Tech Bee, HCL’s early career programme, aims at preparing students for entry-level jobs in the company. Srimathi Shivashankar, Executive Vice-President, HCL Technologies, gives a breakdown of the details.
The programme
The Tech Bee programme is presented by HCL with SSN College of Engineering as the academic partner. The 15-month programme will train students who have completed Class XII and want to take up early careers. It will culminate in a diploma awarded by SSN. Upon successful completion, they will be provided assured jobs with HCL.
Vision
We look at these students as an alternative talent pool whom we can absorb into IT. When we have diversity in the workforce, it brings innovation and very different energy levels. Further, the current generation is choosy about what they want to do even in entry-level jobs. They want their careers to evolve over a period of time, but rapidly as well. They want dynamic job roles. In some households, there is also a need for children to start their careers early. Based on both the behavioural perspective as well as the demographic dividend which we want to leverage, this is the best time to pick up talent to bring into our larger talent pool.
Structure
The programme combines training with skilling. It comprises nine months of classroom training, on engineering and software fundamentals, and six months of job-specific training. While the training will take place at SSN, the students will be deputed at HCL for the last three months where they will be assigned to projects before they get absorbed as full-time workers.
Curriculum
The diploma programme aims at providing a strong IT foundation and make students ready for entry-level roles in application and infrastructure maintenance. Students will receive technical foundation training, technology/domain training which will be stream-specific, and hands-on project work. They will also learn the fundamentals of IT, software tools and processes, and be exposed to emerging technologies.
The course content and learning pedagogy are mapped to our entry-level jobs. The four diploma streams are in mechanical automation, software engineering, support engineering, and products and testing engineering.
Career
During the programme, students will be paid a stipend of ₹10,000 per month. On completion, they will occupy engineering-level jobs at HCL, in KPO, development, support, testing, mechanical automation and so on. They could also continue their higher education while working, with the option of enrolling into IGNOU for a work-integrated 5-year MCA programme. This way, students will not be compromising on higher education. Weekend sessions for the course will take place at HCL.
Eligibility
Students from any stream with a cut-off of 85% (State Board) or 90% (CBSE) in Class XII, with Math or Business Math, can apply. Screening and selection will be based on an online exam, interview and group discussion.
Fee and scholarships
The programme fee is ₹2 lakh plus taxes. Students need not pay the fee upfront. They can pay it from the third year of work with us, on an EMI basis. Based on the performance during the training, the full fee or a part of it could be waived.
Applications for the Tech Bee
programme are open. Visit www.hcltss.com or contact 1800 200 1117.
