Introduction
If recent news are to be believed, the new education policy of the Government of India speaks about introducing IT enabled education in school curriculum. The dictum behind this ground- breaking idea is to bring constructivism and probably create a large pool of GNU/ Linux and software professionals.
If statistics are to be believed, around 1.5 million engineers pass out every year in India. However, around 20-33 % of them fail to get placed at all, as pointed out by Economics Times. The few “fortunate” ones who end up getting a job, either settle for a job well below their technical qualifications, or with a low start- up salary. The starting salary for a B. Tech. engineer could range anything from 1. 2 lakh to 3.5 lakh per annum. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that an engineer with campus recruitment would earn more than his counterpart placed otherwise.
An undeniable dream of every engineer is to work in a core technical field of his individual domain and proceed his career in the choice of subjects opted during college. However, it is a challenging actuality to accept the fact that India does not offer a lot of core jobs pertaining to its nature of technical market. In spite of that, after completing B. Tech. , a fresher has several options to choose from. Below mentioned is the details of the vocations for an engineer.
Career option, growth and salary
To begin with, a job with a software firm could prove to be one of the best deals an engineer can crack. The details of the same is as mentioned below:
- Career option- Software professional
- Career growth- Begins with Junior level and then can climb to senior levels subject to talent.
- Salary for fresher- 1.5 lakh to 3.6 lakh per annum
- Salary for experienced personnel ( 2- 3 yrs )- 3 lakh to 6 lakh per annum
Here, software jobs could be related to a software language like C, C++, Java etc..
One can also opt for software testing jobs, the details of which are as below:
- Career option- Software testing
- Career growth- Begins with Junior level and then can climb to senior levels subject to talent.
- Salary for fresher- 1.25 lakh to 1.8 lakh per annum
- Salary for experienced personnel ( 2 – 3 yrs )- 2.25 lakh to 4 lakh per annum
We see a lot of scope in the field of hardware and networking as well. The details of the same is as mentioned below:
- Career option- Hardware and networking professionals
- Career growth- Begins with Junior level and then can climb to senior levels subject to talent.
- Salary for fresher- 1.8 lakh to 3.5 lakh per annum
- Salary for experienced personnel ( 2 – 3 yrs )- 2.25 lakh to 5.5 lakh per annum
Public/ Government firms-
In India, nothing beat the respect and honour of being a public servant thru union public service exams ( UPSC ). However, as we all know UPSC demands a lot of hard work and dedication.
There is an enormous pool of jobs available in the public sector in India. PSUs like ONGC, MTNL, Power Grid, GAIL, NTPC and SAIL are few of the many firms providing jobs in government sector. However, the public sector jobs have an inflexible initial band ranging from 30K to 50K per month.
Off- beat opportunities-
As mentioned earlier, out of 1.5 million engineering graduates every year, 20- 33 % of the engineers do not end up landing with a conventional engineering job. Also, the country is full of engineers who remained mediocre throughout the curriculum or those who at first, dint like engineering, but still pursued the degree because of societal pressure, have later sorted their careers with off- beat jobs.
One of the many off- beat jobs in this regards is “Technical Writing. ” Technical communication is will always be one of the most important aspects of any firm and so will be technical documentations. A desk bound job with not much of slogging and supple deadlines, a talented technical writer (with rich knowledge of technical know- how as well polished writing skills) can earn anywhere from 1.5 lakh to begin with, upto 6- 8 lakh per annum within a span of 3- 5 years. He can then climb the ladder to become a technical analyst or business analyst (in case he wants to stick to writing and analysis with upgraded presentation and business skills).
Another off- beat job which engineers are opting for is Corporate Sales/ Engineering Sales. Many established firms want technically strong people to sell their products. A person from a non- technical background may not have an in- depth knowledge of the technicality of the products. A sales guy with an engineering background could begin with a salary of 1.8 lakh and go upto 5-6 lakh in a span of 2-3 years. Conventionally, apart from fixed salaries, their usually have incentives associated with individual sales.
Apart from the aforesaid, we have off late come across various engineers opting for off- beat professions as per their choice of interests. Few of the many professions chosen are:
- Dancer/ Actor/ Model
- Photographer
- Entrepreneur
- Journalist / writer/ editor
- Teacher
- Politician
- Mountaineer/ Paraglider/ Diver/ Skier
Kindly note that the salaries mentioned may vary from person to person depending on individual company policies and the number of company jumps an engineer undertakes!
Further studies
A decision for further study post engineering should always be well planned and informed. Those who prefer management should look after doing an MBA course while those who have love for greater technical depth should opt in for M. Tech. Both the fields demand high score in respective entrance exams. Yet again, the stream of specialization depends on personal choice, college preferences and marks obtained in entrance exam.
