Learning beyond the textbook
Major recruiters often need to spend quality time and resources on freshers in order to tailor them for their specific needs. But, as suggested earlier, you can overcome this ‘gap’ by being part of an industry-oriented project or strategically chosen alternative course run by an educational/technical centre. So explore the Internet, go through the technology related magazines, concentrate on your project work and try to identify a course that can increase your chances to be picked up.
Project-driven learning, backed by a steady exposure to seminars on contemporary topics and interaction with the industry people, gives the course structure an edge. A microcontroller-based project in the area of data acquisition or automation may be a turnkey to enter a good organisation; any parallel course on microcontrollers may also be helpful.
You can learn about ‘chip to ship’ of a system after completing a proper project. Nearly all Indian institutes, barring a handful, are woefully unable in providing students with such opportunities.
But, the industry is always ready to help deserving candidates. Ravikumar, technical director-university relations, Texas Instruments, explains that their extensive ‘internship programme’ provides enough learning opportunity for a student. The only thing to do on your part is to complete the groundwork about microcontrollers by using the steps we have already discussed above. Remember any useful project needs time; so start the process as early as possible. This can go a long way in providing you an edge over other contenders.
If you feel that you may lag behind due to lack of practical exposure, a strategically chosen course may be the solution. I emphasise on the word ‘strategically’ because it decides whether you will get the passport to a job or your money will be drained out. So before choosing the course, judge the reputation of the institute, the certification system, the industry accreditation and also the course curriculum.
Ultimately, everyone wants a best-fit. So first be clear about your goals. Then you can go ahead and make that call!
The author is a research analyst cum journalist at EFY
