B. Tech graduates find postal department jobs cosy

HYDERABAD: M Vijay Shankar, 25, is a B. Tech graduate who worked as an application engineer until two years ago in the technology cell of a company that serviced ultrasound machines. He used to demonstrate the working of the devices and the procedure to handle them, working six days a week. Last year, he cleared the postal department's exam and is currently a postal assistant with his workday revolving around administrative routines like collating revenue collections and getting signatures on documents. Boring? Not really, as Shankar says he has job security, a five-day week, not much pressure and a good pay package, something elusive for many engineering grads these days.

At 150, the postal department is getting younger with each passing year. For many engineering graduates in the city, like Shankar, the road seems to lead straight from the college to the postal department now. For the upcoming 2012 recruitments, lakhs of application forms have already been issued and downloaded and officials are receiving many enquiries from eager candidates. With the number of students from technical backgrounds applying for vacancies there is a significant increase in applicants in the last couple of years. Drawing the young grads is the increased usage of computers in the department and also job security.

Currently, the department has 432 vacancies for which there is a mad rush for application forms. The written examination and recruitments are scheduled for year-end. While in 2009 the department recruited 863 candidates from around 1.75 lakh who applied, in 2010 a whopping 2.25 lakh applications were received from which 1,037 candidates were selected, all aged between 21 and 27. "Almost everyone who applies for a post in the department now is a B. Tech, M. Tech, BCA or MCA graduate. Before 2009 there were no recruitments since 2001, but even before that, the interest among youngsters to apply for a job here was not even close to what it is today. There is an 100 % increase in the number of young graduates evincing interest in the postal department jobs," said M Krishna Murthy, assistant director, recruitment and welfare at the department.

Youngsters who have joined the department cite competitive environment in the IT and software industry and the postal department becoming computer-savvy as reasons why they find working in the humble post office attractive. A Murali, 25, said, "I joined the postal department last year. I have seen many of my friendsending up with health problems due to the high-pressure jobs in private companies. Now, many of them are interested to join the department and have already applied for the upcoming examination."

The new entrants join at the level of a postal assistant after clearing a written examination with a salary of around Rs 23,000 which could rise to around Rs 45,000 in five years. Their benefits include 100 per cent medical cover, an educational allowance and 18-month childcare leave for women. An increase in dearness allowance twice a year sees a 10% jump in salary every year. Moreover, career growth is good, say employees.

Source : The Times of India, Sept 23, 2012