Is engineering too hyped or can it really provide a good career? This was the point of discussion at the webinar on career counselling organised by The Hindu Education Plus and Sona College of Technology on Saturday. The panelists said there was a plethora of opportunities, should the students focus on their goals.
At the webinar on choosing engineering and finding career opportunities in entrepreneurship and research, the panelists, all of them engineers, emphasised that to carve a career in the domain the candidates must realise their potential and interest.
Chockalingam Valliappa, vice-chairman of Sona Group of Institutions, said that thousands of students graduating from his group of colleges had not only built a career in engineering but also turned out to be entrepreneurs. Many of them even took up research.
He cited himself as an example of someone who pursued a career in entrepreneurship after doing Ph.D.
A critical component to succeed was resilience, said M.P. Pattabiraman, founder CEO of People Radius and former head of Human Resources at McKinsey. He is an alumnus of the college and an entrepreneur. As a HR person, he said he would look for key qualities such as integrity, ability to work in a team, ability to listen and be mentored.
Engineers of the future had several opportunities, said T.R. Parasuraman, president and wholetime director and member of the board of Toyota Industries Engine India Pvt. Ltd.
Valuable lessons
Every challenge was an opportunity, he said and pointed out that even COVID-19 had taught industries many lessons.
The company used to hold its meetings abroad. Because of travel restrictions in the last two years, the company had to hold its conferences online. This meant huge savings for the company. This, he said, was a valuable lesson.
Mr. Parasuraman said India, with its young population and because of its unique situation as a country entering the manufacturing sector when other major powers with an ageing population were entering the service sector, offered an abundance of opportunities to students. Coupled with technology, the students were in a unique position to reap the dividends of being in a young nation, he said.
About students from a humble background pursuing engineering education, Mr. Chockalingam said his institution offered all-India tests, from which eligible students were chosen for scholarships.
Also, the Centre offered scholarships for women students interested in joning engineering courses, Mr. Parasuraman added.
