Beyond the software glitter

In the competitive world of being software engineers, skills come at a premium. Gone are those days when jobs were awaiting candidates after graduating as engineers. In the game of software engineering profession, there were a few untruths that were bandied around.

A few convenient Lies:
*There is a shortage of software engineering talent. This untruth has caused a lot of engineers to fall prey to the software glitter.(fact is industry does not like to train students to their needs, and some students indeed take engineering lightly)
*Only 20% engineers graduating from colleges are employable. This partial truth does not hold water as top talent in some of the best colleges will all be employable and most from the batch from a not so good college will all be requiring intensive training. Also since jobs are in short, I am sure god created more talent than jobs suitable for them.

Toh humne socha hum bhi apni takdeer se khel lete hain...

Now the scene has shifted to other sectors of the economy and they loosely say about demographic dividend. How you would not have to feed many mouths since every person would be employed. That assumes there are jobs out there and people with requisite skills.

Raghuram Rajan recently remarked to the outgoing students of Shiv Nadar University not to fall prey to the institutes that award useless degrees. After your engineering a college which cannot promise you a job says that "We never promised you jobs" or "The degree only certifies you that you were able to learn so much and it guarantees that under similar circumstances you will continue to do so". So what do you do?

This assumes there are some responsible people.... who are in control.... out there who have a grand plan, a scheme of producing you to accomplish something.... some purpose.... some task that you and you alone can accomplish.

Most graduates never wanted the branch they end up studying. After very poor schooling students just learns so much in engineering and without much grounding in good mathematics they struggle.
India has had the bad luck of going through an extended crisis of confidence after the disastrous chandrashekhar government and the BOP crisis India as a nation suffered devaluation of its currency.

Along with the rupee we too got devalued. In my native tongue they say "Ruppaye mol na"

 (rupaiye ko mol nahin- rupee not worth the same anymore)

If you find people who are qualified as engineers taking up non-engineering jobs and not complaining about it ... it is their fate... we just remark slyly and move on.

Coming to my experience of being employed/unemployed... Every parent who has let his/her kid study engineering has to understand that getting the degree in hand itself is a horrendous task. After that there would be the struggle to apply for vacant posts. To apply for any positions. If the ward is oriented properly he would take up the jobs easily. It is a different matter to bring the horse to the river. It is entirely different to make it drink. There should be willingness on the part of the prospect to work. Then there has to be willingness to study further and upgrade skills. To acquire knowledge one has to seek. One has to research. One has to undergo certificate courses.

Little did we know most often your purpose of existence was either to give company to your brother/sister or to be a sahara for your parents in old age. The first purpose holds for me at-least. Maine poocha mujhe paida kyun kiya toh jawab mein bole "Tera bhai akela tha"... Hats off mere bhai.... I have even thought how my life would have been if I had not studied. This strand of thought says "Hum unpad hi acche the".

Questions that streaks through my mind now are....What can you do for the society? What can you do for your mother land with the knowledge that you gained. The same society which you feared when you failed in the exams. You were castigated as useless. You were branded as "Good for Nothing" or in chaste hindi "Dharti pe Bojh"(If not explicitly u at-least thought so to yourself).

That sums up the thoughts in me right now and I am sure the same thought crosses the minds of several graduating students.