The monstrous doubts lingering in the minds of students vanished into thin air after subject experts cleared over three dozen queries raised at The Hindu EducationPlus career counselling programme conducted at Hotel Regalia here on Sunday.
A lot of churning happened during the interaction session with the resource persons as part of the gruelling four-hour-long programme, after which the students appeared relaxed, with their eyes firmly set on target.
The Hindu conducted the programme under its flagship brand Education Plus for the 11th consecutive year in the temple city. A large number of engineering aspirants, with their parents in tow, made a beeline to choose the next vital step in career selection. The presenting sponsor was ICFAI University, while TV5 was the television partner and Red FM the radio partner.
K. Nagendra Prasad, head of Civil Engineering at SVU College of Engineering and formerly Registrar of Vikrama Simhapuri University (Nellore), dubbed civil as an evergreen branch with opportunities knocking at the door ‘as long as the world exists’.
“While scientists find the things already amidst us, engineers create the non-existing things,” Prof. Prasad said, predicting the development of Amaravati as potentially creating a plethora of jobs in the decades to come.
P. Venkata Krishna, ECE head at SPMVV School of Engineering and Technology, spoke on the prospects of opting for circuit branches.
“After witnessing the global slump in the recent past, the IT industry is back on the growth trajectory,” Prof. Krishna asserted, adding that it would rain jobs in the sector, thanks to the government’s proactive role in designing ambitious projects like Digital India and Smart City. Foreseeing ample opportunities in the broad-based mechanical stream, G. Suresh Kumar, a professor at ICFAI University, indicated multidisciplinary courses as the order of the day with the various streams of engineering merging at the top.
P.V.G.K. Sarma, head of Biotechnology at SVIMS University, aptly called the scope of his subject as application of technology to understand the living world. To a specific query, he said MPC students could as well choose biotechnology by taking a bridge course.
Industry expectations
While a mere 15 p.c. of graduating engineers are ‘employable’ according to studies, Dorai Rauj, Joint General Manager (HR) at Srikalahasthi Pipes Limited, called domain knowledge, leadership traits, communication skills, personal values, adaptability to organisational culture and people management techniques as the industry’s expectations.
ICFAI University Chief Manager M.R.K. Prasad gave tips on choosing the right college.
