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Q & A

It’s all about attitude, aptitude: experts

Attitude and aptitude is what matters, but not the branch, says experts. They advise students to choose the college, which has good infrastructure and faculty

GETTING DOUBTS CLEARED: A student seeking advice from experts at the career counselling programme organised by The Hindu Education Plus and Sri Chaitanya Educational Institutions in Tirupati on Saturday.

Does college have a bearing on the recruiters’ mind?

The college will definitely play a role in campus recruitments or in job interviews. If a student studies in a college, which has the best faculty, infrastructure, linkages with industry and proximity to major cities, he will have better advantages than the student of ordinary colleges. Hence it is very important for student to make an enquiry about the college before deciding to join. At the same time, students need not get disappointed if they do not get engineering seat in top colleges as they can prove themselves to be fit to be recruited with the attitude and aptitude besides depth in communication skills and command over the subject particularly in basics.

Prof. K. Nagendra Prasad

Mechanical Engineering branch is indeed an evergreen branch given its advantages on many fronts. They can get jobs in the automobile and other related sectors besides in the IT field as many software companies have been recruiting students of this branch for several years. Hence it is not the branch that matters. It is the attitude and aptitude of a student that make all the difference.

If one were to go by the National Association of Software and Service Companies’ survey findings on the software boom, it will continue up to 2025. Later IT will continue to play a role. Hence students need not worry about the boom as NASSCOM has predicted that there will be a shortage of 2.35 lakh qualified persons by 2011 despite the churning out of engineering graduates every year. For further details students can log on to www.nasscom.org

Students can definitely pursue the computer engineering stream without an iota of doubt as the curriculum has been drafted in such a fashion that even novices in computers can take up the branch. But it is better to learn basics as well as programmes such as C, C++ as they can equip students the requisite skills or knowledge that will be quite useful during the studies.

Prof. M.M. Naidu

According to experts as well as students, ECE is considered to be the best branch given its advantages on many fronts. Students of this branch will have a lot of scope to take up different kind of jobs including the software. The other branches, which have a lot of scope, are CSE, EEE, Mechanical, IT and a few other branches.

Students, who have the will and zeal to pursue engineering, can pursue any course even if they are average or below average students. If they put extra efforts on studies besides laying stress on the basics can complete the course. At the same time, they should lay stress on communication skills, technical prowess in allied areas, team work etc., which are collectively referred to as soft skills.

Students of civil, mechanical or any other core and other non-computer branches can get jobs in the software as recruiters for software industry look for problem solving, analytical and communication skills. Industry continues to prefer students of any branch, but they prefer those who are very good at soft skills. For instance, there are many students of civil engineering working in IT companies drawing salaries ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 12 lakh per annum.

Chemical engineering has a lot of scope for research, but offers a limited number of job avenues that offer the best salaries with mere engineering degree. But if one opts for research, one has to compete with professionals across the globe. High-profile jobs can be secured by doing M. Tech, PhD and post-doctoral research. In case of aeronautical engineering students say it’s slightly difficult to pass. Andhra University only offers the marine engineering course, which can fetch lucrative jobs provided if one is prepared to adjust with the job profile.

Prof. K. Ravindranath

EEE is considered to be tough as students, who pursue the course are expected to be good in Mathematics. But industry offers a lot of scope for EEE students on many fronts.

With several deemed universities maintaining high academic standards, most of the times it is better to prefer them. At the same time, many affiliated colleges have good faculty, infrastructure and better industry linkage. Hence students will have to evaluate the college based on the AICTE parameters.

The State Government is planning to introduce dual degree programmes in select colleges and universities. Though dual degree is very useful given its varied scope both in learning as well as getting employment avenues, it is not that popular in our country.

After completion of studies one can opt for teaching jobs and can also join branch related jobs such as a civil engineer taking up jobs in the construction field. But many a time the pay packages when compared to software jobs are very less.

One year break in education may not hamper career prospects of students particularly during the campus interviews. Hence students can join the long term coaching.

Medical Stream

Biotechnology course offers a lot of employment avenues across the globe. Besides, students can also take up research as experts foresee path breaking discoveries in health care and agri-biotech. And human genomics will open a host of opportunities in both discovery and therapy.

Pharmacy students will have the best employment avenues with several biotechnology companies coming forward to recruit students. But it is always better to pursue post graduation as it can offer better career avenues.

It is always better to pursue medical course in India as students will not encounter problems with regard to employment or in pursuing higher studies. If a student secures very good percentage in the Intermediate, it is always better to take Eamcet again to get a good rank. But if students are interested to pursue medicine, they have to doubly careful in choosing an institute in countries like China and Russia. There might be some good colleges in China and Russia, but they are very few. Moreover, students after completion of their studies in those countries will have to clear an examination conducted by the Medical Council of India (MCI) to become eligible both to practice as well as to pursue the course.

Students can perhaps join Home Science course as the admission is not based on rank in Eamcet.

Prof. M. Hanumantha Rao

Students should prefer colleges, which have better infrastructure as well as faculty besides a whole lot of things stipulated by the MCI. But it is always better to join a Government college as they are well established and charge very less when compared to private colleges.

As of now, there is no indication either from the MCI or the State Government on the possibility of increasing a certain number of seats in the existing medical colleges.

Alternative medicine such as Homeopathy and Ayurvedic courses is gaining popu larity. But there has been very little scope for research.

As private colleges do not give receipts for seats offered under the management quota, loans cannot be availed from the banks. But they can apply loans for some other heads.

AICTE norms are clear that to obtain a B.Tech degree in Biotechnology, a student must have studied Mathematics as a subject at the Intermediate or Plus Two level. But the industry has no such restrictions while giving jobs.

K. MRITYUNJAYA RAM

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