There is no dearth of jobs for an engineering management student as all technology companies require managers in areas like industrial management, quality assurance management, energy management, operation research, airline management, environmental management, etc. If the student has prior experience, he can occupy a position in the mid-level management of a company. If he has no experience, this degree will speed up his growth in the industry.
“Opportunities in the electronics manufacturing and PCB assembly industries are very good. Students can look forward to higher growth in these industries in the coming years,” says Suresh Nair, director, Leaptech Corporation.
Nokia, Siemens, Videocon, Onida, Samsung, LG, Sanmina-SCI, Flextronics, Philips, Jabil and Havells are some of the major recruiters in this industry.
How much rewarding can it be?
Salary compensation is good for the beginners but not comparable to certain other industries. But as one gains experience and knowledge, growth prospects are tremendous.
“The pay package starts from over Rs 500,000 per annum and there is no upper limit to it,” informs Prof. Sreekanth Rao. On the other hand, those with prior experience in the industry can start with a salary of Rs 800,000 to 1 million per annum.
In consulting companies, the career graph for an engineering manger would be at par with any other management trainee. In a manufacturing/ service company, on the other hand, it would vary. The job profile being more of supporting nature to top management, the companies would look for master-level degrees rather than undergraduate degrees.
How to get a foothold
Up to this point, you have received enough boosters about the opportunities to be grabbed in the engineering management field. You may be wondering now how to get a foothold in this field. Well, recruiters mainly look for the ability to understand, manage and develop new and changing technology. Communication skills, client management, cost control, supply chain management and resource optimisation are some of the other factors taken into consideration while hiring.
“Leaptech would be interested more in engineering managers who are from the same industry and with similar experience and knowledge, as we cater to the capital equipment requirement of the PCB assembly industry specifically,” says Nair.
Dr Mohanty adds, “While hiring an engineering manager, recruiters look for stronger analytical skills, innovative abilities and system thinking, amongst others. Industrial engineers are best suited as they are educated with a curriculum which involves most analytical techniques.”
Executives need to have the ability to understand, assess and forecast how technologies affect the systems within and outside the organisation. “They have to understand the aspect of environment and economy. Formal education in analytics will strengthen their capability to perform robust analyses and take decisions in information- and data-driven organisations,” advises Prof. Subrahmanya.
Finally, your future is in your hands. So don’t hesitate to explore all the possible ways before final settlement. Spend enough time digging out all possibilities to get a practical exposure. Who says engineers can’t be good managers? They can surely be one, provided they think about managing their management performance in a similar way to doing engineering.
