This question has been asked invariably by most of the students, given today's scenario of campus placement this has really become a dilemma? placement or masters? Job or Higher study?
The answer is not a simple Yes or No. The first thing which I always ask the students is what is your career plan? what do you want to become? where do you see yourself after 10 years? these question might sound difficult to you or you might think no one has the correct answer therefore passing on the pressure to us, but this is not the fact, your answer is hidden in these questions only and believe me those who have answered these questions (most importantly to themselves) are the ones who are successful.
Once you answer this billion dollar question, you are all set to decide what to do? where to go?
The answer indeed is not very simple, don't put the blame on yourself for not having a clarity of thought, it is the system of which you are a part, here, by system I mean the entire gamut of education and employment. The education sytem itself creates a skill gap, what is learnt is not what actually rquired in the industry. Just look at the syllabus of BE, say CS branch and make a note of what has been taught to you in the four years basically Computer Programming Program design Computer Systems analysis Fundamentals of Hardware Networking Computer Architecture et al. Now visit any job portal and look at the various positions available and the skills required you will find MTS level, HDL Languages: Verilog and VHDL, HVL Languages, UVM, OVM, ASIC,FPGA,SOC, Scripting Language: perl/shell/TCL language: C/C++, Android development, SAP MM/MW and the other technical up gradation that are required in the industry.
You can clearly make out the skill gap.Just to quote an example; a classmate of mine is now working as a Senior Business Analyst in one of India's top ranked financial consultancies earning an excellent package.His work profile is all about financial products derivatives, stocks, bonds and all those heavy financial terms which an expert from the finance industry could understand. His education background is M Sc. from Biotechnology. Now do you find a link? you might be wondering what does an M Sc. biotech doing in a financial consultancy that too at a senior position? Well, the story ahead is the answer. It is not the degree(s) which led him here, it's the skills that he acquired that helped him grew in his career. After his bachelor's(B Sc. Biotech) degree he took up a job which most of us do, thinking that masters can be done without much study, need to write the exam only. Anyway, he took up the job in a financial firm where his work was to sell the financial products equity, bonds etc. Working in the firm he completed his MSc. simultaneously. But found out that the job is not worth, not in line with his studies and the salary too is not up to his expectations, wanted to be more successful so all these thoughts and aspirations to become rich have taken one more year(till then he had 3 yrs of work experience) and finally, chose a good B-School and took an executive programme in management. Marketing was the obvious choice he was left with as HR was not his cup of tea, Finance was not suppose to be something he wanted to get rid off as he avert the job he was doing. So, Marketing was a better choice thinking that the B-School is good he will land up with a good job, marketing will take him to some good position and as most of us think the onus lies on the B-school to find a job for us.
The answer is not a simple Yes or No. The first thing which I always ask the students is what is your career plan? what do you want to become? where do you see yourself after 10 years? these question might sound difficult to you or you might think no one has the correct answer therefore passing on the pressure to us, but this is not the fact, your answer is hidden in these questions only and believe me those who have answered these questions (most importantly to themselves) are the ones who are successful.
Once you answer this billion dollar question, you are all set to decide what to do? where to go?
The answer indeed is not very simple, don't put the blame on yourself for not having a clarity of thought, it is the system of which you are a part, here, by system I mean the entire gamut of education and employment. The education sytem itself creates a skill gap, what is learnt is not what actually rquired in the industry. Just look at the syllabus of BE, say CS branch and make a note of what has been taught to you in the four years basically Computer Programming Program design Computer Systems analysis Fundamentals of Hardware Networking Computer Architecture et al. Now visit any job portal and look at the various positions available and the skills required you will find MTS level, HDL Languages: Verilog and VHDL, HVL Languages, UVM, OVM, ASIC,FPGA,SOC, Scripting Language: perl/shell/TCL language: C/C++, Android development, SAP MM/MW and the other technical up gradation that are required in the industry.
