Career Prospects for 2013 in India

1) Analytics
Recent developments in hardware and networking technologies have made it cheap to not only gather large volumes of data, but also to store it and retrieve it with ease.

"The ability to analyse the data and make business sense out of it is a skill that is fast gaining prominence says Ajit Isaac, MD and CEO at Ikya Human Capital Solutions, who projects 12,000-15,000 openings.

2) Sales
India is being seen as a large consumer market for various industries. And, many organisations, globally, are directing resources to grow it.

Muninder Anand, director, information solutions, Mercer, says there has been an increase in sales jobs at junior levels (sales executive, sales officer and area manager) and this, in turn, is creating opportunities at senior management levels (general manager sales and national sales manager) to manage the junior workforce.

3) Chief Operating OfficersI(COO)
COOs would be focussing on cost control, cash flows and inventory management." The demand for COOs is expected to grow 30% in the next few years.

4) IT & Mobile product development
With the Internet becoming an ubiquitous part of more and more lives, a lot of economic activity has moved online as well.

"A smooth, seamless user experience and a robust technical platform are key elements of a successful web presence," says Ajit Isaac, MD and CEO at Ikya Human Capital Solutions. "Firms recognise this, and, hence, people who can build such platforms are in great demand."

5) R&D Professionals
According to Mercer, India is being seen as an R&D hub; several organisations are investing in R&D centres across industries. The current requirement is for niche skills at the junior management level.

6) Supply chain, procurement & contract mgmt execs
New projects are coming up in renewableenergy segments. In engineering, there is demand for hardcore vendor development and people who know manufacturing/production processes enough to reduce cost.

7) Non-exec board members
India Inc is facing a paucity of independent directors. "Individuals with knowledge of Corporate Governance  issues (among others) are in demand," says Anindita Banerjee, client partner of Stanton Chase India

8) Social Media buffs  
Brands are going social, and customers and stakeholders are taking their conversations online. "Consumers are taking peer reviews seriously and basing their purchase decisions on them," says Balaji of Randstad India

9) Junior Engineers
Mercer's Anand says most organisations that employ engineers are planning to expand. Maximum openings are at the junior level, including IT engineers & process engineers, product and design engineers.

10) Training Staff 
According to Amit Jain, business head, TimesJobs.com, as more educational institutes open up, more trainers would be hired.