For students stepping into the world of higher education, career consultant and analyst Jayaprakash A. Gandhi has a piece of advice - choose a career keeping future growth in mind.
At The Hindu Education Plus Career Counselling 2016 held on Thursday, he said students will face three massive challenges in 2020. “First, the entire world is moving towards automation; second is innovation and the third is students should study beyond the syllabus as it is becoming outdated,” he said.
Selecting a good college is crucial. There are 548 engineering colleges in the State and selecting a good institution is important as companies come in search of a college and not a course, Mr. Gandhi said.
Among engineering courses, computer science and information technology top the list with huge opportunities, he said, adding, “Not service companies, but recruitment will be high in product companies. So, students should develop skills required by product companies. Campus placement is as important as English communication skills and thinking capabilities.”
The next preferred course is electrical and electronics engineering (EEE). Mr. Gandhi urged students to keep track of what projects are being implemented and what technology is required for better prospects.
“Mechanical engineering has more opportunities for girls than boys.
“This is followed by civil engineering. But students should go on to pursue post graduation as opportunities are manifold,” he explained.
In his view, aeronautical engineering, biotechnology and marine engineering are among the least preferred courses.
Owing to massive shortage of doctors, there are tremendous opportunities for medical aspirants. However, he said the biggest opportunities are from Indian medicine - homoeopathy, naturopathy and siddha.
Among paramedical courses, the top notch courses are physiotherapy, B. Pharm and audiology and speech language pathology, Mr. Gandhi said.
Courses such as B.Sc. mathematics, B.A. English literature, social work and geology have good scope. For students studying commerce with business mathematics, he suggested courses such as architecture, law and economics.
“There is a shortage of corporate legal professionals. If students pursue law, they can study company secretaryship alongside,” he added.
In agriculture, B.Sc. agriculture, and food science and nutrition would be the best options, while fisheries engineering offered huge opportunities abroad.
Cut off to come down
Mr. Gandhi said the cut off marks for admission to engineering courses would come down marginally by 0.25 this year, while there would be no big change in the cut off marks for medicine.
In a written quiz competition conducted during the programme, K.S. Vishnu Rudhva from Vidhyaniketan Matric Higher Secondary School, Vellore, came first and took home a desktop sponsored by Indian Bank.
VIT Chancellor G. Viswanathan and vice-president Sekar Viswanathan spoke at the inaugural session. Brijesh Nair, assistant director, International Relations, VIT spoke.
VIT University is the main sponsor, while Master JEE is the associate sponsor.
A psychometric test sponsored by Bodhi was conducted for students.
