specialized positions.

Human Resources Development Canada seems to agree. HRDC noted that financial institutions are increasingly seeking professionals with a broad range of financial sector skills and that computerization increasingly affects these occupations: "With the re-engineering of the workplace, administrators with specialized skills in data or communications should be more successful in the labour market."

HRDC predicted that most of the increase in labour requirements in finance and accounting will occur in professional services, insurance and real estate and business service sectors.

Read more »