Focus on projects, Rajanna tells engineering students

It plays a major role during the recruitment process, says top TCS official

V. Rajanna

“Engineering students should take their final-year project seriously. They should honestly complete the project, preferably on a new topic and get it evaluated. This plays a major role during the recruitment process,” said vice-president and regional global head (Technology Business Unit) of Tata Consultancy Services V. Rajanna.

He was here to deliver a lecture at a conclave on higher education organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and on the sidelines spoke to The Hindu on various aspects that colleges and students need to look into to become employable.

When it comes to employable skills, most software companies, including TCS, look at a few parameters such as knowledge in at least two to three core subjects like database management, operating systems and computer programming.

This apart, a student should be proficient in at least one or two programming languages such as Java, .Net or Python.

Technical and soft skills

“The technical skills should be supplemented with good soft skills such as ability to work in a team, proficiency in English language and problem solving ability. Most importantly, the sincerity of the students is checked on the projects that they do,” said Mr. Rajanna.

According to him, merely knowing English language does not serve the purpose. “The students should practice the language by speaking at all forums and not missing any opportunity to showcase their language skills at the college level,” he added. According to Mr. Rajanna, the Indian IT market is growing and there will be a lot of opportunity in the coming years. “In every sector, there is a need of IT professionals right from defence to health care and from tourism to education. Projects such as online passport facility and Mee Seva are live examples of digital India and it is growing,” pointed out Mr. Rajanna.

“Colleges need to gear up”

But keeping in view the growth and the industry requirements, the colleges need to move with the time. Traditional classroom sessions need to be replaced by e-classrooms and devices should be used extensively, he said. Colleges should make full use of the material that are available online and in open source.