Students of Anna University’s College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG), now have a direct link with their alumni. In February, an alumna of the CEG got together like-minded alumni and created a career guidance forum (CGF) in her alma mater.
Kavitha Kalaiselvi, director of Talentegrity Consulting Services and human resources expert, who graduated from the CEG in 1998 in civil engineering, said what started as an effort to organise a job fair turned into a full-fledged student-driven programme for CEG students. It became an ongoing process as the market response made them change tack, she said. Poojaa Karthikeyan, a final-year computer science and engineering student, and N. Surya, a final-year mechanical engineering student, both of CEG, were selected to lead the forum.
Four tracks
“Everyone in CEG is part of the CGF and they can attend the events and workshops. We have 4 tracks in CGF — employability, higher education, competitive exam, and entrepreneurship,” Poojaa said. The verticals help to slot students according to their needs.
“The main purpose of CGF is to bridge the gap between the students and the alumni. An alumnus will guide the group of students related to a track. If a student wants to do AI, we have alumnus who is an expert in the field to mentor students,” she explained. “We have alumni who are entrepreneurs and they mentor students who look for entrepreneurship,” she added.
To explain the nuances of applying for universities abroad, the CGF brought in an official from the Consulate of the United States of America. The official explained the process of applying to colleges and building portfolios. “We had a good footfall for it,” Poojaa said. “The motive of the club is to give students an opportunity. If you take employability, then we invite alumni and they conduct mock interviews; students are taught how to attend group discussions,” said Mr. Surya.
Core group of alumni
A five-member core group from among the alumni helps the students in selecting members for mentorship. There was a session on career guidance for mechanical engineering, and the students are planning sessions for IT students and cracking the UPSC exams next month.
Poojaa and Surya are busy selecting students to take over from them, with the support of the five-member core group of alumni. They have called for students from the third year to carry forward their work.
The CGF will have a president, secretary and treasurer like any other club on the campus. “I have been part of many clubs. We will look at how much they will be interested in contributing to the club. We would be looking for someone who would like to help others,” said Surya. “The seventh and eighth semester is filled with internship and projects. To contribute to the club, they have to dedicate some time from the academics to organising events for the clubs. We will be looking for people who have interest,” added Poojaa.
