Friday, March 29, 2024

How To Choose The Right Engineering Branch – Kill ‘Engineering Doubt’

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This is one issue that majorly gets answered when students actually get admitted into institutions and enter college on the first day. Therefore, prior knowledge on this area becomes imminent.

“Remember that there is neither a good engineering college, nor a bad one; this rule is true in the case of engineering branches as well. All colleges possess academically qualified teaching faculty, onus should be on students to master engineering effectively. Reputation of colleges is directly proportional to academic reputation of students. So, carefully choose your engineering specialisation,” states Prof. Krishna Rao, head of department of mechanical engineering at one of the well-known engineering colleges in Karnataka.

Career experts also second Prof. Rao’s thoughts. The former recommends students to extensively research on both the engineering branches as well as a college before finalising these. Reputation of colleges comes into picture when placements are considered.

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It is true that higher the reputation of colleges (based on students again); better are the chances of getting placed at companies offering lucrative careers. But students should keep in mind the fact that merely grabbing placements is not a passport to a satisfying job.

The higher studies aim

There are innumerable students preferring to take up higher technical courses after engineering. Courses here include the likes of M.Tech, MS, and even MBA. So, focus here should be on the higher study aspect and the area of research intended to be taken up.

Then, choosing the appropriate engineering branch at the graduate level definitely offers a passport to satisfying careers and lucrative ones as well.

Here, students should remember that aim of higher studies should be to research, rather than plain money-minting.

“Nowadays, the trend is for students to go abroad for higher engineering study, and thereby land a high-paying job there. This is seemingly disastrous as the economy of that country improves whereas ours lags. Therefore, it is vital for students to constantly research ways to improve our economy substantially,” states a senior engineering professor (speaking to us on the condition of anonymity) who also consults for both the Government of Karnataka and Government of India on technical aspects.

Nonetheless, working abroad on sponsored projects (by the companies) and even studies along with short-term work (depending on individual tastes) outside of the home country are completely the in-thing now.

Kill ‘engineering doubt’

Think about this, “Why does an Infosys, a Wipro, a Robert Bosch, a Kirloskar, a Volvo, or even an IISC, or even engineering startups exist in India and continue to flourish?” This is because there is equal and equivalent scope for all engineering branches in the country. All it requires from students is honing of their academic skills to suit the nature of these sectors (engineering).

This involves elimination of what career experts term ‘engineering doubt’. “Most students desirous of entering engineering are majorly in doubt, this is due to peer pressure, external influence, and more. So, the only way out here is to critically self-analyse rather than dance to ‘external’ tunes,” advices Dr Radhakrishnan.

On closely analysing Dr Radhakrishnan’s statements, the aspect of extensive academic research comes to the fore. Students can take time to use the internet and research on the subjects offered by each engineering specialisation before coming to conclusions. This is also a tool to be used in the pre-engineering phase (as stated in the preceding sections).

Your engineering branch should enhance your employability

This a is a major aspect to ponder over before choosing an engineering field of study. A shocking trend broadcast in a recent survey which stated that only a sub-10% of Indian engineers were employable as of 2016.

While the Indian government implements newer reforms on the academic syllabus, students should focus on updating their skills by taking up that engineering branch that offers maximum opportunity here. Even the post-engineering skill enhancement comes into picture at this instant. All of these in tandem ensure that engineering life (both during and after completion of degree) is smooth and hitch free.

“Finally, remember that before entering engineering, your minds would also have to be engineered for competency and competition. Fine tune yourself and stand out from the rat race,” signs-off Dr Radhakrishnan.

Experts Consulted

Dr Radhakrishnan HK  

a Bengaluru-based career counsellor possessing more than two decades of experience in guiding students

 

Dr Ali Khwaja a career expert, and Chairman of Bengaluru-based Banjara Academy
Prof. Krishna Rao Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering at a well-known engineering college in Karnataka.

 

 

Anonymous senior engineering professor at a reputed Karnataka college, who also consults for governments

 

 

Multiple senior counsellors, and fresh engineering graduates

 

 


Written by Rahul R, Senior Technical Journalist at EFY

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