TNAU opens overseas job unit
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Besides conducting interactive sessions to motivate students on going abroad, the unit would shortlist graduates for specific posts, writes A. A. Michael Raj
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GRADUATES OF Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) can seek employment in foreign countries through an `Overseas Employment Unit' declared open on the campus.
The Vice-Chancellor, C. Ramasamy, inaugurated the unit, which was established by the Placement Cell of the Directorate of Students Welfare at the university. It would maintain an updated database of employment and prepare students for life in foreign countries.
The Director, Students' Welfare, V. Thandapani, said that 661 graduates had secured jobs in agro-based industries and the banking sector, through 63 campus interviews during the past two-and-a-half years. There was now a growing demand for agri-graduates in foreign countries.
Besides conducting interactive sessions to motivate students on going abroad, the unit would short list graduates for specific posts, train aspirants to prepare resumes, help graduates draft a `statement of purpose' when applying to companies, facilitate screening of candidates and arrange meetings for interviewees over the telephone and through video conferencing.
India was becoming a "hub of human resource", accounting for the second largest skilled work force in the world, with 60 per cent of the workers below 35 years. Indians had begun occupying top positions in the United States.
Science and technology
Three million of them were in scientific and technical fields, 0.8 million were post-graduates in science, 0.3 million were agri-graduates, one million were graduate engineers and 0.4 million were doctors.
Indian professionals were proficient in English, which gave them an edge over candidates from South East Asian countries, who were competing with Western countries. Within India, people from the South had the advantage over those from other regions when it came to proficiency in the use of English and acclimatisation to systems of education in foreign lands.
Agricultural graduates were already updating their skills through in-service training programmes and placement in advanced laboratories, under agreements with foreign countries and international research centres. Thirty TNAU graduates were currently doing their master's or doctoral degrees in the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Taiwan.
For graduates and post-graduates, there were openings for employment as agronomists, crop specialists, biotechnologists, researchers, seed technicians, farm managers, farm advisors and plant clinicians. Places where there was a huge demand for agri-graduates were South East Asia, Gulf countries, Africa, North America, Europe and Australia.
How to apply
Employment in foreign countries could be done either through direct or indirect `employment channelling'. In direct employment channelling, the candidate applied to the employers or their agencies. Success rate was ten to 20 per cent. In indirect employment channelling, the university helped students get admission, thereby pushing up the success rate.
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Karnataka
Chennai
Coimbatore
Hyderabad
Madurai
Tiruchirapalli
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
