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Human Resources - Government Sector

Tue, 10/22/2013 - 14:33 -- deepti.gahrotra

The information generated in these job profiles are based on personal research and interviews with people working within this sector. We interviewed mostly people with vision impairment who are doing these jobs to gather accurate and pragmatic information about these jobs and how visually impaired can work within such sectors and resolve day to day problems. 

This information is based on an interview carried out with Nikita Vaid, who works for Bank of Baroda, in Mumbai, as a senior HR Manager.

This article on Human Resources withing the Public Sector contains the following sections:

Brief Description

The HR department in government sectors such as government banks etc is divided into HRD (Human Resource Development) and HRM (Human Resource Management) teams and they take care of different functions and have different roles and responsibilities. The HRD team takes care of performance appraisals, employee development, policy making etc and the HRM team handles promotion, salary, recruitment, compensation and benefits, industrial relations etc.

Within these teams there are Scale 1 and Scale 2 officers and the generalists are those within all departments rather than only HR (which is the case in private sector). HR specialists are mostly scale 2 officers and are managers or senior managers and could be working within the domain of HRM or HRD.

SCALE 1- Officers

Within the government sector, all those who are recruited at the entry level are called Scale 1. Depending on the team they belong to (HRD or HRM) they will carry out functions accordingly.

Eligibility Criteria or Qualifications

The minimum qualifications needed for a scale 1 HR officer is an MBA in HR and 2 years of work experience. Some government bodies may recruit without work experience but most often a minimum work experience of 2 years is a must.

Salary and Benefits

The salary for scale 1 officers starts from about 14,500 to about 25,000 along with other benefits like DA (dearness allowance), medical, LTC, HRA ,etc.

SCALE 2 - Manager

They mostly comprise of HR specialists working within the domain of either HRM or HRD. Their functions could range from anything like training, staff welfare, employee development activities, policy making, to recruitment, salary, maintaining HRIS, payroll, payment of various perks, taking care of benefits and welfare schemes.

Eligibility criteria and qualifications

In order to apply for a job as a scale 2 HR officer one requires an MBA / PGDM in HR or industrial relations, along with 3-4 yrs of relevant work experience. 

Salary and benefits

The salary of HR managers who are scale 2 officers ranges roughly between 19,000 -30,000/35,000 including other benefits such as PF, DA, travel allowance, LTC, medical etc.

How to travel

Within government sector organizations travel facilities are not provided and one has to rely on public transport, or on their own means of transport. However the government provides for a travel allowance as part of the salary.

Use of Technology

These jobs require one to be very computer friendly and anybody aspiring for an HR job has to be very comfortable with working on MS Office software. A thorough understanding of Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint is a must and one should be open to working with new and more advanced technology and software.

HR jobs require a good understanding of numbers, graphs, charts, etc and the ability to implement and interpret them.

Working with HRIS/HRMS (human resources management system)

Visually impaired friendly software like JAWS and ABBY screen readers can be easily provided if one asks for it. If one is open and expressive about ones needs and requirements then things become easier.

Working Conditions and Growth Opportunities

Mostly the working conditions are quite conducive and congenial and our achievers working within this sector are quite content with the work atmosphere.

There are however still some basic problems that the visually impaired face at workplace -

Acceptability - People with vision impairment are often not valued for what they contribute to the organization on the professional front and their ideas are often seen with a lot of apprehension. In such situations the best solution is to try and prove oneself as far as they can professionally. This helps break certain stereotypes that others attach to people with disabilities and allows one to change mindsets and attitudes. It also allows you to grow professionally within the organization.

It is also important that you don’t take things for granted and voice your opinions and needs as confidently and openly as possible. Also it may take time for others to start having confidence in you and it’s essential that you maintain your calm and are patient and approachable.

Accessibility and mobility - By and large one has to manage travelling to work independently. A smart way to go about this would be to plan your journey in advance. There is nothing wrong in taking assistance in this regard. One should ask for directions in advance, one should plan out beforehand how to get to desired location, means of transport, etc. The public sector provides a travel allowance to people with vision impairment.

Technology and company applications -Within the private sector as already mentioned a common workplace problem that could arise for people with vision impairment could be about using company software. Often these firms do not use screen reading and other VI friendly software because of a lack of visually impaired people in their workforce. In such situations one has to ask the firm/organization to provide such software and not be hesitant about it. As a person with vision impairment one has certain pragmatic concerns that one should be open about and take assistance if required. 

At such workspaces growth opportunities are immense and if you prove yourself professionally, and you are confident and assertive, then there is no stopping you. Such professional growth invariably leads to personal growth.

Institutions

A wide variety of institutions and colleges provide MBA degrees and other management related degrees required to become an HR manager. The best institutions to pursue such courses are IIMS (Indian Institute of Management), XLRI, TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences), Narsee Monjee, FMS (Faculty of Management Studies) and Symbiosis.

One can also pursue MBA through distant learning programs provided by IGNOU and Osmania University (Hyderabad). Some IIM’S like IIM Kolkata have also started distant learning programs which one can pursue.

How to find out about vacancies

You can log onto websites of government organization to enquire about vacancies. One can also find out about job vacancies pertaining to the government sector using newspaper advertisements and employment exchange.

Selection Procedure

While applying for the post of scale 1 or scale 2 HR jobs the selection procedure varies from one government body to another and the same organization may change its selection process from year to year. The common norm however for recruitment for hr scale 1 officers involves a written test and then an interview. On occasions very few people qualify from the test and in such cases the interview is struck off and the shortlisted candidates from the test are given the job.
 

Tips on Writing ones CV and preparing for Interviews

Ones resume / CV is crucial as far as first impressions are concerned and in order for it to leave its mark it is important to keep in mind some basic tips.

  1. The CV should be short, crisp and not longer than a page or so.
  2. One should highlight academic and professional accomplishments and ensure that the time duration of working or studying are accurately specified.
  3. One should avoid using colourful fonts etc and try making it as professional, factual and simple as possible with the emphasis being on relevant work and academic achievements.
  4. Remember to put in your address as well as email ID. Avoid including details like hobbies etc.
  5. As far as preparing for interviews is concerned some of our achievers in this sector suggested that one should prepare certain commonly asked questions prior to the interview. Some of the most frequently asked questions are-what are your strengths and weaknesses, the interviewee may often ask you to describe yourself, your greatest achievement, the greatest setback of your life etc.
  6. Most of our achievers have pointed out how the interview may often pertain largely to questions about your disability and the interviewer may often ask you questions related to the same. The intelligent thing to do in such situations is to be enduring and try and bring people to terms with your disability by acting at ease with it yourself .One should try and give them the confidence that you can work and are as able as any other candidate. Another strategy could be to completely take them away from your disability and try and focus more on your professional ability and skills.

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