You can clearly make out the skill gap.Just to quote an example; a classmate of mine is now working as a Senior Business Analyst in one of India's top ranked financial consultancies earning an excellent package.His work profile is all about financial products derivatives, stocks, bonds and all those heavy financial terms which an expert from the finance industry could understand. His education background is M Sc. from Biotechnology. Now do you find a link? you might be wondering what does an M Sc. biotech doing in a financial consultancy that too at a senior position? Well, the story ahead is the answer. It is not the degree(s) which led him here, it's the skills that he acquired that helped him grew in his career. After his bachelor's(B Sc. Biotech) degree he took up a job which most of us do, thinking that masters can be done without much study, need to write the exam only. Anyway, he took up the job in a financial firm where his work was to sell the financial products equity, bonds etc. Working in the firm he completed his MSc. simultaneously. But found out that the job is not worth, not in line with his studies and the salary too is not up to his expectations, wanted to be more successful so all these thoughts and aspirations to become rich have taken one more year(till then he had 3 yrs of work experience) and finally, chose a good B-School and took an executive programme in management. Marketing was the obvious choice he was left with as HR was not his cup of tea, Finance was not suppose to be something he wanted to get rid off as he avert the job he was doing. So, Marketing was a better choice thinking that the B-School is good he will land up with a good job, marketing will take him to some good position and as most of us think the onus lies on the B-school to find a job for us.
One year ended and the placement scenario of today (not to mention) after all the arguments with the placement team and huge complaints on the package and profiles and a period of four months landed up with a placement of a meagre package in a financial firm.Upgraded himself with some short term courses and now he is at the position he wanted to be.
Another example to quote is about a young engineering graduate who is now a successful entrepreneur launched an innovative energy saving product using embedded technology. In his final year of engineering he started working on the product and launched it just after that.
The above examples are not the benchmark for anything, what is to be learnt here is the 'skill' it is always our expertise in a skill that makes us successful whether it is selling the financial products or a new product of your own that is to say whether a job or being an entrepreneur.
Following are some tips that might help you take the decision
For any queries/comments on the above post:
mail: entrancenadmission@gmail.com
call: +917509807826
Another example to quote is about a young engineering graduate who is now a successful entrepreneur launched an innovative energy saving product using embedded technology. In his final year of engineering he started working on the product and launched it just after that.
The above examples are not the benchmark for anything, what is to be learnt here is the 'skill' it is always our expertise in a skill that makes us successful whether it is selling the financial products or a new product of your own that is to say whether a job or being an entrepreneur.
Following are some tips that might help you take the decision
- The first and foremost thing that you need to understand is its YOU who has to DECIDE what is to be done, have the ground check in terms of your abilities and strengths no one can be a better judge than you when it comes to your strenghts.
- Don't blame on the system or the institute. Have given you an example of skill gap, try to make it out. Keep updating and upgrading yourself with the industry trends. The learning at the university level are restricted to the syllabus and most of the time basic in nature, general theory is presented , it is you who has to explore and enhance your knowledge.
- Keep learning new things whether they are there in your syllabus or not. Keep visiting job portals and browse through the skills needed, take a close look on the requirements of your dream job and understand how do you achieve that. In the interviews when I ask the students what is your dream job? the quick reply is 'to be the CEO of a company' so how are you planning to do that?
- If your dream is to make it to the IIMs or IITs never compromise, you can achieve it with a focussed approach. Don't distract yourself trying other exams as well, sitting for placement drives. I have seen this with brilliant students as well, preparing for GATES and at the same time if some renowned company is there for campus placement they want to try that also. Be focussed if it is a masters through IITs why go for placement?
- Even if you are an average student or below average don't think that world has come to an end. GATE or CAT or NO PLACEMENT all these things are just the beginning not the end. Nothing to worry if you could not make it to the IITs, there are ample opportunities, I mentioned in the earlier posts as well the placement by the institute is just a beginning, the rest of the journey is yours.
- DO NOT WASTE TIME. Time is the essence in today's market of cut throat competition and changing trends. There was a time when freshers can never dream of high packages and now the freshers are earning better packages than the experienced ones but that doesn't mean experience doesn't what counts is the time. Every time you waste a year of yours taking a drop or re-writntg the competitive exams you are dragging yourself behind others.
For any queries/comments on the above post:
mail: entrancenadmission@gmail.com
call: +917509807826
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