Many opportunities on offer for commerce graduates who want to explore the overseas market

Updated on: Monday, May 27, 2013

There are many opportunities on offer for commerce graduates who want to explore the overseas market, Timesjobs.com survey

BCom graduates with less than two years of experience have lucrative international job options available; reveals a study conducted by TimesJobs.com. The study highlighted that BCom graduates with less than two years of experience are most in demand with 58% share of job-postings for international positions.

The data also revealed that the American continent alone has 43% share in international jobs for BCom graduates, followed by Asia 19%. Countries such as the US, Middle East and North Africa have maximum number of job posting for BCom graduates. And, together they have a 3/4share of jobs among top 10 locations for BCom graduates.

Sunil Goel, director of Global Hunt, a recruitment service company, attributes this trend to the fact that BCom graduates have an advantage of knowing finance, accounting , supply chain and logistics. So, they can actually do a range of jobs, which includes general data entry, analytics and number crunching.

According to Radhakrishnan Nair, head-Human Resource, Federal Bank, a subject like BCom in the newer colleges in Indian universities is taught to prepare students for becoming successful entrepreneurs. This makes them confident in taking on assignments that they may need to learn skills that will challenge them.

What gives Indian BCom graduates an edge over their international counterparts? "Most Indian BCom graduates are tech savvy and can easily combine their technical capabilities with the subject that they have to deal with," replies Nair. Also, Indian students have a natural flair of being able to understand the culture of the country for which they are working, he added.

Commenting on the rising demand of BCom graduates in Middle East, North Africa and US markets, Goel explains that in North Africa, there is a demand for commerce graduates in the commodities business. They need people who can handle warehousing, accounting and can take care of a large pool of consumer accounts.

"In the US market, commerce graduates are required to handle general ledger entry, bid preparation, invoicing and ARP process, which a qualified professional or a chartered accountant will not like to take up," he adds. "BCom graduates can easily fit into front office roles in banks and NBFCs. With adequate training they may do well in credit and treasury. Having said this, it must also be stated, that there is an assumption in the quantitative/analytical capabilities of students pursuing BCom," says Nair.

The data also revealed that the top five industries which are hiring BCom graduates, internationally, are BFSI, construction/cement /steel, educational/training, IT/telecom and recruitment/placement agencies. While there are many opportunities available for BCom graduates back home, the international job market also looks promising for those who are eyeing greener pastures and some much needed global exposure.

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